Transcript 17th Century Society - Mount Saint Joseph High School

th
17
Century Society
and Culture
Population trends

Population of Europe went through major
demographic shifts during the 16th century.
 Population rose slowly due to high death
rates (only 50% of children reached
adulthood.
 Thirty Years War killed over 5 million.
 Famine and plague were reoccuring through
mid-century.
Social Status

Social status was depended on birth
(nobility), education (professionals), and
wealth (merchants)
 Wealth was gaining larger status due to the
growing middle class and their ability to use
their wealth to gain political power
 Limited social mobility was possible mainly
due to wealth.
Status of Women

At all levels women were subordinate to
legal system (legal cases for rape had to be
brought to court by a man)
 Most women were denied the right to own
property or run a business
 However, women were making strides by
owning and operating more businesses and
trades than they had previously.
Peasants

Increased wealth did not
help the plight of peasants.
 Increased taxes and
inflation hurt them the
most.
 Famine, plague and war hit
this segment of society the
hardest.
 Only relief came from
enlistment in an army or
moving to a city, each had
its own hardships
Crime and Punishment

Crime was the only
alternative for many
of the poor.
 In a age before
modern police forces,
crime became a major
urban concern.
 Punishment was
severe; torture was
acceptable.
Life in the Villages

Village life was changing with large
numbers of peasants moving to cities, the
growing wealth of some over others, and
the intrusion of central governments.
 Local lords (who had often defended
villagers rights) began to look more and
more to the opportunities given at the royal
court.
Life in Cities

Urban life was fragmented, disorganized,
and un-personal.
 Cities offered the opportunity to be
employed in a trade or new merchant-based
opportunity.
 Literacy levels in the cities were much
higher than in rural areas, leading to the rise
in newspapers and books.
Belief in Magic and Witchcraft

In this age of chaos, magic
and unknown mystical
forces had a strong pull on
people’s lives.
 Witchcraft was strongly
blamed and persecuted.
 “Great Witch Craze” swept
Europe in the 16th and 17th
centuries.
 These began to subside at
the end of the 17th century.
Charivari

During times of trouble, rituals and holidays
brought reassurance to the people.
 Practices like charivari or “rough music”
were an outlet for the fears and frustrations
of the people.
 Through role-playing a “world turned
upside-down,” the community expresses
solidarity in hard times.
The Arts - The Baroque

Grew out of Renaissance influences in
classicism
 It was more exuberant, passionate, and
flamboyant.
 Baroque used in the backdrop of the
Catholic Reformation; used at
“propaganda” for the church
Michelangelo Caravaggio

First of the baroque
artists.
 Inspired by the works
of Da Vinci and
Michelangelo.
Caravaggio – St. Jerome
Giovanni Bernini

Architect and
sculptor.
 In 1629, he became
architect of St.
Peter’s, designing
the bronze canopy
and the colonnade
in the piazza
Bernini – The Ecstasy of St. Teresa
Peter Paul Rubens

Flemish painter who
studied in Italy but
worked mostly in his
native Antwerp.
 Prolific painter who
painted mythology,
landscapes,
religious, and
everyday works.
Rubens - Cimone and Efigenia
Rembrandt Van Rijn

Dutch painter of the
Protestant Baroque.
 Greatest painter of
the 17th century
 Famous for portraits
and Biblical scenes.
Rembrandt – Belshazzar’s Feast
Rembrandt – The Anatomy Lecture
Diego Velázquez

Court Painter for
the Spanish royalty.
 Known for portraits
of the royal family
of King Philip IV
Velázquez - Prince Baltasar Carlos with a Dwarf.
Artemisia Gentileschi

Student of Caravaggio,
in a time when women
were allowed only to
assist master artists she
became famous in her
own right.
 A rape at a young age
by a family friend
deeply affected her,
leading to often violent
themes towards men.
Gentileschi – Judith Beheading Holofernes
Classicism - Nicolas Poussin

French painter who
evolved from
baroque toward
classicism.
 Famous for his
landscapes and
classically based
paintings
17th Century Music

Claudio Montiverdi
– Transition between Renaissance and Baroque music
– First Opera; Orfeo
– Begins move from polyphonic to monody (melody) in music.

Johann Sebastian Bach
– Baroque composer and organist

George Frederich Handel
– Baroque opera

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
– Classical, 600 compositions

Franz Joseph Hayden
– Classical, 80 sting quartets
17th Century Literature

Miguel Cervantes
– Don Quixote; greatest Spanish writer

William Shakespeare
– Playwright; greatest English writer; “invention of the
human.”

John Milton
– Purtian; Epic poetry - Paradise Lost

Jean Racine
– Classical French dramatist; one of the "big three" of
17th century France (along with Molière and Corneille)
Origins of the New Science
Basis of the Scientific Revolution:
 1. Conflicting classical sources (Aristotle,
Ptolemy, Galen)
 2. Examination / focus of Renaissance
artists on nature
 3. Development of technical skills
 4. Use of mathematics to understand nature
Forces influencing science

1. Aristotelian Philosophy: provided a starting
point
– Matter made of four elements (earth, wind, water and
fire)

2. Neo-Platonism: revival of Platonic
philosophy
– emphasis on mathematics

3. Mystical / alchemy: metaphysical (spiritual /
moral) explanation of the world
– Paracelsus: doctor / alchemist who believed that
disease could be diagnosed and treated with ingested
medicine

4. Natural Philosophy: attempt to explain the
natural world
Characteristics of the Scientific
Revolution

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Europeans began to challenge classical thought
Materialistic: all matter made up of the same material &
subject to the same laws
Mathematical: use calculation to replace common sense
– measurable, repeatable phenomena
– People began to understand the mathematical nature of the
universe


Science boils down to the mathematical relationship
Development of scientific institutions began; Labs,
universities, journals, language, careers
Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543)

Polish monk, mathematican and
astronomer.
 Presented first serious challenge
to Ptolemy’s geocentric universe.
 In On the Revolution of the
Heavenly Spheres he proposed
heliocentric theory
 Avoided persecution through
death
Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)
Built Europe’s first modern
astronomical laboratory
 Discovered a supernova and
comet.
 Believed all other planets
revolved around the sun
while the earth remained
stationary.

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)

Supported
Heliocentric and
states that
revolutions are
elliptical (German)
– Developed a
mathematical
formula as proof
– Developed three
laws of planetary
motion
Laws of Planetary Motion

1. All planets revolve around he sun in
elliptical orbits.
 2. The velocity of the planet varies
according to its distance from the sun
(closer = faster, further = slower)
 3. set out mathematical formula to explain
the physical relationship among the moving
planets and the sun.
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

Asserted that planets are
made of roughly same
material as the Earth
 Wrote The Starry
Messenger (1610)
 A Dialog Between the
Two Great Systems of
the World (1632)
 Challenged biblical view
of the heavens
Galileo and the Church

In 1632, Brought before the Roman
Inquisition for teaching “Copernicanism”
 Church was prepared to tolerate hypothesis
(not fact). Galileo forced to recant.
 Tried and found guilty of heresy, house
arrest; Dialogue was placed on the Index of
Forbidden Books
Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

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Used experimental philosophy = physics
Start with the natural world and then try to explain it
Natural philosophy began with an idea and applied it
to nature
Used math to create models based on nature
used formulas
Expressed observations in numeric language
Math was a precise language that allowed for
replication, collaboration and the creation of new
knowledge
Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of
Natural Philosophy) (1687)
Laws of Universal Gravitation

1. Law of motion - every object is at rest or
motion and continues until some force
affects the object
 2. Rate of change of motion is in
proportion to the force which affects the
object
 3. To every action there is always an equal
and opposite reaction
Discoveries in Anatomy

Andreas Vesalius:
– Galen (Classical source) established classical beliefs
regarding anatomy and physiology.
More accurate anatomical sketches

William Harvey:
– Blood circulates throughout the body in a continuous
loop
– Previously believed that there were two circulation
systems
– Heart as a pump
Discoveries in Chemistry

Robert Boyle
– supported atomic view of matter - chemistry
– Boyle's Law: relationship between pressure
and gas
– Promoted the use to experimental technology
The Scientific Method

Use of observation and data collection to
prove or disprove a hypothesis had been used
by various researchers for centuries
(especially the Arabs)
 Scientists such as Copernicus and Galileo
revive the use of these techniques in Europe.
 Later scientists build upon their methods
toward a more codified scientific method.
Francis Bacon
Challenged Aristotle’s
reliance on deductive
reasoning.
 codification of the
Scientific Method
(inductive empirical
experimentalism)
 The Advancement of
Learning (1605)

Rene Descartes

Jesuit education; Schooled in Aristotelian philosophy
 Disagreed with the basis of Aristotelian philosophy
 Embraced Skepticism (people who use doubt as the
basis of knowledge)
 Rejected absolute construct of knowledge, knowledge
based on probability
 Constructed knowledge based on doubt, but
reaffirmed the value of deductive reasoning.
 Used "proofs" to support philosophical learning
 Could only accept that which you could prove
–
"I think, therefore I am"
Rene Descartes
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Cartesian dualism: Mind and matter are separate, so to
is the physical world from intellectual constructs (basis
for science)
– Example: Ontological proof of god:
– One could only accept God if you could prove it
exists
– Descartes knew that he was not perfect
– Only a perfect individual could place that concept in
ones mind
– Therefore perfection must exist
– What is perfection, existence without limits = God
– proof for God based upon doubt, if you doubt it then
it must exist at some level
Contrast it to Aristotelian proof: Causality
believed that humans could more completely understand
their world by using abstract principles
Believed in that nature operated based on a Mechanical
set of laws
Blaise Pascal

Scientist who studied
probability and
mathematics.
 He had concerns
about science’s
influence on faith.
 Wrote Pensees,
reflections on faith
and science.
Scientific Societies

As the importance of science grew, scientific
societies formed to promote research and
share knowledge.
 Many had gov’t connections and support:
reflecting the growing influence of central
governments,
 Rome (1603), Florence (1657), England
(Royal Society, 1662), France (French
Academy, 1666), Prussia (Berlin Academy,
1701)
Conclusion

Despite the difficult and turbulent times of the
early and middle 17th century, most Europeans had
reason to hope for better things by century’s end
 Population was on the rebound; science was
conquering the natural world; stable and powerful
national governments were in place.
 Despite this, the problems poverty and dislocation
for the majority of Europe’s peasants would
continue into the next century.