When, where, and by whom were the worlds of early-modern British and Irish individuals and societies ‘turned upside down’? What did it mean to be a ‘deviant’ or a ‘rebel’, and why were they thought to pose such a challenge to the social order? Most importantly, what can these people at the ‘margins’ tell us about the nature of early-modern society? This module assesses such questions and examines the nature of order and disorder. Through both thematic and chronological approaches it examines shifts in the social, cultural, and religious fabric of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales brought about through both innovation (e.g. the advent of print, the rise of the ‘public sphere’, debates over religious toleration) and the reinforcement of existing social orders (e.g. prosecuting witchcraft, maintaining gender boundaries). Central to these discussions will be the question of how (or whether!) early-modern societies were self-regulating entities. Students will be encouraged to think broadly about ideas of boundaries and identification across the three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Upon the completion of the advanced option, the typical student will be able to

• Demonstrate a systematic and critical understanding of the key thematic points of early-modern social and cultural structures.
• Critically identify and engage with both contemporary and current interpretations of early-modern social order(s).
• Discuss and critically assess the range of secondary debates regarding social boundaries, identification, and distinction.
• Problematise and debate the idea of ‘order’ and marginalisation.
• Assess and interpret a variety of primary sources relating to the practice and experience of the early-modern society.

Intellectual Skills:

Upon the completion of the advanced option, the typical student will be able to:.

• Formulate a critical and source-based argument relating to the early-modern deviance and social order. This will require both original interpretation of primary sources and sustained engagement with debates in secondary literature.
• Both develop and problematise comparative approaches across the ‘Three Kingdoms’ in the early-modern period.
• Articulate and present (whether orally or in writing) complex arguments in accordance with the scholarly conventions of the University and historical study more broadly.
• Identity problems in the study of social order, both in the employment of primary sources and the use of secondary literature.

Discipline Specific (including practical) Skills:

Upon the completion of the advanced option, the typical student will be able to:

• Use and critique a wide range of primary and secondary source material
• Complicate ideas of ‘bias’ in early-modern sources by assessing the value of diaries, journals, and other reflective sources in the reconstruction of early-modern identities and social structures.
• Apply these critical skills to the construction and presentation of coherent and articulate work (whether written or oral).
• Compare and contrast source material and place it within a strong historical framework.
• Identify the strengths and weaknesses of different theoretical approaches to empire and the early-modern period generally.
• Express their ideas clearly, confidently, and in a spirit of historical discussion and participation.
• Engage with and identify the challenges posed by online resources from within the discipline, including Early English Books Online (EEBO), Eighteenth-Century Collections Online (ECCO), and the 1641 Depositions Project Online. 

A range of teaching methods will be employed in order to structure student discussion and debate. The aim will be to facilitate open conversation regarding key issues of social order, marginalisation, identification, and religious life. The syllabus will be divided into sub-themes, which will be addressed in overview in the lectures and discussed more intensively, and with greater detail, in the seminars. Seminars will provide students with the opportunity to discuss debates within the secondary literature in greater detail while also engaging with primary source material where feasible. Opportunities will be provided within the seminars to pursue particular thematic strands not fully addressed in the lectures. Students will also be required to give short presentations in seminars as part of developing skills in oral presentation and organisation.

• The development and articulation of clear, well-researched and theory-driven arguments grounded on independent study.
• The ability to deconstruct and challenge existing arguments and assumptions while putting forward alternate views
• The ability to constructively challenge and engage with the arguments of fellow students
• Time management and study skills.
• Accessing, employing, and critically assessing information technologies made available to them.
• The ability to critically assess the development, continuance, and relevance of systems of social order from the early-modern period onward.

Students will be assessed by means of a combination of one essay relating to primary sources [20%], an assessed essay [30%] and an examination paper [50%].

Course assignments:

1. The essay relating to primary sources will contribute 20% of the final mark for the module and must be no longer than 1,000 words.
2. The Assessed Essay will contribute 30% of the final mark for the module. It is designed to give students the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to review evidence, draw appropriate conclusions from it and employ the formal conventions of scholarly presentation. It must be no longer than 2,000 words.
3. The Examination will take place during the second assessment period [May/June] and will consist of an unseen two hour paper that will contribute the remaining 50% of the final mark for this module. Students must write 2 answers in total.  

Section I

Approaches to Early Modern Society: Methods and Debates

Section II

Medieval Legacies? The Foundations of the Early-Modern Community

• Religion
• Government
• Gender: Margins and Boundaries
• Society - Parish and Pulpit

Section III

Tracing Reformations – Deviations and Reinforcements

• Deviant Print
• The Lollards
• From Above, From Below : Where, when, and why ?
• Locality and Change – A ‘British’ Reformation?

Section IV – Case Study: The Self and Society – Diaries, Journals, and the Internalisation of Order

Section V – Crime and Criminality

• Property and Theft
• Punishment and Space
• Case Study: Insanity and Institutionalising in Early-Modern England – The Foundation of Bedlam

Section VI – Revel and Rebellion

• Disloyalty and the State
• Disloyalty and the Parish
• Case Study: David Underdown’s Revel, Riot, and Rebellion – An Historiographical Assessment

Section VII – Gender Case Study I – Holy Women in the Reformation(s)

• Sainthood and Martyrdom

Section VIII – Gender Case Study II – Witchcraft in the ‘Three Kingdoms’

• Comparison: Witchcraft in England, Scotland, and Ireland

Section IX – Gender Case Study III – Masculinity in Seventeenth Century England

• ‘Honour’ Cultures
• Infidelity and the Household
• Male Sexuality – Homosexuality before ‘Homosexuality’

Section X – Public or Private?

• Sociability and Subversion
• The Rise of Enlightenment?

Please see Background Reading List for an indicative list.

Gaskill, M. Witchfinders: a seventeenth-century English tragedy (London, 2005).

Ingram, M. Church courts, sex and marriage in England, 1570-1640, (Cambridge, 1987).

Jewell, H. Education in early modern England, (Basingstoke, 1998).

Levack, B.P., The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe, (London, 2006 (3^rd edition)).

MacCulloch, D., Reformation: Europe’s House Divided, 1490-1700, (London, 2004).

Shepard, A. Meanings of manhood in early modern England, (Oxford, 2003).

Thomas, K. Religion and the decline of magic : studies in popular beliefs in sixteenth and seventeenth century England , (London, 1997 (3^rd edn.))