HISTORY

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Department of History  

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Instructor:  Richard Bidlack
Office:   Newcomb 36B; office phone:  463-8912; email: bidlackr@wlu.edu
Office hours:  Monday 11 - noon; Tuesday 2 - 3 p.m.; Wednesday 11 - noon; Thursday 2 - 4 p.m.
and by appointment

     This course is a broad survey of major developments that took place in Europe between the latter part of the Middle Ages and the French Revolution.  The developments consist of changes in intellectual thought (both religious and secular), politics, social groups, economy, and culture.  It was during this time, which includes what historians call the "Early Modern" period, that the defining features of present-day Europe began to take shape.  Students will study the rise of individualism, humanism, secularism, and political theory during the Renaissance; the schism within western Christianity known as the Reformation and Counter-Reformation; the discovery of the "New World" and its multifarious impact on Europe; the simultaneous development of constitutional and absolutist political systems; the emergence of the "scientific" method of thought and the scientific method's close cousin, "enlightened" political and social thought; as well as fundamental changes in lifestyle that transformed Europe by the end of the eighteenth century.  The final subject of inquiry will be two of Western Civilization's most important political events, the American and French Revolutions.

Required texts:

J. Spielvogel, Western Civilization (Volume B, third edition)
N. Machiavelli, The Prince
M. Luther, Christian Liberty
T. More, Utopia
J. Locke, Second Treatise of Government
J. Moliere, The School for Wives
D. Sobel, Longitude
Voltaire, Candide
T. Paine, Common Sense

Class Schedule:

FIRST WEEK:  Introduction to the course
      Lectures:  What Is History?
                     Europe at 1500
      Read: Spielvogel, chap. 12
      Distribution of maps

SECOND WEEK:  Lecture:  The European Renaissance
      Read:  Spielvogel, chap. 13
      Read and discuss:  Machiavelli, The Prince
      Map quiz on September 23

THIRD WEEK:  Continue discussion of The Prince
      Read and discuss:  More, Utopia
      Read:  Spielvogel, pp. 454-458, 475-76

FOURTH WEEK:  Lecture:  Martin Luther and the Reformation
      Read and discuss:  Luther, Christian Liberty
      Read:  Spielvogel, pp. 458-489

FIFTH WEEK:  Lecture:  A Century of European Wars of Religion
      Read:  Spielvogel, chap. 15
      No class meeting on October 14 (reading day)

SIXTH WEEK:  Lecture:  The Ottoman Empire
      Read:  Spielvogel, pp. 548-50
      Midterm test on October 21

SEVENTH WEEK:  Lecture:  The Development of European Constitutionalism
      Read:  Spielvogel, pp. 505-507 (review), 550-560
      Read and discuss:  Locke, Second Treatise of Government 

EIGHTH WEEK:  Lecture:  European Absolutism and Louis XIV
      Read:  Spielvogel, pp. 528-543, 560-564
      Read and discuss:  Moliere, The School for Wives
      Read:  Spielvogel, pp. 564-569

NINTH WEEK:  Lecture:  Peter the Great and the Development of Russian Absolutism
      Read:  Spielvogel, pp. 543-548
      Read:  Spielvogel, chap. 17

TENTH WEEK:  Read and discuss, Sobel, Longitude
      Lecture:  The Enlightenment
      No class meetings during Thanksgiving week.

ELEVENTH WEEK:  Discussion:  Who Were the "Enlightened Despots?"
      Read:  Spielvogel, pp. 600-654
      Read and discuss:  Voltaire, Candide
      Lecture:  The Agricultural Revolution and the Eighteenth-Century Population Explosion
      Read:  Spielvogel, pp. 654-671

TWELFTH WEEK:  Read and discuss:  Paine, Common Sense
      Read:  Spielvogel, pp. 672-678
      Lecture:  Introduction to the French Revolution
      Read:  Spielvogel, pp. 678-705
      Course evaluations on December 9

Grading System:

10%  Map quiz 
20%  Reading quizzes 
20%  Midterm test 
30%  Final exam 
20%  Class participation 

Students should attend class regularly.  Absences should be explained to the instructor.