HIST 413: Saints, Witches & Heretics

This seminar will examine the types of spirituality that were celebrated and the types that were brutally repressed by the Christian churches of late medieval and early modern Europe (1250-1700). It will compare different interpretations of late medieval Catholicism and then turn to Martin Luther, assessing the major theses of his theological vision and why they led to religious division. The course will then consider varied attitudes to saints, witches, and heretics in Catholic and Protestant Europe. Throughout the semester, the course will explore the interrelationship among these three categories and the ways in which they illuminate the Reformation era.