Conversion Narratives in Early Modern Europe

A Cross-Confessional and Comparative Study, 1550-1700

Michelangelo, Conversion of Saul, 1542-5

‘Conversion Narratives in Early Modern Europe’ is a three-year project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, that seeks to uncover people’s experience of religious change and devotional practice between 1550 and 1700.

Please explore the news and resources on these pages, or find out more about our research and activities on the project blog. You can also follow us on twitter.

News and announcements

'Virtue and Vice' app: take the exhibition home!

Posted on Wednesday 24 April 2013

New mobile app unlocks the secrets of the 'Virtue and Vice' exhibition

'Virtue and Vice' exhibition offers a new perspective on the past

Posted on Monday 8 April 2013

The newly-launched 'Virtue and Vice' exhibition at Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire invites visitors to discover the rich stories and histories of Elizabethan and Jacobean England, as they have been transformed and expanded by our research into religious change, household life, and cultural encounters.

The final 'Cultural Encounters' lecture is now available to view online.

Posted on Thursday 28 March 2013

Project co-director Helen Smith drew together many of the elements of our 'Cultural Encounters' lecture series by reflecting on 'Embroidered Encounters: Travel, Trade and Religion at Hardwick Hall'.

 

 

Virtue and Vice

This image shows one of three magnificent hangings at Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire, which illustrate the theological virtues - faith, temperance, and hope - and their opposing vices. Here, 'Faith' triumphs over 'false religion', personified in the figure of 'Mahomet'.

Virtue and Vice was a decorative theme with a long history. Yet this image, created in the late sixteenth century, marks a radical departure from tradition.

Visit the 'Virtue and Vice' exhibition, curated by the Conversion Narratives project team, to learn how England was transformed by the political, religious, and social upheaval known as the Reformation, and by the global confrontations and exchanges made possible by travel, trade, and exploration. All of these threads twine together in the rich history of Hardwick Hall, and the colourful life of its builder, Bess.

Read more about the process of creating the exhibition on our blog.

Download our app

We have created a mobile app to accompany the exhibition. Download 'Virtue and Vice' for Android or Apple handheld devices and mobile phones.