The Crisis of the Seventeenth Century: Religion, the Reformation, and Social Change

by Hugh Trevor-Roper

Overview

The Crisis of the Seventeenth Century collects nine essays by Trevor-Roper on the themes of religion, the Reformation, and social change.

In his longest essay, “The European Witch-craze of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries,” Trevor-Roper points out that “in England the most active phase of witch-hunting coincided with times of Puritan pressure—the reign of Queen Elizabeth and the period of the civil wars—and some very fanciful theories have been built on this coincidence. But . . . the persecution of witches in England was trivial compared with the experience of the Continent and of Scotland. Therefore . . . [one must examine] the craze as a whole, throughout Europe, and [seek] to relate its rise, frequency, and decline to the general intellectual and social movements of the time.”

Because Trevor-Roper believes that “the English Revolution of the seventeenth century cannot be isolated from a general crisis in Europe,” he devotes the longest of his essays to the European Witch-craze. Events in England—and the intellectual currents from which they emerged and to which they gave impetus—cannot be understood apart from events and intellectual currents on the Continent.

Trevor-Roper acknowledges that the belief in witches, and the persecution of people believed to be witches, may be, to some at least, “a disgusting subject, below the dignity of history.” However, he goes on, “[I]t is also a historical fact, of European significance, and its rise precisely in the years of the Renaissance and Reformation is a problem which must be faced by anyone who is tempted to overemphasize the ‘modernity’ of that period.”

Hugh Trevor-Roper, Lord Dacre (1914–2003) was Regius Professor of Modern History at the Universityof Oxford.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780865972780
Publisher:	Liberty Fund, Incorporated
Publication date:	03/09/2001
Series:	Religion, the Reformation, and Social Change
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	465
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vii Preface ix 1 Religion, the Reformation, and Social Change 1
2 The General Crisis of the Seventeenth Century 43
3 The European Witch-craze of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries 83
4 The Religious Origins of the Enlightenment 179
5 Three Foreigners: The Philosophers of the Puritan Revolution 219
6 The Fast Sermons of the Long Parliament 273
7 Oliver Cromwell and His Parliaments 317
8 Scotland and the Puritan Revolution 359
9 The Union of Britain in the Seventeenth Century 407 Index 427

Editorial Reviews

This reprint of the 1967 edition collects nine essays written and first published between 1956 and 1967. The recurrent theme centers around the problem of a general crisis in the early modern period of history<-->a crisis which was not only political or economic but social and intellectual, and which was felt throughout Europe. Topics include religion, the Reformation, and social change; the general crisis of the 17th century; the European witch-craze of the 16th and 17th centuries; the religious origins of the enlightenment; the philosophers of the Puritan revolution; the fast sermons of the Long Parliament; Oliver Cromwell and his parliaments; Scotland and the Purital revolution; and the union of Britain in the 17th century. The book contains a few b&w illustrations. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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