The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 13

The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 13

uring the eighteenth century a remarkable change swept over Europe. The dominant spirit of the time ceased to be artistic as in the Renaissance, or religious as in the Reformation, or military as during the savage civil wars that had followed. The central figure of the world was no longer a king, nor a priest, nor a general. Instead, the man on whom all eyes were fixed, who towered above his fellows, was a mere author, possessed of no claim to notice but his pen. This was the age of the arisen intellect. The rule of Louis XIV, both in its splendor and its wastefulness, its strength and its oppression, its genius and its pride, had well prepared the way for what should follow. Not only had French culture extended over Europe, but the French language had grown everywhere to be the tongue of polite society, of the educated classes. It had supplanted Latin as the means of communication between foreign courts. Moreover, the most all-pervading and obtrusive of French monarchs was succeeded by the most retiring, the one most ready of all to let the world take what course it would. Louis XV chanced to reign during this entire period, from 1715 to 1774, and that is equivalent to saying that France, which had become the chief state of Europe, was ungoverned, was only robbed and bullied for the support of a [Pg xiv]profligate court. So long as citizens paid taxes, they might thinkand saywellnigh what they pleased. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 30186
Author: Horne, Charles F. (Charles Francis)
Release Date: Oct 6, 2009
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Editor: Horne, Charles F. (Charles Francis), 1870-1942 , Rudd, John, LL. D