Few serious scholars now doubt the central importance of religious attitudes, beliefs and values for the ways early modern people organised their social, political and cultural lives, or the potency of religion, both as a source of social cohesion, and a force for social conflict. Over the past few decades, a traditional preoccupation with ‘ecclesiastical history’ and the fortunes of institutions has given way to a more integrated approach to the belief-systems, Christian and non-Christian, that structured the early modern world, and religious history has been enriched by its engagement with the approaches and methodologies of other disciplines. This important new series aims to provide a showcase for writing on all aspects of the social, cultural and political history of religion in the early modern period. Its remit stretches broadly over time, from the early fifteenth to the later eighteenth centuries, and extends widely geographically, to encompass both European and non-European societies.

Submissions are invited from established scholars, as well as advanced PhD and post-doctoral candidates, working in the field of ‘religious history’ in its most inclusive sense. Works accepted into the series will be scholarly monographs (80–100,000 words) of high quality and originality, which, while they may focus on particular themes, persons or locations, will demonstrate an ability to address wider themes and concerns in this exciting and vibrant sub-discipline of historical writing.

Proposals should be sent (in hard copy and by electronic attachment) to one of the series editors: Dr Fernando Cervantes, Department of Historical Studies, University of Bristol, 13 Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1TB, UK (f.cervantes@bristol.ac.uk); Dr Peter Marshall, Department of History, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK (p.marshall@warwick.ac.uk); Prof. Philip Soergel, Department of History, University of Maryland, 2115 Francis Scott Key Hall, College Park, MD 20742-7315, USA (psoergel@umd.edu). The editors will require a detailed proposal of at least 8–10 pages (including chapter outlines), along with the text of a sample chapter. It is envisaged that contracts will be offered to the most promising authors on this basis.