Study Guide for exam #1

Western Civ: Ren. to Present

The variety of areas and individuals, including:

Martin Luther, Calvin; Catholic Counter-Reformation

Wars of Religion + Habsburg Valois wars: political and religious wars overlap

Problems of power and State: HRE, France and England as comparisons

English Reformation: H8 and the Church of England

Concepts of Civil War and limitations of kings

Rise of Absolutism: England vs. France, Louis 14 and the wars of French expansion

Wars of politics instead of religion

Changes in land tenure; cottage industry and protoindustrialization; urbanization

Commercialism and mercantilism; cross-atlantic trade

The individual thinkers who make things happen: Galileo, Newton, Descarte, Locke, Hobbes, all of them.

Decline of Absolutism, rise of Enlightened Despotism, discussion of politics in its myriad forms.

How does the Scientific Revolution both emerge from the Renaissance, and lead to the dawn of political philosophy? What thinkers support this evolution? What effects does this have on 1) everyday life; and 2) political events?

Who are the major political players in early modern Europe – not just kings! – and what do they accomplish?

What changes in warfare (reasons and methods) can you trace over the period of the 16-early 18^th C?

Why is Absolutism such a controversial idea? Who likes it, who objects, and why?

What events are radically altering the way people live between 16-18^th c?