w. 47 - Review + Protestant Reformation + Scientific Revolution

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 15^th and 16^th 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 4^th 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 16^th and 17^th 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.