1. The Background: Europe Before the mid-C18 th From Antiquity to Renaissance Europe was in an age of relative stagnation. Period known as the “Middle Ages”. Feudalism characteristic of Europe of Middle Ages, following collapse of Roman Empire Feudalism = decentralized social, political & economic system based largely on agricultural production with large parts of peasantry legally subject to a diffused hereditary landholding elite exercising administrative & judicial power.

2. * Chart from www.berkaweb.com/world_cultures/feudal.asp

3. Feudalism(I) “ Feudalism was the system of loyalties & protections during the Middle Ages. As the Roman Empire crumbled, emperors granted land to nobles in exchange for their loyalty. These lands eventually developed into manors. A manor is the land owned by a noble & everything on it. A typical manor consisted of a castle, small village, & farmland.

4. Feudalism(II) During the Middle Ages, peasants could no longer count on the Roman army to protect them. German, Viking & Magyar tribes overran homes & farms throughout Europe. The peasants turned to the landowners, often called lords, to protect them. Many peasants remained free, but most became serfs. A serf was bound to the land. He could not leave without buying his freedom, an unlikely occurrence in the Middle Ages. Life for a serf was not much better than the life of a slave. The only difference was that a serf could not be sold to another manor.

5. Feudalism(III) Serfs would often have to work three or four days a week for the lord as rent. They would spend the rest of their week growing crops to feed their families. Other serfs worked as sharecroppers. A sharecropper would be required to turn over most of what he grew in order to be able to live on the land.”* * From http://www.mrdowling.com/703- feudalism.html

6. Absolutism During C17th & C18th feudalism gradually replaced in some parts of Europe by “Absolutism”, (characteristically in France). Absolutism featured strong centralized monarchies making their power dominant over aristocracies & other regional authorities.

7. The Renaissance Began in northern Italian territories in C14 th & C15 th & lasted till about C16 th, its effects having spread to other parts of Europe too. Refers to revival of ancient learning & challenge to traditional religious beliefs by new secular & scientific values. Revitalized European culture & made intellectual debate more dynamic.

8. The Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci Da Vinci (1452-1519) is an esp. characteristic “renaissance man”. Most famous for his art, but also an inventor, engineer, geometer, architect & much more. Characteristically for the Renaissance, he tried to represent what he was drawing/painting as objectively as possible, & unlike pre-Renaissance art, which was dominated by religious themes, his art also focused on the secular.

9. The Reformation The Reformation is name given to the C16 th historical movement calling for religious & organizational reform of Catholic Church Ultimately it led to the founding of new Protestant Churches which denied the authority of Pope & generally emphasized that the individual conscience, rather than the Clergy, was the valid interpreter of Scriptures

10. Martin Luther Most symbolic of the Reformation & its outset was the German monk & religious scholar Martin Luther who pinned his 95 theses protesting the practices of the Roman Catholic Church to the door of the Wittenberg church Luther was especially angered by the practice of the selling of indulgences

11. Indulgences Picture shows an indulgence given with the Pope’s authority to absolve [forgive] a person from his/her sins. Indulgences were purchased with money!!!

12. * Map from www.apuritansmind.com/images/MiscImages/EuropeAfterReformation.jpg

13. The feudal order, the process of Reformation & the Renaissance all help fill the background to French Revolution of 1789, but it is perhaps the Enlightenment which most helps us understand the more immediate changes in way people thought during this revolutionary age. The C18 th

14. Many Ways That the Enlightenment Mattered (I)Enlightenment weakened the traditional role of religion and the role of catholic church as a public institution (II) Introduced a secular code of ethics and engagement with humanity. “People are basically good” (III) Introduced a new spirit of analysis, a more critical one not to accept routine religious traditions and routine hierarchies anymore. (IV) Being curious about history and believe in progress were new kind of understandings introduced by Enlightenment (V) Prepare the way for French Revolution Source: http://oyc.yale.edu/history/hist-202/lecture-5#ch0

15. Key Features of Enlightenment Thought Belief in possibility/desirability of change Belief in power of human reason to comprehend/manipulate nature to make a better world Belief that the rational order that science discovered in the physical universe could / should also exist in human societies

16. Forerunners of the Enlightenment Isaac Newton & John Locke Lived & worked just before the Age of Enlightenment took off, but their ideas served as a powerful example to those who followed

17. Newton & the Law of Gravity English physicist, mathematician, astronomer & philosopher (1643-1727) Formulated the ‘Law of Gravity’. Demonstrated that physical world, normally explained through supernatural, could be explained rationally by empirical, scientific study Encouraged, through his example, thinkers of Enlightenment to believe society could also be understood & explained rationally

18. Ideas of Newton Although Newton was a Christian, he insisted that scientists avoid supernaturalism. His work demonstrated that the human mind could discover truth without the help of revelation. All that the search for truth required was the use of reason to formulate theories that could be confirmed by empirical observation

19. Locke & the ‘Tabula Rasa’ English philosopher (1632-1704) famed for his political thought Newton’s suggestion that the universe operated like a rationally designed machine led his contemporaries like Locke to speculate that human nature and human society might also be explained mechanistically.

20. Tabula Rasa Argued humans were at birth a ‘Tabula Rasa’, ie a “blank slate” or blank/clean page. Their minds, souls & thoughts were not fixed / pre-determined at birth, so they could change & be developed in different ways through individuals’ experiences. Personality is created when an individual’s senses expose his or her formless mind to experiences of the external world. This challenged traditional teachings of Church that mind, personality & soul are inalterably fixed at birth by God.

21. Epistemological Considerations-The Way Locke Defines ‘Human Nature’ What are the necessary and sufficient conditions of knowledge, for him? What are its sources? For him, it is the product of environment-and that, therefore, human nature can be engineered by controlling the environment that shapes it. That means people have means to redesign themselves, they simply do not need a divine grace to change their lives.

22. Why Newton and Locke matter that much for the Enlightenment? They created a rationale for a reformist approach to society Their homeland, Great Britain, was a good test case after the Glorious Revolution of 1688. A good illustration of the potential for social change. England tolerated all religions except Unitarianism and Roman Catholicism. The English Press and speech were relatively free The power of England’s monarchy was limited, for political sovereignty resided in Parliament. English courts protected citizens from arbitrary action by government officials Nations army was small.

23. The Need for Reform in France France demonstrated the urgent need of social reform at that time. Why? Louis XIV’s policies rendered his people so miserable. (an absolute monarchy, a large standing army, heavy taxation, religious persecution) His successors further curtailed freedoms in France.

24. Voltaire(1694-1778) One of the earliest and most influential of the French philosophes. With his essays, histories, plays, stories and letters he assaulted the evils of his day. In 1738 his Elements of the Philosophy of Newton popularized the thought of the English scientist Newton. His best known satire, Candide(1759) ridiculed war, religious persecution and sentimental confidence in the goodness of human nature. He believed that improvement of human society was necessary, but he doubted that a perfect society could ever be created.

25. Emergence of a Print Culture In Europe, printed word created an enormous cultural environment where the Enlightenment flourished. Although books were expensive, still the information they contained could be widely disseminated. During that period, private and public libraries were founded and thinkers had the chance to disseminate their enlightened ideas through inexpensive newspapers and journals. Printed materials remained as the chief vehicle for the communication of ideas until the invention of electronic media.

26. The growing audience for the printed word affected the choice of issues discussed in print. A notable shift occurred from more religious themes of the Middle Ages to more secular and material concerns of ordinary men and women acquired the ability to read. It was not any more only the clergy as dominant literate class. (In Paris, by the 1780s, only the 10 percent of the books had religious themes) That was the period when for the first time authorship became an occupation and authors celebrities (Voltaire). Even a division emerged between high and low literary culture. Starting from the middle of the 18th century, the spread of secular printed materials created a new and increasingly influential social force: public opinion.

27. The Encyclopedia At the middle of the 18th century, the Encyclopedia began to appear and brought together the most advanced ideas of its day(especially critics of religion, government, and philosophy). It was edited by Denis Diderot(1713-1784) and Jean le Rond d’Alembert(1717-1783). It served as a collective plea for reform. It was designed to secularize learning and undermine the intellectual assumptions lingered from the Middle Ages. Articles on politics, ethics, and society ignored divine law and concentrated on issues affecting human well-being.

28. The Enlightenment and Religion The philosophes had a problem related with both Protestant and Catholic versions of the doctrine of original sin which stated that human nature was fundamentally flawed and could not be improved unless God chose to bestow the gifts of grace on them. The churches were essential to the power structure of the social and political status quo of that time mainly because they owned large amounts of land. The upper clergy were usually sons of aristocratic families who took an active part in politics. Clergymen condemned political disobedience as a sin against God and provided intellectual justification for the regime.

29. Deism The philosophes were not opposed to all religion but they wanted a one without fanaticism and intolerance They claimed that authentic religious faith was a product of reason and ordinary experience, not of supernatural or mystical communications. So God is a divine watchmaker who created the mechanism of nature, set it in motion, and then ceased to interfere with it. An ordered universe implied the existence of a rational Creator, and a rational God would want human beings to behave rationally.

30. The Enlightenment and Society The idea of social science originated with the Enlightenment when the philosophes believed that a rational examination of society would reveal that there were laws for human relationship similar to those that governed physical nature. They hoped to end human cruelty by discovering the laws that made societies function.

31. The Philosophes Philosophes = the French word for “philosophers” Philosophes was name given to a varied group of prominent C18 th individuals who supported the Enlightenment in their writing & critiques Famous eg.’s of Philosophes = Voltaire, Montesquieu, Diderot, Rousseau [French]; Gibbon, Bentham [English]; Smith, Hume [Scottish]; Kant [German] Were greatly assisted in spreading their ideas widely by development of the mechanized printing press.

32. Beliefs of the Philosophes Traditional/conservative beliefs, customs, rules restricted human progress. Human liberty should be increased to allow for change, development, improvement. God’s help not necessary for human/social improvement. Generally v. critical of role of Catholic Church (esp. its privileges / censorship / intolerance / ultraconservatism). Societies should be secular (the Church should not interfere in political matters – Church & state should be separate). Challenged the Church who supported idea of the ‘Divine Right of Kings to Rule’.

33. Divine Right of Kings to Rule This doctrine supported political absolutism 1) The monarch owes his/her rule to the will of God (not to the people). 2) Any attempt to get rid of, or limit monarch’s power was therefore against the will of God. 3) Therefore everyone with belief in God must accept the will of the King without opposition.

34. Enlightened Absolutism(I) Not all Philosophes opposed absolutism. Some supported the idea of ‘Enlightened Absolutism’ [= the absolutist rule of an enlightened monarch] A form of government in the 18th century in which absolute monarchs pursued legal, social, and educational reforms inspired by the EnlightenmentgovernmentEnlightenment

35. Enlightened Absolutism(II) Key e.g.’s of Enlightened Absolutism = Catherine the Great of Russia*, Fredrick the Great (Fredrick II) of Prussia* & Joseph II of Austria. While supporting the idea that they should maintain absolutism, these monarchs generally up-held religious toleration, freedom of speech & the press & tried to support the arts & science, obey the laws themselves & enforce them fairly for their subjects, & generally rationalize & reform their administrations. Altough they typically instituted administrative reform, religious toleration, and economic development, they did not propose reforms that would undermine their sovereignty or disrupt the social order. * Be careful to note difference between Prussia & Russia

36. Individualism, Relativism, and Rationalism Fundamental concepts of Enlightenment Individualism emphasized the importance of the individual and his inborn rights. Relativism is the concept to explain the idea that different cultures, beliefs, ideas, and value systems had equal merit. Rationalism is the conviction that with the power of reason, humans could arrive at truth and improve the world. “These ideas represented the separation and autonomy of man’s intellect from God—a development that opened the door to new discoveries and ideas and threatened the most powerful of Europe’s long-standing institutions.” Source: http://www.sparknotes.com/history/european/enlightenment/section1.rhtml

37. Summary of Pre- & Post-Enlightenment Thought Before: - Support for / acceptance of status quo - Humans incapable of true change. People essentially helpless. Life pre-ordained. - Greatest value in maintaining traditional beliefs without question After: - Challenging status quo is acceptable / necessary - Possible & necessary for humans to change society for the better - All traditional beliefs (including religious ones) open to questioning