History 417
The
Making of Europe: Europe 1640-1790
Class meets Wednesday 1.25-4.25
Philip Jenkins 407
Weaver Building
Please note: I check my e-mail regularly (obsessively?) and this
is an excellent way to get in touch with me if you have a quick question or if
you want to make an appointment for a more substantial discussion.
The Course
This course examines the history of European states and societies
in what is sometimes called the “Age of Absolutism”, but is also
known as the “Age of Reason”. This is the European world that was
radically transformed by the great political revolutions which spread outwards
from France after 1789. The course will synthesize political, social and
economic affairs, and will consider the impact of cultural and literary
developments. Though French events will obviously be a central concern of the
course, it will also attempt to give coverage to the other major regions of
Europe, including the Slavic and German lands
You will be relieved to know that NO knowledge of other languages
is expected or required. Nor is any significant background expected, beyond the
very general knowledge that might be derived from History 1 or 2.
Grading
Grading will be based on two main components, a research paper (50
percent) and a reaction to a contemporary work (30 percent). The remainder of
the grade is based on class participation. Regular class attendance is of course expected.
The research paper represents a major portion of the grade.
You will see in the following syllabus that there are a number of specific
deadlines associated with this, and be aware that I must approve the topic of
your paper before you get going with it. I will be happy to assist with
suggestions for bibliographies, and advice about the databases from which you
can draw materials. As a general word of advice, please do NOT choose a topic
relating directly to the French Revolution, as this is straying too far towards
the margins of the period.
Let me explain the “reaction” paper, which is not
a simple book report. Many works of fiction and literature were written during
this period (see for example the list on Hampson, Enlightenment,
288-290). Most are still in print, and can be bought in cheap paperbacks: some,
like Zadig, are both short and funny. Your task is to identify one of
these books, and to write a paper of approximately ten pages, briefly
summarizing the theme and plot, but the main goal is to explain how the book
fits into the themes of the course. Briefly, what makes it a distinctive work
of the era of Absolutism or the Enlightenment, the Age of Light or the Age of
Reason. If relevant, explain why the work was so influential or important in
its age. One point: I have to approve your choice of book before you commence
writing on it. The book does not have to be fiction: it might be a work of
travel, memoirs, science, or history, the only requirement being that it was
first published in Europe in the period 1640-1789. Two restrictions: you can’t
choose Candide for this particular project, and please don’t
choose an American author.
You are absolutely not limited to the following list, but possible
choices include:
Voltaire, Zadig
Goldsmith, The Vicar of Wakefield
Montesquieu, Persian Letters
Rousseau, Confessions
Diderot, The Nun
Johnson, Rasselas
Beccaria, Of Crimes and Punishments
Goethe, Werther
At some point in the term, I will be asking you to give a short
presentation on one or both of your papers (Don’t panic: I will give you
a few days notice of this!)
Texts
All are
in paperback and all are required
William Doyle, The
Old European Order Oxford University Press, second edition 1992, ISBN:
019-820387-X
Norman Hampson, The Enlightenment Viking Penguin, revised
edition 1990, ISBN: 0-14-013745-9
Voltaire, Candide Penguin Classics, ISBN: 0-14-044004-6
A couple of notes about the textbooks. First, familiarize
yourselves with all of them at the start of the class to see what sort of
resources you have for papers or related research. ANY search for books or
other sources should begin by checking out the fine bibliographies to Hampson
and above all, to Doyle. Hampson has an excellent chart of the main figures and
books we will be dealing with (see pp 287-290). Doyle has a list of major
rulers and their dates on pp 401-403. Also, Europe in this period has a
mind-bogglingly complicated political geography, so be aware that Doyle has a
very useful series of maps on 394-400, to which you might often find yourself
referring. I know I have to.
The course will be broadly divided as follows:
Classes 1-8 c.1620-1740
Classes 9-15 1740-1790s
1. January 10
Introductory: The context of early modern society and politics
1640-1800. Crisis in Europe 1550-1640. The Thirty Years War
READ: Doyle, Old European Order chapters one-two, four
2. January 17
The new world of monarchy. From Richelieu to Louis XIV.
Absolutism: social and economic
structures; the administrative system
Peasants and the countryside
READ: Doyle, Old European Order chapters five, six, ten
3. January 24
The Religious Context; The Catholic Church; The churches as an arm
of government; The religious heritage of the later seventeenth century
READ: Doyle, Old European Order chapter seven; Hampson, The
Enlightenment, Introduction and chapter one
4 January 31
Witchcraft
I need to know the theme of your reaction papers today
5. February 7
Power Politics: Germany and the Habsburg lands
Peter the Great and the new Russia
READ: Doyle, Old European Order chapter twelve
6. February 14
The meaning of dynastic politics - crises in Spain and the British
Isles. The wars of Louis XIV
READ: Doyle, Old European Order chapter eight
7. February 21
The cultural heritage 1640-1740
Towards the Enlightenment: scepticism; scientific developments
1640-1740
Beginnings of the French Enlightenment
The impact of the Enlightenment. Montesquieu and
Voltaire
READ: Hampson, The Enlightenment, chapters two-three;
Doyle, Old European Order chapter nine
I need to know the theme of your research papers today
8. February 28
Europe and the wider world 1640-1740. Anglo-French rivalries and
warfare; new colonial empires and ventures
READ: Doyle, Old European Order chapter three
REACTION PAPERS DUE TODAY
9. March 13
Crime and justice under the ancien regime. The new criminology:
Beccaria, Godwin, de Sade
READ: Hampson, The Enlightenment, chapters four-five;
Doyle, Old European Order chapter eleven
I need the working bibliographies for your research papers
today
10. March 20
Enlightenment political theory. From subjects to citizens;
Rousseau; Discovering the People
READ: Hampson, The Enlightenment, chapter six
11. March 27
Anti-clericalism and the decline of the Papacy; the collapse of
the Jesuits;The rise of Biblical criticism; Freemasons, Deists and Illuminati
Read Candide
12. April 3
Science 1740-1800
Discussion of Candide
13. April 10
The enlightened despots and the dynastic network
The German states; The Empire and the creation of the Eastern
Question
READ: Hampson, The Enlightenment, chapter seven; Doyle, Old
European Order chapter thirteen
Rough drafts of your research papers are due today
14. April 17
Political crisis in France
The French Revolution - theories and debates
Extreme social and political radicalism.
READ: Doyle, Old European Order chapters fourteen-fifteen;
Hampson, The Enlightenment,
chapter eight
15. April 24
Napoleon. The crisis
of the church
Industrialization and war 1789-1815. Europe and the wider world in
the 1790s. The end of the ancien regime
Final versions of your research papers are due in final exam
period.