History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe, Vol. II

The antagonism between industry and theology—commerce produces a new principle of federation—the foundation of consulships—the organization of diplomacy—commerce leads to interaction with men of different religions, and therefore to tolerance—the first class of people who benefited by this tolerance were the Jews—a sketch of the different persecutions of which they were the object—their services to literature and to commerce—tolerated at Leghorn Modern Livorno, Italy., Venice, Pisa, and Genoa—industrial habits of thought make men place a lower value on the influence of dogma—the injury persecution has done to industry—the examples of Spain, France, Bruges, and Amsterdam—the decline of the "ideal of poverty" produced by industrial civilization—the luxury of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries—sumptuary laws Laws intended to restrain luxury or extravagance, particularly regarding clothing and food.—the influence of the Black Death—the economic effects of luxury—luxury is substituted for monasticism as a check upon population—its influence on intellectual development—the decadence of the monastic spirit—the alliance of the clergy with the aristocracy—the increase of commerce—the Navigation Laws—the first mercantile societies in England—the wealth of Belgium—the rapid growth of diplomacy—the Hanseatic League A powerful medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. represses piracy—the Venetians found political economy, and the Medici The powerful banking family and political dynasty that first gathered prominence under Cosimo de' Medici in the Republic of Florence. give an intellectual ascendancy to industry—the manner in which all this combined with the revival of classical learning and with the influence of Moorish Refers to the Islamic civilization of North Africa and Spain, which preserved and expanded upon Greek science and philosophy. civilization—the change of tastes resulting from increased wealth revives the theater—the importance of this amusement as an intellectual influence and as an index of the condition of civilization—its great corruption in Pagan Rome—denounced by the Church Fathers—the last refuge of paganism—not encouraged by Julian Julian the Apostate (r. 361–363), the last non-Christian Roman emperor.—disappeared with the dissolution of Roman civilization—new types of amusement—the "performers" original: "Histriones" of Saint Thomas Aquinas—the rise of religious plays—Hroswitha A 10th-century German canoness and playwright known for her Latin dramas.—the religious plays pass from the churches to the theaters—their immorality—the position assigned to Satan—the effect of bringing the Church into contempt—faint signs of secular plays—impromptus—pantomimes, etc.—the farces—the higher drama reappears in Italy—the first plays—examples of their encouragement by ecclesiastics—the contrast between the Italian and French drama in their relation to the Church—the secularization of music and its successive stages—the influence of Gothic architecture upon the stage—the religious struggle produces a revulsion in the sentiments with which the theater was regarded—fierce opposition in France—sacraments denied to actors—Molière, Racine, Lully, Huerne de la Mothe—the advance of the theater in France, Spain, and Italy—Voltaire—the Revolution removes legal disqualifications from actors—the triumph of the theater at Rome—the important effects of this contest—the creation of the theater as the last service of the industrial civilization of Italy—the Reformation—the import—