FIRST MIDTERM: PRELIMINARY STUDY GUIDE
[Fall 2025 Revision}
Please note that I wil not include on the exam any of the terms in parentheses as ID choices.  You should be prepared to identify and explain the historical signficance of the remaining terms.  I will not give you Essay Question 1 below as an essay choice, but the ID's *not* in parentheses in group one might still appear in Part I of the exam.

There was extra exam advice on Wednesday, September 23.  The PowerPoint for this material is available online via D2L.

POTENTIAL ID'S: 

COLUMBUS, THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR, THE DEFENESTRATION OF PRAGUE, 

HARVEY, COPERNICUS, TYCHO BRACHE, KEPLER, GALILEO, NEWTON 

ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S DAY MASSACRE, HENRY IV, EDICT OF NANTES, MARIE DE' MEDICI, LOUIS XIII, ANNE OF AUSTRIA, VERSAILLES, LOUIS XIV 

ELIZABETH I, LATITUDINARIANISM, JAMES I, GUNPOWDER PLOT, CHARLES I, CROMWELL, CHARLES II, JAMES II, GLORIOUS REVOLUTION 

BOSSUET, HOBBES, (LEVIATHAN), STATE OF NATURE, LOCKE, NATURAL RIGHTS 

BACON, IDOLS OF THE TRIBE, IDOLS OF THE THEATER, DESCARTES, COGITO ERGO SUM, DISCOURSE ON METHOD, MEDITATIONS 

PASCAL, PENSEES, PASCAL'S WAGER, PASCAL’S MEMORIAL, FAVORITE PASCAL QUOTE I, FAVORITE PASCAL QUOTE II 

CARRAVAGIO, MONTEVERDI, RUBENS, CORELLI, BERNINI, REMBRANDT, (BACH), (HANDEL) 

POTENTIAL ESSAYS: 

(1.  The 17th century began on the brink of chaos.  Nearly everything taken for granted in earlier centuries had changed, was changing, or was about to change. Comment.)

2.  Religion is often viewed as a force standing in the way of scientific progress and other sorts of discovery. In the 16th and 17th centuries, religious beliefs did sometimes impede the acceptance of new ideas.  However, religion was far more often a spur to discovery, and the greatest resistance to new ideas came, not from religion, but from within the scientific community itself. Comment. 

3.  During the 16th and 17th centuries, France was troubled by the same kinds of problems as the rest of Europe-political, economic, and social tensions made worse by religious division.  Even competent rulers and officials had a great deal of difficulty trying to govern the country. Comment. 

4.  During the 16th and 17th centuries, England was troubled by the same kinds of problems as the rest of Europe-political, economic, and social tensions made worse by religious division. Even competent rulers and officials had a great deal of difficulty trying to govern the country. Comment. 

5.   Bossuet and Hobbes make convincing cases for unlimited governmental authority  John Locke, on the other hand, makes an even better case for limiting government. Comment. 

6.   Sir Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes both did an excellent job in helping people find order and assurance amid the chaos of the 17th century. Comment. 

7.   Blaise Pascal did an excellent job in helping people find order and assurance amid the chaos of the 17th century. Comment. 

8.   The great Baroque artists did an excellent job helping people find order and assurance amid the chaos of the 17th century. Comment.