The Ecclesiastical and Political History of the Popes of Rome
During the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries

Written with impartiality and objectivity, Ranke's work, through Austin's translation, influenced generations of historians and historiographers.

Leopold von Ranke (Author), Sarah Austin (Translated by)

9781108027120, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 20 January 2011

606 pages
21.6 x 3.4 x 14 cm, 0.76 kg

This translation by Sarah Austin (1793–1867) of German historian Leopold von Ranke's work contributed significantly to early modern history and historiography. By some accounts 'the best living translator' of her time, Austin was a member of circles that included Jeremy Bentham and J. S. Mill. Ranke (1795–1886) worked for most of his life at the University of Berlin, writing several histories covering the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries. Austin's translation recognises Ranke's importance to Western historiography: his methodology stressed the centrality of using primary sources and of the historian's objectivity. Ranke's history engages with a much wider area than his title suggests; indeed, his subject is 'the struggle between Catholicism and Protestantism, between authority and innovation', as Austin writes. Volume 2 is almost wholly concerned with the Counter-Reformation (and coins the term), from 1563 to 1630. These volumes will be of interest to early modern historians and historiographers alike.

Book V. Counter-Reformation
Book VI. Counter-Reformation
Book VII. 1590–1630: 1. Progress of the restoration of Catholicism, 1590–1617
2. General war. Triumphs of Catholicism, 1617–1623
3. Conflicting political relations. New triumphs of Catholicism, 1623–1628
4. Mantuan war. Thirty years' war.

Subject Areas: European history [HBJD]