Reformation & Discovery
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Reformation & Discovery Web Sites
World Cultures to 1500: Discovery and Reformation
This online course by Professor Thomas Hooker of Washington State University offers a terrific overview of Ancient and Medieval History, as well as the Reformation. It offers clear and informative lecture notes, maps, a photo gallery, timelines, links to relevant sites, and more. Topics include: Reformation The Northern Renaissance, Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, Protestant England, Counter-Reformation, and Religious Wars (Thirty Years War). Resources include: Readings in Reformation Culture, A Glossary of Reformation Terms and Concepts, Reformation and Northern Renaissance Gallery, and Internet Resources on the Reformation.
BBC: The Tudors
Formerly organized as Church and Reformation, this clear, engaging, and interactive BBC section provides a nice introduction to the Protestant Reformation in England and offers some unique features. You can learn about Henry VIII's need for an heir that triggered the English Reformation and chart the legacy of Henry's split with Rome. (British visitors can also discover how to trace the history of their local church.) Professor Andrew Pettegree then reviews the events which lead up to the introduction of a simpler Protestant faith and Bruce Robinson answers questions such as: What happened after Henry decided Rome was unnecessary? What might it have been like to live through the Reformation? So what exactly happened, and What lasting impact did the Reformation have? Finally, learn about the Reformation in Scotland. In all there is plenty of related background information of the Reformation and related links, as well as special galleries devoted to English cathedrals. You can even join a discussion board. Ideal site for students.
Internet Modern History Sourcebook
The Internet History Sourcebooks are wonderful collections of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts for educational use by Paul Halsall. The site and its documents are well organized and the breadth of materials is impressive. The Sourcebooks include: an Ancient History Sourcebook, a Medieval Sourcebook, and a Modern History Sourcebook. The Internet Modern History Sourcebook contains thousands of sources in dozens of categories. Reformation topics include: Protestant Reformation, Precursors and Papal Critics, Luther and Lutheranism, Calvin and Calvinism, Radical Reformers, English Reformation, Scottish Reformation, John Knox, Catholic Reformation, The Council of Trent, Other Catholic Reformers, and The Society of Jesus.
Redefining the Sacred in Early Modern England
This site is drawn from the experiences of sixteen college teachers who gathered at the Folger Shakespeare Library in 1998 for a collaborative investigation of the conflicted histories of the Reformation in England. They began with the premise that the texts of the period could not be taught successfully without a working knowledge of the religions beliefs and controversies of the period and an array of strategies for bringing that material to life in the classroom. Thus, the participants culled the images found here so that they might share with their classes examples of the experience of religion in the early modern period. Those examples include some of the many books, manuscripts, and images reviewed in the summer institute.
Voices of the Powerless
This BBC site follows a long historical exploration of the Routes of English with Voices of the Powerless, in which Melvyn Bragg explores the lives of the ordinary working men and women of Britain at six critical moments across the last 1,000 years. This particular audio-episode deals with the upheavals and turmoil of the sixteenth century that transformed many aspects of religious life.
Martin Luther: The Reluctant Revolutionary
Martin Luther is the tale of the great Protestant revolutionary who challenged the all-powerful Catholic Church and reshaped Europe. In this interactive PBS you learn about Luther's confrontation with the great powers of Europe and meet characters from his time. Among the interesting parts of the site are Luther trivia, 10 Things You Didn?t Know, Day in the Life of a Monk, and Martin Luther v. Martin Luther King. There are two lesson plans as well.
Project Wittenberg is a site for works by and about Martin Luther and Lutherans and attempts to bring Luther to life for those who have not had the opportunity to meet him in the pages of history. Included are commentaries, statements of faith, theological treatises, biographies, links, and more. Project Wittenberg documents are posted in their original languages, in English translation and other languages as they are available. Excellent research site.
A great starting point for learning about the Age of Exploration, the Discovers Web is a collection of links to sites on the 15th and 16th century voyages of exploration and discovery. In addition, there are a large number of biographies and links on single explorers or subjects, a special page for multi-page sites on voyages of discovery, an alphabetical list of explorers, and "exploring is risky business," a list of explorers who died during their voyages. Many links and a strong mix of primary and secondary sources.
Columbus and the Age of Discovery
Created by Millersville University, this site is part of text retrieval system that contains over 1100 text articles from magazines, journals, newspapers, speeches, official calendars and other sources relating to various encounter themes. Library of Congress 1492 Expo offers brief essays on What Came To Be Called "America," The Mediterranean World, Inventing America, Christopher Columbus: Man and Myth, and Europe Claims America. There are primary sources, artifacts, drawings, maps and more
The Conquistadors On-line Learning Adventure resource is geared towards middle and high school classrooms to help teach about the Spanish Conquistadors in the New World and the legacy of their contact with Native Americans. There are lesson plans for teachers and in-depth online content for students available in both English and Spanish.
History enthusiast Lara E. Eakins runs this broad and frequently updated site. Sections incude: The Tudor Monarchs, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Who's Who in Tudor History, Topics in Tudor History, Chronologies of People and Events, Architecture, Electronic Texts, Genealogical Trees, Glossaries of Words and Terms, Reference Maps, Bibliography, Image Gallery Index, Ask or Help Answer Questions, Student Help, and Links of Interest.
Le Poulet Gauche
Le Poulet Gauche is a detailed guide to the history, culture, and daily life of 16th century France. Most of the site deals with social issues, but the Wars of Religion section outlines how such conflict "destroyed a generation." Features a map of the territorial divisions of France along religious and political lines.
Internet Archive of Texts and Documents
A creation of faculty and students in the History Department of Hanover College, The Internet Archive of Texts and Documents makes public domain primary texts and secondary sources on the internet available to students and faculty for use in history and humanity classes. Reformation topics include: Lutheran Reformations, Reformed Reformations, Radical Reformations, English Reformation, Scottish Reformation, Secondary Sources, Resources. Site was last updated July 1, 2000 so links are not actively maintained.
Christian Classics Ethereal Library: John Calvin
Offers a concise but useful introduction to one of the most important figures of the Reformation as well as translations of the theologian's writings.
The Spiritual Program: The Protestant Reformation
A "personal journey" by a teacher, pastor, systems analyst and even a carpenter, this site provides a brief, clear and well organized introduction to the Protestant Reformation -- from a Christian perspective. Sections include: Early Efforts at Reform of the Church, Growing Conditions for Reform, Luther precipitates the challenge, the Catholic Counter Reformation, The Wars of Religion (The Thirty Years War), the Puritan Revolution in England, and more.
Part of the Luminarium site, this section offers much information on Elizabeth I. There is an introduction to The Life of Elizabeth I by Britannia.com, The Works of Elizabeth I, Essays and Articles, an Image gallery, Additional Sources and Elizabeth I in the Bookstore. See also the section on Henry IV.
The Catholic Encyclopedia
The Catholic Encyclopedia strives to give its readers full and authoritative information on the entire cycle of Catholic interests, action and doctrine. It omits facts and information which have no relation to the Church but is not limited to the ecclesiastical sciences and the activities of churchmen. Use their search engine for "Reformation" and "Counter Reformation" for a concise Catholic perspective on these events.
This site serves to make important and hard to find primary source Reformation documents readily accessible. The Classics section includes articles and links from authors spanning from the Reformation to the early twentieth century.
Oliver Cromwell's Internet Portal
The Cromwell Association and the Cromwell Museum in Huntingdon has organized material under the following headings: Calendar of Key Events, Oliver Cromwell's Antecedents, Oliver Cromwell as Politician, Oliver Cromwell's Military Career, Oliver Cromwell's Views on Religion, Words Said About Oliver Cromwell, Words Said By Oliver Cromwell, English Civil Wars, and Cromwell: A Select Bibliography of Books and Articles. There is also a picture gallery.
The Thirty Years War
The website provides a concise summary and year-by-year history of the Thirty Years War. It covers, in varying degrees of detail, the military and diplomatic developments of the Thirty Years War. There is discussion of various phases (Bohemian, Palatinate, Danish, Swedish, and French) of the Thirty Years War as well as the The Peace of Westphalia.