Department of History

Prospective students

• Undergraduates
• Postgraduates

Current students

• Undergraduates
• Postgraduates

About the department

• Further information
• General enquiries
• Staff
• History news

Research

• Information about research
• Conferences, seminars, events

Lifelong Learning

• Lifelong learning

Dr Kenneth Austin

Lecturer in Early Modern European History

Office: 2.45, 13 Woodland Road: Consultation hours
Tel: 0117 928 7620
Email: kenneth.austin@bristol.ac.uk

Research Interests

My research lies in the field of late medieval and early modern European history.  More specifically, I am interested in the intellectual, religious and cultural history of this period, and especially the connections between the worlds of the Renaissance and the Reformation.  My doctoral research focused on the life and writings of the sixteenth-century scholar and Jewish convert to Christianity, Immanuel Tremellius (1510-1580).  Since then, I have been engaged in developing that project into a monograph, and a series of articles.  This work is the first modern study of a figure who has been surprisingly overlooked in the historiography of the continental reformation.  It also touches upon a number of broader themes, including the intellectual and religious context of this period, sixteenth century scholarship, the European Reformation, friendship and patronage networks, and toleration and irenicism.  A number of these themes are ones that I am now developing in a new research project, which looks at correspondence and friendship networks within the European reformation. 

Research Supervision

I would be interested in supervising students who wish to work on any subject which overlaps with my research interests outlined above.  I would particularly welcome proposals in the following areas:

• Any aspect of Protestantism, and especially Calvinism, in continental Europe
• The Renaissance
• Scholarship of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
• Friendship and correspondence networks in the Renaissance and Reformation eras
• Topics relating to the encounter (positive or negative) of different religions and confessions
• Late medieval and early modern Italian history

Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me to discuss your research plans.

Undergraduate Teaching

I contribute to the team-taught first year Lecture Outline, Introduction to Early Modern History.
In addition, I offer the following undergraduate units:

• The Culture and Civilisation of the Renaissance (first year Special Topic)
• The Early Reformation (second year Lecture Response Unit)
• Calvinism and Europe (third year Special Subject)
• Getting Acquainted with Friendship (third year Reflective History unit)

Postgraduate Teaching

I teach on the MA in Medieval and Early Modern History.  I contribute to the team-taught core units, Themes and Problems in Medieval and Early Modern History and Research Methods and Skills.

I also teach an Optional Unit, entitled Jews and Judaism in Medieval and Early Modern Europe.

Selected Publications

From Judaism to Calvinism: The Life and Writings of Immanuel Tremellius (1510-1580)  (Ashgate, Aldershot, 2007)

'Immanuel Tremellius' Latin Bible (1575-9) as a Pillar of the Calvinist Faith', in David Adams and Adrian Armstrong (Eds), Print and Power in France and England, 1500-1800 (Ashgate, Aldershot, 2006), pp.27-38

‘Immanuel Tremellius and the Avoidance of Controversy' in Luc Racaut and Alec Ryrie (Eds), Moderate Voices in the European Reformation (Ashgate, Aldershot, 2005), pp.70-89

'Immanuel Tremellius (1510-1580), the Jews and Christian Hebraica' in Achim Detmers and J. Marius J. Lange van Ravenwaay (Eds), Bundeseinheit und Gottesvolk. Reformierter Protestantismus und Judentum im Europa des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts (Wuppertal, Foedus, 2005), pp.71-88.

 ‘Humanism and the cult of the text’ in Jonathan Hill (Ed.), The History of Christianity (Zondervan, United States, forthcoming)

Full Publications

Full list of Dr Austin's publications held in the University's IRIS publications database.