When you hear `The Tudors,' as a dynasty or individually as `Henry VIII' or `Elizabeth I,' those names can easily conjure up images of sumptuous royal living, high political drama, shadowy court intrigue, and transnational espionage. But beyond the Hollywoodized stereotypes, who were the Tudors? And what did the world they live in actually look like? Can that century-long dynasty, in which five very different monarchs ruled, official religion changed no less than three times, and the political and social climate fluctuated with—and within—each new reign, really be categorically lumped together into a single monolithic idea, `the Tudors'?

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This course will delve into those questions, framed by three broad themes: space or landscapes (physical, architectural, mental, and religious); time; and memory and identity.  These themes will necessarily intertwine.  For instance, the transformation of both cultural memory 'landscapes' as well as physical and geographic occurred after the dissolution of the monasteries during the reign of Henry VIII.  Numerous other examples exist of these tangible and intangible evolutions in the space of roughly a century and a half.  Primarily through the lens of religious history and starting with late medieval religious culture, students will learn about the complex factors and people who played a part in the successive religious transformations of the English reformations, from Thomas More and Thomas Cranmer to Mary Queen of Scots, to the role of printing, and the parallel international networks of state informers and English Catholic exiles.  Also, since religion, law, and society are heavily intertwined in this period, we will discuss particular legal instruments and their consequences throughout the course.