HIST 3023 - Politics, Religion, and Society in Early Modern Britain, 1485-1714 - A Guide to World History - Research Guides at Washington University in St. Louis

Reference Sources

Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH)
guide to what has been written about British and Irish history from Roman period to present day. This service is a partnership between Royal Historical Society, Institute of Historical Research and Brepols Publishers.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
An illustrated collection of 50,000 specially written biographies of the men and women who shaped all aspects of Britain's past, from the fourth century BC to the year 2000. Access is limited to 3 users at a time. Please log out when you are finished.
Oxford Bibliographies Online (OBO)
this hybrid encyclopedia and bibliography was written and reviewed by academic experts, includes authoritative articles and provides a guide to the current scholarship with original commentary and annotations. Bibliographies relevant to this class might include Atlantic History, British and Irish Literature, and Renaissance and Reformation.
- African American Studies
- American Literature
- Anthropology
- Art History
- Atlantic History
- Biblical Studies
- British and Irish Literature
- Cinema and Media Studies
- Classics
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- Islamic Studies
- Jewish Studies
- Latin American Studies
- Latino Studies
- Linguistics
- Literary and Critical Theory
- Medieval Studies
- Philosophy
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- Victorian Literature

The Encyclopedia of Britain by Bamber Gascoigne
Call Number: Olin Library Level 3 Reference DA27.5 G37 1993
ISBN: 0028971426
Publication Date: 1993
A comprehensive reference (or a wonderful browse) on all aspects of life and history in the British Isles, containing 6,000 entries on history, politicians, pop musicians, sports personalities, businesses, literature, architecture, art, scandals, disasters, battles, and current affairs in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online
the online English version of the Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit, a fifteen-volume reference work published in print between 2005 and 2012. Over 4000 entries offer a multi-faceted view on the decisive era in European history stretching roughly from 1450 to 1850.
Cambridge Histories Online
First published in 1902, the is a globally respected series of over 400 volumes spanning fifteen subject areas across the humanities and social sciences, with a concentration on political and cultural history, literature, philosophy, religious studies, music and the arts. Continually updated and searchable by author, title and subject, this collection represents an impressive breadth and depth of scholarship that offers an unmatched resource for today's historians. The relevant volumes for this class would include Early Modern English Literature, the Philosophy of the Scientific Revolution, Seventeenth Century Philosophy, the Book in Britain.
Cambridge Companions Online
829 authoritative guides, written by leading experts, offering lively, accessible introductions to major writers, artists, and philosophers.
Literary Encyclopedia
Over 5100 authoritative profiles of authors, works and literary and historical topics, written by over 2000 specialists from universities around the world. Also lists over 22,000 works by date, country and genre. Covers canonical literature originally written in English, French, German and Russian, and is extending its coverage of Italian, Spanish, Latin and Greek. Data can be arrayed by date, country and genre.

Encyclopedia of Tudor England by John A. Wagner & Susan Walters Schmid, Editors.
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9781598842982
Publication Date: 2011
Almost 900 entries cover the life and times of Henry VIII, Mary I, Elizabeth I, William Shakespeare, and much more. Written for high school students, college undergraduates, and public library patrons. Topics include: the English Reformation; the development of Parliament; the expansion of foreign trade; the beginnings of American exploration; the evolution of the nuclear family; and the flowering of English theater and poetry, culminating in the works of William Shakespeare.
The Routledge Companion to the Tudor Age by Rosemary O'Day
Call Number: Olin Library Level 3 Stacks DA315 .O33 2010
ISBN: 9780415445641
Publication Date: 2010
an invaluable guide covering everything from the Reformation, controversies over the succession and the prayer book to literature, the family and education, this highly accessible reference tool contains commentary on the key events in the reigns of the five Tudor monarchs from Henry VII to Elizabeth I. Opening with a general introduction, it includes a wealth of chronologies, biographies, statistics, and maps, as well as a glossary and a guide to the key works in the field. Topics covered include: The establishment of the Tudor dynasty; monarchs and their consorts; rebellions against the Tudors; the legal system- central and ecclesiastical courts; Government- central and local; the Monarchy and Parliament; The Church – structure and changes throughout this tumultuous period; Ireland- timeline of key events; Population- numbers and distribution, and The World of Learning- education; literature; religion. The key debates in the field. This book will be essential reading for all those with an interest in the Tudor Age.
The Oxford Handbook of Tudor Literature by Mike Pincombe & Cathy Shrank, Editors
Call Number: Olin Library Level A Stacks PR413 .O94 2011
ISBN: 9780199697892
Publication Date: 2012
This is the first major collection of essays to look at the literature of the entire Tudor period, from the reign of Henry VII to the death of Elizabeth I. It pays particular attention to the years before 1580. Those decades saw, amongst other things, the establishment of print culture and growth of a reading public; the various phases of the English Reformation and process of political centralization that enabled and accompanied them; the increasing emulation of Continental and classical literatures under the influence of humanism; the self-conscious emergence of English as a literary language and determined creation of a native literary canon; the beginnings of English empire and the consolidation of a sense of nationhood. However, study of Tudor literature prior to 1580 is not only of worth as a context, or foundation, for an Elizabethan 'golden age'. As this much-needed volume will show, it is also of artistic, intellectual, and cultural merit in its own right. Written by experts from Europe, North America, and the United Kingdom, the forty-five chapters in The Oxford Handbook of Tudor Literature recover some of the distinctive voices of sixteenth-century writing, its energy, variety, and inventiveness. As well as essays on well-known writers, such as Philip Sidney or Thomas Wyatt, the volume contains the first extensive treatment in print of some of the Tudor era's most original voices.
A Companion to Stuart Britain by Barry Coward, Editor
Call Number: Olin Library Level 3 Stacks DA375 .C684 2003
ISBN: 0631218742
Publication Date: 2003
Covering the period from the accession of James I to the death of Queen Anne, this companion provides an overview of the 'long' seventeenth century in British history. It comprises original contributions by leading scholars of the period and provides a critical reference to historical debates about Stuart Britain and offers new insights into the major political, religious and economic changes that occurred during this period. Includes bibliographical guidance for students and scholars.
The Longman Companion to the Stuart Age, 1603-1714 by John Wroughton
Call Number: Olin Library Level 3 Stacks DA375 W76 1997
ISBN: 0582257751
Publication Date: 1997
Provides comprehensive coverage of every aspect of the Stuart Age including political, religious and cultural developments as well as the English Civil Wars and colonial expansion. Particularly welcome is the detailed chronology of events in Scotland and Wales, an area so often neglected by historians. This is the successor volume to Rosemary O'Day's phenomenally successful Companion to the Tudor Age.
Historical Dictionary of the Elizabethan World by John A. Wagner
Call Number: Olin Library Level 3 Stacks DA357 .W34 1999
ISBN: 1573562009
Publication Date: 1999
The first dictionary of history to focus exclusively on the reign of Elizabeth I, Wagner's guide provides its users with clear definitions and descriptions of people, events, institutions, ideas, and terminology relating in some significant way to the Elizabethan period.

Bibliography of English Women Writers (1500-1640)
Contains a bibliography of numerous known and unknown women writers. Offers short descriptions of many of the texts described.

Subject Headings

Start with what you know. If you know this period is set off by two dates, what does using that as a search term in the Classic Catalog get you?

Keywords like "England" or "Great Britain," "social conditions," "economic conditions," "social life and customs," "intellectual life," and "16th century"

Academic Journal Article Databases

Historical Abstracts (1955-)
Historical journal coverage of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States and Canada).
Quick Search
Search nearly all WashU resources at once.

Primary Sources

Early English Books Online (EEBO) (1470 - 1700)
Early English Books Online (EEBO) (1475-1700) - contains over 125,000 titles
Medieval and Early Modern Sources Online (MEMSO)
A resource for the study of Britain and its place in the world during the medieval and early modern period (c. 1100-1800). Combines the key printed sources for English, Irish, Scottish and Colonial history with original manuscripts and the latest web technologies.
Early European Books Online
An array of printed sources from the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries. Drawn from major repositories including the Danish Royal Library, the National Central Library in Florence, the National Library of France, the National Library of the Netherlands, and the Wellcome Library in London.
Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500-1926
International books, pamphlets, serials and other documents published from 1500 to the early 1900's, providing original accounts of exploration, trade, colonialism, slavery and abolition, the western movement, Native Americans, military actions and more.
Empire Online
(1492-1962) - images of original documents from libraries and archives around the world relating to Empire Studies, including many materials from the British Library.