Epochs of European civilization. : Antiquity to Renaissance antiquity to Renaissance

92 Pages·2008·3.61 MB·English

by  Geoffrey A Hosking

E
POCHS OF
E
UROPEAN
H :
ISTORY
ANTIQUITY TO
RENAISSANCE
COURSE GUIDE
Professor Geoffrey Hosking
UNIVERSITYCOLLEGELONDON
Epochs of European Civilization:
Antiquity to Renaissance
Professor Geoffrey Hosking
University College London
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EpochsofEuropeanCivilization:
AntiquitytoRenaissance
ProfessorGeoffreyHosking
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Lecturecontent©2005byGeoffreyHosking
CourseGuide©2005byRecordedBooks,LLC
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2005byRecordedBooks,LLC
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#UT047 ISBN:978-1-4025-8360-5
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CourseSyllabus
EpochsofEuropeanCivilization:
AntiquitytoRenaissance
AboutYourProfessor..............................................................................................4
Introduction..............................................................................................................5
Lecture1 JewsintheAncientWorld.............................................................6
Lecture2 JewsandtheDiaspora................................................................11
Lecture3 AncientGreece............................................................................17
Lecture4 GreekScience,Philosophy,andCulture.....................................24
Lecture5 RomeasaCity-State..................................................................31
Lecture6 AugustusandtheFalloftheRomanEmpire..............................37
Lecture7 TheBirthandSpreadofChristianity...........................................42
Lecture8 WesternChristianityafterAugustine...........................................48
Lecture9 TheChallengeofIslam...............................................................53
Lecture10 FeudalismandWesternKingship................................................59
Lecture11 TheChurch’sBidforPower........................................................66
Lecture12 OriginsoftheModernState........................................................71
Lecture13 ItalianCity-StatesandPublicFinance:TheNature
ofMoney,Trade,andFinance....................................................77
Lecture14 TheRenaissance.........................................................................84
CourseMaterials...................................................................................................91
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Hosking
Geoffrey
Professor About Your Professor
of
Photocourtesy Geoffrey Hosking
GeoffreyHoskingisaprofessorofRussianhistory,SchoolofSlavonicand
EastEuropeanStudies,atUniversityCollegeLondon.Afterteachinghimself
Russianasateenager,hehasspentmostofhislifeteachingandresearching
Russianhistory.HegavetheReithlecturesin1988andistheauthorofthe
bestsellingHistoryoftheSovietUnion(whichwontheLosAngelesTimes
BookAwardforHistory),Russia:PeopleandEmpire1552-1917,The
AwakeningoftheSovietUnion,TheFirstSocialistSociety,andmanyother
books.Fortenyears,hehastaughtacourseintendedtointroducestudents
tothemainthemes,institutions,andideasofEuropeanhistory.
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PhotoDisc
©
Introduction
Thefourmainthemesofthiscourseareanswerstothequestion,“Whatmakes
Europedistinctivecomparedwithotherpartsoftheworld?”
1.TheNationState.TheideaoftheStateorsovereignauthoritytakesona
newsignificancewhenitisattachedtoanationorapeoplewhohavean
ideaofacommonoriginandidentity.Thisideawasdevelopedfirstandmost
powerfullyinEurope.
2.Citizenship.Whenanationismadeupofcitizens,theyfeelagreatercom-
mitmenttothecommunity.
3.Thescientificmethodenablesonetoaskquestionsabouttheuniverseand
thenatureofhumanbeings,andtoobtainanswersthatworkwellinpractice.
4.DevelopedBroadlyBasedPublicFinance.Theideathatgovernmentcan
mobilizethewealthofawholepeople.
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Lecture1:
JewsintheAncientWorld
Beforebeginningthislectureyoumaywantto...
ReadRaymondP.Scheindlin’sAShortHistoryoftheJewishPeople:
FromLegendaryTimestoModernStatehood.
TheJewsplayedakeyroleinEuropeanhistory.
•Theygeneratedsomeofthemostpowerfulideas:ethicalmonotheism,the
Covenant,thePromisedLand,theTenCommandments,theChosen
People,Messianism.
•TheytooktheleadindevelopingamodernEuropeanandinternational
economy.
•Theyremainedoutsiders(formanynationsandreligions,the“Other”),
regardedwithsuspicion,resentment,orevenhatred.Inthetwentieth
century,theybecamethevictimsofEurope’sgreatestcrime:theHolocaust.
JewishHistory
Forthepurposesofthislecture,JewishhistorybeginswhentheJews
approachedtheRedSeasomewherebetween1600and1300BCE,escap-
ingfromslaveryinEgyptwhenthewindtemporarilyblewawaythewatersso
thattheycouldcross.ThiswasasignthattheywereGod’s“chosenpeople.”
ThiswasconfirmedduringtheiryearsofwanderingintheSinaidesertwhen
theirleader,Moses,ashecommunicatedittohisfollowers,concludeda
covenantwithYahwehunderwhichYahwehwouldawardthemapromised
landandmakethemachosenpeople.
TheconditionwastheTenCommandments.InthehistoryofEurope,this
wasthebeginningofethicalmonotheism.TheCovenantwaswiththewhole
people,notjustMosesandthetriballeaders.Men,women,andchildren
wereallconsideredpartoftheCovenantinathree-wayagreement:God,
leader,people—eachequallyimportant.
WhatkindofGodwasYahweh?Yahwehwas,inonesense,merelythe
Israelites’tribalgod.Thefunctionofatribalgodwastowinbattlesforhistribe.
AccordingtoMoses,though,HewastheuniversalGod,creatoroftheuniverse.
Hislawwasforallpeoples,butnevertheless,Hewaspreparedtotreatthe
Israelitesasspecialandbeboundbythetermsofanagreementwiththem.
TheTwelveTribesweretheembryoofthefirstnationinEuropeanhistory
andalsothefirstprecursorsoftheglobalcommunity.Theywerethebearers
ofauniversalmorality,yettheyalsoregardedrelativelylessimportanttribal
customsascrucialtotheiridentity(thingslikecircumcision,thedietarylaws,
E
N andthekeepingoftheSabbath).
O
E
R ConqueringthePromisedLand
U
T
C LandhadbeenpromisedtothetribesofIsraelinCanaan(roughlymodern-
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dayPalestine),buttheystillhadtoconquerit,whichwasnoeasyprospect.
Thelandwasfertile—thelandof“milkandhoney”—andmuchfoughtover.It
tookthemsometwohundredyearstoconquermostofit,andtheythenhad
todefenditfromjealousneighborslikethePhilistines,arich,trading,proto-
Greekpeoplewhoestablishedthemselvesincity-statesalongthecoast.
Likeanypeopleunderthreat,atthisstagetheJewssetupamoreauthori-
tariansystem,amonarchy.Theydidsoreluctantly,formonarchywascon-
trarytotheirtraditionsoftribalmilitarydemocracy:headsofhouseholds
meetingtogethertomakedecisionsunderaleaderwhoservedformilitary
purposesonly.Itwasonlypossiblebecausethetransferwasmediatedbya
prophet,Samuel.
JewishMonarchy
Samuelbelievedthetribesneededtobeunitedunderamonarchifthey
weretodrivethePhilistinesandotherpeoplesoutoftheir“promisedland.”
Hepersuadedthetribesandanointedthefirstking,Saul(significantlyfrom
oneofthesmallertribes),whoprovedahighlysuccessfulmilitaryleader.
UnderhimtheTwelveTribesbecameakingdom,andperhapsanation.
HewassucceededbyDavid,perhapsthemostreveredoftheIsraelite
kings.Hecombinedinhispersontheroleofprophetandmonarch.ButDavid
wasalsoahighlycapablemilitaryleader.Hebuiltaforceofknightsandpro-
fessionalsoldiersloyaltohimoverandabovethetriballevies.Hetookacen-
sus,probablyfortaxationandmilitaryconscription.Heconqueredthecityof
Jerusalem—convenientforamonarchybecauseitdidnotbelongtoanyof
thetribes—andhesetuphiscourtthere.Hebroughttoitthetabernacle
(tent)containingtheArk(box)oftheCovenant,thescrollcontainingthe
recordofMoses’words.
©brandXpictures
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David’ssuccessor,Solomon,wentontobuildatempleinJerusalemasthe
centerofnationalworship,withthetabernacleandtheArkoftheCovenantin
theinnersanctum.Duringthistime,theJewsdevelopedthearts,science,
andmusic,andwrotedowntheirnationalhistoryforthefirsttime.Thiswasin
thefirstfivebooksoftheOldTestament,alsoknownastheTorah—theLaw.
Notetheimplicationsofhavingamonarchy,acourt,astandingarmy,anda
temple.Thetribesweremarginalized,withtheadoptionofasettledand
sometimesurbanwayoflife.Solomonreplacedthetribalelderswithhisown
appointedgovernors.TheJewstradedmuchmorewithotherpeoples,and
thismeantsocializingwiththem.Sometimestheyevenworshipedattheir
shrines(forexample,toBaal,theCanaanitegodoffertility).Solomonprac-
ticedreligioustoleranceandprobablyworshipedBaalhimself.Thiswasnot
observingtheCovenant.
Asettled,urbanwayoflifealsomeantrichesforaneliteatcourt.Solomon’s
courtevenhadaharem.Theroyalarmycouldonlybeequippedbyimposing
heavytaxes.ThebuildingofpalacesandtheTemplealsoentailedforced
labor,reminiscentofEgyptianslavery.
Thissituationstimulatedtherevivalofprophecyasanoppositionalinstitu-
tion.Theprophetsdidnotopposemonarchyassuch,butinsistedthatmon-
archsruleinaccordancewithGod’swillandtheTenCommandments.They
opposeddeprivingamanofhispropertyorhisfreedom,therebyreducing
himtohelplesspovertysothathecouldnotdischargehissocialandfamily
obligations.Andofcoursetheydenouncedidolatry,theworshipoffalsegods.
Thefirstmajorprophetofthiskind,Elijah,appearedinthereignofKing
Ahab,whosewife,Jezebel,wasaworshiperofBaal.Elijahbecamepopular
duringalongperiodofdrought.ItisrelatedthatheandthepriestsofBaal
conductedacompetitiontoseewhocouldconjureuprain.Elijahwassuc-
cessful,andeveryonetookthisasproofthathisGodwastheonetrueGod.
TheprophetsbecameespeciallyimportantwhentheterritoryofIsraelwas
conqueredbytheempireoftheAssyrians,andmanyofthemleftCanaanto
gointoexile.Thisdefeatwasarealshock,becauseitshowedthattheirGod
wouldnotalwayswinbattlesforthem,whichrequiredarethinkingoftheir
faith.Theprophetsinterpretedthesedisastersasapunishment,theresultof
thepeople’ssinfulwaysandtheirunfaithfulnesstotheirGod.Theirmessage
shiftedtheemphasisawayfromtheideaofaGodattachedtoaparticular
tribe,territory,orkingdom,towardtheideaofapersonalandcommunityfaith
independentoflandorpoliticalsystem.Themostremarkableoftheprophets,
Isaiah,demandedthatthepeoplerepentinthehopeofwardingoffdisaster.
Buthealsohadavisionofwhatmightliebeyonddisaster.Accordingtohim,
thefallofIsraelandJudahdidnotultimatelymatter,becausekingdomswere
fleetingcomparedwiththeeternalrelationshipbetweenGodandHischosen
people.Heforetoldthatonedayamessiahwouldcome,agreatleaderwho
wouldtestifytothepowerofGodandsavehispeoplefromoppression.At
E thatstage,everyonewouldforgiveoneanother;thenGodwouldforgivethem
N
O andredeemthemfromcaptivity.
E
R ThroughtheirfaithinIsaiah’smessage,theJewishpeoplekepttheiridentity
U
T andreligion,eveninexile.FromthesixthcenturyBCE,amajorityofJews
C
E livedoutsidethePromisedLand,intheDiaspora.Imagineforamomentwhat
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happenstoapeoplewithouttheirownstate,theirownborders,theirown
politicalsystem—dependentonotherpeople’sgovernmentsandlanguages,
forcedtoabsorbotherculturesandcivilizations.Theyfoundthesolutionby
gatheringintheirownspecialsettlementsorurbanquarters(laterknownas
ghettoes),forbiddingintermarriagewithotherpeoples,andfocusingtheir
nationalidentityon
•Theirsacredtexts(abovealltheTorah,whichwastheirhistory,law,and
moralguide)
•Thesynagogue,aplacewheretheycouldallmeettoheartheTorahread
andsingthepsalms
•Theceremoniesofcommunitylife:circumcision,BarMitzvah,weddings,
funerals
•Nationalcelebrations:theSabbath,thePassover,Pentecost(thegivingof
theLaw),theDayofAtonement
TheJewsremainedmainlyapeopleoftheDiaspora,eventhoughin538
BCEtheEmperorCyrusofPersiaconqueredBabylonandpermittedthe
JewstorebuildtheirTemple.Lateron,JewslivedunderHellenicandRoman
rule.ManyJewsbecamethoroughlyHellenizedorRomanizedintheirlan-
guage,culture,andoutlook.Many,however,stayedfaithfultotheCovenant,
theTorah,andthesynagogue.
TheFalloftheJewishNation
In66CE,aftertheRomansexpropriatedtheTemplegold,therewasagen-
eralJewishrevolt.TheRomanswereexpelledfromJerusalem.Thefirst
legiontheysenttorestoretheirauthoritywasmassacredinthemountainsby
Jewishforces.Eventually,in70CE,theRomansreconqueredJerusalem
afterasix-monthsiege,duringwhichthedefendersfoughtdesperatelytothe
lastman.TheRomansthenburneddowntheTemple.TheJewsstageda
furtherdesperateresistanceonthebroadmountaintopofMasada,whichtook
yearstoreduce.Itsthousandorsofinaldefendersallcommittedsuicide.All
theJewsofPalestinehadtheirpropertyconfiscated,andmanyofthemwere
enslaved.
Conclusion
WiththecrushingoftheJewishrevolt,theJewsbecameapeopleofthe
Diasporauntilthetwentiethcentury.
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