Absolutism, Enlightenment
High Culture,
Savage Warfare
and the
Rise of Science
Transform the Modern World.
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Galileo Galilei |
By Ronald Fritze
Posted on May 25, 2009, from Athens, Alabama
"The past is a foreign country,
they do things differently there."
— Leslie Poles Hartley
The concept expressed in the previous quote is true, at least in part. We are going to study the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of European history. The course has much to do with the concepts of "absolutism" and "enlightenment." How is this past foreign to us? Absolutism is a good example of that foreignness.
Noble Blood and Privilege
Were Natural and Good.
In many countries and for much of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, many people supported the concept of an absolute monarch as the best and more proper form of government for humans. For Americans used to the idea of government of the people, by the people, and for the people, this is an alien way of conceiving government, although many early modern people would have said the same thing about the American democratic republic that we live under.
Early modern society largely accepted the idea of a nobility of the blood. This meant that some people were naturally better than others and as a result they were also privileged under the law. Early modern people believed that this form of social structure was natural and good.
Modern people, in contrast, make equality under the law and egalitarianism their ideal of the good society. At the same time various social changes such as the beginning of the industrial revolution and many of the ideas propounded by the Enlightenment brought about a transformation of European society that lay the foundations of the modern world we live in today.
The American Revolution had some of its roots in the Enlightenment. This era of the Old Regime in Europe from 1600 to 1789 may be two, three, or four centuries distant from us, but it remains relevant for an understanding the modern world and who we are.
The Great and the Infamous
The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries also had their fair share of the great, the famous, and the infamous of human history.
Richelieu plotted to make France great.
Louis XIV built his palaces and fought his wars.
Gustavus Adolphus marched across Germany winning battles and losing his life.
Galileo sought to expand the universe, but ended up under house arrest.
Peter the Great wrangled Russia into Europe and into greatness.
Frederick the Great fought against impossible odds and survived to lay the foundations for the emergence of a German nation.
It was the world of Bach, Mozart, and Handel. This era forms the setting of the historical novels of Alexander Dumas, Henrik Sienkiewicz, and Sir Walter Scott. High culture, savage warfare, the rise of modern science, and violent religious conflicts are all a part of the Old Regime.
My hope is that you find this class to be rewarding and enjoyable. Let the learning begin.
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