Curriculum Information

Cities were the beating hearts of early modern Europe. Centres of commerce, finance, education and power, urban areas were at the forefront of changing religious, political and social landscapes. Yet, their position of power and prestige brought with it many dangers. Sin, greed, corruption, vice, scandal and depravity found welcome homes in cities and towns across Europe. The powerful threats of the (imminent) apocalypse, Antichrist and the Devil acted to a large extent accelerant, intensifier and legitimiser of efforts to combat immorality and sinfulness in these dens of iniquity. Secular and religious authorities targeted specific confessional minorities and social groups, and scrutinised sexual behaviour criminalising those acts seen as immoral, such as adultery and sodomy. Cautionary books and pamphlets warned of divine wrath and eternal damnation to those who lived immoral lives as well as those who condoned such behaviour. Concurrently, a growing public demand for 'news', gossip and rumour informed people about the actions and morals of their social and political elites.
In focusing on specific case studies and primary sources from across Europe, this module explores the prevalence of vice, scandal and depravity and considers how people behaved in groups against perceived enemies or 'pollutants'. Set against the backdrop of reformation and apocalypticism, students will examine the underbellies of society and place popular and state reactions to them into the wider contexts of toleration and persecution.