Western Society Study Guide-First Semester

CHAPTER 13	CHAPTER 17	CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 14	CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 15	CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 16	CHAPTER 20

13- European Society In The Age Of The Renaissance

	This is where it all begins, in a lot of different ways. There is a lot of historical debate about whether the Renaissance is the "beginning" of the modern world, but there is no arguing that there are some real "breaks" from medieval traditions.
	There were many inventions of mind and society that would prove enduring for the modern west (including our world); including: the role of art and artist, group vs. individual values, commercialism and materialism, state building, an interest in social reform, and (dare I say) the invention of ego.
	Pay attention to the differences between Renaissance thought in Italy and applications in Northern Europe.
	Renaissance art is obviously a huge feature of the time, perhaps its most famous contribution. Artistic expression in subject and style is very reflective of what we refer to as Renaissance hallmarks.
	Perhaps through the development of personal glory, an interest in state building, and the creation of the European "state-system" can be seen emerging during the Renaissance.

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Important Terms:

Can You Answer These Questions?

Renaissance
city-states
oligarchy
despot
balance of power
Girolamo Savanorola
Lorenzo de Medeci

individualism
humanism
secularism

Niccolo Machiavelli
Baldassare Castiglione
Johann Guttenberg
Thomas More
Desiderius Erasmus
Christian Humanism

Henry VII
Ferdinand and Isabella
New Monarch
Court of the Star Chamber
Concordat of Bologna
hermandades
New Christians
Spanish Inquisition

	What Italian geographic conditions provided a good environment for the Renaissance? How did the "city-state" structure help?
	What were the three intellectual "hallmarks" of the Renaissance? Can you provide examples of their application in art or literature? How about in politics?
	How did the Northern Renaissance differ from its Italian counterpart?
	What is a "New Monarch"? What makes them "new"? What were their aims and and how did they achieve these aims?
	Do you think the Renaissance established several features of the modern world in which we live? Why or why not? (it's all right...you don't have to agree with me)

14- Reform And Renewal In The Christian Church

	Still in what we call Unit 1; it's important to see the connections between the Renaissance and the Reformation. They are occurring in the same historical context.
	Certain abuses and inappropriate practices are coming to the attention of Christian reformers, Martin Luther is only one.
	Be aware that the Lutheran revolt, is only a part of the Protestant Reformation. It's important to keep track of all the various motives (not all of which are religious) that maintain the Reformation's momentum.
	All Protestant religions share certain characteristics, but for our purposes, the authority of the Catholic Pope will be the dividing point.
	The Catholic church will respond to calls for reform, but many of these changes are lost within the larger context of societal and cultural changes wrought by the Reformation.

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Important Terms:

Can You Answer These Questions?

pluralism
Brethren of the Common Life
Thomas à Kempis

Martin Luther
95 Theses
sale of indulgences
justification by faith
Charles V
Protestant
Twelve Articles

John Calvin
predestination
Anabaptists
Henry VIII
Supremacy Act
John Knox
Peace of Augsburg

Council of Trent
Paul III
Jesuits (Society of Jesus)
Index of Prohibited Books
Roman Inquisition

	Do you see any relationship between the "hallmarks" of the Renaissance and the Protestant reform movement? What about Christian Humanism? Is Luther just another Christian Humanist?
	What were the main concerns of church reformers in the 15th and 16th centuries?
	What common characteristics are shared by Protestant religions?
	What are the unique features of Calvinism? Can you explain why Calvinism developed into the most "popular" of the Protestant sects?
	What political or economic motives contributed to the spread of Protestantism? Can you provide examples?
	How can Henry VIII's break with Catholicism be seen in the light of earlier efforts made by New Monarchs to centralize their authority?
	What reforms were made at the Council of Trent?
	Do you consider the Catholic Reformation to be a success? Why or why not?

15-The Age of Religious Wars and Overseas Expansion

	As odd as it seems, we do this chapter in two different Units. And to make it even more odd, we read the later part of the chapter first. This is because I want you to associate The Age of Discovery as part of the Renaissance and Reformation periods that make up the bulk of our first unit.
	Towards that end pay special attention to the "motives" for exploration and how economic changes wrought by the Renaissance are promoting expansion.
	Though Luther wrote his 95 Theses and Charles V signed the Peace of Augsburg and the Council of Trent may have addressed church abuses...that doesn't mean we're done fighting about religion.
	In fact, what it means frequently, is that people have something else to fight about, or have a new pretext upon which to grind their axes.
	But things are going to slowly turn, an emphasis altered in how Europeans see religion which may well open up doors to other things, most significantly, state building and the creation of modern nations.
	So this chapter is a bridge between the "rebirth" of civilization and what that new born will grow up to be.

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Important Terms:

Can You Answer These Questions?

Prince Henry the Navigator
Bartholomew Diaz
Vasco daGama
Pedro Cabral
Christopher Columbus
Ferdinand Magellan

Huguenots
St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre
Edict of Nantes
Politique

Phillip II
Revolt of the Netherlands
Union of Utrecht
Escorial
Spanish Armada
Elizabeth I

Thirty Years War
Peace of Westphalia

Michel de Montaigne
skepticism
Elizabethan
Jacobean
Baroque

	What links exist between the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery?
	What were the motives and ambitions that prompted European discovery and expansion in the 15th and 16th centuries?
	What impact did the Protestant Reformation have on 16th century France?
	What evidence is there to suggest that in the 16th century religion was being used as a pretext for civil disobedience?
	What is a "politique" and why might Elizabeth I and Henry IV be considered examples?
	What were the "phases" of the Thirty Years War? Why should we care?
	Discuss the terms of the Peace of Westphalia. Why might this agreement represent a watershed moment in European History?

16-Absolutism And Constitutionalism In Western Europe

	In the previous chapters we've discussed both the methods of monarchs attempting to centralize their power, and the idea that European "nations" have begun to emerge as their own entities. This is the chapter where those two ideas come together and become fully actualized. And they do so in the form of the Absolutist.
	We'll see a debate born in this time period about why people chose to be governed, and some things will be said that should remind you of your old friend Machiavelli. Machiavelli would have approved of most of what the Absolutists were trying to do, and why.
	The "Absolutist" monarch will be slightly different than his or her "New Monarch" predecessor, and you'll have to watch closely for the evolutionary characteristics. You don't really have to look too much farther than Louis XIV, who seems to epitomize what an Absolute monarch aspires to be. Still, qualifications and limits exist. Is it really possible for any one single person to have absolute power?
	There is an alternative to the latest centralization fashion, and you'll see it happening in England by the end of the 17th century. This too will be familiar to you, but for different reasons.
	At some point in reading the chapter, you might realize that the entire chapter is one massive compare and contrast exercise. If you're not sure whether or not I really like the prospect of that, then you haven't been paying attention.

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Important Terms:

Can You Answer These Questions?

Thomas Hobbes
absolutism
Sully
Cardinal Richelieu
Louis XIII
intendant system
Cardinal Mazarin
The Fronde

Louis XIV
Versailles
Estates-General
Jean Baptiste Colbert
mercantilism
War of Spanish Succession
Peace of Utrecht

constitutionalism
James I
Charles I
Puritans
Long Parliament
Triennial Act
English Civil War
Oliver Cromwell
Navigation Acts
Restoration
Charles II
Test Act
James II
William of Orange
Glorious Revolution
John Locke

	What are the characteristics of an "Absolutist"? How would you compare them to a New Monarch?
	What steps were taken by Cardinal Richelieu to establish true French Absolutism?
	How did The Fronde represent a significant turning point for France in the 17th century?
	What is meant by the phrase "domestication of the nobility" where Louis XIV is concerned?
	For what reason did Louis XIV revoke the Edict of Nantes?
	What were the causes, circumstances, and results of the War of Spanish Succession?
	How might you characterize the early Stuart kings, James I and Charles I?
	What were the circumstances that led to the English Civil War?
	How was that France and England were heading in opposite directions, politically speaking, by the end of the 17th century?

17-Absolutism In Eastern Europe to 1740

	Absolutism proved itself to be more popular and more enduring in the 17th and 18th centuries than its Constitutional counterpart. In fact Constitutionalism, as it was defined by the English experience, was quite rare, raising interesting questions about what conditions were necessary for Constitutional governments to thrive.
	While Absolutism became the status quo among the Eastern European empires, it took on different forms in several key ways, mostly in the role that social elites would play in the governing process.
	Many of the difference can be traced to one central geographic distinction between the regions.
	The whole concept of an emerging "Eastern" Europe with a distinct culture from the west would be the motor of development for the continent as the century progressed.

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Important Terms:

Can You Answer These Questions?

Ottoman Empire
Charles VI
Pragmatic Sanction
Francis Rákóczy
Brandenburg-Prussia
Frederick William The Great Elector
Junkers
Frederick William I

Eastern Orthodoxy
boyars
Mongols
Ivan III
Ivan IV
Time of Troubles
Peter The Great
Great Northern War
St. Petersburg

	What key features distinguished Eastern Absolutism from its Western counterpart (as practiced by, let's say, Louis XIV)?
	What common circumstances or tools did Eastern Absolutists seem to employ?
	Why do you think that Absolutism would be a more practical political structure for Eastern European empires than a more "liberal" constitutional government?
	How would you characterize the reign of Peter the Great? What was his significance to Russian history?
	Is Peter the Great more "western" or more "eastern" in his Absolutist policies?

18-Toward A New World View

	You've seen this before, these periods where Europe begins to "think too much" as it were, reevaluate itself, ask too many questions, getting itself in trouble. Welcome to the Age of Reason, sometimes referred to as The Enlightenment.
	As you can infer from the name, during the 18th century with the religious wars and Louis XIV behind them, Europe begins to become 'enlightened". What does this mean? Good question. I'm glad I asked. In essence, the Enlightenment is another revolution in thought; more important in terms of how people are thinking than in what they are thinking about. We've been throwing around this term "rationalism" for quite some time now. It is during the Enlightenment, that the concept comes to full fruition.
	It's not a coincidence that the Enlightenment seems to occur simultaneously with developments in science and astronomy. Pay attention to the very close relationship between the two. McKay (who you all hate) isn't just trying to pad out Chapter 18, there's a reason the Scientific Revolution is in the same chapter as the Philosophes.
	There are those who suggest that Modern European History shouldn't begin with the Renaissance at all, that there was nothing really new there. Instead, Modern European History begins with the Enlightenment. If we listened to them, we could have saved you the trouble of some tough unit tests.

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Important Terms:

Can You Answer These Questions?

Ptolemy
Nicolaus Copernicus
heliocentrism
Tycho Brahe
Johannes Kepler
Galielo Galilei
Isaac Newton
scientific method
empiricism
Francis Bacon
Rene Descartes

Enlightenment rationalism
Bernard de Fontenelle
tabula rasa
Montesquieu
Volatire
Denis Diderot
Jean Jacques Rousseau

Enlightened Despots
Frederick II
War of Austrian Succession
Seven Years War
Catherine II
Pugachev's Rebellion
Maria Theresa
Joseph II
Louis XV

Treaty of Paris (1763)
Atlantic Slave Trade
Adam Smith
open field system
enclosure
Cottage Industry

	What developments in astronomy occurred during the 17th and 18th centuries? Who were the significant contributors and how did they build off of each other's works?
	What was the nature of the Catholic Church's problems with Galileo? Why has his case been so celebrated throughout the centuries.
	How was Isaac Newton able to "synthesize" the work of those who had come before him?
	What common themes run throughout the Enlightenment?
	Who were the philosophes and what were their main goals and ambitions.
	What links exist between 18th century Enlightenment thought and the work of scientists in the 17th and 18th centuries?
	In what ways was Jean Jacques Rousseau a "revolutionary" thinker?
	What are the characteristics of an "enlightened despot"?
	How did Frederick II and Catherine II attempt to apply enlightenment thought to their leadership styles and agendas? Were they successful?
	What would you say the overall influence of the Enlightenment was, and why might you agree that someone would claim that this was the birth of the "modern" west?
	What territories and influence changed hands as a result of the Treaty of Paris of 1763?
	In what ways can Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations be seen as another "Enlightenment" work?

21- The Revolution in Politics; 1775-1815

	You may have heard of this six degrees of separation Kevin Bacon game...Well there's little that happens in Europe after 1789 that can't somehow be linked to the French Revolution through six degrees of separation, and most of the time, you don't need six.
	This chapter, as huge as it is, is a fitting end to the first semester. You don't often see a textbook try to cover the American Revolution, the French Revolution and Napoleonic Europe in one chapter.
	I don't mean to sound unpatriotic, but don't even try to measure the significance of the American "rebellion" against the impact the French Revolution is going to have; an 18th century event that all but dominates the entire 19th century. Not that the American Revolution doesn't have its place, it does. Do we remember mercantilism? Do we remember the Glorious Revolution? Do we remember John Locke? Jefferson does...almost too well.
	There's a thing called "great man" theory (no offense, ladies) which promotes the idea that individual people can act as the motor of historical change, that one person can make a profound difference. Think about this while you're looking at Napoleon Bonaparte. We have yet to come across a single individual with these mythic proportions, reputation, and impact.

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Important Terms:

Can You Answer These Questions?

classical liberalism
bourgeoisie

American Revolution
Stamp Act
Second Continental Congress
Treaty of Paris 1783
Bill of Rights

Louis XVI
Estates-General
National Assembly
Tennis Court Oath
Bastille
Great Fear
Declaration Of The Rights of Man

Edmund Burke
Mary Wollstonecraft
Legislative Assembly
Jacobin
Declaration of Pillnitz
Maximilean Robespierre
National Convention
sans-culottes
Committee for Public Safety
Reign of Terror
planned economy
Thermidorean Reaction
Directory

Napoleon Bonaparte
Civil Code of 1804
Concordat of 1801
Battle of Trafalgar
German Confederation of the Rhine
Alexander I
Treaty of Tilsit
Grand Empire
Continental System
Quadruple Alliance
Louis XVIII
Constitutional Charter
Hundred Days

	What are the principle values of "classical liberalism"? What kinds of things do classical liberals support? What do they reject?
	In what ways was the American Revolution very much indebted to 17th century events in England? In what ways did it employ Enlightenment thought?
	Was the American Revolution really a "revolution" or merely a colonial rebellion?
	Why would France's political and social systems during the Old Regime be abhorrent to Enlightenment thinkers. In what ways was it inherently "irrational"?
	How did all socio-economic classes tend to contribute to the energy of the French Revolution?
	What was Edmund Burke's argument against the Revolution in France?
	How was the government of France structured as a result of the Constitution of 1791?
	In what ways did France's wars against other European powers effect domestic policy during the years of the National Convention?
	Was the French Revolution a success, or an abject failure?
	In what ways was Napoleon Bonaparte an Enlightened Despot?
	What lasting legacies endured from the French Revolution? How might we see Napoleon Bonaparte as a perpetuation of those legacies?