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2015/16 Undergraduate Module Catalogue
HIST2180 Heretics, Witches and Conspirators: Toleration and Persecution in Early Modern Europe
20 creditsClass Size: 42
Module manager: Dr Raphael Hallett
Email: R.Hallett@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2015/16
This module is approved as a discovery module
Module summary
The course will examine the way religious and social minorities, particularly those regarded as heretical or socially malign, were perceived, written about and treated in the early modern period. Identities/Communiites discussed will included witches, Jews, Catholic and Protestant sectarians and 'vagabonds'. The course will train students in the close examination of early modern primary sources (theology, politics, court trials, legistlation and philosophy in particular) and also encourage students to trace the intellectual history of concepts and rhetoric associated with the themes of toleration and persecution over 200 years.Objectives
At the end of the module students have gained:- understanding of Early Modern Elite writing on heresy, witchcraft and social transgression.
- familiarity with the rhetoric and concerns of Early Modern sermons, theological treatises, political writings and legistlation
- insight into the popular cultures of toleration and persecution on local, regional and national contexts
- introduction to the historiography of concepts such as tolerance, persecution, charity, neighbourliness and conversion, survey and critique of the historiography of early modern culture and religion.
Skills outcomes
- Ability to analyse and interpret early modern sources.
- Ability to commentate on dominant ideas in early modern elite and popular culture.
- Ability to research and use textual, archive and electronic resources relating to the early modern period.
- Ability to make connections between rhetoric and ideas from different early modern periods and contexts, making links (and charting differences) between case-studies, time-periods, communities, regions and nations.
- Ability to survey, paraphrase and critique the historiography of the early modern period and of the concepts of toleration and persecution in particular.
Syllabus
The course will cover the following topics
- Concepts of Toleration and Persecution;
- Early Modern Anti-Semitism;
- Witchcraft identity, Accusation and Persecution;
- Reformation Heresies: Anti-Catholicism and Protestant dissidents;
- Communities and Cultures of Toleration.
Teaching methods
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
| Lecture | 11 | 1.00 | 11.00 |
| Seminar | 9 | 1.00 | 9.00 |
| Private study hours | 180.00 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 20.00 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200.00 | ||
Private study
- Exam preparation- Researching, preparing, and writing assignments
- Undertaking set reading
- Self-directed reading around the topic
Opportunities for Formative Feedback
- Contributions to class discussions- Presentation component
- One assessed essay
Methods of assessment
Coursework
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
| Essay | 1 x 2,000 word assessed essay to be delivered in Week 8 | 30.00 |
| Oral Presentation | oral presentation | 10.00 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 40.00 | |
10% oral presentation is redone with 'an equivalent written exercise'
Exams
| Exam type | Exam duration | % of formal assessment |
| Standard exam (closed essays, MCQs etc) | 2 hr 00 mins | 60.00 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Exams) | 60.00 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
Reading list
The reading list is available from the Library websiteLast updated: 14/04/2014
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