RELS 253 Religion, Science, and the Natural World in Early Modern Europe

Comets, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions. In the early modern world, natural phenomena like these were read as portents or omens, exhibiting sympathies between the natural and supernatural.  Set within a period of war, famine, and political instability, these natural disasters generated intense scholarly investigation—by philosophers, religious scholars, and scientists—contributing to the early development of the natural sciences. In this course, we will examine the scientific and religious debates about the causes of these natural phenomena, as well as the range of cultural responses to dealing with natural traumas. We will assess the role of the “natural” in the history of religion and understand the development of scientific authority for interpreting natural phenomena in early modern Europe.