HST6759 – History from the Margins: Minorities in Early Modern Europe

Early modern society and culture was not monolithic. Religious, ethnic, and social differences pushed some to the margins of power and influence. Our big historical narratives and consequently our modules are often shaped by history's winners. This module invites students to look at England, Europe, and the world through the lenses of those at the margins. Jews in the Mediterranean, Black Londoners, Moriscos in the Iberian Peninsula, Roma travellers across England, Catholics under Queen Elizabeth, Calvinist exiles from Catholic France, all have their own story to tell and nuance to add to our understanding of the early modern world. This course will consider moments of discrimination as well as of interaction, and study minorities not as victims but search for their agency. Thereby, we put in relief the perspectives historians take on the past, challenge straightforward national stories, and articulate the diverging experiences of past people.