The Reformation
Section Two Resources
Texts
- François Velde, Article on the Holy Roman Empire
- A very good article description the formal structure of the Holy Roman Empire in the early modern period.
- The Holy Roman Empire, 1400-1600
- This is a very nice site hosted by the Metropolitan Museum, so it has a heavy emphasis on visuals.
- Fugger Newsletters
- The Fuggers were a wealthy Augsburg family with business interests all across Europe. They received regular reports from their representatives.
- Society for the Study of the Holy Roman Empire
- A professional scholarly organization, the site includes a journal complete with full articles. The Teaching Resources section is also very useful.
- Creating French Culture
- A Library of Congress exhibit, this is mainly a collection of pictures with brief comments. But they are very good pictures!
Geography
These exercises are entirely optional. I present them because just staring at a map doesn't do much good. You need to treat a map as a reference resource; you look things up in it. If you work through these questions, you will have become fairly familiar with the political and physical geography of early modern Europe.
Note that some web browsers automatically shrink images to fit the window. These maps are highly detailed, so if you see that your pointer shows a magnifying glass with a plus sign, click on the map to bring it to full size.
The Imperial Circles in 1512
- What rivers empty into the North Sea?
- What rivers empty into the Baltic Sea?
- List the towns of the Empire that were located along the Danube River.
- Which circles bordered the Baltic Sea?
- Which circles bordered Switzerland?
Central Europe in 1547
- In what regions could most Imperial cities be found?
- Find the following cities: Augsburg, Strasburg, Wittenberg, Worms, Speyer, Heidelberg, Vienna, Venice, Milan, Nuremberg, Magdeburg.
- Politically, Germany was a real mess, wasn't it? Using your own judgment, try to choose what you would list as the three most important regions of the Empire.
The Netherlands up to 1609
This is a pretty difficult map to read, so I provide it mainly just for reference, but try to find the following:
- Utrecht
- Antwerp
- Amsterdam
- Friesland
- Flanders
- Brabant
- Holland
- Rhine River
- Issel (Yssel) River
- 'sHertogenbosch
- Ostend
- Brussels
- Ghent
- Calais
- Liège
- Breda
- Leyden
- Groningen
Europe around 1560
- See how many places you can find that belonged to the Venetian Republic.
- See how many places you can find (in Europe) that belonged to Spain.
- Take a trip from London to Rome. What cities do you pass through?
- Take a trip from Madrid to Vienna. Through what cities do you pass?
- Take a trip up the Danube River, from its mouth in the Black Sea back to its source. Take note of the countries and towns through which it passes.
- There are four major rivers drawn on this map for France. Only one actually is named on the map, though. See if you can find the names of the other three (you'll have to look elsewhere).
- Find Edinburgh.
British Isles in the 17th Century
- Find the following towns: Oxford, Bristol, Hull, York, Newcastle, Canterbury, Salisbury, London.
- Find the following: Isle of Wight, Wales, Northumberland, Sussex, Gloucester, Buckingham, Northampton, Lancashire.
Other Maps
The maps below are provided simply for reference. I don't have any specific questions regarding them.
