The Foundations of Western Civilization – a video presentation at The Attic, 36, Regal Building, CP > 6:30pm on 4th March 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 35- The Chivalrous Society
King Alfred the great of England said in the late 9th century that the country needed men who fought, men who prayed and men who worked. The nobility of each country were the men who fought. The ethos of this aristocracy was ‘chivalry’. (cheval – horse, chevalier – Knight, ‘chevalerie’ – chivalry). This ‘horsiness’ was the code of conduct becoming of men who rode horses. This nobility, this warrior class were the rulers all over Europe.
Those who pray were the clergy of medieval Europe. Monks and bishops and which Christian orders stood closer to God. Clerical office brought prestige, a good education a decent diet and good housing. The clergy shared the culture, values and outlook of the nobility and were also involved in governance. The ‘Cistercians’ tried to create a purer Benedictine ideal. The begging orders of St. Francis tried to create a different Christian ethos.
Those who work were both peasant farmers and slaves who worked the land. The presence of water, wood, iron a church and a castle rooted people into village communities. This manorial system lasted for almost five hundred years till the French Revolution.

Lecture 36- Medieval Political Traditions I
 This lecture focuses on England and France and the ability or failure to safeguard the territorial integrity of the State and to develop its institutions of government.
England survived several conquests, foreign entanglements and dynastic instability to create a well defined state. Beginning at the end of the 8th century England had a long encounter with the Danish Vikings. Alfred the Great and his successors kept trying to push the conquerors back north. But in 1066 the English were defeated by Duke William in 1066, considered the beginning of the “Norman conquest” of Britain. For 3 centuries France and England squabbled over various bits of France.  Despite this turmoil the core of England was well and consistently governed. By 1215 the Barons forced King John to sign the Magna Carta. (the great charter)  
Magna Carta was the first document forced onto a King of England by a group of his subjects, the feudal barons, in an attempt to limit his powers by law and protect their privileges. In 13th century England the discussions of how decisions could be made without violence and who gets to  make the decisions led  the French speaking aristocracy to gather together in a parliament (parler = to talk)
In France one dynasty ruled for over 400 years and was less feudal than the English system. It kept extending its territories beyond the ile de France (the Paris basin). The royal government was stronger than in England. But France was larger and more ethnically, socially and economically diverse and therefore less cohesive.
These 2 models of government with fixed territorial boundaries and a cohesive central government should not be assumed be the norm for other parts of Europe.

Related Events : Talks | History