https://studiegids.vu.nl/en/courses/2025-2026/L_GABAGES135This course offers a general overview of European History between roughly 1500 and 1800. Themes that will be discussed include religious history, state formation, intellectual and cultural developments, economic crises and innovation, and political and social upheaval. In addition to this, you will learn engage with primary sources, such as works of art and important political documents, and present your findings both orally and in writing. By the end of this course you will be able to:describe the major developments in European History from ca. 1500 to 1800;explain how specific historical events are related to larger historical developments;connect European history to a global context;distinguish between different interpretations of historical events and developments;analyse a primary source in connection to historical events and circumstancesEurope went through great changes in the early modern period. This course takes you from the rediscovery of Greek and Roman antiquity during the Renaissance, the introduction of the printed book, the religious reforms that divided church and people in the 16th century, leading to bloody wars, to the period of political and economic expansion. We discuss the development of nation states, the gradual transition from feudal to market-oriented economies and the overseas expansion of Europe, with dramatic consequences for both European societies and people around the world. The course also pays attention to intellectual and cultural developments. European curiosity and desire for conquest was not confined to discovering the globe, as scientists fundamentally challenged ideas about the functioning of the cosmos and nature. New ideas were also applied to the notions of man and governance during the period of Enlightenment, and they posed a threat to the Ancien Regime with its absolutist tendencies, ultimately leading to democratic revolutions in a number of states.A weekly lecture and a weekly seminar. Seminars taught in Dutch for BA students Geschiedenis; seminars taught in English for BA students History & International studies; Minor students and exchange students.Written and oral assignments (30%) and a written exam (70%)Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks, Early Modern Europe, 1450–1789. Cambridge University Press, 2022. A hard copy of this book should be purchased before the start of the course. (The VU bookstore will stock them.)Additional literature will be made available through CANVAS and the UBVU.Obligatory course for BA1 students Geschiedenis and BA1 students History & International Studies. The course is also part of the minor 'History', recommended for students with a serious interest in early modern European History and open to exchange students.You will be assigned to a seminar group by the coordinator of the course.