Early modern history

1024�˹��

Our early modern history research is re-examining the world in which Europeans lived between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries – and helping us to readdress basic assumptions about their history.

We're looking at how people in Europe experienced and responded to a time of significant change and upheaval, when traditional authority was disrupted and challenged. We're also exploring some key markers of identity, including religion and gender, and considering the complex ways in which people in the past made sense of their present.

Our work is frequently published in leading academic journals and publications within the field, including the New Perspectives in History series, and the journal of , which is edited by Dr Katy Gibbons, one of our senior lecturers in History and an active contributor to our research work in this topic.

Our research covers the following topics

Sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth century history
Early modern England and Europe
Family and lifecycle history
Exile, diaspora, and migration history
Intellectual history
Digital humanities
Early modern gender
Material culture
The Reformation
The British Civil War
Religious conflict and toleration

Methods

We apply a number of qualitative research methods to our Early Modern History research, and draw on a wide range of source material – including State papers, legal records, material sources, correspondence, manuscripts and early printed books.

Project highlights

This project explores the correspondence of sixteenth-century blended families, to uncover how individuals with differing connections of power and affection defined themselves and their relations. It is funded by the British Academy.

Research groups

History Research Group

We're researching aspects of social and cultural history in European societies, and further afield.

Interested in a PhD in History?

Browse our postgraduate research degrees – including PhDs and MPhils – at our History postgraduate research degrees page.

1024�˹���