Britton, Dennis. "Race and religious conversion." www.throughlines.org/suite-content/race-and-religious-conversion. [Date accessed].
Race and religious conversion
The Reformation was more than just about Catholic/Protestant conflict.
Students are usually unaware that in early modern Europe changing or not changing religions was often a matter of life or death. When teaching early modern texts, it is important to make it clear in the classroom that the Reformation was more than just about Catholic/Protestant conflict. Bringing conversations about religious conversion into the classroom can help students see that religion was—and still is for some—more than just about what a person thinks and believes. It’s about the transformation of fundamental aspects of identity. It is also important for students to pay attention to the fact that many early modern Christians didn’t believe that everyone had—or should have—equal access to this transformation.
Further learning
Recommended
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Ham and the rationale for colonization
The Hamitic myth was used as a justification for the colonial endeavors of European countries in the late medieval period. This rhetoric traveled to the Americas and became a theological reasoning for the institution of American chattel slavery.
Blackness and Shakespeare's sonnets
Shakespeare’s works at large, and early modern literature more broadly, all deal with constructions of race. Shakespeare’s sonnets are especially fruitful for considering how the languages of fairness and darkness are used in nuanced ways to develop particular understandings of race.
