M. C. Meijer's "European Social and Intellectual History: 1500-1830" Syllabus

University of Central Arkansas	Professor M. C. Meijer ("Mayor")
Fall Semester 1995	Office: Main 36A
HIST 4320/5320	Phone: 450-5642
Classroom: Main 28	Hours: MWF 9-11; TTh 8-9, 1:40-2:40

European Social and Intellectual History: 1500-1830

This course examines early modern European intellectual history in the context of the period’s social and cultural changes. Early modern Europe is distinct from the Middle Ages because every aspect of behavior and thought was shattered by 1500. Unprecedented metallurgical innovations had wide-reaching ramifications: the printing press (the printing revolution) and firearms (the new armies). The Scientific Revolution meant that an infinite, centerless, heliocentric universe replaced the closed, anthropo- and geo-centric world. This was a reversal of reality for the people at the time. The discovery of the New World revealed lands and peoples never mentioned by either the ancients or the bible. The historic appreciation of the classics in their own right, a movement known as the Renaissance, gave Europeans a historical perspective for the first time. This resulted in Christian Humanism as well as Civic Humanism. The Reformation broke up the western church headed by the pope in Rome. Christianity continued to splinter. A climate of skepticism resulted in the great creations by Machiavelli, Castiglione, Erasmus, Descartes, Montaigne, and Pascal. Feudalism was succeeded by new modern states, characterized by centralization, bureaucratization, and regular taxation. The nobility moved to the capitals. Europe had new monarchs, a bourgeoisie, and money. All the modern state apparatuses appeared at the expense of traditional localization. Students will learn how to analyze primary texts in terms of the significant events which shaped modern Europe.

Books:

Darnton, Robert.
The Great Cat Massacre, and Other Episodes in French Cultural History. New York: Vintage Books, 1985.

Rabb, Theodore K.
The Struggle for Stability in Early Modern Europe. New York: Oxford University Press, 1975.

Stone, Lawrence.
The Family, Sex and Marriage in England: 1500-1800. New York: Harper & Row, 1979.

**Week I:** *INTRODUCTION*
Tuesday, August 22 Introduction.	Thursday, August 24 Rabb, ch. 1.

**Week II:** *THE NEW HISTORY*
Tuesday, August 29 Rabb, ch. 2.	Thursday, August 31 Rabb, ch. 3-4.

**Week III:** *THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION*
Tuesday, September 5 Rabb, ch. 5.	Thursday, September 7 Machiavelli’s The Prince.

**Week IV:** *CULTURE*
Tuesday, September 12 Rabb, ch. 6-7.	Thursday, September 14 Rabb, ch. 8.

**Week V:** *RELIGION*
Tuesday, September 19 Rabb, ch. 9.	Thursday, September 21 FIRST ESSAY EXAM.

**Week VI:** *DEMOGRAPHY*
Tuesday, September 26 Stone, ch. 1.	Thursday, September 28 Stone, ch. 2.

**Week VII:** *WAR*
Tuesday, October 3 Rabb, ch. 10.	Thursday, October 5 Rabb, ch. 11-12.

**Week VIII:** *FAMILY STRUCTURE*
Tuesday, October 10 Stone, ch. 3.	Thursday, October 12 Erasmus’s Colloquies.

**Week IX:** *SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY EUROPE*
Tuesday, October 17 Stone, ch. 4.	Thursday, October 19 SECOND ESSAY EXAM.

**Week X:** *PATRIARCHY*
Tuesday, October 24 Stone, ch. 5.	Thursday, October 26 Stone, ch. 6.

**Week XI:** *INDIVIDUALISM*
Tuesday, October 31 Stone, ch. 7.	Thursday, November 2 John Locke’s Second Treatise on Government.

**Week XII:** *MARRIAGE*
Tuesday, November 7 Stone, ch. 8.	Thursday, November 9 Alexander Pope’s Chain of Being. Stone, ch. 9.

**Week XIII:** *EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY EUROPE*
Tuesday, November 14 Stone, ch. 10-13.	Thursday, November 16 THIRD ESSAY EXAM.

**Week XIV:** *THE THIRD ESTATE*
Tuesday, November 21 Darnton, ch. 1.	Thursday, November 23 Thanksgiving Holiday.

**Week XV:** *THE BOURGEOISIE*
Tuesday, November 28 A. Smith’s Wealth of Nation. Darnton, ch. 2-3.	Thursday, November 30 PAPER DUE IN CLASS. Darnton, ch. 4.

**Week XVI:** *THE ENLIGHTENMENT*
Tuesday, December 5 Beccaria’s On Crimes. Darnton, ch. 5-6.	Thursday, December 7 Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Origin of Inequality.

Final Grade Calculation:

20% = First Exam (Blue Book) - Thursday, September 21

20% = Second Exam (Blue Book) - Thursday, October 19

20% = Third Exam (Blue Book) - Tuesday, November 14

20% = Paper - Thursday, November 30

20% = Final Exam (Blue Book) - Thursday, December 14 at 2-4 p.m.

Glossary | Two samples of students' ESSAY EXAM ANSWERS!

[G. de Buffon (1707-1788)] [P. Camper (1722-1789)] [L.-J.-M. Daubenton (1716-1800)] [Enlightenment Anthropology]
[Orang-Utang Graphics] [18th-Century Concepts] [17th-Century New France] [Translations]
[Dr. Meijer's Résumé] [Conference Papers] [Publications List] [Dr. Meijer's Book] [Book Order Form]
[Nancy B. Jenison, M.D. (1876-1960)] [Sitemap] [Index] [Home]
Miriam Claude Meijer, Ph.D.
02/16/05

20% =	First Exam (Blue Book) - Thursday, September 21
20% =	Second Exam (Blue Book) - Thursday, October 19
20% =	Third Exam (Blue Book) - Tuesday, November 14
20% =	Paper - Thursday, November 30
20% =	Final Exam (Blue Book) - Thursday, December 14 at 2-4 p.m.