Run by School of History, Law and Social Sciences

20.000 Credits or 10.000 ECTS Credits

Semester 1

Organiser: Prof Tony Claydon

To introduce students to the debates around the causes and consequences of the revolution of 1688-9, challenge them to fit these into wider historiographic trends, and allow them to engage with these issues through study and analysis of a range of contemporary documents, conducted at a level appropriate to masters level students

Indicative contents. C17th background to the revolution; the reign of James II; the events of 1688-9; the revolution’s constitutional and religious settlement; the nature of William and Mary’s monarchy. Debates around the radicalism and modernity of the change of monarch, limitations on the prerogative, and the toleration act. The significance of 1688 in the overall development of England.

threshold

Students in this band (C- to C+) will demonstrate a satisfactory range of achievement or depth of knowledge of most parts of the module, and will make successful, if occasionally inconsistent, attempts to develop those skills appropriate to the study of History at undergraduate level. In the case of the written assessments, the answers will attempt to focus on the question, although might drift into narrative, and will show some evidence of solid reading and research. The argument might lose direction and might not be adequately clear at the bottom of this category. Written work will be presented reasonably well with only limited errors in grammar, punctuation, and referencing, and not to the extent that they obscure meaning. They will show a basic historiographic awareness, but this may not range over the full span of relevant works, and their own analysis of it may be basic. Their reference to primary documents will be substantial, but these may do little beyond using them to illustrate arguments based on the secondary works.

good

Good students (B- to B+) will demonstrate a solid level of achievement and depth of knowledge in all the criteria in the C- to C+ range, and will in addition exhibit constructive engagement with different types of historical writing and historiographical interpretation. Ideas will be communicated effectively and written work will include a good range of sources/reading and demonstrate a clear understanding of the issues and of the existing interpretations expressed in a well-structured, relevant, and focused argument. Students at the top end of this band will engage with and critique the ideas that they come across, and synthesise the various interpretations they find to reach their own considered conclusions. Written work will be correctly presented with references and bibliography where appropriate. Historiographic awareness will be very solid, and documents will be used to nuance or advance arguments, rather than just illustrate them.

excellent

Excellent students (A- and above) will show strong achievement across all the criteria combined with particularly impressive depths of knowledge and/or subtlety of analysis. In written work, they will support their arguments with a wealth of relevant detail/examples. They will also demonstrate an acute awareness of the relevant historiography and give an account of why the conclusions reached are important within a particular historical debate. They may show a particularly subtle approach to possible objections, nuancing their argument in the light of counter-examples, or producing an interesting synthesis of various contrasting positions. Work at this level will use historical documents to go beyond existing debates, and perhaps hint at new lines of argument.

1. Critically analyse competing scholarly interpretations of 1688-9, and an ability to intervene in these debates.

2. Demonstrate an ability to construct sustained and analytic historical arguments.

3. Demonstrate in depth knowledge of the events of 1688-9, and their possible causes and consequences

4. Demonstrate an ability to analyse contemporary documents closely, set them in contexts, and to use them in overarching arguments about 1688-9.

		Hours
Seminar	Eleven 90 minute seminars (one a week) will discuss overarching issues surrounding the Glorious Revolution, using primary documents to shape and inform discussion.	19
Lecture	Lectures will outline the main events of the Glorious Revolution, and the historiographic debates that have surrounded these.	6
Private study	Private study will be structured by the course bibliography, and will entail preparing for seminar discussions, as well as writing the essays.	176

• Literacy - Proficiency in reading and writing through a variety of media
• Self-Management - Able to work unsupervised in an efficient, punctual and structured manner. To examine the outcomes of tasks and events, and judge levels of quality and importance
• Exploring - Able to investigate, research and consider alternatives
• Information retrieval - Able to access different and multiple sources of information
• Inter-personal - Able to question, actively listen, examine given answers and interact sensitevely with others
• Critical analysis & Problem Solving - Able to deconstruct and analyse problems or complex situations. To find solutions to problems through analyses and exploration of all possibilities using appropriate methods, rescources and creativity.
• Presentation - Able to clearly present information and explanations to an audience. Through the written or oral mode of communication accurately and concisely.
• Argument - Able to put forward, debate and justify an opinion or a course of action, with an individual or in a wider group setting
• Self-awareness & Reflectivity - Having an awareness of your own strengths, weaknesses, aims and objectives. Able to regularly review, evaluate and reflect upon the performance of yourself and others

• Articulacy in identifying underlying issues in a wide variety of debates.
• Precision of thought and expression in the analysis and formulation of complex and controversial problems.
• Sensitivity in interpretation of religious and philosophical texts drawn from a variety of ages and/or traditions.
• Clarity and rigour in the critical assessment of arguments presented in such texts.
• The ability to abstract and analyse arguments, and to identify flaws in them, such as false premises and invalid reasoning.
• The ability to move between generalisation and appropriately detailed discussion, inventing or discovering examples to support or challenge a position, and distinguishing relevant and irrelevant considerations.
• The ability to consider unfamiliar ideas and ways of thinking, and to examine critically presuppositions and methods within the disciplines of philosophy and religion.
• problem solving to develop solutions to understand the past
• understanding the complexity of change over time; in specific contexts and chronologies
• being sensitive to the differences, or the "otherness" of the past, and the difficulty to using it as a guide to present or future action
• being sensitive to the role of perceptions of the past in contemporary cultures
• producing logical and structured arguments supported by relevant evidence
• marshalling and critically appraising other people's arguments, including listening and questioning
• demonstrating an innovative approach, creativity, collaboration and risk taking
• preparing effective written communications for different readerships
• making effective and appropriate use of relevant information technology
• critical evaluation of one's own and others' opinions

Resource implications for students

None beyond the time spent studying the course

Reading list

●Craig Rose, England in the 1690s: revolution, religion and war (1999) ●Tim Harris, Revolution: the great crisis of the British monarchy, 1685-1720 (2006) ●www.oxforddnb.com. ●The JISC Historic Text databases (available via the Bangor Library website) ●Patrick Dillon, The late revolution: 1688 and the creation of the modern world (2007) ●Wout Troost, William III: the stadholder king (2005) ●Tim Harris, Politics under later Stuarts: party conflict in a divided society (1993) ●Geoffrey Holmes ed., Britain after the Glorious Revolution (1979) ●Tony Claydon William III: profiles in power (2002) ●Kevin Sharpe, Rebranding Rule: the restoration and revolution monarchies (2013 ●Steven Pincus, 1688: the first modern revolution (2009 ●Tony Claydon, William III and the godly revolution (1996) ●Tim Harris and Stephen Taylor eds The final crisis of the Stuart monarchy (2013)

Optional in courses:

• V1AQ: Diploma History year 1 (DIP/HIST)