LibGuides: History Research Guide: Hist 402: Renaissance and Reformation

Finding a Research Topic

In addition to your textbook and class lectures, topics for your paper may be found by looking through journals on the topic. Here are a few journals that cover the Renaissance and Reformation periods that might give you ideas for a paper topic.

Arethusa This distinguished journal is known for publishing original literary and cultural studies of the ancient world that combine contemporary theoretical perspectives with traditional approaches to literary and material evidence.
Early Music Each issue is beautifully illustrated and contains a wide range of articles on performance practice, iconography, sources, instruments and many other aspects of the historical context for a given work or repertory. Some issues are dedicated to a particular theme to mark the anniversary of a composer or to explore an otherwise uncharted territory, such as the music of the New World or the early musical traditions of non-Western cultures.
English Literary Renaissance English Literary Renaissance is a journal devoted to current criticism and scholarship of Tudor and early Stuart English literature, 1485-1665, including Shakespeare, Spenser, Donne, and Milton. It is unique in featuring the publication of rare texts and newly discovered manuscripts of the period and current annotated bibliographies of work in the field. It is illustrated with contemporary woodcuts and engravings of Renaissance England and Europe.
Journal of Seventeenth Century Music The Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music (JSCM) is published by the Society for Seventeenth-Century Music to provide a refereed forum for scholarly studies of the musical cultures of the seventeenth century. These include historical and archival studies, performance practice, music theory, aesthetics, dance, and theater. JSCM also publishes critical reviews of recently published books, scores, and electronic media.
Milton Quarterly Milton Quarterly was the first journal to be devoted exclusively to the life and writings of John Milton. Four highly readable issues each year cover the latest developments in the field with news, abstracts, notes, articles, lists of books received, reviews, and monographs.
Renaissance Studies Renaissance Studies is a multi-disciplinary journal which publishes articles and editions of documents on all aspects of Renaissance history and culture. The articles range over the history, art, architecture, religion, literature, and languages of Europe during the period. Editions of important documents appear in their original languages, with introduction, textual apparatus, notes and (occasionally) translations of the documents and sources into English. The journal also contains a substantial book reviews section and often illustrated reviews of major exhibitions worldwide.
Reformation & Renaissance Review: Journal of the Society for Reformation Studies Provides information on the theology & spirituality, both Protestant & Catholic, of the 15th to 17th centuries. Includes history, literature, bibliography, theatre, music, art & philology related to theological & spiritual developments of period.
Sixteenth Century Journal In publication since 1969, the Sixteenth Century Journal (SCJ) prints twenty to twenty-five articles and over four hundred book reviews a year. The SCJ is dedicated to providing readers with thought-provoking research and inquiry into the sixteenth century broadly defined (i.e., 1450-1648). Our articles all maintain a strong historical core and cover subjects from around the world.
Renaissance Quarterly Renaissance Quarterly publishes interdisciplinary articles (twelve to sixteen a year) and reviews (about one hundred an issue) which cover the most important recent scholarly developments in Renaissance studies. The journal's articles and reviews are written by authorities in the respective disciplines of history, literature, art, philosophy, music and other areas of study.
The Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies The Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies publishes articles informed by historical inquiry and alert to issues raised by contemporary theoretical debate. The journal fosters rigorous investigation of historiographical representations of European and western Asian cultural forms from late antiquity to the seventeenth century. Its topics include art, literature, theater, music, philosophy, theology, and history, and it embraces material objects as well as texts; women as well as men; merchants, workers, and audiences as well as patrons; Jews and Muslims as well as Christians.
Renaissance Drama Renaissance Drama explores the rich variety of theatrical and performance traditions and practices in early modern Europe and intersecting cultures. The sole scholarly journal devoted to the full expanse of Renaissance theatre and performance, the journal publishes articles that extend the scope of our understanding of early modern playing, theatre history, and dramatic texts and interpretation, encouraging innovative theoretical and methodological approaches to these traditions, examining familiar works, and revisiting well-known texts from fresh perspectives. Renaissance Drama welcomes articles on the full range of early modern linguistic and theatrical traditions, the discourses and institutions shaped by performance, and manifestations of performance and performativity both on and beyond the stage. Occasionally, issues of the journal may be devoted to special topics of particular interest.

Online Source for Primary Sources from the Renaissance

British History Online British History Online is a collection of nearly 1300 volumes of primary and secondary content relating to British and Irish history, and histories of empire and the British world. BHO also provides access to 40,000 images and 10,000 tiles of historic maps of the British Isles.
Calvinism Resources Database
CANTUS: A Database for Latin Ecclesiastical Chant
Catalogue of Digitized Medieval Manuscripts
Christian Classics Ethereal Library The Christian Classics Ethereal Library is a digital library of hundreds of classic Christian books selected for edification and education. The online www.ccel.org server reaches several million different users each year.
Creeds of Christendom
Digital Scriptorium
EGO European History Online EGO | European History Online is a transcultural history of Europe on the Internet. It investigates processes of intercultural exchange in European history whose impact extended beyond state, national and cultural borders. EGO describes Europe as a constantly changing communicative space which witnessed extremely varied processes of interaction, circulation, overlapping and entanglement, of exchange and transfer, but also confrontation, resistance and demarcation. EGO examines 500 years of modern European history by transcending national, disciplinary and methodological boundaries. The subjects are as diverse as the communicative and transfer processes which EGO depicts. They range from religion, politics, science and law, to art and music, as well as to the economy, technology and the military. Ten thematic threads enable a systematic approach to accessing the content. "Surveys" provide background information and context. "Basic elements" describe and analyse specific transfer processes relevant to Europe. "Focus elements" contain materials and information on discrete aspects or introduce particular mediators that were significant for intercultural transfer processes. Over 250 articles are being gradually published.
EuroDocs Western European Primary Source Documents from Brigham Young University.
Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index
Franciscan Authors, 13th - 18th Century
German History in Documents and Images This site has many images and documents related to German history from 1500 to modern day. The site and documents are available in German or English.
Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
Hanover Historical Texts Project The Hanover Historical Texts Collection makes available digital versions of historical texts for use in history and humanities courses. Search by keyword, or browse the listings below.
Index Verborum: Martin Luther's German writings, 1516-1525
Internet Christian Library
Internet Islamic History Sourcebook a collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented cleanly (without advertising or excessive layout) for educational use. Primary sources are available here primarily for use in high-school and university/college courses. From the outset the site took a very broad view of the sources that should be available to students and as well as documents long associated with a "western civilization" approach to history also provides much information on Byzantine, Islamic, Jewish, Indian, East Asian, and African history. You will also find many documents especially relevant to women's history and LGBT studies.
Internet Medieval Sourcebook
Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Reformation
Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts from Western Europe (from the New York Public Library) Digitized content from the New York Public Library's collections.
Online Medieval Sources Bibliography
Project Wittenberg
Renaissance Liturgical Imprints: a Census
Theological Perspectives of the Reformation
World Digital Library Humanity's earliest written works go online. National libraries and the U.N. education agency put some of humanity's earliest written works online, from ancient Chinese oracle bones to the first European map of the New World. A Web site in seven languages — English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian — leads readers through a trove of rare finds from more than a dozen countries. Among them: a 1562 map of the New World; the only known copy of the first book published in the Philippines, in Spanish and Tagalog; an 11th-century Serbian manuscript; and the oracle bones — pieces of bone or tortoise shell heated and cracked and inscribed that are among the earliest known signs of Chinese writings. It also has early photographs, films and audio tracks. The site provides page-by-page viewing of the original works, scanned in by the national libraries that took part in the project, often with multilingual narration by curators.

Subject Headings and Call Numbers

Subject headings

Renaissance
Devotio moderna
Fifteenth Century
Sixteenth Century
Civilization, Modern
Humanism
Renaissance--Germany (or substitute another country for Germany)
Art, Renaissance
Art, Renaissance - History
Dance - History
Fashion History
Architecture history
Cookery
Food history
Gardens history

You can also look for specific people. See the box on the right for a short list of significant people in the renaissance. There are many more so don't limit yourself to these examples.

Call number areas

History

D101-110.5 Medieval and modern history, 476

D111-203 Medieval history

D135-149 Migrations
D151-173 Crusades
D175-195 Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Latin Orient, 1099-1291
D200-203 Later medieval. 11th-15th centuries
D204-475 Modern history, 1453
D219-234 1453-1648

Literature

PN661-694 Medieval (to 1500)

PN683-687 Legends
PN688-691 Poetry
PN692-693 Prose. Prose fiction

PN695-779 Modern

PN715-749 Renaissance (1500-1700)

Music

ML 169.8-190 Medieval and Renaissance

Philosophy

B720-765 Medieval
B770-785 Renaissance

People

Reformers

Martin Luther 1483-1546
Theodore Beza 1519-1605
Jean Calvin 1509-1564
Philipp Melanchthon 1497-1560
Ulrich Zwingli 1484-1531 (Hyldrych)
Jan Hus 1369?-1415
John Know 1514-1572
Menno Simons, 1496-1561
Desiderius Erasmus

Composers

John Dunstable 1390-1453
Josquin des Prez 1450-1521
John Taverner 1490-1545
Thomas Tallis 1505-1585
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina 1525-1594
William Byrd 1540-1623
Giovanni Gabrieli 1554/57-1612
Claudio Monteverdi 1567-1643
Michael Praetorius 1571-1621

Artists

Donatello 1386-1466
Botticelli 1445-1510
Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519
Michelangelo 1475-1570
Raphael 1483-1525
El Greco 1541-1614
Hieronymus Bosch 1450-1516
Albrecht Durer 1471-1528

Authors/Playwrights

William Shakespeare 1564-1616
Geoffrey Chaucer 1342/43-1400
Nicholas Machiavelli 1469-1527
Miguel de Cervantes 1547-1616
Dante Alighieri 1265-1321
John Donne 1572-1631
Edmund Spenser 1552/3-1599
John Milton 1608-1674
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (Molière) 1622-1673

Monarchs

Valois dynasty in France (began 1328)
Charles VII (France)
Louis XI (France)
Edward IV (England)
Henry VII (England)
Henry VIII (England)
Isabella I of Castile (Spain)
Ferdinand II of Aragon (Spain)

Other Notable Renaissance People

Johannes Gutenberg (invented the printing press)
Desiderius Erasmus (Dutch humanist and theologian)