This reader brings together original and influential recent work in the field of early modern European history.
Provides a thought-provoking overview of current thinking on this period.Key themes include evolving early-modern identities; changes in religion and cultural life; the revolution of the mind; roles of women in early-modern societies; the rise of the modern state; and Europe and the new world systemIncorporates new scholarship on Eastern and Central Europe.Includes an article translated into English for the first time.
Acknowledments.
Introduction: Interpreting Early Modern Europe: Karen L. Taylor and James B. Collins.
Part I Evolving Early Modern Identities.
Introduction.
1 The Legacy of Rome: Anthony Pagden.
2 Europe and the Atlantic Slave Systems: David Eltis.
3 History, Myth and, Historical Identity: Karin Friedrich.
4 The Theresian School Reform of 1774: James Van Horn Melton.
5 The Evil Empire? The Debate on Turkish Despotism in Eighteenth-Century French Political Culture: Thomas Kaiser.
Part II Changes in Religion and Cultural Life.
Introduction.
6 Ira Dei super nos: Denis Crouzet.
7 Charitable Activities of Confraternities: Maureen Flynn.
8 The Sins of Belief: A Village Remedy for Hoof and Mouth Disease (1796) David Warren Sabean.
9 Dutiful Love and Natural Affection: Parent-Child Relationships in the Early Modern Netherlands: Sherrin Marshall.
Part III The Revolution of the Mind.
Introduction.
10 A Possible Support for Irreligion: The Sciences: Lucien Febvre.
11 The Material Culture of the Church and Incipient Consumerism: Richard A. Goldthwaite.
12 From a Culture of Science toward the Enlightenment: Kathleen Wellman.
13 Contesting Possession: Patricia Seed.
14 Ritual and Print Discipline and Invention: The Fête in France from the Middle Ages to the Revolution: Roger Chartier.
Part IV The Roles of Women in Early Modern Society Introduction.
15 Political, Economic, and Legal Structures: Merry E. Wiesner.
16 Women before the Bench: Female Litigants in Early Modern Normandy: Zoë A Schneider.
17 Review of The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800, by Lawrence Stone: Alan Macfarlane.
18 Illegitimacy and Infanticide in Early Modern Russia: David L Ransel.
19 Public Leisure and the Rise of Salons: Deborah Hertz.
Part V The Rise of the Modern State System.
Introduction.
20 The Crisis in Assumptions about Political Thinking: Felix Gilbert.
21 From Contractual Monarchy to Constitutionalism: Gerhard Oestrich.
22 Paradoxes of State Power: John Brewer.
23 The Power of the King: Antonio Feros Feros.
24 The Royal Government, Guilds, and the Seamstresses of Paris, Normany, and Provence: Clare Haru Crowston.
Part VI Research Paradigms, Old and New.
Introduction.
25 The Courtization of the Warriors: Norbert Elias.
26 Women on Top: Natalie Zemon Davis.
27 The Contrasts: Alfred W. Crosby.
28 Transcending East-West Dichotomies: State and Culture Formation in Six Ostensibly Disparate Areas: Victor Lieberman.
29 Introduction to The Great Divergence. China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy: Kenneth Pomeranz.
30 Between Carnival and Lent: Paula Findlen.
Index
