Sixteenth Century Society and Conference

Sixteenth Century Society and Conference
Name	Sixteenth Century Society and Conference
Abbreviation	SCSC
Formation	1969
Type	Learned society
Headquarters	United States
Region served	International
Languages	English

Sixteenth Century Society and Conference is an international learned society devoted to the study of the early modern period, focusing on the sixteenth century and its global contexts. It convenes historians, literary scholars, art historians, musicologists, theologians, and legal historians through conferences, publications, and awards, and maintains networks linking institutions such as Harvard University, Oxford University, Cambridge University, Yale University, Princeton University. The organization fosters dialogue among researchers working on figures like Martin Luther, Henry VIII, Charles V, Elizabeth I, Suleiman the Magnificent and events such as the Reformation, the Spanish Armada, the Italian Wars, the Council of Trent, and the Peace of Augsburg.

History

The society was established in 1969 amid scholarly interest sparked by works on Niccolò Machiavelli, Desiderius Erasmus, Thomas More, François Rabelais, Michelangelo Buonarroti, and Albrecht Dürer, and institutional growth at centers like Columbia University, University of Chicago, Stanford University, University of Michigan, and University of California, Berkeley. Early members included specialists on John Calvin, Ignatius of Loyola, Philip II of Spain, Catherine de' Medici, Mary I of England, and historians influenced by methodologies from Carlo Ginzburg, E. P. Thompson, Marc Bloch, Georges Duby, and Ludwig von Pastor. The society’s trajectory intersected with major exhibitions at The British Museum, Louvre Museum, Museo del Prado, and scholarly projects tied to archives like the Vatican Secret Archives, the Archivo General de Indias, and the National Archives (UK).

Mission and Activities

The mission emphasizes interdisciplinary study of figures such as William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Rabelais, Baldassare Castiglione, Giovanni Boccaccio, and institutions including the Habsburg Monarchy, the Ottoman Empire, the Kingdom of France, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Kingdom of England. Activities include panels on topics relating to Martin Luther King Jr. (comparative historiography), studies invoking theories from Jürgen Habermas, Michel Foucault, Natalie Zemon Davis, E. P. Thompson, and archival workshops using holdings from British Library, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, State Archives of Venice, and Archivo General de Simancas. Collaborations have linked the society with institutions like the Modern Language Association, the American Historical Association, the Renaissance Society of America, Istituto Nazionale di Studi sul Rinascimento, and museums such as National Gallery, London and National Gallery of Art.

Annual Conferences and Meetings

The annual conferences rotate among venues connected to universities and cultural sites, bringing together scholars focused on Thomas Müntzer, Jan Hus, Huldrych Zwingli, Philip Melanchthon, Mary, Queen of Scots, Ivan IV of Russia, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Atlantic contacts including Pedro Álvares Cabral, Hernán Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, and Vasco da Gama. Conferences feature sessions on primary sources from collections like Folger Shakespeare Library, Bodleian Library, John Rylands Library, King's College, Cambridge Library, and use case studies involving artifacts from Uffizi Gallery, Rijksmuseum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, and Victoria and Albert Museum. Panels often examine diplomatic correspondence referencing treaties such as the Treaty of Tordesillas, the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis, the Edict of Nantes precursors, and marine histories tied to Magellan Expedition and Spanish colonization of the Americas.

Publications and Journals

The society sponsors journals and edited volumes featuring scholarship on authors like Petrarch, Lorenzo de' Medici, Pico della Mirandola, Giordano Bruno, Paracelsus, and composers such as Josquin des Prez, Orlando di Lasso, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, and William Byrd. Its publications engage with monographs addressing archives including the Archivio di Stato di Firenze, Archivio di Stato di Venezia, Archivo General de la Nación (México), and citation networks connecting work on Annales School, New Economic History, World Systems Theory, and historians like Fernand Braudel, Immanuel Wallerstein, Evelyn Welch, and Patrick Collinson. Recent special issues have featured research on printing and book history involving printers such as Aldus Manutius, Christopher Plantin, and libraries like Trinity College Library, Cambridge.

Governance and Membership

The governing council comprises elected officers, editors, and committee chairs drawn from universities and research centers including University of Toronto, McGill University, University of Edinburgh, University of Leiden, Leiden University, KU Leuven, University of Salamanca, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Universidad de Sevilla, University of St Andrews, Durham University, Queen Mary University of London, and cultural institutions like Getty Research Institute. Membership includes scholars specializing in figures such as Andreas Vesalius, Ambroise Paré, Gerolamo Cardano, Sebastian Brant, and practitioners from museum studies at Smithsonian Institution, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, and archive professionals from National Archives and Records Administration.

Awards and Fellowships

The society administers prizes and fellowships honoring scholarship on subjects such as Geoffrey Elton-style political history, social history influenced by E. P. Thompson, and cultural studies in the vein of Natalie Zemon Davis. Awards recognize articles and monographs on topics ranging from court studies of Francis I of France, Henry IV of France precursors, diplomatic careers like Erasmus of Rotterdam correspondents, and exploration narratives involving Bartolomeu Dias, Hernando de Soto, and Jacques Cartier. Fellowships support research residencies at libraries and archives like Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Huntington Library, Wellington Archives, and international scholarships connected to the European Research Council and national funding bodies such as the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Category:Learned societies