Guide to the Study of Early Modern European History For Students Preparing their Oral Examination By Constantin Fasolt © 2011 by Constantin Fasolt. All rights reserved CONTENTS I. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 4 II. General Points ............................................................................................................................. 4 III. Scope of the Exam .................................................................................................................... 6 IV. Statement of Intent .................................................................................................................... 8 V. How to Study for the Exam: Redundancy, Notes, and Meetings ........................................ 9 VI. Paradigmatic Books ................................................................................................................... 13 VII. Five Kinds of Knowledge ....................................................................................................... 16 1. General Knowledge .............................................................................................................. 16 2. Special Knowledge ................................................................................................................ 21 2.1 Medieval Background .................................................................................................. 22 2.2 Medieval Legal and Political Thought ....................................................................... 24 2.3 Renaissance and Humanism ....................................................................................... 27 2.4 Protestant Reformation ............................................................................................... 28 2.5 Radical Reformation .................................................................................................... 31 2.6 Catholic Reformation and Counter-Reformation ................................................... 32 2.7 Confessionalization ...................................................................................................... 34 2.8 Germany and the Holy Roman Empire .................................................................... 35 2.9 Population and Historical Geography ....................................................................... 36 2.10 Economy ..................................................................................................................... 37 2.11 Society .......................................................................................................................... 38 2.12 Marriage, Sex, Love, and Family .............................................................................. 40 2.13 Women and Gender .................................................................................................. 41 2.14 Cities and Urban Life ................................................................................................. 41 2.15 Popular Culture, Deviancy, and Repression .......................................................... 42 2.16 European Expansion ................................................................................................. 44 2.17 Ottoman Empire ........................................................................................................ 45 2.18 Technology and Printing ........................................................................................... 45 2.19 War and Diplomacy ................................................................................................... 46 2.20 Law, Legal Thought, and the State .......................................................................... 47 2.21 Political Thought ........................................................................................................ 48 2.22 Philosophy, Intellectual History, History of Ideas ................................................ 51 2.23 Science and Medicine ................................................................................................. 52 3. Primary Sources ..................................................................................................................... 53 3.1 Medieval ......................................................................................................................... 53 3.2 Renaissance and Humanism ....................................................................................... 55 3.3 Reformation .................................................................................................................. 55 3.4 From Religious War to Sovereignty .......................................................................... 56 4. Historiography and Theory of History .............................................................................. 57 4.1 Theory and Practice of History .................................................................................. 57 4.2 History of Historical Writing ...................................................................................... 59 4.3 Contemporary Developments .................................................................................... 61 4.4 Historiography of the Middle Ages ........................................................................... 62 4.5 Historiography of Renaissance and Humanism ...................................................... 63 4.6 Historiography of the Reformation ........................................................................... 64 5. Tools of Research .................................................................................................................. 65 2 2 5.1 Introduction: Mastering the Literature ...................................................................... 65 5.2 Basic Reference Books ................................................................................................ 71 5.3 Historical Dictionaries and Encyclopedias ............................................................... 71 5.3.1 General History .................................................................................................. 71 5.3.2 Biographical Dictionaries .................................................................................. 72 5.3.3 History of Ideas .................................................................................................. 73 5.3.4 History of Law .................................................................................................... 74 5.3.5 Church History ................................................................................................... 76 5.4 Language Dictionaries ................................................................................................. 77 5.5 Auxiliary Disciplines .................................................................................................... 79 5.5.1 Diplomatics ......................................................................................................... 79 5.5.2 Paleography ......................................................................................................... 80 5.5.3 Abbreviations ...................................................................................................... 81 5.5.4 Chronology .......................................................................................................... 81 5.5.5 Historical Geography ......................................................................................... 82 5.5.6 Atlases .................................................................................................................. 82 5.6 Primary Sources ............................................................................................................ 83 5.7 Historical Handbooks .................................................................................................. 85 5.7.1 Facts and Dates ................................................................................................... 85 5.7.2 Handbooks of European History .................................................................... 86 5.7.3 Handbooks of Medieval and Early Modern History .................................... 87 5.7.4 Companions to Medieval and Early Modern History .................................. 88 5.7.5 Handbooks of Subfields of European History .............................................. 89 5.7.6 Handbooks of German History ....................................................................... 91 5.7.7 Handbooks of Church History ........................................................................ 91 5.8 Historical Journals ........................................................................................................ 93 5.8.1 General History and Subfields of History ...................................................... 93 5.8.2 National History ................................................................................................. 96 5.8.3 Church History ................................................................................................... 97 5.8.4 Early Modern History ........................................................................................ 97 5.9 Bibliographies ................................................................................................................ 99 5.9.1 Retrospective Bibliographies