‘Nationhood, religious identity and political separatism in eighteenth-century Britain’ – introductory session
Students attending my course ‘Nationhood, religious identity and political separatism in eighteenth-century Britain’ are welcome to download the following slides as a PDF file.
The presentation briefly outlines the objectives of the course and explains how to use our online teaching platform ILIAS.
Course description:
“Jacobitism” was the political movement in Great Britain and Ireland to restore the Roman Catholic King James II of England and his heirs to the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland. This movement led to a long series of so-called “Jacobite Risings” between 1688 and 1746 which highlighted questions of religious identity, nationhood and constitutional reform. First of all, this seminar will give an introduction to the broad range of sources from political or legal treatises to songs, poems, and caricatures which were produced in the Jacobite era. In a second step, we will evaluate what sources were used by which political faction and why. Outlining divergent argumentation strategies, we will discuss what kingship, loyalty, freedom, law and local traditions meant in an expanding British Empire centred on the London Court and Parliament.