Abstract of Roberts , p. 250-272 . Society and Belief, ca. 1500-1750

1. Abstract of Roberts, p. 250-272. Society and Belief, ca. 1500-1750 MAIN POINT/ARGUMENT: summarize in 2or 3 sentences what you think was the author’s main point, message, or argument. EVIDENCE: note briefly one or two specific examples of the evidence that the author offered to support his main argument M.I.T. (most interesting thing): note the one aspect of the work that you found to be the most interesting. CONNECTIONS: note one or two ways the ideas in this reading relate to other works or subjects in the course—or with other materials familiar to you. PROMPTINGS/REFLECTIONS: note an idea or reflections stimulated by the work, including possible questions or topics for further consideration or research. EVALUATION: your assessment of the reading, its argument, its persuasiveness, etc. Thumbs up? Thumbs down? Why? P.T. (perplexing thing): note briefly any ideas that you had trouble understanding or that seemed confusing—perplexities and uncertainties. KEY TERMS OR VOCABULARY: list the terms or words that seem to carry special significance in the work and it’s argument. Also list any term that you don’t know or are unsure of. Look words that you don’t know in a dictionary.

2. Abstract of Roberts, p. 250-272. Society and Belief, ca. 1500-1750 • MAIN POINT/ARGUMENT: summarize in 2or 3 sentences what you think was the author’s main point, message, or argument. • Although Europeans living in the period from about 1500 to 1750 tended to believe in the unchanging character of the social order, political, and legal institutions, there was nonetheless a good deal of change that unfolded after 1500. The main issue is sorting out change and persistence in the social order, the church and religious beliefs, and the intellectual movements in science and the Enlightenment. • EVIDENCE: note briefly one or two specific examples of the evidence that the author offered to support his main argument • The fragmentation of Latin Christendom was one of the far-reaching examples of change. With the Reformation, beginning with Luther in 1517, the Roman Catholic church broke apart with Protestant churches arising in England, France, the Germanies, and the Holy Roman Empire under the Habsburg dynasty. Unity was not to be restored. • Wars of religion in France (1562-1598) • The Thirty Years War (1618-1648) • The rise of modern science in the 16th and 17th centuries was another example of change but change that affected very, very few Europeans, and thus unlike the far-reaching effects of the Reformation. • The 18th century Enlightenment was similarly an intellectual and cultural movement of change but one that affected only European elites. • The social order in fundamental ways persisted in the institutions of 1) nobility 2) the control over property by aristocrats and the upper classes, and the belief that the social order was established by God and was essentially immutable. • M.I.T. (most interesting thing): note the one aspect of the work that you found to be the most interesting. • The relatively persistent but varied rights of women to own property: a) permitted in Prussia b) under the husband’s control in England c) both possibilities in France.

3. CONNECTIONS: note one or two ways the ideas in this reading relate to other works or subjects in the course—or with other materials familiar to you. • The most appropriate connection for this set of readings is that of religious beliefs and organization. • In response to the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church also launched major efforts of reform, such as requiring priests to reside in the parishes, to become better educated, to have them better regulate marriage, and to intensify religious belief and good works among the laity and clergy. • The Council of Trent in 1543 established the program of reform. • Newly founded religious orders such as the Jesuits and the Ursulines devoted themselves both to reform in Europe and to missionary work abroad—in China, in Latin America, and in North America. Their aim was to convert native inhabitations (Amerindians) to Roman Catholic religion. • PROMPTINGS/REFLECTIONS: note an idea or reflections stimulated by the work, including possible questions or topics for further consideration or research. • The intensity of religious belief and religiously driven conflict was so characteristic of the period that it is sometimes hard to imagine what it was like to live at that time. • EVALUATION: your assessment of the reading, its argument, its persuasiveness, etc. Thumbs up? Thumbs down? Why? • P.T. (perplexing thing): note briefly any ideas that you had trouble understanding or that seemed confusing—perplexities and uncertainties. • KEY TERMS OR VOCABULARY: list the terms or words that seem to carry special significance in the work and it’s argument. Also list any term that you don’t know or are unsure of. Look words that you don’t know in a dictionary.