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Theses by Russell Gasdia

When he died in May of 1564, John Calvin left behind a body of thought which theologians, philoso... more When he died in May of 1564, John Calvin left behind a body of thought which theologians, philosophers, and historians have been trying to process ever since. The task has been a monumental one. As one of the most prolific writers of the sixteenth century, Calvin is known for having produced one of the most systematic approaches ever attempted in theology, the Institutes of the Christian Religion, as well as for being actively involved in the political situation of France from the relative safety of his adopted home of Geneva. The result of this theological and polemical output was a tangled web of ideas and concepts created for Calvin’s contemporary audience, but which have had a resonance through today. In trying to sort through Calvin’s deep and cacophonous body of work, historians are constantly looking for new approaches which can serve to center and interpret his thought. One approach which has not been tried thoroughly enough is using Calvin’s engagement with a single biblical figure to trace his thought across a number of works. This paper proposes to follow this approach by looking at the different ways in which Calvin struggled with and utilized the character of Nicodemus in his polemical and theological works.

Minority groups throughout history have often used their experiences with persecution to define t... more Minority groups throughout history have often used their experiences with persecution to define their own identities. The Anabaptists of the sixteenth century were just such a group. Targeted by both Catholic and Protestant authorities, thousands of Anabaptists made the ultimate sacrifice by becoming martyrs for their faith. The manner in which the Anabaptists responded to this martyrdom provides a crucial insight into their deepest beliefs. While Anabaptist theologies of martyrdom came in a host of different forms, they universally reflected the unique belief of radical discipleship. The presence of this notion of radical discipleship in Anabaptist theologies provides a link which shows a much more unified group theologically then previously thought.*

Conference Presentations by Russell Gasdia

On the morning of January 7th , 2015, two masked gunmen burst into the headquarters of the French... more On the morning of January 7th , 2015, two masked gunmen burst into the headquarters of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebda, murdering 11. When the gunmen's affiliations with Islamic fundamentalism were discovered, it helped to reignite a debate which has plagued French discourse over the last decade: religion's role in mediating entry into the French state. At the core of the discussion is a question which Patrick Weil recently articulated in the context of post-Revolutionary French citizenship laws, "What makes one French?" Contemporary answers to this question invariably circle around the issue of secularism. However, the role of religion in the notion of French citizenship has a much longer pedigree. For most, this history is told from the perspective of the French state extending citizenship to previously marginalized religious groups. Often overlooked is the means by which these marginalized groups themselves conceived of belonging within the French nation. This paper aims to examine one such influential minority religious group: the Huguenots of the sixteenth century. This period of the Reformation is critical because it shattered, in the words of Scott Gordon, the "unity of the Christian community. " In the case of France, the secretion of Calvinism from Geneva into the French countryside resulted in nearly forty years of civil war which consumed the second half of the sixteenth century. While commanding a majority of the French nobility at one point of the conflict, Reformed Christians only accounted for 6-7% of the population on the eve of the seventeenth century. Nonetheless, the very presence of these nonconformists within the otherwise Catholic French body politic necessitated new ways of conceiving French political and social identity.

The Anabaptist movement of the sixteenth century has long captivated historians interested in the... more The Anabaptist movement of the sixteenth century has long captivated historians interested in the radical and popular elements of the Reformation. While the lives and thought of magisterial reformers like Martin Luther and John Calvin have been studied in detail, the theological predecessors of modern groups like the Mennonites and Hutterites have been largely neglected. This is in part due to deep-rooted and continuous debates in historical and theological communities over which historical figures should be included under the banner of "Anabaptist." Using the lenses of theology, sociology, culture, and
even economics, historians have offered a number of competing definitions which hinder future research. This paper aims to reframe this debate by discarding, for the moment, the typical lenses of theology and ecclesiology usually employed in analyses of the movement. By instead placing the various people and groups identified by this discordant historiography into a spatial context, and examining the spatial practice through which the theological ideas and practices of Anabaptism arose and spread, a far more coherent view of Anabaptist origins emerges.

Teaching Documents by Russell Gasdia

This guide is designed for Yale's community of scholars working in the field of Early Modern Euro... more This guide is designed for Yale's community of scholars working in the field of Early Modern European history. Its aim is to provide you with the tools needed to quickly produce maps for use in presenting research. It consists mainly of three parts: (1) an exercise designed to map location-based data using Google Maps, (2) a guide to resources available to members of the Yale community wishing to move into more powerful GIS software, and (3) a list of data sources that can be used in researching and portraying Early Modern Europe using digital mapping. While this guide aims to cover the representational uses of digital mapping software, many of the resources identified can also be used for more analytical aims.

This guide is meant to help anyone at Yale, and particularly historians, quickly get started usin... more This guide is meant to help anyone at Yale, and particularly historians, quickly get started using EndNote Citation Management Software. It is not meant to be comprehensive, but does provide a number of approaches not found in other guides. The guide is geared towards users implementing EndNote in Microsoft Windows and writing using Microsoft Word, but many tips carry across systems

Drafts by Russell Gasdia

The advent of the printing press has long been seen as a radical event in the historiography of e... more The advent of the printing press has long been seen as a radical event in the historiography of early modern Europe. While text had always played a central role in codifying and diffusing social ideas and identities, the press fundamentally changed the manner in which readers engaged with the written word. Within two decades of Johannes Guttenberg's earliest publication, the number of sheets being printed across Europe already exceeded the number of sheets in handwritten manuscripts. Despite a number of compelling narratives that have been offered for this watershed moment, the spatial dimensions of the printing industries development have gone largely unexplored. This paper offers a new approach to the history of the book by examining the importance of the Mediterranean in the opening decades of European printing.

The purpose of this paper is to present a clearer picture of Johann Weyer's conception of possess... more The purpose of this paper is to present a clearer picture of Johann Weyer's conception of possession and exorcism by synthesizing various elements of his De Praestigiis Daemonum, and comparing these elements with Reginald Scot's The Discoverie of Witchcraft. Where appropriate, the two authors will also be compared with relevant contemporary Catholic authors, in order to better highlight the broader context in which they were writing. A particular emphasis is placed on what Weyer and Scot's views on possession and exorcism indicate about their broader religious and supernatural beliefs. To engage with these issues, the essay is broken into two parts. The first looks at how each author understood demons and the problem of demonic possession. The second examines how they engaged with exorcism as it was commonly practiced in the sixteenth century. The essay concludes by examining what the similarities between Johann Weyer and Reginald Scot mean for our understanding of the sixteenth century, and each author's broader ideas.

This essay argues that the early Calvinist tradition's views on religious tolerance change with t... more This essay argues that the early Calvinist tradition's views on religious tolerance change with the contemporary political context. It does so by drawing a direct connection between specific formulations of tolerance and the historical context in which they were written. It begins by delving into the most visible aspects of John Calvin and Theodore Beza's intolerance by looking at the points at which Calvin and Beza were secure in their power in Geneva. This is followed by a look at the unique mix of tolerance and intolerance found in what can be called " a move towards concord " by Calvin and Beza, as the possibility of France as a Calvinist nation appears to be on the horizon. The next section looks at the Reformed traditions tentative steps towards an ideology of religious tolerance in Calvin's early years as an outcast from France and Beza's elder years following the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. The essay concludes by tying the theology of the early Reformed church into Calvinism's later impact on human rights theory and a reflection on how to best understand the development of religious tolerance.

While it is not the purpose of this paper to address the broad debate over the role of Beza in ch... more While it is not the purpose of this paper to address the broad debate over the role of Beza in changing Calvin's thought immediately following his death, the specific case of On the Rights of Magistrates does provide a clear refutation of the above historiographical narrative. Specifically, Calvin's thought as it was expressed in The Institutes of the Christian Religion appears to have served as the fundamental framework around which Beza crafted his argument in On the Rights of Magistrates. In the realm of political theory, Calvin's understanding of the role of government and rulers is reflected in the explicit assumptions about government which Beza makes. Furthermore, Beza uses a number of theological concepts which mirror the theological focuses of the Institutes itself. Finally, Calvin bequeathed to Beza a series of practical rules for how different elements of the political order should relate to one another. Therefore, John Calvin's The Institutes must be seen as a crucial influence on Theodore Beza's On the Rights of Magistrates.