The early modern period was defined from its inception by the idea of the conceptual revolution which distinguished it. Contemporary society, political systems and economic thinking track their origins to this conceptual revolution. From the mid-twentieth century historians and thinkers began to use semantic change and keywords as a means of understanding and exploring this change. The peculiar Anglo-French dynamic in these semantic shifts has long been recognized. This workshop brings together historians and literature specialists of France and England to explore this special and important dynamic afresh. It will look at the new evidence on familiar keywords, rethink the chronology of semantic change and discuss the significance of newly uncovered keywords.

Funding from the Departments of History at Sheffield and York, the Centres for Renaissance and Early Modern Studies and Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies at York, and the European History Research Centre at Warwick means that this workshop is free to registered postgraduate students and staff at the three participating institutions. However, space is limited to 50 participants and you must register via Eventbrite. Further details and registration here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/early-modern-keywords-the-anglo-french-dynamic-tickets-44593255628