Foundations of Modern Europe

The Crusades

The Middle ages (500-1460)

• The Middle Ages spans the end of the Roman Empire to the beginning of the Age of Discoveries

• It is divided into 3 stages from Early, High and Late Medieval periods

• Life in Europe was harsh with periods of starvation, barbarian invasions, the Black plague and frequent wars

• Travel was very dangerous during this time period, nevertheless, people traveled as far as China such as Marco Polo’s travels

• Trade was the main reason for this travel, especially silk and spices from China that were transported through central Asia to the markets in the west

• in Africa, caravans trudged across the Sahara, while in the Mediterranean Sea, Venetian ships sailed to different trading posts

• During the High period Charles Martel, Charlemagne, attempted to unify Europe with the creation of the Holy Roman Empire as a way of pacifying warring kings and princes and nullifying nationalist tendencies

• at this time, most of Europe was made up of small kingdoms, principalities and city states that made alliances with each other and then broke them

The Middle ages (500-1460)

• During this period Christian knights of Europe set out on crusades to free the Holy Land from “infidels” as Christians called the Muslims who controlled Palestine

• Europeans were very superstitious and the Church was the center of politics, education and society

• By the Late medieval period much had changed as a result of the Crusades and the Renaissance

• “nationalism”- pride in one’s county or the sense of belonging to a particular country was slowly growing but loyalty to your King was ordered by God

• many wars were undertaken in the name of religion as Christians dealt with Luther’s Reformation

• Many people had become disillusioned with the Vatican’s corruption; they looked to Classical thought and a shifted from focusing on God to focusing on humankind

• By far the most important invention of the Middle ages came at its close; Johannes Gutenberg’ Printing Press -- suddenly learning came within the reach of everyone who could read

Holy War• In the 11th Century World much of the Middle East and

the spice routes are off limits to Christians. Christians are, however, allowed to due pilgrimages to Palestine (Jerusalem).

• Islam’s spread has for a while been stopped by the early 10th Century. A period of in-fighting between Muslims or Moors; Umayyad Caliphate and the Almoravids period begins.

• The Reconquista on the Iberian Peninsula begins in earnest at this time with ‘El-Cid’ and other Spanish and Portuguese kings trying to retake the Peninsula. In 1065 the Pope recognizes this as the first Holy War or Crusade and gives his official blessing for a Holy War.

• The Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium is now under invasion from the Seljuk Turks and suffers major defeats. The Byzantium Emperor asks the Pope for help. These new Muslim rulers massacre Christian pilgrims in Palestine.

• In 1095, Pope Urban II called on Christian leaders to free the Holy Land from the infidels in what becomes known as the First Crusade.

• the First Crusade was a disorganized combination of two groups; the people’s army led by 2 well meaning men named Peter the Hermit and Walter the Penniless; the other led by rich aristocratic knights.

Holy War

• Crusader armies raped, pillaged and plundered their way down to Palestine. Even resorting to cannibalism (Ma`arat al-Nu`man) and the massacre of Jerusalem.

• at first the Seljuk Turks left the kingdom alone, but 8 more Crusades followed. The Third Crusade is led by Richard the Lion Hearted of England and Salah al-Din Yusuf will retake Jerusalem by 1187.

• By 1295, the Christians had been thrown out of all the Middle East.

• many of the Crusaders were more interested in personal gain than religion and they quarreled among themselves

• by the 14th Century, Europe had lost interest in the Crusades although there were several more attempts to organize Crusades, they all failed

Results of the Crusades• For a while

Europeans get a taste of the good life – Spices, medicines, knowledge.

• Two new and powerful military forces appears in Europe as the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller.

• The seeds of the European Renaissance are sown as Muslim libraries in Iberia are translated and lost knowledge is regained.

• The Muslims see the Crusades as a European invasion and have their own Jihad to expel the ‘infidels’.

Results of the Crusades• New knowledge and desire for

spices lead Portugal to begin a new quasi Crusade against the Muslims as they set sail for the East and begin the Age of Discoveries.

• Spain, eager to get in on the spice trade, contracts Christopher Columbus in 1492 to discover a western trade route to India. As a result the Americas are discovered.

• This age of discoveries brings with it the age of colonialism which will last until the 1970s.

The Renaissance(1350-1550)

• the French term ‘Renaissance’ means rebirth and it applied to this period because of the acquiring of knowledge based on ancient Greco-Roman thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle and Cicero and a renewed interest in Greco-Roman culture

• this period marks the start of modern history

• Europeans started to emerge form the narrow confines of the Middle Ages to travel beyond their own continent – Age of Discoveries

• this time period provided profound changes in attitudes and ideas and the resulting artistic and intellectual achievements

• education, art, science and architecture were all affected as people began to question what they were told

The Renaissance(1350-1550)

• In all areas there began to be a shift from God to man and a desire for knowledge – known as ‘Humanism’

• Architecture was obsessed with symmetry, proportion and geometry as well as aesthetics

• The Printing Press is invented by Johannes Guttenberg helping people to get books like never before

• It is during the renaissance that seeds of the Scientific Revolution are laid

• largely unknown to most Europeans at the start of this period, other civilizations (Islam, India and China) were flourishing

Why Italy?

• Geography and the Church were the two biggest reasons for Italy being the center of the Renaissance.

• Situated between western Europe and Byzantium and lying along the Mediterranean coasts, it established a great trading network.

• The wealth of these city states allowed for the development of a middle class with wealthy merchants replacing nobility.

• Rome and the Papal States were the center of learning and life and many of the Muslim texts from the Reconquista were translated here in monasteries and other church centres.

Why Italy?• As Byzantium was besieged by

the Turks more Greek and Byzantium refugees settled in Italy bringing knowledge with them as well

• Merchants had access to this knowledge and began to move away from focusing on God to focusing on man or Humanism

• Merchants became the main driving force behind the Renaissance as they paid for art and architecture in an effort to enjoy life.

Renaissance Art• Francesco Petrarca (1341) founder of

Humanism believed that true eloquence and ethical wisdom could be found by looking to the ancients like Virgil and Cicero

• Florence and the Medici family symbolize the Renaissance Italy (1400)

• Cosimo Medici made Florence his banking empire capital and spent over 600,000 gold florins on arts, education and architecture in his lifetime

• In keeping with Humanism artists portrayed subjects in lifelike human form and realistic positions. They used different techniques to create a 3-D perception.

• Some of the earliest masters were Brunelleschi and Donatello who created the first sculpture of David which Michelangelo would later immortalize with his own.

Renaissance Art• The Palazzo de Medici is one of

the finest architectural pieces of the Renaissance but Florence is itself a giant renaissance architecture museum.

• The Renaissance style places emphasis on symmetry, proportion, geometry and the regularity of parts as they are demonstrated in the architecture of classical antiquity and in particular ancient Roman architecture, of which many examples remained. Orderly arrangements of columns, pilasters and lintels, as well as the use of semicircular arches, hemispherical domes and niches replaced the more complex proportional systems and irregular profiles of medieval buildings.

Renaissance• REBIRTH• Focus is on learning knowledge from the ancients as the best

source for they had it all figured out.• This means moving away from the church and the bible as the

source of all truth.• Translations of works from Muslims and old archives in the

monasteries reveal the ancient works and are heavy in demand.

HUMANISM• A natural transition begins where man becomes the center of

interest as opposed to being the ‘original sin’ in God’s creation (Adam and Eve). This move is justified by the idea from the bible that Man is God’s creation and image therefore the greatest of all his creations. Therefore, it is right to worship man and all his abilities – Humanism is born.

 • This fascination with man, nature and the ancients will

eventually lead to the Scientific Revolution and the age of Enlightenment.

 

Renaissance PhilosophyPillars of the Renaissance 

• Francesco Petrarca (1304 -1374)

• Considered the father of the Renaissance and founder of Humanism.

• Writer of poetry and love letters

• Researches and writes about the ancient philosophers like Cicero

• He joins the Priesthood when his parents die and he has no way to make a living.

• He studies law and later philosophy and the ancients.

• He quits the priesthood when he falls in love with a woman called `Laura` but she is married and they cannot be together. Many of his poems and letters are about his love for her.

• Loses most of his family to the plague – son, grandson, Laura, friends, etc.

• His writings are read by everyone who`s anyone and attracts wealthy and aristocratic attention.

• His writings influence many future writers such as Shakespeare.

• He is also very influential in the development of Italian as a national language.

• He emphasizes that since man is God`s creation then anything man can create or think up is great too. Man should be studied and celebrated and he sees the ancient writers as having already done much of this.

• For the rich men of the time it relieved them from a dilemma of enjoying life and acquiring wealth since Petrarca pointed out that man should try to achieve as much as possible in everything as part of his spirituality.

Renaissance ArtCicero`s Appeal

• His writings concerned the defense, and if possible the improvement, of the Roman Republic.

• He argued that his contemporary politicians were corrupt as opposed to the noble Roman founders . This loss of virtue was, he believed, the cause of the Republic’s difficulties.

• Rome would improve only if the Roman elite chose to improve their characters and place commitments to individual virtue and social stability ahead of their desires for fame, wealth, and power.

• The elite then would lead by example and force the rest of society to do the same.

• Cicero spent a lot of time trying to convince Roman society that philosophy was a worthwhile art.

• Greek philosophy was ahead of all others so Cicero translated many Greek works into Latin.

• Without this we would not have knowledge of many of the Greek writings.

• Inventing Latin words where none seemed suitable for Greek concepts (including the Latin words which give us the English words morals, property, individual, science, image, and appetite).

Renaissance PhilosophyCicero and Hummanism• Cicero discussed two Greek schools of philosophical thought: Stoicism and Academy or Academic Skeptics• Stoicism held that the gods existed and loved human beings.• Both during and after a person’s life, the gods rewarded or punished human beings according to their conduct in life. • The gods had also provided human beings with the gift of reason and that the best, most virtuous, and most divine life was

one lived according to reason, not according to the search for pleasure. • This did not mean that humans had to shun pleasure, only that it must be enjoyed in the right way. For example, it was fine to

enjoy sex, but not with another man’s wife. It was fine to enjoy wine, but not to the point of shameful drunkenness.• Finally, the Stoics believed that human beings were all meant to follow natural law, which arises from reason. The natural law

is also the source of all properly made human laws and communities• Humans therefore have an obligation to take part in politics (so far as is possible) in order to discharge those duties. • Cicero always considered himself to be an Academic Skeptic• a belief that human beings cannot be certain in their knowledge about the world so no philosophy can be said to be true.• One must be able to argue all sides of an argument or issue to understand and accept any belief.• The Academic Skeptics mostly criticized everything and did not offer solutions; Cicero, though, does offer solutions.• The idea that one must question everything and cannot be sure of anything is a challenge to the Church`s hold on society. It

contradicts the notion of faith which requires no questioning just believing.

 

Cicero`s Death • Cicero`s life in politics was his ultimate demise and he and his family were executed on Marc Antony`s orders and his head and

hands were nailed to the Senate doors as a warning to other dissenters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Renaissance ArtLeonardo Da Vinci• Da Vinci is the symbol of the Renaissance Man• Inventor, painter, sculptor, scientist, writer, architect, engineer and more• Born in the Renaissance period (1452 – 1519)• Illegitimate son of Piero Da Vinci near Florence• Worked most of his life in Italy and some in France• Mostly in Florence, Milan and Rome• Learned under earlier Master Andrea del Verrocchio of the Renaissance to

become the greatest of them all• Because he did not learn Latin well he had to rely on his senses to develop his

ideas• Artists relied on the patronage of wealthy aristocracy or merchants who paid for

their work• Notorious for not keeping to his contracts or deadlines he often was not liked

during his time• Da Vinci seemed to play down his painting and sculpting when trying to get work

often appealing to princes and kings to hire him for his engineering skills• Few hired him for anything but artistry though today we recognize his genius for

his designs for tanks, planes and other machines• His famous art work includes the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper, the Vitruvius man

(man in the circle)• Depending on the politics he either worked for one city state or another • His work exemplifies Humanism as it centerpiece is man; 3D, proportional

and glorifying the human body• His study into anatomy and engineering broke new ground in areas that were

traditionally left to superstition and religion and threatened him with heresy • Leonardo was reputed to be a vegetarian and perhaps even a Jain

 

Renaissance Art

Renaissance Politics

Lorenzo de Medici• Grandson of Cosimo de Medici, he and his family ran a banking

business that made them rulers of Florence although Florence was technically a republic

• The Medici wealth and banking interests had them embroiled in the politics of Italy and much of Europe including England and France

• The Medici family had always invested heavily in the arts and knowledge; they were enthusiasts of the Renaissance and Humanist movements since they had wealth and wanted to enjoy it

• Lorenzo himself was a poet, philosopher and founded the world’s first academy of art

• Lorenzo hired Leonardo and had him in Florence for a some time until he became embroiled in the Pazzi Conspiracy; Lorenzo and his brother were assaulted in the historic church the Duomo but Lorenzo survived with a neck wound.

• Retribution was swift and thorough including the execution of Archbishop Salviati for his role in the conspiracy and the Pazzi family was stripped of all possessions and many members executed all across Europe

• Pope Sixtus IV was infuriated although he was behind it too. He brought the King of Naples into a war with Florence that almost bankrupted the Medici. Lorenzo was excommunicated by the Pope.

• Leonardo possibly flees the war or leaves due to the hardships going on in Florence and ends up working for the Duke of Milan; perhaps sent to Sforza as a gift

• Sixtus IV had put a request for all the best artists to come to Rome to work on the Chapel and other works but Leonardo was not on the list; perhaps because he was so closely affiliated with the Medici even though Lorenzo did not have close ties to him

The Protestant Reformation By the early 1500s Europe had changed so much

Charlemagne wouldn’t have recognized it Vatican corruption and scandals, the Babylonian

Captivity (Avignon) and the Great Schism (Urban VI the true pope and Clement VII as an anti-Pope)

Resentment of church’s wealth, power and control over everyday life

Challenges to theology from science such as Copernicus and Galileo

the movement to change the church was called the Reformation and led by Martin Luther

it led to a split in Christianity between Catholics and Protestants that led to religious wars

King Henry VIII uses Protestantism to create the Anglican Church of England and break from the Vatican

The Church responds to reformation with the “Inquisition” and persecutes heretics

Northern Europe becomes largely protestant while southern Europe remains Catholic

Religion is carried to the new World with more zeal by Conquistadores from Portugal and Spain

Religious wars take a toll and eventually lead to the notion of separation of Church and state

• It began in Germany when a priest called Martin Luther (1483-1546) nailed a list of 95 Theses to the church door at Wittenberg

• it gave details of all he thought was wrong with the Church

• most of all, Luther hated the Church’s sale of “indulgences”- these certificates forgave people of their sins, and could be bought from the church for money

• Luther also believed that man was saved by faith alone and not by good works or by the sale of indulgences and that there were only two sacraments: baptism and the Eucharist

• he wanted faith to be based on the scriptures in the Bible and not on religious ceremonies; he also believed that Bible readings were important and that services should be in the local language, NOT in Latin

• Luther hoped his list would lead to debate in the church, but instead he was accused of heresy (going against church beliefs)

• he refused to take back his words and was excommunicated from the Catholic Church in 1521

• however, by this time Luther had gained support in Northern Germany and Switzerland

• he set up his own church and his followers were called Lutherans

• The Pope, Clement VII, besides excommunication of those involved, relied on Charles V of Spain, the Holy Roman Emperor and his troops, to actively put down the heretics in the German states thus driving the German princes away from Rome and determined to protect themselves and the Lutherans

• Further problems arose when Clement got involved between the Spanish and French courts in their battles over some of the Italian states.

• The Emperor had invested much in Italy and when Clement flipped allegiances like the wind he ordered his troops to sack Rome (1527) and imprison the Pope

• after 1529, Lutherans were renamed Protestants when they protested against attempts to limit their teachings

Calvinism and Puritanism• a man named Ulrich Zwingli led the Reformation in Switzerland

which divided the country along religious lines

• his views were more extreme than Luther’s and in 1524 he banned Catholic mass in Zurich

• This led to a civil war and the Second Battle of Kappel in which Zwingli was killed

• Another man that was very influential in this movement was John Calvin (1509-1564); he was born in France and studied law and theology before becoming involved in the Reformation

• he believed in predestination (that God had already ordained the future) and that only people chosen by God, the Elect, would be saved

John Calvin

• Jean Cauvin or John Calvin (1509-1564) studied at first to be a priest in the Catholic Church in France.

• Later he turned to being a lawyer and meeting many humanist/reformers in his studies.

• In the 1530’s Calvin began writing and preaching against the Church and promoting Protestant ideals.

• He eventually had to flee and ended up in Switzerland where he took over the Protestant sects.

• He was greatly influenced by Zwingli’s work and would go even further in his own reforms.

• He became known as “Defender of the Faith” after he ordered the burning of Michael Servetus as a heretic for denying the Holy Trinity.

• His beliefs will end up being the foundation of American society and has left its mark even today

• Many of the Pilgrims were Calvinists

Calvin’s beliefs

• he believed in predestination (that God had already ordained the future) and that only people chosen by God, the Elect, would be saved

• ‘saints’ were living, breathing human beings who had been elected by god to be saved

• The Calvinist churches could elect who would be members and all those in the church were obviously saints who would be saved

• Calvinist churches were free to search out for their members and the members could be part of whichever church they wanted

• Luther’s concept of a ‘priesthood of believers’ presented a problem in how to determine leaders when everyone is equal

• Calvin’s churches solved this by having “Voluntary Association”. People could pick their church freely but the church had to agree to accept them in

• This is an early version of what will become known as the SOCIAL CONTRACT

• He believed that the bible had to be taken literally and in the Holy Trinity• He developed a moral code for all that revolved around

Results of the Reformation• Civil wars and foreign wars break out across Europe• Persecutions follow whereby Catholics and Protestants are forced to convert or die• England brutally suppresses Catholicism to replace it with Anglicanism • The Spanish Netherlands revolts and begins a 40 year civil war of extreme brutality and ends in an

independent United Provinces of the Netherlands (Holland)• The 30 years war begins in the German states; an extremely brutal war which will involve most of Europe• The Treaty of Westphalia will result in the principle of the separation of Church and State• Protestants will split into Anglicans, Lutherans, Calvinists and Puritans• Religious differences and intolerances will be brought to the Americas and be a source of conflict

Religious WarsFrench Religious Wars

• The Protestant Reformation sparked several serious wars as both people and political leaders either accepted or rejected these ideas

• "Une foi, un loi, un roi," (one faith, one law, one king) was France’s traditional motto. The Church preached that Kings ruled by Divine Right and the King promised to defend the faith.

• Spain’s King was the Holy Roman Emperor and he too had a vested interest in keeping the Faith.

• German and English crowns had their own motives for breaking with the Roman faith

• From the 1530s to 1648 Europe was a blood bath of religious wars

• French Huguenots wars raged from 1562 to 1598 when Henry IV, a Huguenot, took the throne but reconverted to Catholicism

• There were more than 9 wars in this period where French fought French in a bid for the Catholic or Calvinist souls

• The Massacre on St. Bartholomew’s Eve in Paris during the Wedding of Queen Catherine de Medici’s daughter to Henry the IV

• It was only with the Edict of Nantes in 1598 that France knew peace (Huguenots were restricted to 200 towns)

Religious Wars• Spanish Netherlands Wars

• Phillip II of Spain was by inheritance also the King of the Low Countries (Spanish Netherlands)

• By 1566 though, Calvinists in the Low Countries were protesting Catholic rule and especially taxes

• The Emperor sent his nephew, Duke of Parma, to govern over them and through a combination of carrot and stick he managed to retake at one point all the Netherlands

• Eventually, by the early 1600s it was plain that the northern provinces were united and would be independent. These became known as Holland today and the other provinces would eventually become known as Belgium give or take a few provinces.

• In 1609 a truce was established that would allow the northern provinces to worship freely and they had gained independence.

• War broke out again in 1621 and did not end until the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648

Religious Wars

The 30 Years War

• In 1555, Charles V had signed the Peace of Augsburg allowing 255 German states to choose their own religion

• This changed however when Calvinists rose on the scene in the German countries – they had no say

• When a Catholic Ferdinand III of Styria(Germany) took control of Bohemia a revolt ensued and war between Catholics, Lutherans and Calvinists broke out

• Eventually, Spain, France, England, Holland, Austria and many German principalities joined in the fray

• From 1618 to 1648 war raged across central Europe until the Treaty of Westphalia was signed

• Spain was bankrupt and exhausted and from here on would never be the major power of Europe again

• Treaty of Westphalia• Principle of whoever Rules the country

determines the religion• All lands secularized by the Protestants could

remain• All states of the Holy Roman Empire were free

and independent states• Calvinism is accepted as a religion• Holland is recognized as an independent country

from Spain

The Counter-Reformation by the Church had

Been checked!

Scientific Revolution1500s to 1700s

• This was a revolution of the greatest magnitude• It changed how people thought about everything• In Medieval times people believed that everything was a result of God • Ptolemy’s universe had 5 elements which were Air, Water, Fire and Earth, and

Aether• Aristotle’s earth was the center of the universe and all heavenly bodies

revolved around it• Nicolas Copernicus blew the lid off of this by proving that the universe was

heliocentric• Isaac Newton, Galileo, Johannes Kepler, Descartes, Francis Bacon are just

some of the greatest thinkers of the time• Mathematics and astrology became the intellectual’s international language

and source for explaining everything• Observation rather than faith became the focus of human activity

Timeline

1543: Andreas Vesalius Publishes On the Fabric of the Human Body (Investigates the Human Body)

1543: Nicolas Copernicus Publishes De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolutions of Celestial Bodies) Copernicus' masterwork; he sets out the heliocentric theory.

1584: Giordano Bruno Publishes The Ash-Wednesday Supper, On Cause, Principle, and Unity, and On the Infinite Universe and Its Worlds The universe is infinitely large and that the Earth is by no means at the center of it. Bruno is burned at the stake as a heretic.

1591: Francois Viete Invents Analytical Trigonometry Viete's invention is essential to the study of physics and astronomy.

1591: Galileo Galilei Demonstrates the Properties of Gravity Galileo demonstrates, from the top of the leaning tower of Pisa, that two different wieghts fall at the same speed thus destroying the Aristotelian system that the rate of fall of an object is dependent upon its weight.

1610: Galileo Publishes Messenger of the Heavens The Inquisition soon warns Galileo to desist from spreading his theories.

1614: John Napier Publishes Description of the Marvelous Canon of Logarithms Napier's invention and cataloguing of logarithms.

1618: Johannes Kepler Reveals His Third and Final Law of Planetary Motion Kepler's laws of planetary motion are the final step leading to the academic rejection of the Aristotelian system.

1620: Francis Bacon Publishes Novum Organum -- Father of Modern Science• Purge your mind of prejudices—what Bacon called “superstition.” •Collect observations and experiences systematically. •Stop, survey what you have seen, and draw initial conclusions.

1630: Galileo Publishes Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World Galileo's magnum opus uses the laws of physics to refute the claims that the laws of terrestrial physics are no different than the laws of celestial physics.

1633: Galileo is Forced to Recant his Theories The Inquisition forces Galileo to sign a recantation and condemns him to house arrest for the rest of his life.

1637: Rene Descartes Publishes His Discourse on Method Descartes' work sets forth the principles of deductive reasoning as used in the modern scientific method.

1637: Rene Descartes Publishes Geometry In this landmark work, Descartes discusses how motion may be represented as a curve along a graph, defined by its relation to planes of reference.

1643: Evangelista Torricelli Invents the Barometer Torricelli's invention measures air pressure and proves air has weight that differs depending on environment.

1656: Otto von Guericke Invents the Air Pump

1662: The Royal Society of London is Officially Organized by King Charles II The Royal Society brings together the greatest minds of the region in efforts to advance science through cooperation.

1666: Robert Boyle Publishes Origin of Form and Qualities Boyle's work, though highly flawed, sets the stage for the study of matter on the atomic level.

1680: Giovanni Alfonso Borelli Publishes On the Motion of Animals Borelli's work is the greatest early triumph of the application of mechanical laws to the human organism.

1687: Isaac Newton Publishes Philosophia Naturalis Principia Mathematica Perhaps the most important event in the history of science, the Principia lays out Newton's comprehensive model of the universe as organized according to the law of universal gravitation. The Principia represents the integration of the works of all of the great astronomers who preceded Newton, and remains the basis of modern physics and astronomy.

1692: The Salem Witch Trials Take Place in Massachusetts Indicative of the maintenance of traditional superstitions even late in the seventeenth century, 200 people are tried for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. Over 7,000 women were executed for witchcraft in Europe between 1550 and 1700, largely in association with the various theological battles of the Reformation.

• The Renaissance had opened the doors to scientific inquiry but at the beginning of the scientific revolution men still clung to the ancient Greek and Roman texts as the foundation of truth

• The Printing Press allowed for an explosion of books and different thinkers were exchanging ideas with each other

• Scientists soon found that the ancients didn’t know everything or were wrong about many things so how were people to know the truth if the bible nor the ancients had the facts

• Descartes Discourse on Methods established the idea of using deduction and hypothesis to prove things: the scientific method is born.

• Descartes moved from science to philosophy and looked at the human body and tried to prove that the mind and soul existed. Known as Cartesian philosophy : “I reflect, therefore I am!”

• Sir Francis Bacon was instrumental in applying ethics and rules for scientific study by cautioning against the bias and superstitions that in the past, led people to mistakes. He also introduces the inductive type of reasoning for scientific study.

• The Scientific Revolution did not immediately change the European world – it itself had to be cautious and profess the study of science as a way of admiring God’s creations

• Most people were poor and illiterate and did not change their superstitious ways for generations but they would benefit from this revolution in economic, political and social ways

• This revolution led to the age of Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution and Democracy

• All the while Europe would see a Feudal System move to an Absolute Monarchy System to an Enlightened Dictator system to a Democratic and Republican system.

Results of the Scientific Revolution

Scientific Revolution

• Reason is the greatest enemy that faith has. It never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God.

-Martin Luther

• All nature and nature’s law lay hid in nightGod said let Newton be and all was light.

-Alexander Pope

• The real and legitimate goal of sciences is the endowment of human life with new inventions and riches.

-Francis Bacon

• Science has done more for the development of western civilization in one hundred years that Christianity has done in eighteen hundred years.

-John Burroughs

Absolutism vs Constitutional Monarchy(1600-1790)

• The changes of the Renaissance and Scientific Revolution had a deep impact on notions of gov’t

• People were becoming more nationalistic and less believing in the church and its vision of the Holy Roman Empire

• Leaders in different countries began to nurture their own power above that of the Vatican

• Two totally different systems develop at almost the same time: the French Absolute Monarchy and the English Constitutional Monarchy

• Both will have repercussions on how Europe will develop, economically, politically, socially and in the Colonial world

• Both will play a role in the development of democracy as we know it today yet it is France, not Britain that will be the first democracy and republic in Europe

Absolute Monarchy• Louis IV is the classic symbol of an

Absolute Monarch (1638-1715)

• He believed strongly in the old French motto of “One faith, one law, one king!”

• He believed also strongly in the Divine Right of Kings theory whereby the king was answerable only to God

• His father Louis XIII began the difficult task of making France the supreme power of Europe

• Two things had to be subdued, the Church and the Nobility

• Key to this was the appointment of Cardinal Richelieu and Cardinal Mazarin as prime ministers during Louis XIII’s rule

• Also important was Louis XIV’s appointment of Colbert as finance minister

• Louis XIV was an expert at managing people and making sure they did not attain too much power

Absolute Monarchy• Louis had his previous Finance Minister Fouquet charged with embezzlement and declared

Colbert, lesser nobility, his Comptroller

• Louis also declared that he would be his own Prime Minister

• Louis XIV referred to himself as the “Sun King” and proclaimed that “L'état c’est moi!” or “I am the State!”

• He successfully reduced the nobility’s power during the ‘Fronde’ insurrection turning them into mere servants of the King

• He issued the Edict of Nantes (1685) and which prohibited Protestantism and destroyed the Huguenots in France thus making France of one Faith

• It also resulted in 200,000 fleeing France, thousands being executed and imprisoned.

• He instituted the old policy of “Gallicanism” and issued the “Declaration of the Clergy of France”. In it he refused to pay the Vatican certain tax monies and only the King would now appoint Cardinals and Bishops. French clergymen could not leave France without his permission. In effect he made the church subservient to the King.

• Reformed tax and trade practices.

• Reformed the legal code to what would be the foundations of the “Napoleonic code”.

• Won several wars and increased the size and power of France.

• Reformed the military creating the first true professional army – the musketeers. The Secretary of War would collect taxes and pay the soldiers – the ‘intendents’.

• Patron to the arts he showed off his power with the building of the Palace of Versailles

• In many respects Louis saw himself as a Benevolent King and proof that absolute monarchy was the best system of government.

• After his death the monarchy quickly declined so that his great grandson, Louis XVI would become the symbol of everything that was wrong with absolutism

Versailles

The English Experiment• Events in England led to a different

development in the search for a system of Gov’t

• There was the tradition and precedent of the Magna Carta (1215) which limited the rights of Kings and protected the people’s rights

• King Henry VIII, last king of the Tudors, broke from the church when the Pope refused him a divorce from his Queen Catherine of Aragon; aunt to the Emperor Charles V

• He establishes the Protestant Anglican Church of England and effectively breaks from Rome forever being excommunicated in 1533

• Queen Elizabeth I eventually takes over as the last of the Tudor dynasty and her reign (1558 -1603) is seen as a golden age

• She leaves no heir and so the throne passes to her cousin’s (Mary Queen of Scots) son James I, King of Scotland

The English Experiment

• King James I (1603-1625) was born a Catholic but raised a protestant after his mother was imprisoned

• His reign is recognized as a continuation of Elizabeth’s golden age but several problems occur between him and the nobles of England who do not want parliament’s power reduced

• James I is a big believer in witchcraft and persecutes Catholics as did Elizabeth however he does grant them eventually freedom of worship which upsets the English protestant nobles

• James is also a believer in the “Divine Right of Kings” and tries to get parliament to be obedient to him and publishes the King James Bible version

• James had several problems with parliament but chief among them was the contest over raising funds for the crown.

• Parliament often refused the amount of money he asked for and he often dissolved parliament. He ruled from 1614 to 1621 with Parliament dissolved.

• James took over Ireland and began planting Protestants in Ulster, established the first colonies in the US and Canada

The English Experiment• In 1625 Charles I takes over his father and begins a

long battle with parliament

• Charles is also a believer in the Divine Right of Kings and their is constant trouble with Parliament

• He marries a Catholic princess of France which angers the protestants and he tries to curb the Calvinists and Puritans who demand reforms

• Ultimately the English Civil War (1646-1649) breaks out and Charles is imprisoned

• He is executed in 1649 when he refuses to abdicate the throne.

• Oliver Cromwell, a Calvinist Puritan and leader of the Parliament forces establishes the “Rule of Parliament” for the good of the people

• From 1649-1651 Cromwell attacks Ireland and Scotland in a bid to rid it of anti-Commonwealth forces; massacres Catholic Irish and Scots in particular

• In 1653 he denounces the ‘Rump Parliament’ and declares himself Lord Protector (1658)

• He died in 1658 of malaria and was posthumously executed in 1661 on the anniversary of Charles’ execution

• In 1660 Parliament agreed to reinstate the monarchy and Charles II took the throne

The English Experiment• Charles II’s reign sees him strengthen the Anglican Church with

the Clarendon Code : Corporation Act 1661, Act of Uniformity 1662, Conventicle Act 1664 and Five Mile Act 1665.

• Charles II is secretly trying to bring England back into the Catholic fold but Parliament repeals any attempts to allow freedom of religion or tolerance

• Charles married the Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza, further proof he was pro-Catholic

• In 1672 he issues the Royal Declaration of Indulgences which repeals the Penal Laws against Catholics but Parliament forces him to take it back

• In 1683 the Rye House Plot is revealed where Protestant ministers were planning to murder Charles and his brother James II after it was revealed that James was a Catholic

• He died in 1685 without an heir and converted to Catholicism on his deathbed

• His brother James II took over and ruled but it was a tense situation as Parliament had fears that the Monarchy would become Catholic again

• When James produced an heir it was the last straw and Parliament deposed James and called on the Protestant William of Orange to become king of England

• This was known as the Glorious Revolution (1689) since it was a bloodless coup

Political Repercussions

• Absolutism will remain a reality of monarchies on the European continent while England will become a constitutional monarchy

• The idea that the people could execute a King sends shockwaves throughout the royal families of Europe and makes them even more wary of absolutist

• Ironically, Crowell’s attempt to create a ‘republic’ ends in him turning it into a dictatorship (he left his son in charge when he died)

• In the colonies, the English experiment with republicanism seeds the notion of the rule of parliament and all people must be represented in parliament before they can be taxed

• Eventually this leads to the American Revolution of 1776 and its eventual independence

• France’s King Louis XVI willingly helps defeat Britain by sending money and troops to help the rebels

• The ideas of the American Revolution will find their way back to France and lead to the French Revolution

• Religious tolerance will not be tolerated in England or France but the United States does institutionalize the notion of freedom of religion

• By the late 1600’s, the Roman Catholic Church has been sidelined by the combination of Humanism, the Reformation, the Scientific Revolution and Absolutism