January 8, 1998
January 8, 1998
Europe in the seventeenth century
The world of 1600
Western Europe, ca. 1600
Divided authority
Divided rights
Liberties
Liberties--different freedoms that people had that were dependent on their
status in society.
Some people/groups had the right/liberty to
1) tax exemption
2) levy taxes
3) vote in certain/all/no elections
Peasants had certain rights/liberties to
1) farm land
2) pay rent
Nobles in France had the right to
1) bear arms
Different towns might have different liberties:
1) defense (wall-building)
2) tax exemption
Society was grouped in four categories:
1. class
A. Peasant
B. Noble
C. Clergy
2. Sex
A. male
B. female
3. Province
A. Wherever one lives
4. Guild
A. Trade-union-type organization
tithe
tithe--tax a church could levy on all who lived in an area.
Another interpretation of liberty--right to exercise power over others;
or to claim some distinct privilege.
The notion of liberty of Western Europe in the 1600's is equivalent to the modern-day
idea of rights.
Sovereignty
Society of this time lacks sovereignty.
Soveriengty--having supreme ruling power.
Recall. . . GOD was sovereign in this society. (This is what everyone
believed.)
Therefore, everybody claims that their liberties are given to them by GOD.
the world view at this time is that everyone is in an ordered hierarchy,
with GOD being the highest. . . a Great Chain of Being.
Great Chain of Being
The seventeenth century ideal of the Great Chain of Being is destroyed,
and the modern way of looking at the world is to come about.
The Great Chain of Being is a hierachy (a ranking, or pecking order),
that everything in the universe was assumed to adhere to.
How does the Great Chain of Being explain the universe?
Ptolemaic Universe
geocentric
The Ptolemaic universe was geocentric, with the earth at its center, surrounded
by the planets, with the heavens farthes out and hell in earth's center. Everything
in the Ptolemaic universe was in a hierarchy.
Matter in heaven was believed to be incorruptible.
Matter in earch was believed to be corruptible.
The Great Chain of Being puts emphasis on inherent qualities.
In the Ptolemaic Universe:
1. Heaven (High)
2. Planets
3. Earth
4. Hell (Low)
Quintessence
Quintessence--fifth essence: the perfect, unchanging matter which made up heaven.,br>
Planet movement was determined by inherent qualities. Therefore, planet paths
were "perfect" circles.
Social and physical world
The body politic is how the Great Chain of Being affected the physical world.
Men higher than women
People believed that men were naturally (inherently) superior to women.
Women were seen as under-developed men, ruled by lower, baser natures. They were held
to be dominated by their lower passions. (sex drives, etc.) This is a reverse
of the modern stereotype of men and women.
Social hiearchy
Kings, nobles, and peasants were where they were in society because
GOD gave them the authority. Everyone had divine rights.
Society was a "body politic." The head of state was not separate from the people.
He could not hurt the other parts of the body politic without injuring
himself.
The whole idea of "body politic" was dependent on the idea that all authority
was GOD-given.
One has to believe in the Great Chain of Being in order to justify different
groups' having different rights.
The idea of equality did not exist.
It is important to realize that the Great Chain of Being creates a sense of
community.
Specific political implications of this world view appear below.
Germany
In the Holy Roman Empire (Germany0, the Head was the Holy Roman Emperor.
The Holy Roman Empire was fragmented during the Middle Ages. Local princes
ruled the more than 2000 principalities.
Diet, electors
Diet--was a meeting where people made decisions on state policy.
A council of seven electors elected the Holy Roman Emperor. These electors
were princes who had the traditional liberty to elect the Emperor.
French monarchy vs. Holy Roman Emperor
French monarchy--hereditary
Holy Roman Emperor was elected to office.
Estates general
Estates general--represented the three orders of French society:
1) clergy (first estate)
2) nobility (second estate)
3) everybody else (third estate)
Clergy rights
1) Exempt from most taxes
2) Levy tithes
Nobility rights
1) Exempt from certain taxes
2) Bear arms
3) Serve in the military
,br>
Third estate rights
1) Certainly less than the rights of the first two estates.
Who made up the third estate?
The third estate was not necessarily peasants, but was certainly not the clergy
and the nobility. Wealthy merchants were also part of the third estate.
The French Estates General was similar to the English Parliament.
Parlement of Paris
The Parlement of Paris--was similar to modern-day law courts.
There were local parlements, and estates meetings, that the French monarch had to
attend. When he attended a certain city, for instance, city A or city B, he woule
then become
Count of A
or Duke of B
taille
some French cities had the liberty to not pay the taille. Example, Paris.
Edict of Nantes (1598)
The Edict of Nantes (1598) had given the Huegenots (French Protestants)
the right to garrison their own towns. Recall that France was a Catholic state, and
Protestants were a minority.
Common law in England
England was a hiearchal society, with three main groups:
1) Nobility and gentry
3) Labourere, etc.
Parliament
Parliament--passed laws, and voted taxes to the English king.
Justices of the Peace (J.P.'s)
Justices of the Peace (J.P.'s)--were local administrators.
J.P.'s had certain rights:
1) levy local taxes
Lecture Summary
The key note of this lecture is the idea that everyone had certain God-given
liberties.
Everyone was a part of the Great Chain of Being.
The idea of a Great Chain of Being kept society in order.
Previous Lecture
His 102 Page
Courses Page
Home
