What is your understanding of Early Modern Europe? (original) (raw)
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The Problem of the" Early Modern" World
1998
Was there an" early modern" world? From a glance at book titles, one would think there is a well-defined period in global history that cuts across nations and is recognized as" early modern." According to literally hundreds of volumes covering Europe, North Africa, the Ottoman Empire, China, India, Japan, and the New World,') these societies either had their own" early modern" periods, or were part of an" early modern" world.
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE GENESIS OF RENAISSANCE AND SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION IN EUROPE
This article aims to present the truth about the genesis of the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution in Europe that had the fundamental Arab contribution, especially by Muslims, so that they occurred in Europe in the Middle Ages and demonstrate the misappropriation by Europe of the collection cultural and scientific introduced by the Arabs in Europe and the non-recognition of the contribution of Chinese, Indians, Greeks and Muslims without which the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution would not occur. In his book The Theft of History, Jack Goody uses an evocative metaphor-the "theft of history"-to describe a particularly wicked aspect of Eurocentrism of appropriating scientific advances from the East and many of them consider them as well as its realization. Theft of history, according to Goody, refers to the acquisition or expropriation of history by the West, especially by Western Europe and imposed on the rest of the world. The theft of history or the "theft" by the West of the conquests of other cultures, according to Goody, is reflected in the widely held and false view among Western intellectuals and historians that one of the key institutions of modern times, such as science, was invented in Europe.
Modernity within the Middle Ages
Journal of English and Germanic Philology, 2017
Review essay on THE BIRTH OF THEORY (A. Cole), THE MEDIEVAL NEW (P. C. Ingham), and MEDIEVAL ROBOTS (E. R. Truitt). "These three studies travel the conceptual circuitry that simultaneously links and separates modernity and the Middle Ages. They also take up the project of *constructing* their respective objects of inquiry, making previously unregarded historical phenomena apprehensible. It is the achievement of Truitt's, Ingham's, and Cole's books that they do not keep to the conventional divisions of history but rather develop terms of investigation that draw together modernity and the Middle Ages, offering new means of navigating the past and imagining possible futures."
Knowledge and the Creation of Nation-States in Early Modern Europe
Few concepts are so complex and elusive as the one of knowledge. If we accept its definition proposed by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as a "fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association; fact or condition of being aware of something; the sum of what is known"1, it is possible to identify three main elements involved in this notion: a process, an actor, and an object of knowledge. Considering that knowledge constitutes the foundations through which we understand the world and make sense of it, and that based on it we organized virtually every aspect of human life, it is safe to say-using an expression attributable to Sir Francis Bacon-that "knowledge is power" and that it represents the main defining feature of human civilizations. If we look at the history of European civilization since its early period, we can recognize the developments of specific forms of knowledge-making, and progressive changes in what regards the methods employed, the areas of inquiry and the main "producers" of knowledge. The purpose of this paper is to outline the path of Europeans' understanding of knowledge-making and to identify its main phases, which show from the early Renaissance to the Enlightenment a progressive extension of the areas of research, and the development of a scientific method and of a markedly European form of belief in rationality. However, the main thesis will be that, in light of the calling into question of traditional knowledge towards the end of the 19 th century and of the atrocities committed during the 20 th century, Europe-and the world which had inherited European construction of knowledge-had to redimension its blind faith in reason and develop a more critical approach to human knowledge. The first landmark in the development of a European way of knowledge-making is-symbolically-the Council of Florence between 1431 and 1449, which favored the spread of classical literature and the rediscovery of Greek philosophy-namely the thought of Plato-first in Italy and then throughout the continent. While during the Middle Ages the only legitimized sources of knowledge were the Bible, religious texts, scholasticism and-to a lesser extent-Aristotle, we witness in this period an increasing awareness of the centrality and autonomy of man in the universe and in the production of knowledge. Even though the divine origin of knowledge was not challenged, and the idea of a universal order without God was just not conceivable, for the first time whatever was related to humanity was not made object of contempt as a reminder of the original sin, but studied with a renewed interest. In his "Oration on the Dignity of Man" (1489), Pico della Mirandola defended the worthiness of liberal studies and the importance of human quest for knowledge: his exaltation of human potentialities went so far to make him pronounce the words
2014
Early modern period was like a bridge between mediaeval times and modern times. All these changes, innovations and developments started in that time. We can say that Europe was the center of all these things. With this reason early modern Europe was very important for our history. In historical context, we should know everything about early modern Europe.
During the late Middle Ages, Europe suffered from both war and plague that called Black Death. Those who survived wanted to celebrate life and the human spirit. They began to question institutions of the Middle Ages, which had been unable to prevent war or to relieve suffering brought by the plague. Some people questioned the church, which taught Christians to endure suffering while they awaited their rewards in heaven in order to find answer. Different from these, in northern Italy, writers and artists began to express this new spirit and to experiment with different styles. These men and women would change how
Syllabus - Early Europe and Western Civilizations
European Civilization from Ancient Times to the Mid-17th Century introduces students to the rise of Western Civilization. It does so through the articulation of a history of cultural, social, economic, and national developments in the making of what will become modern Europe. The class begins in the Ancient World, through the history of Mesopotamia and the Middle East at the outset of world civilizations in the major river valleys of different global regions. The class continues into a history of Ancient Greece and the birth of political theory around the tensions between Democracy and Tyranny. Following that history, the course discusses the Rise, Expansion, and Fall of the Roman Empire, often through the lens of Christianity and the expansion of the Catholic Church. Following the Decline of Rome, Europe entered a nominal Dark Ages that involved the invasion of Islamic nations from the South and East. The Renaissance and Reformation followed, as Western Europe took the reins of modernity through Expansion, consolidation into Nation-States, and early forms of Colonialism. European Civilization from Ancient Times to the Mid-17th Century invites students to directly engage with the reading of Primary Sources to learn, discuss, and write about the rise of Western Europe prior to the Enlightenment and the modern economics of Capitalism. Learning Outcomes: 1) Students in this course will learn the history of Early Europe and Western Civilization through reading of major historical works, while focusing on how diverse historians use primary sources to tell their histories. 2) Students will learn how to communicate within an open classroom forum, discussing often controversial topics in an online setting, while remaining polite with other students. 3) Students will improve their writing skills through an understanding of how to write upon primary source analysis and debates amongst historians.