On Halloween 1517, Martin Luther posted 95 Theses on the door to the Wittenberg Cathedral, calling for a public debate about the Church’s practice of selling indulgences. He intended it to be more like a poster for a group meeting than a call to revolution (or so he claimed!), but it became the first shot in a war that would splinter the Catholic Church into a dizzying number of confessions. The first part of this course will center on Luther’s rebellion, looking in-depth at his thought and life, his predecessors and successors, and how his thought did or did not translate into action. We will then expand out from this tight focus to look at other types of religious reformations in this era – including Calvinist, Anabaptist, and Catholic reform. The last weeks will look at the impact of religious reform in this era, discussing its effect on women, Jews and Muslims, and on the political life of early modern Europe.
Class time will consist of a mixture of lecture, discussion of primary source texts, and group activities. The goal will be to use primary source documents and insights from historians to go beyond a dry recitation of facts, in favor of a deeper understanding of people who lived in the past. We will both learn about their experiences and think about the ways in which their lives and thoughts have provided and continue to provide a framework for our own.
If you are a junior or senior, this course may count as Segment 3 General Education credit in the Medieval and Renaissance Europe cluster. It is also an upper-level division course in Europe for the History major. The only prerequisite for this course is English 214. This course also counts as one of your social science electives for the European Area Studies minor. You can find out more about the requirements for European Studies here.
There are two required books and one recommended book that will be available at the SFSU bookstore. Our textbook is Carter Lindberg’s The European Reformations (abbreviated Lindberg on the syllabus). I am not requiring that you buy it, and we will not be discussing it in class. However, I highly recommend it, because it will follow along with the material that we cover in lecture. It will be an invaluable study guide, as well as reinforce the material from the lectures throughout the semester.
We will be using its companion sourcebook, European Reformations Sourcebook (abbreviated ERS on the syllabus) nearly every class. The sourcebook is required reading for the course. Please bring the sourcebook to class every time you see it on the syllabus.
In addition to the textbook and sourcebook, we will be using an edition of Martin Luther’s three famous 1520 treatises in week 4. Please bring Three Treatises to class during week 4. You do not need to bring your other books that week. Class discussion will be particularly important this week.
In some weeks, additional reading will be provided on-line on our course website. On-line readings will be available in .pdf format. These can be read with the Adobe Acrobat reader, which can be downloaded for free. When the readings are posted on-line, please either print out the on-line excerpt or take detailed notes on the text. You can access the on-line readings at ilearn.sfsu.edu – log in with your ID# and pin#.
Carter Lindberg, The European Reformations, ISBN 1557865752 (recommended)
Carter Lindberg, European Reformations Sourcebook, ISBN 0631213627 (required)
Martin Luther, Three Treatises, ISBN 0800616391 (required)
In addition to informed and enthusiastic participation in class activities, discussions, and exercises, students in the course will also complete two short essays and a group presentation to help the class review for the final. The two essays will be completed at home and handed in at the start of class on the days that they are due. If the assignments are late, they will immediately lose points and will continue to drop in score the longer they are late. The course will also feature a midterm exam in week 9 and a final exam in December, which will cover material from the entire course.
The course grade will be determined as follows:
Participation and attendance: 10%
Luther essay (5 pp., due week 5): 15%
Midterm (week 9): 10%
Longer essay (5 pp., due week 12): 25%
Group presentation (week 15): 15%
Final exam: 25%
If you are a History major and have already completed Hist 300, you may have the option to write a primary source research paper (10 – 15 pp.) in lieu of the two essays. You will choose the topic and create your own thesis. If you choose this option, you must have your topic approved by the professor before week 5. You will hand in a thesis statement 9/28, a first draft 11/30, and the final version 12/17. The thesis statement will count 5% toward the final grade, the first draft 10%, and the final paper 20%.
If you are a graduate student, you will write a primary source research paper or secondary source historiographical essay (20 pp. +) in lieu of the two essays. You are advised to hand in a thesis statement and first draft, but they will not count toward your final grade. The research paper will count 40% toward the final grade.
Attendance is mandatory, and will be considered in your participation grade. Class participation will make up 10% of your final grade for the course. You are encouraged to ask questions at any time and are expected to participate in any class activity, discussion, or exercise. An attendance sheet will be passed around at the beginning of every class. You must sign the sheet in order to be counted as present. If you need to arrive late, please make sure you sign in before you leave the room at the end of class. If you need to leave early, please tell the instructor at the beginning of class.
The classroom is a special environment in which students and faculty come together to promote learning and growth. It is essential to this learning environment that respect for the rights of others seeking to learn, respect for the professionalism of the instructor, and the general goals of academic freedom are maintained. Differences of viewpoint or concerns should be expressed in terms which are supportive of the learning process.