We have discussed some major
developments in European history. This information provides a basis to understand some basic issues that we will bring into our discussion of Swedish history. This "basis" includes understanding that ability to spread information, where new ideas came from, why Europeans begin relying more on logic and reason than faith and mystery, and how literacy increases.
Human knowledge developed in many new areas during the
times of Ancient Greece and Rome.
Look at the images on the following pages in chapters 5 and 6 in
your book to get a sense of some these developments
122 – art
125 – myths
126 – art
127 – art –
130 – sports, art
134 – democracy
135 – political leadership, art
136 – drama
138-139 – philosophy
140-141 – art and architecture, drama
147 – astronomy
148 – math
150 – summary
154 – Roman senate
156-157 – politics
158 – military tactics
167 – art
179 – myths, epic stories
180 – politics, philosophy, literature
181 – engineering
182 – architecture, engineering
The Fall of the Western Roman Empire
In the 5th century A.D., the Western Roman Empire was
overrun by a variety of tribes from the east. As a result,
-
western Europe
goes from being a united political entity to being hundreds of small kingdoms
ruled by a variety of princes and kings.
-
Trade diminishes
greatly. Most people live in small villages where they grow/make most of what they
need
-
Literacy rates fall. The
consumption and creation of knowledge diminishes. Most of the knowledge of the
ancient world is lost over the centuries.
The Middle Ages
-
Christianity
spreads throughout western Europe. By 1000 A.D., most all of Europe is
Christian.
-
The Catholic
Church becomes established in western Europe. It collects taxes and has
political influence in the various kingdoms. Christianity/Catholicism is the
one thing (other than history) that unites Europeans.
The Crusades – chpt. 14
The Crusades were a number of
military campaigns by Christian Europeans where the goal was to help the
emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire fight off the Seljuk Turks and to take back
the Holy Land from Muslim control. They were successful with the first goal,
and for the most part unsuccessful with the second. But what we care about are
a couple of the long-term outcomes
-
Trade increases:
Europeans start trading more with people outside of Europe, and trade inside of
Europe increases. (This is information
that you can potentially use to help you explain how both things and
information were able to move later on.)
-
Information/knowledge
originally produced in ancient Greece and Rome that had been disseminated
(spread) to lands outside of Europe and had never stopped being used was “rediscovered”
by Europeans.
The Renaissance – chpt. 17
As a result of the
reconnection with knowledge of ancient Greece and Rome (and also the further
developments that had occurred with this knowledge in the cities and empires of
Asia), Europeans society will change in all
areas throughout the 15th and 16th centuries. There is an
explosion of ideas and developments, and these are helped along by a steady
rise in wealth, fueled in part by trade, as well as the looting and exploiting
of lands outside of Europe. That is, the Renaissance (which is most often a
term used to talk about art, literature, and trade within Europe) was also the
same time as new explorations outside of Europe, to Africa and the Americas. (see
chpt. 20)
The Protestant Reformation (chpt. 17)
When Christianity became
established as a “church,” that is, an institution with a set of “rules,” it
drew from the Bible (note: the Bible, when meaning the Judeo-Christian holy
book, the Old Testament and the New Testament, is always capitalized) as well as other texts. It gradually developed a
hierarchy that we discussed in class. (This process took time; by the 4th
c., a clear structure and set of doctrines/teachings has started to emerged.) And
in the beginning there was only one Christian church: the Roman Catholic
Church. In the Eastern Roman Empire another version develops – the Eastern
Roman Church. (religious)
By the end of the Middle Ages
(1500), the Roman Catholic Church had enormous power throughout Europe. As an
institution, it was large and it was wealthy. And it wielded a lot of political
power – in part because it was large and wealthy. (religious)
There were those who felt
that the Catholic Church should focus more on religious issues and less on
political and economic issues. On such person was a Germany monk named Martin
Luther. In 1517 we nailed his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg,
Germany, thus starting the Protestant Reformation.
One of the key elements of
Luther’s writings: Salvation (frälsning)
came from faith in Jesus Christ. And this faith was a result of studying the
Bible. Luther’s ideas differed from the Catholic Church’s teachings, which said
that salvation required not only faith but also good works. What is important
for us is that Luther’s teachings require an individual to be able to study
the Bible. Thus, a person must be able to read. (religious + social)
At this point – around 1500
A.D. – a number of European kingdoms have grown in size, so that even while
there are still a number of small kingdoms in some areas (such as Germany), in
most areas, there are now fewer kingdoms, because by this time, princes/kings
have managed to consolidate many territories. Thus, these secular rulers
(non-religious rulers) are now in the position to be jealous and/or concerned
with the Catholic Church’s power. (secular; political)
Luther’s ideas about how the
Catholic Church can be reformed take hold in kingdoms where the rulers want to
be rid of the Catholic Church for economic and political reasons. We’ll see an
example of this in Sweden. (secular; political)
The Scientific Revolution (chpt. 22)
In the mid-1500s – thus at
the same time as Protestantism is spreading – change is occurring in another
area in Europe.
Inspired by the writings of
the Ancient Greeks and Romans, Europeans begin using their own faculties to
measure and evaluate the world. So they devise experiments to try and gather
information. Eventually, over time, they will come up with practices that are
at the heart of scientific experimentation today. For example, they start taking
measurements or readings over a period of time, or creating a controlled set of
circumstances for testing a theory, a hypothesis.
We discussed astronomy and
the geocentric and heliocentric theories and the contributions of Copernicus,
Kepler, and Galileo.
What is essential to
understand is that during the Scientific Revolution in the 16th and 17th
century, logic is applied to the natural sciences, to the physical world.
This is a different approach to knowledge than was found in Europe in the
Middle Ages, where the Catholic Church and religious texts such as the Bible
served as the source for knowledge. Because logic was not the root of knowledge
during the Middle Ages, this meant that myth, magic, superstition held sway
over how people thought.
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