Guides: RELG 423: Reformation Thought: Home

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Library guides

Religious Studies
by Kristen Howard Last Updated Aug 29, 2024 2174 views this year
Medieval and Early Modern European History
by Kristen Howard Last Updated Aug 29, 2024 391 views this year

Reference books

Understanding Early Modern Primary Sources by Laura Sangha (Editor); Jonathan Willis (Editor)
Publication Date: 2016
Understanding Early Modern Primary Sources is an introduction to the rich treasury of source material available to students of early modern history. This book introduces students to the sources that survived to become indispensable primary material studied by historians.
See esp. the following chapters:
Ch. 3: Ecclesiastical Sources
Ch. 9: Religion and Religious Change
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation by Hans J. Hillerbrand (Editor)
Publication Date: 1996
The definitive source for information about the entire range of religious and social changes that altered the face of Europe in the sixteenth century, encompassing not only issues of church polity and theology but also developments in politics, economics, demographics, art and literature.
Renaissance and Reformation, 1500-1620 by Jo Carney
Publication Date: 2000-10-30
Covering the period comprising the Renaissance and Reformation, this volume introduces a unique set of interdisciplinary biographical dictionaries providing basic information on the people who have contributed significantly to the culture of Western civilization. This book covers such figures as the religious leaders who contributed to the Reformation, scientists who paved the way for a new view of the universe, and Renaissance painters, sculptors, and architects, as well as writers, musicians, and scholars.
Handbook of European History 1400-1600: Late Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation by Thomas Brady (Editor); Oberman (Editor); James D. Tracy (Editor)
Publication Date: 1995
he Handbook of European History 1400-1600 brings together the best scholarship into an array of topical chapters that present current knowledge and thinking in ways useful to the specialist and accessible to students and to the educated non-specialist.

Find secondary sources

Find books

Library Catalogue

Reminders for catalogue searching:

Begin by keyword searching.
Use the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) to find more books on the same topic. Some suggested LCSH for this course include::
- su: Reformation Historiography
- su: Radical Reformation
- su: Luther, Martin, 1483-1546
- su: Calvin, Jean, 1509-1564
Scroll to the bottom of a catalogue record to browse the virtual shelf

Find peer-reviewed articles

Historical Abstracts (EBSCO)
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This contains references to journal articles, book reviews and some dissertations about the history of all parts of the world from 1450 on, EXCLUDING Canada and the United States. In the search options, select "Peer Reviewed" and enter "Historical Period" (e.g., Start Year: 1450 To End Year: 1600).
ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials (EBSCO)
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Resource for religious and theological studies, providing bibliographic records covering topics such as biblical studies, world religions, church history and religion in social issues. Contains over 2.9 million index records covering the research literature of religion in many languages. Bibliographic records represent scholarship on major religions, faiths, denominations and languages. Updated monthly,

Consider browsing these top journals in Reformation studies:

Archive for Reformation History (Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte)
Early Modern Women
Reformation & Renaissance Review
Sixteenth Century Journal (SCJ)

Find primary sources

In addition to the primary sources assigned in class, try finding more primary sources through the following methods:

1. Search by author name in the catalogue (author or subject fields)

au: Calvin, John
su: Calvin, Jean, 1509-1564

2. Search by title in the catalogue

ti:"Institutes of the Christian religion"

3. Search for sourcebooks

Combine keyword(s) with su: sources
E.g.: Anabaptism AND su: sources

4. Try browsing specialized databases

Digital Library of Classic Protestant Texts (Alexander Street)
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A uniquely exhaustive resource for historians, theologians, political scientists, and sociologists studying the religious and social upheavals of the 16th and 17th centuries, the Digital Library of Classic Protestant Texts gives researchers immediate, Web-based access to an extensive range of seminal works from the Reformation and post-Reformation eras with a focus on Protestant thinkers.
Digital Library of the Catholic Reformation (Alexander Street)
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A uniquely valuable resource for historians, theologians, political scientists, and sociologists studying the religious and social upheavals of the 16th and 17th centuries, the Digital Library of the Catholic Reformation gives researchers immediate, Web-based access to an extensive range of seminal works from the Reformation and post-Reformation eras with a focus on Catholic thinkers.

Citations

History as a discipline uses the Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition) for citations, and usually the Notes-Bibliography form. This requires creating properly formatted footnotes footnotes and a Bibliography for your assignments. Resources to understand the Chicago style of citations are included below.

Note: Chicago Manual of Style will update to the 18th edition in September 2024.

HCS Guide to the Chicago Manual of Style
A guide to the Chicago Manual of Style developed for students in History and Classics (18th edition).

The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition
Publication Date: 2017
There is a copy of the current Chicago Manual of Style available for reference at the McLennan Service Desk (first floor).
A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Ninth Edition by Kate L. Turabian
Call Number: LB2369 T8 2018
Publication Date: 2018
A guide to Chicago Manual of Style with more information on hard-to-cite or unusual sources than the original manual.

Guides

Chicago Manual of Style Citation Quick Guide
McGill Library Citation Subject Guide
Under "citation styles by subject", select "History" for more resources on Chicago style.

Library Support

Chicago Workshops
McGill Librarians offer two virtual Chicago Citation Style workshops per term. Follow this link to find and register for upcoming workshops!
Citation Management
Attend a workshop to learn how to use Zotero or EndNote, useful citation management systems. Zotero is highly recommended for History students!