The Foundations of Western Civilization – a video presentation at The Attic, 36, Regal Building, CP > 6:30pm on 11th 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 : 

Lecture 33  - The Carolingian Renaissance
The Carolingians themselves had a very profound sense that they were doing something novel, that they were engaged in reform, in revival and in a great cultural project. The Bible was central- as a book, as a source of information and as a literary model. The Christian Roman Empire of Constantine (not Augustus) was important too. The “7 liberal arts” was the basic curriculum in antiquity. The trivium (grammar, logic, rhetoric) was the basic education and the quadrivium (arithmetic, astronomy, geometry and music) was the advanced.
Every monastery and cathedral had to have a school and Charlemagne brought in scholars from elsewhere in Europe – Graminians from Italy, specialists in theology and liturgy from Spain. Libraries were built up and manuscripts copied. The Carolingian ideal of rule derived from the Bible and Gregory’s “Pastoral Rule”: ministerial kingship.. This held that office was a burden entrusted to his servants to be exercised on his behalf. It did not bring rank, wealth or prestige.
Unfortunately Latin was “killed” and turned into a dead but scholarly language and henceforth Romance continued to evolve as a living language. Many important books were produced during this period and a common European culture evolved at the highest levels of society. Catholic, Christianity entered every aspect of life in Europe. The Carolingians established the framework for European intellectual life until the emergence of universities in the 12th century.

Lecture 34  - The Expansion of Europe 
The period from 900 to 1300 was one of the longest eras of sustained growth in world history. An increase of population, modest technological innovation, expanded cereal production and improved roads and transport vehicles was a crucial background to the political and cultural achievements of the period.
Church and secular governments worked to protect trade and traders. Leagues of cities and ports with banking agencies and insurance led to vast commercial networks from the north and Baltic seas, the Danube Basin to the Italian cities, the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean via caravan routes. Such widespread prosperity had not been evident since the Pax Romana.

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