In 1652, London’s first coffee house opened its doors. Historians have celebrated the vibrant coffee-house culture of the early modern period, and have argued that coffee houses offered a venue which made possible new kinds of political debate and participation in a developing public sphere. A slightly different companion story is, however, suggested in the […]
What better way to mark the first of our public lecture series, ‘Cultural Encounters: Travel, Religion, and Identity in the Early Modern World’, than with a chocolate map of the world, prepared for us by Sophie Jewett of the wonderful York Cocoa House? We’re hugely grateful to Sophie not only for her chocolate cartography, but […]
The symbolic importance of food and food practices (or ‘foodways’ in academic speak) to religious culture is readily apparent at this time of year. During Lent it is traditional for Christians to fast, marking the beginning of the Lenten period by using up fat, eggs and flour in pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. At Easter we […]
Relive the Renaissance! Experience the evangelical excitement of early modern England with this fantastic William Alabaster heat-changing mug. Just add tea or coffee to watch this cool Catholic become a hot Protestant! Or chill your mug and see him return to Rome! One thing is for sure, if you drink from this ever-changing convert your […]
With a project of this nature, where the focus is inevitably on early printed and manuscript sources, it’s inevitable that the project team finds themselves spending considerable time in research libraries. I spent part of the summer working from the British Library in London in order to look at a range of printed conversion narratives, […]
Conversion Narratives in Early Modern Europe 