Opening at the height of the Renaissance, the book chronicles the dawning of a new age on the European continent. Koenigsberger paints a detailed picture of the Reformation and its significance as increasingly powerful nations began to intrude on their subjects’ public and private lives. He gives account of the Counter-Reformation and the political and economic crisis that accompanied it, and an in-depth discussion of the age of Louis XIV and the balance of power in Europe. A full chapter addresses the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment, and throughout attention is given to social, cultural and intellectual developments. The book concludes with a summary of the situation throughout Europe on the eve of the French Revolution, and the dramatic changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution and the beginnings of a consumer society.

Thoroughly updated best-selling textbook with new learning features. This acclaimed textbook has unmatched breadth of coverage and a global perspective.

This opening volume of a three-part history of the family in Europe examines the material conditions of family life, housing, diet and domestic organisation, and the economic and social factors that influenced its development.

A broad-ranging survey of violence in western Europe from the Reformation to the French Revolution. Julius Ruff summarises a huge body of research and provides readers with a clear, accessible, and engaging introduction to the topic of violence in early modern Europe. His book, enriched with fascinating illustrations, underlines the fact that modern preoccupations with the problem of violence are not unique, and that late medieval and early modern European societies produced levels of violence that may have exceeded those in the most violent modern inner-city neighbourhoods. Julius Ruff examines the role of the emerging state in controlling violence; the roots and forms of the period's widespread interpersonal violence; violence and its impact on women; infanticide; and rioting. This book, in the successful textbook series New Approaches to European History, will be of great value to students of European history, criminal justice sciences, and anthropology.

'Early Modern' is a term applied to the period which falls between the end of the middle ages and the beginning of the nineteenth century. This book provides a comprehensive introduction to Europe in this period, exploring the changes and transitions involved in the move towards modernity. Nine newly commissioned chapters under the careful editorship of Euan Cameron cover social, political, economic, and cultural perspectives, all contributing to a full and vibrant picture of Europe during this time. The chapters are organized thematically, and consider the evolving European economy and society, the impact of new ideas on religion, and the emergence of modern political attitudes and techniques. The text is complemented with many illustrations throughout to give a feel of the changes in life beyond the raw historical data.

In this wide-ranging volume, Cissie Fairchilds rejects conventional accounts of the Early Modern period that claim it was a period of diminishing power and rights for European women. Instead, she shows that it was a period of positive changes that challenged and led to the eventual destruction of traditional misogynist notions that women were inferior to men. The book explores the historical basis of patriarchal views of women and describes the great intellectual debate over the nature and roles of women taking place at the time. It gives an account of women's daily lives and looks at women's work during the period. The book also deals with the role of women in religion and with witchcraft and the prosecution of women as witches. The book concludes by examining the relationship between women and the State.

Accessible, engaging textbook offering an innovative account of people's lives in the early modern period.

Introduction: The Printing Press as an Agent of Power / Helmer Helmers, Nina Lamal and Jamie Cumby -- Part 1: Governing through Print -- Policing in Print: Social Control in Spanish and Borromean Milan (1535-1584) / Rachel Midura -- On Printing and Decision-Making: The Management of Information by the City Powers of Lyon (ca. 1550-ca. 1580) / Gautier Mingous -- Printing for Central Authorities in the Early Modern Low Countries (15th-17th Centuries) / Renaud Adam -- Rural Officials Discover the Printing Press in the Eighteenth-Century Habsburg Monarchy / Andreas Golob -- Part 2: Printing for Government -- Printing for the Reformation: The Canonical Documents of the Edwardian Church of England, 1547-1553 / Celyn Richards -- Newspapers and Authorities in Seventeenth-Century Germany / Jan Hillgärtner -- The Politics of Print in the Dutch Golden Age: The Ommelander Troubles (c. 1630-1680) / Arthur der Weduwen -- Part 3: Patronage and Prestige -- The Rise of the Stampatore Camerale: Printers and Power in Early Sixteenth-Century Rome / Paolo Sachet -- State and Church Sponsored Printing by Jan Januszowski and His Drukarnia Łazarzowa (Officina Lazari) in Krakow / Justyna Kiliańczyk-Zięba -- Ferdinando de'Medici and the Typographia Medicea / Caren Reimann -- Royal Patronage of Illicit Print: Catherine of Braganza and Catholic Books in Late Seventeenth-Century London / Chelsea Reutcke -- Part 4: Power of Persuasion -- The Papacy, Power, and Print: The Publication of Papal Decrees in the First Fifty Years of Printing / Margaret Meserve -- The Power of the Image: The Visual Prints of Frans Hogenberg / Ramon Voges -- Collecting 'Toute l'Angleterre': English Books, Soft Power and Spanish Diplomacy at the Casa del Sol (1613-1622) / Ernesto Oyarbide -- Prohibition as Propaganda Technique: The Case of the Pamphlet Lacouronne usurpee et le prince supposé (1688) / Rindert Jagersma -- Part 5: Relgious Authority -- Illustrating Authority: The Creation and Reception of an English Protestant Iconography / Nora Epstein -- Between Ego Documents and Anti-Catholic Propaganda: Printed Revocation Sermons in Seventeenth-Century Lutheran Germany / Martin Christ -- Learned Servants: Dutch Ministers, Their Books and the Struggle for a Reformed Republic in the Dutch Golden Age / Forrest C. Strickland.

Provides a concise introduction to and overview of the centuries in Europe between the Renaissance and the French Revolution. Features include: surveys of key topics written by an international team of historians; suggestions for seminar discussion and further reading; extracts from primary sources; a glossary; and chapter chronologies of major events.

One of the world's leading cultural historians on writing about history in early modern Europe.