14th-18thC Europe
The Progression of Europe from the 14th to the 18th Century Never was there such a magnificent contrast of political, social, and economic means of life than in Europe between the 14th and 18th Centuries. There was a hierarchal system of empowerment that was, in most cases, duly followed by Europe's subjects. Along with this was a firm stance implemented by both the Roman Catholic Church and the nobles on dogmatic principles. When we begin to consider Europe's overall response to the changes that occurred we must recognize the status quo that allowed very little room for a substantial transformation. The scenario can be generally broken down to a black and white situation where it is understood as those who fully supported the dogmatic principles of the day in conjunction with Christianity, and their successors who came around the 18th Century who put their "faith" into the law of nature. The pure Christian following based their lives, or so they claimed, in accordance with to the rules of God. In addition, it is important to note that they seemed satisfied with the inequality of the day, in that their was a vast difference in social and economic standings. We know that there was very little that the
We can say that people of Europe were tradition-based because that was the central channel of the day for prosperity. Both the nobility and the hierarchy of the Church relied on tradition to preserve power. For instance, Menoccio pointed out that the Church concealed the knowledge of the day so as to maintain their rule using blind faith. All the same, blind faith does not raise threatening questions, like why? It is at this point in history when the greatest threat came to those with power, that it is the threat of overtaking the masses by sharing knowledge. As much as the nobles would like to deny it, the fact is that the masses truly can control a society. For soon, men like Martin Luther and John Calvin became both the top religious and social hazard that would give menace to the traditional system. This is due also in part to their implementation of the printing press and movable type. Although in their day it did not take much to convince a typical peasant on an outlandish idea, especially on the notion that it would give them a supernatural advantage. After all, most of the peasants could not be able to explain why they believed in Christianity, for the people of the time were mainly focused on what they should and should not believe so as to enter into what the Church promised them, eternal salvation. nobles did to prevent and rectify the disproportion of resources and power. The rebellious "thinkers" of the day saw through this apparent injustice, and viewed the world through a completely different set of eyes. They propelled themselves with new philosophies, new science discoveries and of course this was when logic itself, gained credibility. Some who examine this aspect may presume that it is natural for a younger generation to automatically criticize their elders, but in this case it is now known that strong criticism was necessary for the evolution of man, embarking us away from feudal rule. As this was not enough trauma to impinge on a continent, those who maintained power, mainly the wealthy nobles and the Catholic Church, had to revamp their people in not giving up their faith that would cause a further economic downturn. Those who survived the Black Death now indirectly undertook hysteria as a means to deal with social problems. The morbidity of the plague that struck in the 14th Century conjured in some people the idea of witchcraft and of supernatural phenomenon that was a short-term explanation of strange occurrences. This, however, quickly became quite exaggerat
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Approximate Word count = 1700
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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