The Foundations of Western Civilization – a video presentation at The Attic, 36, Regal Building, CP > 6:30pm on 4th February 2013

Time : 6:30 pm

Entry : Free (Seating on First-Come First-Served basis)

Place : The Attic, 36, Regal Building, Connaught Place, New Delhi-110001 
Landmark : On Parliament Street close to 'The Shop' showroom & next to the 'Kwality' restaurant
Venue Info : Events | About | Parking and Location | Regal Building Map
Metro : Nearest Metro Station - 'Rajiv Chowk' (Yellow Line and Blue Line)

Event Details : The Foundations of Western Civilization – an education in 24 evenings.  An Attic video presentation from The Great Courses taught by Prof. Thomas Noble, University of Notre Dame. You can discover the essential nature, evolution, and perceptions of Western civilization from its humble beginnings in the great river valleys of Iraq and Egypt to the dawn of the modern world.
The next two lectures of the series are as follows : 

monday 4th february
Lecture 31  - Barbarian Kingdoms in the West
The period from 500 to 750 AD saw the transformation of the Germanic west. The lands of Europe were Christianized. The early Mediterranean kingdoms failed and the Latin traditions formed into a cultural blend of classical Christian and Germanic.
The Vandals, the Ostrogoths, the Vizigoths were either weakened or defeated by the Franks, the Lombards or Muslim invaders from North Africa. The future was left to the Anglo Saxsons who entered Britain in the wake of the Roman withdrawal and the Franks who expanded slowly across modern Holland, Belgium and what is now France.
The Franks converted from paganism to Catholicism and maintained the Roman tradition of rule with Latin being the official language. Many aristocratic families ruled through sub kingdoms.
Monasteries spread all across Europe and became important centres of learning. Monks played a key role in converting the people of the country side. Bishops became key advisors to kings. A new cultural life with exuberant decorative motifs entered art and learning based on the Bible produced many great centres of education especially in the North of England.
Lecture 32- The World of Charlemagne
Charlemagne (Charles The Great in Latin) was the greatest member of the Carolingian family which arose in the early 7th century in the northeastern region of the Frankish world. His reign (768 to 814) marked a turning point in European history. He was a great but complex figure: moral and profligate, humane and vicious, barbarous and learned.
His military campaigns – 53 in 46 years helped to maintain the realm. His institutional development in both government and politics helped create wide consultation and consensus.  Ecclesiastical developments led to a close alliance with the Papacy. His attempts to attain uniformity in Canon law, liturgy and worship went far towards achieving a common culture in Western Europe. The idea of Christendom was born in Charlemagne’s reign.
The breakup of the Carolingian empire was perhaps inevitable. Family rivalries among Charlemagne successors, the sheer complexity of the lands and peoples ruled and attacks by Vikings, Muslims and Magyars led to the breakup of the empire.

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