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Persecution and Toleration in Early Modern Britain - HIS00158I

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  • Department: History
  • Module co-ordinator: Dr. Emilie Murphy
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: I
  • Academic year of delivery: 2024-25
    • See module specification for other years: 2023-24

Module summary

Early modern societies are defined by persecution. The period witnessed widespread and ruthless attempts to eliminate religious dissent, violence and wars of religion, and fostered levels of hatred and prejudice that forced many to conceal their identities, go into exile or face execution. At the same time, this was a period where ideas about the ‘evils of toleration’ were challenged and debated, where (some) religious minorities were permitted and sanctioned, and it was an era which saw ordinary people of differing beliefs find creative ways to live alongside each other.

This module explores the ways these seemingly contradictory impulses could coexist in early modern Britain, and engages with wider contemporary European and global developments. Beginning with religious dissenters in the late Middle Ages and (officially) ending with the Toleration Act of 1689, students will consider the evolution in historical approaches to the study of tolerance and intolerance, and interrogate previous narratives dominated by models of progress. Students will also engage with a range of primary sources including popular song, material culture, literature, and polemic.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 2 2024-25

Module aims

The aims of this module are:

  • To provide students with the opportunity to study particular historical topics in depth
  • To develop students’ ability to examine a topic from a range of perspectives and to strengthen their ability to work critically and reflectively with secondary and primary material

Module learning outcomes

Students who complete this module successfully will:

  • Have acquired a deep knowledge of the specific topic studied
  • Have developed their ability to use and synthesise a range of primary and secondary sources
  • Be able to evaluate the arguments that historians have made about the topic studied
  • Have developed their ability to study independently through seminar-based teaching

Module content

Students will attend a 1-hour briefing in week 1. Students will then attend a 1-hour plenary/lecture and a 2-hour seminar in weeks 2-4, 6-8 and 10-11 of semester 1. Weeks 5 & 9 are Reading and Writing Weeks (RAW) during which there are no seminars. Students prepare for and participate in eight 1-hour plenaries/lectures and eight 2-hour seminars in all.

Seminar topics are subject to variation, but are likely to include the following:

  1. Heterodoxy and Religious Dissent in the Late Middle Ages
  2. Church and State: The Pursuit of Uniformity
  3. Martyrdom and Martyrology
  4. Exiles
  5. Papists
  6. Infidels
  7. Coexistence and Religious Pluralism
  8. The Origins of Toleration? 1689 etc.

Assessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Assessed Essay		 N/A 100

Special assessment rules

None

Additional assessment information

For formative assessment, students will complete a referenced 1200 to 1500-word essay relating to the themes and issues of the module. This will be submitted in either the Week 5 or Week 9 RAW week (on the day of the weekly seminar).

For summative assessment, students will complete an Assessed Essay (2000 words, footnoted). This will comprise 100% of the overall module mark.

Summative assessments will be due in the assessment period.

Reassessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Assessed Essay		 N/A 100

Module feedback

Following their formative assessment task, students will typically receive written feedback that will include comments and a mark within 10 working days of submission.

Work will be returned to students in their seminars and may be supplemented by the tutor giving some oral feedback to the whole group. All students are encouraged, if they wish, to discuss the feedback on their formative work during their tutor’s student hours. For more information, see the Statement on Feedback.

For the summative assessment task, students will receive their provisional mark and written feedback within 25 working days of the submission deadline. The tutor will then be available during student hours for follow-up guidance if required. For more information, see the Statement of Assessment.

Indicative reading

For term time reading, please refer to the module VLE site. Before the course starts, we encourage you to look at the following items of preliminary reading:

  • Noel D. Johnson and Mark Koyama, Persecution and Toleration: The Long Road To Religious Freedom (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019).
  • Benjamin K. Kaplan, Divided by Faith: Religious Conflict and the Practice of Toleration in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007).
  • Alexandra Walsham, Charitable Hatred: Tolerance and Intolerance in England, 1500-1700 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2006).


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University is constantly exploring ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary by the University. Where appropriate, the University will notify and consult with affected students in advance about any changes that are required in line with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.