Siege narratives offer insight into how historical writers and readers made sense of war and violence in early modernity. In this reading group, we will discuss three siege narratives written in the late-sixteenth century, reporting on the sieges on Sancerre, Antwerp, and Paris. Extracts from each narrative will be pre-circulated to attendees and each will receive a short introduction from an early modernist in the group. Following this, we will discuss how these narratives function as a specific genre or mode of writing in early modernity, the rhetorical devices they employ, and the emotional, political, moral, and religious responses they attempt to evoke from the reader. A brief content note: each of these siege narratives includes graphic descriptions of violence and bodily harm.

Questions can be directed to the organisers, Dr Emily Rowe (emily.1.rowe@kcl.ac.uk) and Dr Eli Cumings (eli.cumings@kcl.ac.uk).

Sign up link: https://forms.office.com/e/7md3534bMP