I am happy to report that my latest article has been published in the 50th anniversary issue of Sixteenth Century Journal.

“We allegedly live in an age of religious warfare. Ever since the September 11 Attacks in 2001, journalists, analysts, observers, and scholars have frequently used the concept of “religious wars” to explain terrorist attacks and armed conflicts around the world. The spectacular violence and massive destruction of the attacks confirmed a return to religion in international politics and reinforced the concept of a grand “clash of civilizations” as defining war. … ”

The article continues to consider the concept of “new” wars of religion:

“The comparisons between “old” and “new” wars of religion certainly present conceptual and theoretical challenges for historians working on religious violence in the early modern period. Modern religious conflicts also present opportunities for early modern scholars to rethink the European Wars of Religion (1520s-1650s) as a period that represents one of the most important historical cases of religious warfare. Reinterpreting the history of early modern religious conflicts allows us to consider the connections between past and present cases of religious violence and to raise new methodological questions. This is an important task for the present, since ‘religious violence is among the most pressing and dangerous issues facing the world community.'”

For the full article, see: Brian Sandberg, “Reflecting on the European Wars of Religion in an Age of Religious Violence,” Sixteenth Century Journal 50: 1 (Spring 2019): 176-182.

The Sixteenth Century Journal is affiliated with the Sixteenth Century Society and Conference and is available (by subscription) at the Sixteenth Century Journal website or through JSTOR database (through most major libraries).