Subject Area: History
This course can also be studied in the following specialisation: European Studies

Europe experienced massive upheavals in the three centuries from the end of the Middle Ages in about 1500 to the onset of the Industrial Revolution and French Revolution. The period's intellectual and cultural movements are often considered to be a major part of those transformations, especially the Renaissance, Protestant Reformation, Scientific Revolution, and Enlightenment. Equally significant, however, were social, economic, and political developments such as the growth of towns, the expansion of trade, and the emergence of centralised states and "absolute" monarchies. This course investigates these changes, and weighs up the historical debates about the forces that produced them. We also examine their impact on the lives of "ordinary" people, which may include discussion of the links between population level and climate change (the "mini Ice Age"), the persecution of popular beliefs like witchcraft, and the prevalence of violent protest movements.