Chapter 9

Transformations in European Culture

Growing Wealth and Royal Power

• Louis XIV-ruler of France during the 17th century who became a ruler with absolute power over his people

• Maria Theresa-monarch of Austria who turned Vienna into a center for the arts

• Catherine the Great-ruler in Russia who led Russia to become a strong power in Europe

English Civil War

• Charles I-son of James I who asserted that kings had divine right (appointed by God) and fought against Parliament

• These disagreements led both the king and Parliament to form armies resulting in the English Civil War.

• Oliver Cromwell led the Parliament army to victory and had Charles I executed

• Cromwell ruled England until his death

English Rulers

• After Cromwell’s death, Charles II (son of Charles I) became king. He continued the policies of his father and also had the support of France

• James II-brother of Charles II who became ruler of England after his brother’s death

Revolution of 1688

• James II was a strong supporter of the Catholic Church, an issue that upset the English

• Parliament responded by inviting the son-in-law and daughter of James II to rule England

• William of Orange and his wife Mary accepted and came to England with a small army

• This event was called the Glorious Revolution because there was no war

• Parliament made William and Mary sign the English Bill of Rights to show their loyalty and limit their power

• This led to a more representative government. A cabinet system of government soon developed (members of the cabinet answered less to the king and more to Parliament as time went on)

The Scientific Revolution

• Age of Reason-name given to the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe when men learned about many things by studying the world around them and basing this study on reason, the ability to think clearly and logically

Contributions from the Past

• Greeks– Hippocrates-Father of Medicine from Greece who

rejected the popular idea that disease was a punishment by the gods. He taught that every illness as a natural cause

– Euclid-the Father of Geometry who formed a school in Alexandria, Egypt. He developed mathematic principles and a textbook that formed the basis for all geometry textbooks

– Eratosthenes-Greek astronomer and geographer who determined the distance around the earth using Euclid’s geometry and then created lines of latitude and longitude

Medieval Science

• Albert the Great-Dominican friar who played an important role in introducing Muslim documents about science to medieval universities

• Roger Bacon-Englishman who made great contributions in physics, geography and optics

Astronomical Discoveriers

• Copernicus-presented the idea that the earth revolved around the sun, not the sun around the earth

• Galileo Galilei-astronomer who used the telescope to conduct research that led him to support Copernicus’s ideas

• Sir Isaac Newton-discovered concepts that have become known as the laws of gravity and motion that said that gravity keeps the planets in their orbits

• Edmond Halley-English astronomer who recorded the position and motions of stars. Halley came up with a theory that helped him predict the appearance of a comet

• Sir William Herschel-astronomer who built a 40 foot long telescope that allowed him to see the moons around Saturn

Discoveries in Medicine

• Paracelsus-scientist who stated that the body is mostly chemicals and should be treated with chemicals

• Andreas Vesalius-learned more about the human body by dissecting human bodies

• William Harvey-discovered that blood is pumped by the heart, travels through the body in blood vessels and returns to the heart

• Edward Jenner-discovered a way to stop people from getting smallpox, a disease that killed many.

• Jenner did this by creating a vaccine, or weaker form of a disease known as cowpox

Discoveries in Chemistry

• Robert Boyle-scientist who contributed to chemistry with his work on gases that produced Boyle’s law

• Antoine Lavoisier-known as the Father of Modern Chemistry who named oxygen and hydrogen

The Enlightenment

• Rene Descartes-philosopher who felt that everything that could not be proven as fact should be doubted

• Rationalism-type of learning taught by Descartes that focused on reason as the only path to truth

• Spinoza-Dutch philosopher who applied Descartes’ teaching to the Bible and doubted that it was true

The Enlightenment

• John Locke-philosopher who believed that rationalism was insufficient. Locke taught empiricism, the belief that the best way to find true knowledge was through experience rather than through human reason

• Many of these philosophers were focused on a society that practiced secularism, a society free from religion