Life in early modern England followed much of the same pattern as life in the twenty-first century: people were born, grew up, many had children and got married, most worked and all eventually died.  However, while on first glance this seems familiar, on closer examination these same life stages and rituals were often experienced in ways which are different to our own.  Attitudes to marriage and sexuality, for instance, were very different in the early modern period.  With a particular focus on gender, this course explores the life cycle in early modern England from birth to death through an examination of topics including childhood, marriage, work and old age.

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of social, cultural and gender history as interpretative frameworks for the study of the early modern period in England.
• Identify appropriate textual and material evidence and understand how to analyse and interpret different types of evidence.
• Understand how to approach critically and interpret different evidence types, and recognise the difficulties of interpretation, particularly the limitations of the evidence
• Demonstrate the ability to use information from class and independent research to construct an academically-sound argument.
• Recognise and analyse the major scholarly debates and trends concerning the history of the life-cycle in early modern England.
• Present an argument accurately, succinctly and lucidly, and in written or oral form;
• Time manage and organise study methods and workload;
• Work with others, and have respect for others' reasoned views
• Gather, organise and deploy evidence, data and information; and gain familiarity with appropriate means of identifying, finding, retrieving, sorting and exchanging information

The module will be delivered through nine two-hour evening sessions. These sessions will consist of a fifty-minute lecture followed by group discussion and activities. Students will be expected to have read the relevant material provided and use that as the basis for contributions in class.

• The ability to communicate ideas and arguments effectively, whether in class discussion or in written form
• The ability to work effectively with others in groups and to learn collaboratively through discussion and interaction
• The ability to think critically, analyse sources, evaluate arguments, and challenge assumptions.
• The ability to formulate and justify students’ own arguments and conclusions and present appropriate supporting evidence
• The ability to locate relevant resources in the library and online and use them appropriately in academic work
• The ability to use a range of information technology resources to assist with information retrieval and assignment presentation
• The ability to independently organise study methods, manage time effectively, and prioritise workload to meet deadlines

Type of assessment % Contribution Title Duration (if applicable) Approx. date of Assessment

Assignment 1 (Source Assessment) (Summative) 30% Exact nature of task will vary from year to year 600 words  Week 5

Assignment 2  (Essay) (Summative) 70% Exact nature of task will vary from year to year 1200 words Week 9

Students who fail one or both assessment elements will be given the opportunity to re-submit coursework in response to different titles over the summer once the Exploring the Past exam board has met.

Unit 1 – Introduction

Unit 2 – Birth

Unit 3 – Childhood and adolescence

Unit 4 – Marriage

Unit 5 – Sexuality

Unit 6 – Work

Unit 7 – Sickness and disability

Unit 8 – Old age

Unit 9 – Death

Indicative Reading and Resource List:

• Helen Berry and Elizabeth Foyster (eds), The Family in Early Modern England (Cambridge, 2007).

• James B. Collins and Karen L. Taylor (eds), Early Modern Europe: Issues and Interpretations (Malden, MA, 2006).

• Patrick Collinson (ed.), Short Oxford History of the British Isles: The Sixteenth Century (Oxford, 2002).

• Patricia Crawford and Sara Mendelson, ‘Sexual Identities in Early Modern England: The Marriage of Two Women in 1680’, Gender & History, Vol.7, No. 3, 1995, 362-77. 

• David Cressy, Birth, marriage, and death : ritual, religion, and the life-cycle in Tudor and Stuart England (Oxford, 1997).

• Anthony Fletcher, Gender, Sex and Subordination in England, 1500-1800 (New Haven and London, 1995).

• Elizabeth Foyster, Manhood in Early Modern England: Honour, Sex and Marriage (London, 1999).

• Laura Gowing, Common Bodies: Women, Touch and Power in Seventeenth-Century England (New Haven, 2003).

• Laura Gowing, Domestic Dangers: Women, Sex and Words in Early Modern England (Oxford, 1996).

• Thomas Laqueur, Making Sex: Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud (Cambridge and London, 1990).

• Peter Marshall, Beliefs and the Dead in Reformation England (Oxford, 2002).

• Sara Mendelson and Patricia Crawford, Women in Early Modern England, 1550-1720 (Oxford, 1998).

• Pat Thane, Old Age in English History: Past Experiences, Present Issues (Oxford, 2000).

• Merry Wiesner, Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe (second edition) (Cambridge, 2000).

• Merry Wiesner-Hanks, Christianity and Sexuality in the Early Modern World: Regulating Desire, Reforming Practice (London, 2000).

• Keith Wrightson, English Society, 1580-1680 (London, 2003).

• E. A. Wrigley and R. S. Schofield, The Population History of England, 1541-1871: A Reconstruction (Cambridge, 1989).