17th Century and Scientific Revolution

What is a revolution? This was the topic of a great deal of discussion in class. The scientific definition is one time around in a circle; however, there was much mention of words, such as change, upheaval, and improvement, which also come to define the word "revolution." With regards to the Scientific Revolution, there is a challenge to the status quo of knowledge, particularly in medicine, astronomy, physics, and mathematics. The "Father of the Heliocentric Universe" is discussed in great deal in this attached article -- you might want to know who he is! Copernicus Reburied The movement of the solar system and the present model was put forth by Johannes Kepler, who used the observations of Tycho Brahe to draw his conclusions. We also examined scientists of the human body: Vesalius, Paracelsus, and William Harvey. I, for one, am glad that we no longer practice Galenic medicine. Could you imagine those diagnoses?
 

The discussion of the 17th century is twofold. First, the Thirty Years' War, the evolution of warfare, and the change of European wars over religion to wars over territory. This conflict is ended by the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The second discussion paramount to the 17th century is the rule of the monarch by divine right, the concept of absolutism. With this political system of a single sovereign ruler came an economic system focusing on domestic production and exploitation of colonial resources; this system was mercantilism. The seminal figure in this discussion is the French monarch, Louis XIV.

In England, divine right Stuart monarchs came into conflict with Parliament. What was the result? Initially, a not-so-nice English Civil War; eventually, an executed monarch and a military dictatorship under Oliver Cromwell. Following Cromwell's death, the Stuarts return, only to be pushed out over religion again. Catholic Stuart, James II, gets married a second time to a Catholic and has a son, who would be the Catholic heir to the English throne. Parliament would not tolerate this development; thus, an invitation is sent out to William of Orange and his wife, Mary (Protestant daughter of James II from first marriage) to rule England if they agreed to a contract, the English  Bill of Rights. Is this enough for you to digest?