Centre for Renaissance and Early Modern Studies
Project news
Read for free! A preview of the introduction to our forthcoming JEMH special issue on 'Conversion Narratives in the Early Modern World'
Posted on Tuesday 8 October 2013
A special issue of the influential Journal of Early Modern History, co-edited by Conversion Narratives' postdoctoral fellows, Peter Mazur and Abigail Shinn will explore 'Conversion Narratives in the Early Modern World'.
Modern textiles add new strand to Hardwick story
Posted on Tuesday 30 July 2013
Working in collaboration with the Conversion Narratives project team, textile artist Jan Garside has produced a series of textile (and textile-inspired) responses to our research, which are now on display as part of our Virtue and Vice exhibition at Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire.
Conversion Narratives Postdoctoral Fellow sheds new light on early modern Naples
Posted on Tuesday 4 June 2013
We are delighted to announce the publication of Peter Mazur’s new monograph, 'The New Christians of Spanish Naples, 1528-1671: A Fragile Elite'. Peter’s book takes as its topic the teeming port city of Naples, under the control of Spain.
'Virtue and Vice' app: take the exhibition home!
Posted on Wednesday 24 April 2013
New mobile app unlocks the secrets of the 'Virtue and Vice' exhibition
'Virtue and Vice' exhibition offers a new perspective on the past
Posted on Monday 8 April 2013
The newly-launched 'Virtue and Vice' exhibition at Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire invites visitors to discover the rich stories and histories of Elizabethan and Jacobean England, as they have been transformed and expanded by our research into religious change, household life, and cultural encounters.
The final 'Cultural Encounters' lecture is now available to view online.
Posted on Thursday 28 March 2013
Project co-director Helen Smith drew together many of the elements of our 'Cultural Encounters' lecture series by reflecting on 'Embroidered Encounters: Travel, Trade and Religion at Hardwick Hall'.
'Encountering Islam': the penultimate 'Cultural Encounters' lecture is now available online.
Posted on Monday 18 March 2013
Ziad Elmarsafy added a new strand to our lecture series with his account of 'Encountering Islam: the Qu'ran in the European Enlightenment'.
Fourth 'Cultural Encounters' lecture available to view.
Posted on Monday 18 March 2013
Peter Mazur described the personal histories of some unusual converts, who negotiated (more or less successfully!) the changing religious landscape of Italy and its neighbours, in a lecture on 'Improbable Lives: a One-Eyed Soldier, a Dervish, and other Converts in Early Modern Rome'.
Professor Matthew Dimmock's public lecture available to view.
Posted on Wednesday 27 February 2013
Matthew Dimmock, from the University of Sussex, joined the project team to deliver a lecture on 'Sinan: a Muslim converts in Elizabethan England'.
'Traveller's Tales': view our second 'Cultural Encounters' lecture online.
Posted on Monday 18 February 2013
Abi Shinn entertained the crowd who joined us at the York Medical Society with her lecture on 'Traveller's Tales'.
First of our 'Cultural Encounters' lectures now available to watch online
Posted on Tuesday 29 January 2013
Our first lecture was delivered by project co-director Simon Ditchfield, whose topic was 'The Circulation of the Sacred in the Early Modern World'.
Cultural Encounters: Travel, Religion, and Identity in the Early Modern World
Posted on Wednesday 12 December 2012
Please join us for a series of public lectures exploring the findings and implications of our research.
York 400 years ago: Reformation, religious change and social stress?
Posted on Tuesday 16 October 2012
Professor Bill Sheils, of the Department of History, University of York, will be giving a lecture on the local impact of the Reformation as part of the 'York 800' series of lectures, studying the changing fortunes of the City across the ages.
Gender and Conversion: a two-day symposium
Posted on Thursday 28 June 2012
The Conversion Narratives team will host a two-day symposium to discuss the complex relationships between gender identity and changing faith in early modern Europe and beyond.
Symposium with Arnold Hunt
Posted on Tuesday 8 May 2012
Join Arnold Hunt, Curator of Modern Historical Manuscripts at the British Library, and author of 'The Art of Hearing', for a discussion of Catholic conversions and work-in-progress.
Conversion Narratives Blog reaches 10k Hits
Posted on Friday 20 April 2012
The blog for our project, 'Conversion Narratives in Early Modern Europe' has now received over 10000 hits from visitors.
Conversion Narratives at the Renaissance Society of America
Posted on Saturday 3 March 2012
The Conversion Narratives team are delighted to be collaborating with the Folger Shakespeare Library to host four panels at the forthcoming Renaissance Society of America Annual Convention.
Transformations, Monday 18th June, 6.00pm
Posted on Monday 30 January 2012
Enjoy an evening of musical transformations at the National Centre for Early Music, exploring the music of the Bolivian Mission Churches.
Forthcoming Conference (British Library): Renaissance Old Worlds
Posted on Monday 30 January 2012
The University of Liverpool and the British Library are collaborating to host a conference on the theme of Renaissance Old Worlds, between 29th June and 1st July 2012.
People who believe in nothing: Intolerable thoughts in Late Renaissance Italy
Posted on Monday 30 January 2012
Professor Edward Muir (Northwestern University) will deliver the annual Aylmer Lecture, hosted by the Department History, on the topic of atheism in late Renaissance Italy.
Tales of Turning: a Postgraduate Seminar
Posted on Monday 30 January 2012
Abi Shinn will be presenting a paper at the CREMS postgraduate forum on 'Tales of Turning: Conversion and Rhetoric in Early Modern England'.
Book Launch: 'The Turn of the Soul'
Posted on Saturday 28 January 2012
We invite you to join us to celebrate the launch of Lieke Stelling’s edited collection 'The Turn of the Soul' on Tuesday 31st January at 5.30pm in the Berrick Saul Treehouse.
Conversion Narratives at SRS
Posted on Wednesday 14 December 2011
Members of the Conversion Narratives team will present their research at the forthcoming Society for Renaissance Studies conference in Manchester next year.
Space and Conversion Programme now online
Posted on Monday 5 December 2011
The programme for a fascinating forthcoming workshop in Space and Conversion is now online.
Lord Melvyn Bragg discusses impact of King James Bible
Posted on Friday 2 December 2011
Writer and broadcaster Lord Melvyn Bragg will deliver an inaugural public lecture at the University of York on the King James Bible.
'A store house of the soules phisicke': medicine, metaphor, and conversion in early modern England
Posted on Tuesday 15 November 2011
Helen Smith will be presenting some of her ongoing research at a forthcoming research seminar in Leeds.
Eating Grace
Posted on Tuesday 1 November 2011
Professor Eric Dursteler (Brigham Young University) will be giving a paper on 'Food, Faith and Conversion in the Early Modern World' on Wednesday 8th February 2012.
La Conquistadora: The Virgin Mary, Christians, Muslims, Jews and Indians in the Pre-Modern Spanish World
Posted on Sunday 30 October 2011
Professor Amy Remensynder of Brown University will be giving a lecture on representations of the Virgin Mary, and their use in the processes of conquest and conversion in the middle ages. The lecture will take place at 5.30 pm in Room K/133, The King's Manor, and all are welcome to attend.
'And seek for grace': spiritual conversion on the early modern stage
Posted on Sunday 16 October 2011
Visiting Research Associate, Lieke Stelling, will be giving a paper, '"And Seek for Grace:" Spiritual Conversion on the Early Modern Stage' at The Cabinet of Curiosities, the CREMS postgraduate forum, on Tuesday 15th of November at 4.15 in the Humanities Research Centre, room BS/008. All are welcome to attend this event.
Leiden Academic Joins Conversion Narratives Team
Posted on Friday 30 September 2011
A PhD candidate from the University of Leiden has won funding to join the Conversion Narratives team to further develop her research.
Conversion Narratives at the RSA
Posted on Friday 12 August 2011
'Conversion Narratives in Early Modern Europe' will be sponsoring four panels at next year's Renaissance Society of America conference in Washington, D. C.
Renaissance Society of America: Call for Papers
Posted on Saturday 7 May 2011
The Conversion Narratives team, in collaboration with the Folger Shakespeare Library, invite expressions of interest from scholars who are keen to be part of a small series of panels or round table events addressing the theme of early modern conversion narratives at next year’s Renaissance Society of America conference in Washington DC.
Conference Registration Now Open
Posted on Saturday 2 April 2011
Online registration for 'Conversion Narratives in the Early Modern World' is now open, and we hope you will join us in York on 9th-11th June for a fascinating programme of papers covering conversions across the globe.
Conference Programme Now Online
Posted on Sunday 6 March 2011
The provisional programme for our conference on 'Conversion Narratives in the Early Modern World' is now available online.
Conversion Narratives Project to Sponsor Panel at Bible Conference
Posted on Wednesday 16 February 2011
Members of the project team will be joined by two young scholars to discuss the connections between the Bible and religious conversion in early modern England at a major conference on 'The Bible in the Seventeenth Century'.
International Workshop on Space and Conversion
Posted on Tuesday 1 February 2011
Scholars at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa are organising an international workshop on the theme of 'Space and Conversion' from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries.
Who Were the Nuns?
Posted on Saturday 15 January 2011
A three-day conference, from 23rd-25th June, at Queen Mary, University of London, seeks to follow the fortunes of the post-Reformation English nuns.
Launch Event: 26 October
Posted on Monday 18 October 2010
Professor Kate Lowe to lecture on 'News from Africa'
Call for papers: Conversion Narratives Conference 2011
Posted on Friday 10 September 2010
To be held 9-11 June 2011, University of York. Abstracts of c.300 words should be submitted by 1st December 2010.
Press release: Changing Faiths in early modern Europe
Posted on Tuesday 7 September 2010
Two humanities researchers have received an award of over £450,000 from the Arts and Humanities Research Council to investigate changing faiths in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe.