Christianity, State, Society in Europe XI-XVIII Centuries: Comparative Perspective

2018/2019

Academic Year

ENG

Instruction in English

3

ECTS credits

Delivered at:

School of History

Course type:

Elective course

When:

3 year, 1 module

Instructor

Dmitriev, Professor M.

Course Syllabus

Abstract

This seminar course aims to explore some selected aspects of the impact exerted by Christian traditions (Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Protestantism) upon states and societies in Western (France), Central (Poland), and Eastern (Russia) Europe in the timespan between XIth and XIXth centuries, from a comparative and multidisciplinary angle. Our main objective will be to get acquainted with scholarly approaches to some layers in the double question: - how deeply and in what respects did Catholic and Protestant confessional traditions impact history and culture of the West of Europe? - how deeply and in what respects did the Byzantine-Orthodox confessional traditions impact Russia’s history and Russian culture? Methodologically this seminar course will be based on Max Weber’s tradition. Chronologically we will be dealing mostly with Middle Ages and Early Modern Period, although some perspectives on the XVIIItn-XIXth centuries will be provided too.

Learning Objectives

• to analyze comparatively and from the longue durée perspective some crucial aspects in the interaction of religious traditions with political, social and cultural processes in Europe’s history
• to explore some new research problems regarding relationship between religious traditions and social and political evolution of the European countries in Middle Ages and XVIth - XIXth centuries
• to familiarize students with the research issues in the given area which remain unclear, controversial and disputable, and thus most promising in terms of further research

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Students will acquire a systemic understanding of basic religious factors influencing social, political and cultural evolution of Europe in Modern time.
• Students will be able to form solid and argued judgments in a range of specific questions in history of France, Poland, Russia and other Europe’s countries.

Course Contents

• The “Latin West” and the “Greek” East: Two patristic legacies
  Week 1 (a) Religion, confession, state and society in Europe and beyond. Max Weber’s legacy. (b) The “Latin West” and the “Greek” East: what makes a difference on the normative level? Two patristic legacies. Week 2: (a) From patristics to politics? Impact of two Christian normative traditions upon “political mind” in the West and in the East of Europe. (b) Religion and politics in the Muscovite stardom. Week 3: (a) Religion and politics in Poland-Lithuania, XVIth – XVIIth centuries. (b) Religion and politics in France, XVIth – XVIIth centuries. Week 4: (a) Counter-Reformation and Catholic Reform in Poland and France. (b) Religious tolerance in Poland and France, XVIth – XVIth centuries
• From tolerance to exclusion?
  Week 5: (a) From tolerance to exclusion? Why - intolerance in France, in Poland, in the West, XVIth- XVIIth century. (b). Puzzle of religious toleration “à la moscovite” (Muscovy, XVIth-XVIIth century). Week 6: (a) Russian Raskol and the Old Believers, from a comparative angle: what sort of “Reformation”? (b) Religion, tradition, custom as factors of social and politics in the West (France, Poland), XVIth – XIXth centuries. Week 7: (a) Sub specie mortis: perception of death and its cultural impact in the “latin” West and in Russia (XIII-XVIIth centuries). (b) Confessionalization, social discipline, the “well-ordered police state”: three forces which made the West different? 3 Week 8: (a) Missing Reformation, Renaissance, Humanism - a pseudo-problem in history of the Orthodox cultures of Eastern Europe? (b) Witch hunting in Early Modern Europe, West and East: was Russia an exception? Week 9: (a) From Catholic Reform to Enlightenment and Revolution in France and Poland. (b) How to get modern? Christianity and modernization in France and Russia, XIXth century. Week 10: (a) From medieval nationes to modern nationalism in the West and in the East of Europe. (b) Christianity and socialist traditions, the West and Russia in comparison, XVIth- XIXth century.

Assessment Elements

• seminar work
• term paper
• exam

Interim Assessment

• Interim assessment (1 module)
  0.7 * exam + 0.15 * seminar work + 0.15 * term paper

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Raschke, C. (2014). The Allure of Decadent Thinking: Religious Studies and the Challenge of Postmodernism. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.BCB23429

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Barton, J. (2007). The Old Testament: Canon, Literature and Theology : Collected Essays of John Barton. Aldershot, England: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=269264
• Keown, M. J. (2018). Discovering the New Testament : An Introduction to Its Background, Theology, and Themes (Volume I: The Gospels and Acts). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=2011788