A History of Europe, from the 16th to the 21st Century: Convergence and Divergence

In the late Middle Ages, the so-called "Christian West" knew a considerable change. Europe built itself by starting to conquer the world. Technical, artistic and religious revolutions participated in this extraordinary movement of expansion. Over four centuries, a European model of “civilization” established its preeminence. But this creative power does not exist without tensions, without mutilation. The purpose of this seminar is to bring out the highlights of this adventure in order to understand the main mechanisms at play.
The course is divided into four parts: 1.The Renaissance: between civilization and violence, 2.The invention of Europe (seventeenth and eighteenth century), 3. Europe, a universal power (eighteenth and early twentieth century), 4.Europe between destruction and reinvention. Each session will be devoted to a thematic study.