Best Histories of Europe 16th and 17th Century

English Reformation Revised

Haigh, Christopher, ed.

1987

Twenty years ago, historians thought they understood the Reformation in England. Professor A. G. Dickens’s elegant The English Reformation was then new, and highly influential: it seemed to show how national policy and developing reformist allegiance interacted to produce an acceptable and successful Protestant Reformation. But, since then, the evidence of the statute book, of Protestant propagandists and of heresy trials has come to seem less convincing, Neglected documents, especially the records of diocesan administration and parish life, have been explored, new questions have been asked – and many of the answers have been surprising.

Articles Collection – Biography

Renaissance Europe, 1480-1520

Hale, J.R.

1971

A volume in the “”Fontana History of Europe”” series.
Time and space. Calendar, clock and life span ; Diet and health ; Violence and death ; Mobility ; Feeling for nature ; Exploration — Political Europe. The political unit ; Some examples: Florence, France, Spain, England and Germany ; Internal development ; International relations and war — Individual and community. Christendom ; State, region, patria ; The ‘foreigner’ ; Local associations ; The family and personal relationships — Economic Europe. Continuity and change ; The tone of economic life ; Economic policy and taxation — Class. Definitions and attitudes ; Special cases ; The agricultural community, town-dwellers, aristocracy — Religion. Church and state ; Clerics ; The appeal of the church ; Dissatisfactions — The arts and their audience. Music ; Drama ; Art — Secular learning. The appeal of humanism ; Educational reform ; Christian humanism ; Political thought ; Science.

Women and Work in Preindustrial Europe, ed.

Hanawalt, Barbara

1986

Ten essays by various historians.
Peasant women’s work in the context of marriage. Peasant women’s contribution to the home economy in late Medieval England / Barbara A. Hanawalt — The village ale-wife : women and brewing in fourteenth-century England / Judith M. Bennett — Slaves and domestic servants. To town to serve : urban domestic slavery in Medieval Ragusa / Susan Mosher Stuard — Women servants in Florence during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries / Christiane Klapisch-Zuber — Occupations related to female biology : wet nurses and midwives. Municipal wet nurses in fifteenth-century Montpellier / Leah L. Otis — Early modern midwifery : a case study / Merry E. Wiesner — Urban women in work and business. Women in business in Medieval Montpellier / Kathryn L. Reyerson — Women’s work in a market town : Exeter in the late fourteenth century / Maryanne Kowaleski — Is there a decline in women’s economic position in the sixteenth century? Women in the crafts in sixteenth-century Lyon / Natalie Zemon Davis — Women, the family economy, and the structures of market production in cities of Northern Europe during the late Middle Ages / Martha C. Howell.

The Armada: The Decisive Battle

Harris, Nathaniel

1987

Describes the causes, events, and aftermath of the battle in which the smaller English fleet defeated the great Spanish Armada in 1588.
THE EVENTS: The night of the fireships – diversion – the crippled GIANT – THE Duke defiant – the confusion of battle – Aftermath: the Armada in flight.
THE INVESTIGATION: Why were England and Spain at war? – What was the Spanish plan? – Could the Armada have succeeded? – The end of the Spanish threat? – further reading.
Intended for high school students.

The Church (Life in the Renaissance)

Hinds, Kathryn

2004

A description of the religious controversies of the Renaissance and Reformation with a focus on what life was like for ordinary people, both Catholic and Protestant.
Christian roots and branches — Power and protest — Community life — Men of God — Women and the church — Holy days and every day — Learning tolerance.

Da Vinci and his Times

Langley , Andrew

2006

Illustrated biography of artist Leonardo da Vinci introduces his work and the world in which he lived.
The early renaissance — Discovering the past — City-states of Italy — Renaissance men — The new trade — Governing the people — City of the Medici — The church — The new architecture — The workshop — Making a panel for an altarpiece — Taming the wilderness — Proportion and perspective — Renaissance rivals — Fashion and finery — In the home — Design for living — The human body — Dreams of flying — Exploring the heavens — Warfare — Death and disease — A reading public — Music and leisure — The renaissance in the north — The renaissance legacy — Did you know? — Timeline of the renaissance

Thirty Years War

Lee, Stephen J.

1991

“The period 1618-1648 was one of the most complex in European history. Religion interacted with rebellion and dynastic rivalry in a series of conflicts in central Europe known collectively as the Thirty Years War. This book guides the reader through the period by surveying the narrative of events and establishing the essential chronological framework. In addition Stephen Lee looks at such key issues as the motives of the participants, their gains and losses, as well as at the religious, military, social and economic aspects of the War. Each section in the book incorporates the most recent research.” – Publisher.

History of Protestantism: The Reformation

Leonard, Emile G.

1968

The Emergence Of Luther: The Message Of Individual Salvation – Luther And Social Problems – Organization And Spread Of Lutheranism – Lutheranism Checked By The Humanist Reformation – Stemming Of The Lutheran Tide – The Catholic Counter-Attack – Calvin, The Founder Of A Civilization.

See our Imperialism Literature

Eyewitness Accounts of the Thirty Years War, 1618-48

Mortimer, Geoff

2002

“The Thirty Years War – the first great pan-European war, and until the twentieth century the most terrible – ravaged Germany, but myth, propaganda and historical controversy have obscured its true nature. The image is of the three scourges of war, famine and plague, bringing ruin, depopulation and even cannibalism in their wake. A ruthless and licentious soldiery allegedly looted, raped and burned their way repeatedly across the country, torturing civilians to force them to reveal their hidden valuables and cutting down anyone who resisted. But how far is this picture supported by the private diaries, memoirs and chronicles of soldiers and citizens who recorded their own experiences and those of their families and communities?
In this book war at the individual level is discussed and described using these sources, which are extensively quoted in their own words.” – Book cover

Humanism and the Culture of Renaissance Europe

Nauert, Charles G.

1995

Nauert charts the key intellectual, social, educational and philosophical concerns of this humanist revolution, using Renaissance art and short biographical sketches of key figures to illuminate the discussion. While other studies of humanism have concentrated on origins and early diffusion, this one also traces subsequent transformations of humanism and its solvent effect on intellectual developments in the late Renaissance.

Life during the Renaissance

Netzley, Patricia D.

1998

Describes the history, culture, and life of people living during the Renaissance.
A Break with the past: new ideas and beliefs – Manorial duties: the relationship between rural peasants and nobles – Distributing wealth: the rising middle class – The power of Knowledge: education and humanism – Struggling to maintain control: the Church in daily life – New sources of wealth: exploration and conquest – The Renaissance legacy: the arts and sciences – The originality of the Renaissance

Military Revolution: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West, 1500-1800

Parker, Geoffrey

1988

Well before the Industrial Revolution, Europe developed the superior military potential and expertise that enabled her to dominate the world for the next two centuries. In this attractively illustrated and updated edition, Geoffrey Parker discusses the major changes in the military practice of the West during this time period–establishment of bigger armies, creation of superior warships, the role of firearms–and argues that these major changes amounted to a “military revolution” that gave Westerners a decided advantage over people of other continents. – Publisher.

Age of Reconnaissance

Parry, J.H.

World 1963

The period during which Europe discovered the rest of the world. It began with Henry the Navigator and the Portuguese voyages in the mid-fifteenth century and ended 250 years later. Dr. Parry examines the inducements; political, economic, religious overseas enterprises at the time, and analyzes the nature and problems of the various European settlements in the new lands.

Europe And A Wider World 1415-1715

Parry, J.H.

Hutchinson’s University 1949

Contents: The Bounds of Christendom, 1415 – Tools of the explorers – ‘Christians and spices’ – The New World – Silver empire – Fishermen, explorers and slavers – Struggle for eastern trade – English plantations – Rival empires in America – Old colonial system – trade and dominion in the east – Slavery and the war for trade – The Bounds of Christendom 1715.

Thirty Years’ War, ed.

Rabb, Theodore K.

1972

The German catastrophe / Gustav Freytag — Religion and politics / Anton Gindely — The Marxist view: economic causation / Franz Mehring — The futile and meaningless war / C.V. Wedgwood — The war as a dividing point between medieval and modern times / Georges Pages — The not so destructive, no so religious, and not primarily German war / S.H. Steinberg — The religious motive reaffirmed / Carl J. Friedrich — Social and economic change and the European-wide war / J.V. Polisensky — The economic effects of the war reviewed / Theodore K. Rabb — The turning-point in Czech history / Josef Pekar — Statements of intent / Gustavus Adolphus and Axel Oxenstierna — The statesman of “realpolitik” / Gustav Droysen — The Christian gentleman / C.R.L. Fletcher — The cause of Protestantism and freedom of conscience / Nils Ahnlund — The practical statesman / Michael Roberts — Motivation and aims / Albrecht von Wallenstein — The egoistic but idealistic seeker of peace / Leopold von Ranke — The cowardly and megalomaniac traitor / Josef Pekar — The tortured idealist / Heinrich Ritter von Srbik — Political testament / Cardinal Richelieu — The lust for power and money / Aldous Huxley — A policy of justice, necessity, and tradition / Louis Batiffol — The overburdened statesman driven by events / V.L. Tapie.

Transatlantic Slave Trade: A History

Rawley, James A.

1981

“The transatlantic slave trade played a major role in the development of the modern world. It both gave birth to and resulted from the shift from feudalism into the European Commercial Revolution. James A. Rawley fills a scholarly gap in the historical discussion of the slave trade from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century by providing one volume covering the economics, demography, epidemiology, and politics of the trade.” -Publisher.

Defenders of the Faith: Charles V, Suleyman the Magnificent, and the Battle for Europe, 1520-1536

Reston, James

Penguin 2009

[The author] “weaves a captivating narrative that examines a pivotal period in that centuries- long war [between Islam and Christendom], which found Europe at its most vulnerable and Islam on the attack. This saga of colliding worlds is propelled by two astonishing young sovereigns – the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the Turkish sultan Suleyman the Magnificent – and is supported by a wide range of larger-than-life characters, who lend this meticulously researched history a novel’s worth of suspense and brio. -Publisher.

Foundations of Early Modern Europe, 1460-1559

Rice, Eugene F.

1994

“This synthesis of Europe’s Renaissance and Reformation periods thematically traces the transition from the medieval to the modern. The major themes of the book include technological breakthroughs and their social and economic consequences, the connections between the discovery of new lands and the recovery of ancient learning, Europe’s economic expansion, humanist culture, the formation of the early modern state, and reform and revolution in the Church.” – Publisher.

Religion and the Decline of Magic

Studies in popular beliefs in sixteenth and seventeenth century England

Thomas, Keith

1971

Witchcraft, astrology, divination, and every kind of popular magic flourished in England during the 16th and 17th centuries. Keith Thomas’s classic analysis of beliefs held on every level of English society begins with the collapse of the medieval Church and ends with the changing intellectual atmosphere around 1700, when science and rationalism began to challenge the older systems of belief.

Atlas of the World in the Age of Discovery, 1453-1763

Townson, Duncan et al.

1981

Century of Genius: European Thought 1600-1700

Vann, Richart T.

1967

In Century of Genius: European Thought 1600-1700, Richard T. Vann links selections from the writings of such thinkers as Galileo, Bacon, Hobbes, Pascal, and Newton with interpretative commentary to show how seventeenth-century discoveries in science and mathematics not only changed the way in which men viewed the sun and the fall of apples from a tree, but also influenced forever afterward men’s view of themselves.

Protestant Ethic And The Spirit of Capitalism

Weber, Max

1930

“A brilliant book which studies the psychological conditions which made possible the development of capitalist civilization. The book analyzes the connection between the spread of Calvinism and a new attitude toward the pursuit of wealth in post-Reformation Europe and England, and attitude which permitted, encouraged–even sanctified–the human quest for prosperity.” – Publisher

History of the Reformation Books – Collection

About 1,400 books from the Internet Archive free online on the subject of Reformation. Some books: The Reformation and Protestant Reaction, The Reformation: a history, The Reformation in England, The Dividing of Christendom, The Reformation in Germany, The Catholic Reformation, England’s Earlies Protestants 1520-1535, The Renaissance and the Reformation, The Reformation in Recent Historical Thought, Erasmus and the Northern Renaissance, This is Luther: character study, The Counter Reformation, The Protestant Reformation in Europe, Lollardy and the Reformation in England, The Social Background of the Reformation, The Jesuits: a study in Counter-Reformation, many more books on the Reformation.

Vintage Books of European History 1500s, 1600s

VINTAGE BOOKS – European History 1500s, 1600s

Age of Erasmus

Lectures delivered in the universities of Oxford and London

Allen, P.S.

1914

The Adwert Academy – Schools – Monasteries – Universities – Erasmus’ life-work – Force and fraud – Private life and manners – The Point of view – Pilgrimages – The Transalpine Renaissance – Erasmus and the Bohemian Brethren.

History Of Geographical Discovery And Exploration

Baker, J.N.L.

1931

Part 1: Before the 19th century: Mediterranean world – Middle Ages – The Arabs – Sea-route to the Far East – Columbus and his successors – Spaniards in the New World – Magellan and the Pacific Ocean to 1600 – Alternative routes to Asia – Terra Austalis and the Pacific Ocean, 1600-1800 – Asia, 1500-1800 – Africa 1500-1788 – America, 1550-1800.
Part 2: 19th century and after: Asia – Africa – America – Australasia and the East Indies – Ocean and polar exploration – Conclusion.

Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science

Burtt, Edwin A.

1925

To the medieval thinker, man was the center of creation and all of nature existed purely for his benefit. The shift from the philosophy of the Middle Ages to the modern view of humanity’s less central place in the universe ranks as the greatest revolution in the history of Western thought, and this classic in the philosophy of science describes and analyzes how that profound change occurred.
A fascinating analysis of the works of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Descartes, Hobbes, Gilbert, Boyle, and Newton, it not only establishes the reasons for the triumph of the modern perspective, but also accounts for certain limitations in this view that continue to characterize contemporary scientific thought. A criticism as well as a history of the change that made possible the rise of modern science, this volume is also a guide to understanding the methods and accomplishments of the great philosopher-scientists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

History of the Christian Church since the Reformation

Cheetham, S.

1907

Last struggles of the Reformation – The English church – The Roman church – Development of Protestantism – The Eastern church – Age of Reason – Shaking of the nations – The English-speaking churches – The Papacy and the Vatican Council – France and the Latin nations – The Teutonic and Scandinavian nations – The eastern church.

Working Life of Women in the Seventeenth Century

Clark, Alice

1919

Introductory – Capitalists – Agriculture – Textiles – Crafts And Trades – Professions – Conclusion

Lectures on Modern History

Dalberg-Acton, John E. E.

1907

Beginning Of The Modern State – The New World – The Renaissance – Luther – The Counter-Reformation – Calvin And Henry VIII – Philip II, Mary Stuart, And Elizabeth – The Huguenots And The League – Henry The Fourth And Richelieu – The Thirty Years’ War – The Puritan Revolution – The Rise Of The Whigs – The English Revolution – Lewis XIV – The War Of The Spanish Succession – The Hanoverian Settlement – Peter The Great And The Rise Of Prussia – Frederic The Great – The American Revolution.

Thirty Years’ War 1618-1648

Gardiner, Samuel R.

1874

Causes of the Thirty Years’ War – The Bohemian revolution – Imperialist victories in Bohemia and the Palatinate – Intervention of the King of Denmark – Stralsund and Rochelle – Victories of Gustavus Adolphus – Death of Wallenstein and the Treaty of Prague – The Preponderance of France – The End of the War.

Political and Social History of Modern Europe, Vol 1

Volume 2

Hayes, Carlton J.H.

1921

Part I: Foundations Of Modern Europe: The Countries Of Europe At The Beginning Of The Sixteenth Century – The Commercial Revolution – European Politics In The Sixteenth Century – The Protestant Revolt And The Catholic Reformation – The Culture Of The Sixteenth Century.
Part II: Dynastic And Colonial Rivlary: The Growth Of Absolutism In France And The Struggle Between Bourbons And Habsburgs, 1589-1661 – The Growth Of Absolutism In France And The Struggle Between Bourbons And Habseurgs, 1661-1743 – The Triumph Or Parliamentary Government In England – The World Conflict Of France And Great Britain – The Revolution Within The British Empire – The Germanies In The Eighteenth Century . The Rise Of Russia, And The Decline Of Turkey, – Sweden, And Poland.
Part III: “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”: European Society In The Eighteenth Century – European Governments In The Eighteenth Century – The French Revolution – The Era Of Napoleon.
Volume II: The Era Of Metternich, 1815-1830 –
Part IV: Democracy And Nationalism: The Industrial Revolution – Democratic Reform And Revolution, 1830-1849 – The Growth Of Nationalism, 1848-1871 – Social Factors In Recent European History, 1871-1914 – The United Kingdom Of Great Britain And Ireland, 1867-1914 – Latin Europe, 1870-1914 – Teutonic Europe, 1871-1914 – The Russian Empire, 1855-1914 – The Dismemberment Of The Ottoman Empire, 1683-1914.
Part V: National Imperialism: The New Imperialism And The Spread 0f European Civilization In Asia – The Spread Of European Civilization In America And In Africa – The British Empire – International Relations (1871-1914) And The Outbreak Of The War Or The Nations.

Social & Political Ideas of Some Great Thinkers of the Renaissance and the Reformation

A Series of lectures delivered at King’s College Unversity of London

Hearnshaw, F.J.C.

1925

Nicolas of Cusa / E.F. Jacob — Sir John Fortescue / A.E. Levett — Nicolo Machiavelli / by the editor — Sir Thomas More / A.W. Reed — Desiderius Erasmus / J.A.K. Thomson — Martin Luther / J.W. Allen — John Calvin / W.R. Matthews.

Social And Political Ideas Of Some Great Thinkers of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries

A series of lectures delivered at King’s College University of London during the session 1925-26

Hearnshaw, F.J.C., ed.

Introductory: The social and political problems of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, by the editor.- Jean Bodin, by J.W. Allen.- Richard Hooker, by Norman Sykes.- Francisco Suarez, by A.L. Lilley.- King James I, by Miss H.M. Chew.- Hugo Grotius, by the editor.- Thomas Hobbes, by E.L. Woodward.- James Harrington, by Miss A.E. Levett.- Benedict Spinoza, by A.D. Kindsay.

Lectures on European History

Stubbs, William

1904

More than Lectures delivered between 1860 and 1870 at Oxford University by a constitutional historian on the political and military history of the Reformation and on the Thirty Years’ War.
Themes: The Emperor Charles V.- The political history of Europe from the resignation of Charles V.- The political history of Europe during the Thirty Years’ war.- Survey of the reigns of Louis XIII and Philip IV.- The Peace of Westphalia.

Religion And The Rise Of Capitalism

Tawney, R.H.

1926

The author investigates the way religion has moulded social and economic practice. He tracks the influence of religious thought on capitalist economy and ideology since the Middle Ages, shedding light on the question of why Christianity continues to exert a unique role in the marketplace.
Medieval Background – Continental Reformers – Church of England – Puritan Movement.

Cambridge Modern History: The Renaissance (vol 1)

Ward, A.W. etc., eds.

1901

The Age Of Discovery – The New World – The Ottoman Conquest – Italy And Her Invaders – Florence (1): Savonarola – Florence (Ii): Machiavelli – Rome And The Temporal Power – Venice – Germany And The Empire – Hungary And The Slavonic Kingdoms – The Catholic Kings – France – The Netherlands – The Early Tudors – Economic Change – The Classical Renaissance – The Christian Renaissance – Catholic Europe – The Eve Of The Reformation. One of 14 volumes.

Cambridge Modern History: The Reformation (vol 2)

Ward, A.W. etc., eds.

1903

Medicean Rome – Habsburg And Valois (I) – Habsburg And Valois (II) – Luther – National Opposition To Rome In Germany – Social Revolution And Catholic Reaction In Germany – The Conflict Of Creeds And Parties In Germany – Religious War In Germany – The Reformation In France – The Helvetic Reformation – Calvin And The Reformed Church – The Catholic South – Henry VIII – The Reformation Under Edward VI – Philip And Mary – The Anglican Settlement And The Scottish Reformation – The Scandinavian North – The Church And Reform – Tendencies Of European Thought In The Age Of The Reformation. One of 14 volumes.

Cambridge Modern History: The Wars of Religion (vol 3)

Ward, A.W. etc. , eds.

1909

The Wars Of Religion In France – French Humanism And Montaigne – The Catholic Reaction, And The Valois And Bathory Elections, In Poland – The Height Of The Ottoman Power – The Empire Under Ferdinand I And Maximilian II – The Revolt Of The Netherlands – William The Silent – Mary Stewart – The Elizabethan Naval War With Spain – The Last Years Of Elizabeth – The Elizabethan Age Of English Literature – Tuscany And Savoy – Rome Under Sixtus V – The End Of The Italian Renaissance – Spain Under Philip II – Spain Under Philip III – Britain Under James I – Ireland To The Settlement Of Ulster – The Dutch Republic – Henry IV Of France – The Empire Under Rudolf II – Political Thought In The Sixteenth Century. One of 14 volumes.

Cambridge Modern History: The Thirty Years’ War (vol 4)

Ward, A.W. etc., eds.

1906

The Outbreak Of The Thirty Years’ War – The Valtelline – The Protestant Collapse – Richelieu – The Vasa In Sweden And Poland – Gustavus Adolphus – Wallenstein And Bernard Of Weimar – The Constitutional Struggle In England – The First Two Years Of The Long Parliament – The First Civil War, 1642-7 – Presbyterians And Independents – The Westminster Assembly – The Later Years Of The Thirty Years’ War (1635-48) – The Peace Of Westphalia – The Commonwealth And The Protectorate – The Navy Of The Commonwealth And The First Dutch War – Scotland From The Accession Of Charles I To The Restoration – Ireland, From The Plantation Of Ulster To The Cromwellian Settlement – Anarchy And The Restoration – The Scandinavian North – Mazarin – Spain And Spanish Italy Under Philip III And IV – Papal Policy, 1590-1648 – Frederick Henry, Prince Of Orange – The Transference Of Colonial Power To The United Provinces And England – The Fantastic School Of English Poetry – Descartes And Cartesianism. One of 14 volumes.

Cambridge Modern History: The Age of Louis XIV (vol 5)

The Age of Louis XIV

Ward, A.W. etc., eds.

1908 Dewey Dec. 940.2

The Government Of Louis XIV (1661—1715) – The Foreign Policy Of Louis XIV (1661-97) – French Seventeenth Century Literature And Its European Influence – The Gallican Church – The Stewart Restoration – The Literature Of The English Restoration, Including Milton – The Administrations Of John De Witt And William Of Orange (1661-88) – The Anglo-Dutch Wars – The Policy Of Charles II And James II (1667-87) – The Revolution And The Revolution Settlement In Great Britain – Scotland From The Restoration To The Union Of The Parliaments – Ireland From The Restoration To The Act Of Resumption (1660-1700) – Religious Toleration In England – Austria, Poland, And Turkey – The Treaties Of Partition And The Spanish Succession – The War Of The Spanish Succession (1) Campaigns And Negotiations – (2) The Peace Of Utrecht And The Supplementary Pacifications – Party Government Under Queen Anne – Russia (1462-1682) – Peter The Great And His Pupils (1689-1730) – Charles XII And The Great Northern War – The Origins Of The Kingdom Of Prussia – The Great Elector And The First Prussian King – The Colonies And India – European Science In The Seventeenth And Earlier Years Of The Eighteenth Centuries – Latitudinarianism And Pietism. One of 14 volumes.

Cambridge Modern History: Atlas (vol 14)

Ward, A.W. etc., eds.

1912

Introduction – Europe in the Fifteenth Century – The Age of Habsburg Power and of the Reformation – The Rise of France and Sweden – The Formation of the Great Powers of the Eighteenth Century – The Age of the Revolution and of Napoleon – Since 1815 – Maps.
Contains 141 maps, to accompany articles in the 13-volume Cambridge Modern History, ed. by A.W. Ward etc.

Counter-Reformation

Ward, Adolphus William

1889 Dewey Dec. 940.2

Volume in the series “Epochs of Church History”.
Introductory – Beginnings of the Catholic Revival – Council of Trent – Counter-Reformation at its Height – The Religious Conflict Merged in the Great War.
“The Counter-Reformation (Latin: Contrareformatio), also called the Catholic Reformation (Latin: Reformatio Catholica) or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation, beginning with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) and ending at the close of the Thirty Years’ War (1648). Initiated to preserve the power, influence and material wealth enjoyed by the Catholic Church and to present a theological and material challenge to Reformation, the Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort composed of five major elements: – Defense of Catholic sacramental practice; Ecclesiastical or structural reconfiguration; Religious orders; Spiritual movements; Political dimensions.” – Wikipedia.

Literary Source-book of the Renaissance

Whitcomb, Merrick

1903

Collection of sources in translation illustrating the literary and intellectual side of the Italian and German Renaissance. Excellent introduction to the German Renaissance.