Early Modern

Books written during or set in the Early Modern period or the Renaissance in Europe or the New World.

Although the chronological limits of the period are open to debate, the timeframe spans the period after the late portion of the Middle Ages (c. 1500) through the beginning of the Age of Revolutions (c. 1800) and is variously demarcated by historians as beginning with the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, with the Renaissance or the Age of Discovery and ending with the French Revolution in 1789.

Hamlet
Othello
King Lear
The Tempest
Romeo and Juliet
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Macbeth
Dr. Faustus
Paradise Lost
The Merchant of Venice
Twelfth Night
Much Ado About Nothing
Titus Andronicus
Don Quixote
The Winter's Tale
The Witches by Stacy SchiffSix Women of Salem by Marilynne K. RoachIn the Devil's Snare by Mary Beth NortonWitches by Tracy BormanThe Devil in the Shape of a Woman by Carol F. Karlsen
Early Modern Witchcraft
25 books — 10 voters
The Tale of Genji by Murasaki ShikibuIf Not, Winter by SapphoThe Book of the City of Ladies by Christine de PizanOroonoko by Aphra BehnThe Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe
Early Female Fiction Writers
89 books — 30 voters

The Prince by Niccolò MachiavelliThe Birth of Venus by Sarah DunantBrunelleschi's Dome by Ross KingThe House of Medici by Christopher HibbertThe Tigress of Forlì by Elizabeth Lev
The Italian Renaissance
282 books — 172 voters

Reinhart Koselleck
Heresy no longer existed within religion; it was founded in the state.
Reinhart Koselleck, Futures Past: On the Semantics of Historical Time

Catholic gossip and folklore, as one might term it, contributed to this demonizing legend around the conflict with the Protestants. At Geila in Brabant it was reported that the demons suddenly left all the possessed people, so that they could attend Luther's funeral[...] At St. Medard's Church in Paris the Calvinist iconoclasts allegedly broke all the winfows except that 'in gratitude' they left one which showed a red devil. In several other places, including St. Paul's in London, iconoclastic m ...more
Euan Cameron, ENCHANTED EUROPE:SUPERSTITION, REASON & RELIGION 1250-1750 PAPER: Superstition, Reason, and Religion 1250-1750

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The 50-Book Exam Inspired by the Ph.D. Qualifying 50-Book Exam administered to second-year Ph.D. students in the …more
2 members, last active 3 months ago
Early Modern History, 16th-18th Century This is a group for all those with an interest in Early Modern history (roughly from 1500-1800, …more
49 members, last active 3 years ago