This conference will consider issues of religious toleration, division, and persecution in the early modern period, with a focus on Europe, England, the New World, and the Ottoman empire and the Arab world.  The conference aims to consider the definitions and limits of toleration in the early modern period, as well as the different kinds of religious persecution practiced during the early modern period.  The conference will also consider some of the fierce debates and controversies that were stirred by the topic of religious toleration.  It will examine, from an interdisciplinary perspective, the tensions between emerging ideas of religious toleration and various kinds of intolerance that were practiced during this period.  One of the key questions the conference will attempt to address is: to what degree do we find evidence in the early modern period of toleration defined as the peaceful or stable coexistence of people of different faiths living together in the same village, town, city, or nation?

The conference will consist of both lectures and forums that address this large and timely issue.  The topics of lectures and forums will include: “Toleration and Persecution in Early Modern England”; “Religious Toleration and Intolerance on the Continent”; “Religious Toleration in the Early Modern Ottoman and Arab World”; and “Religious Toleration in the New World.”  The conference will draw upon the expertise of scholars outside the University, as well as those who work here at UW-Madison.  Distinguished speakers from other universities include: Nabil Matar (University of Minnesota), an expert on early modern European encounters with the Ottoman empire and Arab world; John Marshall (Johns Hopkins University), an expert on John Locke and toleration in early modern Europe; Ann Hughes (University of Keele, UK), the author of a major book about intolerance in seventeenth-century England; and Edward Muir (Northwestern University), a scholar who has written widely on violence and ritual in early modern Europe and who is currently working on religious skepticism in Renaissance Italy.  Participants from UW-Madison will include Charles Cohen, an expert in Puritanism and early American history; David Loewenstein, a scholar who works on toleration, literature, and the specter of heresy in early modern England; Jan Miernowski, a leading specialist in French literature and culture.  One of the Solmsen Fellows at the UW Institute for Research in the Humanities, Catherine G. Martin, will participate in the panel on toleration and persecution in the New World.

We believe that the topic of this interdisciplinary conference--toleration and religious persecution--will have broad appeal to faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates across the disciplines in the humanities.  While our focus is toleration and persecution in the early modern period, our aim is also to explore questions about religious toleration and conflict within our own world—and to put them into historical perspective.  Consequently, the conference will conclude with a discussion panel--consisting of our four invited distinguished speakers, as well as faculty and graduate students at UW--on “Toleration and Persecution in the Early Modern Period: Implications for our Twenty-First Century World.”

The conference will begin on Friday, April 10 at 9:00 a.m. and will conclude on Saturday, April 11 at noon.  All lectures and panel sessions will be held on campus in the Memorial Union (the rooms will be posted at the Union on each day of the conference).  We'll have a precise schedule available for you very soon.  I warmly invite you to attend part or all of this conference and to let your students know about.  If you have any questions about this event, please feel welcome to contact me (daloewen@wisc.edu) or my assistant, Kate Fedewa (fedewa@wisc.edu).

Conference Schedule

APRIL 10-11, 2009: All sessions take place in the University of Wisconsin Memorial Union; rooms posted at the Union on each day of the conference

Speakers arrive Thursday PM, April 9, 2009

Friday, April 10

9:00-12:00 AM: Opening remarks

9:15-10:30: Religious Toleration in the Early Modern Ottoman and Arab World: "Orthodox Christians in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire." Nabil Matar, University of Minnesota

15-minute coffee break

10:45-12:00: Religious Toleration and Intolerance on the Continent I: "Catholic Hatred and Its Merits in Renaissance France." Jan Miernowski, University of Wisconsin-Madison

12:00-2:00: lunch break

Afternoon sessions:

2:00-3:00: Toleration and Persecution in Early Modern England and Europe I: "Persecution, Toleration, and the Limits of Toleration in the Later Seventeenth Century." John Marshall, Johns Hopkins University.  Moderator: David Sorkin (UW-Madison)

15-minute coffee break

3:15-4:15: Toleration and Persecution in Early Modern England and Europe II: "Justifying Persecution in the English Revolution." Ann Hughes, University of Keele, UK

15-minute coffee break

4:30-5:30: Panel (with brief presentations) on "Religious Toleration in the New World":  Charles Cohen (University of Wisconsin-Madison);  Steven Turley (University of Wisconsin-Madison); David Loewenstein (University of Wisconsin-Madison); Catherine Gimelli Martin (IRH, UW-Madison; U of Memphis)

5:30-6:30: reception

6:30-8:30: dinner

Saturday, April 11

9:00-10:15: Religious Toleration and Intolerance on the Continent II: "'People Who Believe in Nothing': Intolerable Thoughts in Late Renaissance Italy." Edward Muir, Northwestern University.  Moderator: Steve Hutchinson (UW-Madison)

15-minute coffee break

10:30-11:45: informal panel discussion on "Toleration and Persecution in the Early Modern Period: Implications for our Twenty-First Century World."  Participants: Ann Hughes, John Marshall, Jan Nabil Matar, Edward Muir, Jan Miernowski.  Moderator: David Loewenstein

Brief concluding remarks