MOTHERS and MAIDS; QUEENS and LUSTY DAMES

MOTHERS and MAIDS; QUEENS and LUSTY DAMES:

A Course on the History of Women in Early Modern Europe

History 490/590 Salisbury University, Spring 2008

Henson 101, W 7-9.45pm

Professor: Kristen Walton

Office Hours: TR 12.30-1.30 and by appointment

Office Location: 386 Holloway Hall

Phone: X36502

E-mail:

Course Description and Objectives:

In her work, Philosophical and Physical Opinions of 1655, Margaret Cavendish, in a letter “To the Two Most Famous Universities of England,” wrote

Women are becoming like worms, that only live in the dull world of ignorance, winding ourselves sometimes out by the help of some refreshing rain of good education, which seldom is given us, for we are kept like birds in our houses, not suffered to fly abroad to see the several changes of fortune and the various humours ordained and created by nature, and wanting the experience of nature, we must needs want the understanding and knowledge, and so consequently prudence and invention of men.

Cavendish’s letter brings up many pertinent aspects of the role of women during the early modern period and addresses an interesting question often asked by historians: can we detect change in the early modern period, or do the years 1500-1800 portray general continuity from the medieval ages? During the Early Modern Period, fascinating historical events occurred, from the Printing Press to the Discovery of the New World to the Reformation to the French Revolution. Traditionally, the story of this age has been told through the eyes of men, ignoring over fifty percent of the contemporary population. Many women were kept like “birds in their houses, not suffered to fly abroad”, but women still played an important role in all aspects of early modern society.

Before the 1960s, the study of women in history consisted primarily of works about queens, several famous mistresses or courtesans, and some religious figures. The desire to study the roles that women played in daily life was of no interest to traditional historians. Beginning in the 1960s, historians began to recognize the importance of studying all aspects of history to gain insight into what life was truly like in previous times. The study of women and of gender roles became an important aspect of this new desire to revise the traditional methods of reviewing history. During the Early Modern Period, women partook in all areas of European society and culture. Their life roles as daughter, wife, mother, and widow; or spinster; or nun; allowed them to be women - often in roles not far different from those of many women today.

In many ways, the Early Modern Period sets the stage for the story (or history) of women in the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries. In addition, by looking at women of all levels of society and in western Europe across “national” divides, this course will give the students great insight into the different ways woman has been constructed through the ages. As women are now allowed to partake of the “refreshing rain of good education”, it is best that some of that education looks at women themselves: how their gender roles were forged through the ages, the various masks they would wear, the thoughts they would think, and the attitudes men held toward them.

Course Requirements:

Assessments:

Short Essay (3-5pp): 15%

Class Participation and short assignments: 20%

Research Paper (10-15pp)*: 30%

Debate 10%

Take Home Final 25%

Graduate Students:

* Your assessments will be the same as above, but your research paper will be 18-20pp.

Your class grade will include an extensive debate near the end of the semester. In this debate, each student will be assigned a position with regard to the question of The Role of Women in Early Modern Europe. You will have one class day to prepare for the debates within your team. EVERY person in the class must contribute to the debate (both intellectually and orally on the day). The dates for the examinations are firm. I rarely grant extensions for papers. If you have any problems with the examination or the paper due dates, please speak with the Professor in advance of said date. There will be NO extensions on the day. You will always find me much more reasonable when you give me advance notice. All assignments are due as noted on the syllabus. If we will be discussing a topic on a particular day, I will specify the exact reading for that day the class before. I expect each of you to arrive prepared for class and to support each other. Participation means active, not passive “citizenship” in the class. Class attendance will count toward the participation grade. More than three absences during the semester will result in your grade being lowered (in other words, a grade of “A” will become a grade of “B”) (each additional absence after 3 will continue to lower your grade). With regard to the research paper, if you would like it to count for one of the History Department required papers, it should be 12-15 pages and utilize at least one primary source. Please inform the professor if you would like your paper to be eligible for registration (see below for more information).

Writing Across the Curriculum

Learning to write is one of the most important skills you can learn at college. As a result, this course, in conjunction with Writing Across the Curriculum, will require writing from each and every one of you in the forms of papers, essay exams (there will be NO multiple choice exams), and class notes and periodic exercises.

There are many sources available for your use via the internet, the library here on campus or the library at College Park, via interlibrary loan. The Library can help you if you need assistance ordering a book from a different library. I may periodically send out emails to you with websites including primary source or other interesting material. I may include this as REQUIRED reading for the course, so make certain you check your email regularly. As should be obvious to anyone in an upper division course, Plagiarism is WRONG and will result in an automatic “0” or F on the assignment and a possible failing of the course. The maximum penalty at the university for plagiarism is a possible expulsion from the entire USM system, so for your own sakes, DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. Please see me if you have any questions.

The most significant tip I have: do not turn in the first drafts of your papers. That means you need to outline your ideas, write them down, and revise (and revise) them. A first draft is not a final draft. I will be looking for well-written papers with solid content. Conveying ideas in a precise manner is one of the most important aspects of history and other fields. You must cite the sources

Writing Across the Curriculum, cont’d

you use – including e-texts and web-based information, as well as traditional forms of published information.

For your papers, I require you to use either footnotes or endnotes and follow the form denoted by Kate Turabian in the Chicago Manual of Style. In addition, I expect all of your papers and essays to have a Thesis statement and a solid argument. Your long research paper will require the use of at least 5 library secondary sources as well as some primary source material. If you plan to use the paper for one of your major papers, you should have already taken (or currently be enrolled in) Proseminar, and then you should choose the longer option for the research paper. You will be required to turn in a topic with a thesis statement and a bibliography in advance of the due date of the paper. If you do not turn in the topic for pre-approval, your grade will automatically be deducted by at least one grade.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:

The best learning environment is one based on mutual respect and trust. However, the desire to achieve a good or passing grade without doing the necessary work may tempt some students to engage in acts of "academic dishonesty," including the following:

(1) Plagiarism: presenting as one's own work, whether word for word or in paraphrase, the words or ideas of a website or another author. All sources of information used must be properly cited.

(2) Cheating on exams, tests, and quizzes, including copying from others, the wrongful giving or receiving of unauthorized exam material, and the use of illegitimate sources of information (e.g., "cheat sheets");

(3) Unsanctioned collaboration with other individuals in the completion of course assignments, including examinations;

(4) Falsifying data and use of fraudulent methods in laboratory, field work, and computer work;

(5) Falsifying excuses for non-attendance or completion of assignments.

While some students may try to rationalize or justify these acts as expedient, they are wrong and there are no mitigating circumstances to excuse them. Individuals who engage in academic dishonesty damage the learning environment and their own integrity and character. If you are unclear about what constitutes academic dishonesty, including plagiarism, please ask: ignorance is no excuse. Discovery of academic dishonesty results in stiff penalties for the offender, including a failing grade for the assignment in question and possibly a grade of F for the course. The Student Affairs Office keeps records of plagiarism cases, and multiple offenses could bring a penalty of expulsion from the entire USM system. The university catalogue and student handbook provide further details.

SYLLABUS

Required Readings:

De Erauso, Memoir of a Basque Lieutenant Nun Transvestite, 1996.

Hufton, Olwen. The Prospect Before Her: A history of women in western Europe, 1500-1800. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996.

Hutson, Lorna, ed., Feminism & Renaissance Studies, 1999.

Kingdon, Robert, Adultery and Divorce in Calvin’s Geneva, 1995.

Zemon-Davis, Natalie, Women on the Margins: Tree Seventeenth Century Lives, 1997.

Readings listed on syllabus from internet sources, including articles from J-stor and primary sources.

“Engendering the State: Family Formation and State Building

in Early Modern France” Sarah Hanley French Historical Studies Vol. 16, No. 1 (Spring, 1989), pp. 4-27; On JSTOR

“Woman's Rule in Sixteenth-Century British Political

Thought” Constance Jordan Renaissance Quarterly >

Vol. 40, No. 3 (Autumn, 1987), pp. 421-451; on JSTOR

“The Familial State: Elite Family Practices and State-Making in

the Early Modern Netherlands” Julia Adams Theory and Society > Vol. 23, No. 4 (Aug., 1994), pp. 505-539; on JSTOR

Description of Empress Maria Theresa:

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1749gottschen-mariatheresa.html

Class: From Isabella to Anne. The Debate on Women in Positions of Power.

Week 7: NO CLASS – Catch up on Reading & work on research paper

Week 8: SPRING BREAK

Week 9: Women in the Economic Force - Working Women

ASSIGNMENTS: Zemon Davis, Glial Bas Judah Leb

Wiesner, Chpt. 3 (pp. 82-114) (rec)

“Women's Work, Gender Conflict, and Labour Markets in Europe, 1500-

1900” Katrina Honeyman; Jordan Goodman The Economic History Review New Series, Vol. 44, No. 4 (Nov., 1991), pp. 608-628; on JSTOR

“Gender and the Guild Order: The Garment Trades in

MOTHERS and MAIDS; QUEENS and LUSTY DAMES

Writing Across the Curriculum

SYLLABUS

Recommended Readings (These will be placed on reserve at the library):

“Engendering the State: Family Formation and State Building

in Early Modern France” Sarah Hanley French Historical Studies Vol. 16, No. 1 (Spring, 1989), pp. 4-27; On JSTOR