British Culture - User contributions [en]

Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon

2009-07-04T06:58:37Z

Evis:

Chancellor of Charles II, father of Anne Hyde, father-in-law of James II.

Edward Hyde was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, in 1609. As a young man he was interested in literature and history. Later he searched for and appriciated the company of contemporary scholars and became a member of [[Ben Johnson's]] circle. His first wife, who died only six month after their marriage, enabled him, via her family position, to bind the first connections to King [[Charles]] [[I]]. He married his second wife in 1634 and meanwhile had a successful career as a lawyer and legal adviser.

He became member of the [[Short Parliament]] in 1640 and this would be the beginning of a long term political career. Hyde was concerned with law abuse cases, e.g. ship-money case, and this positioned him as an opponent of the King at first. But his interest was to establish a fair legal system, therefore he tried to mediate between the King and the parliamentarians. He did not manage to save the [[Short Parliament]]. As an MP of the [[Long Parliament]], he became associated with the members of the new growing [[Royalist Party]] and was against the [[Grand Remonstrance]].

Edward Hyde Became a faithful supporter of [[Charles I]] and in 1643 was knighted. He was appointed to the [[Privy Council]] and later to the secrte commetee which discussed the matters with the King before they were presented to the [[Privy Council]]. After the defeat of the Royalists, he retreated in Jersey where he started writing the history of English Civil Wars. After two years he joined Prince Charles in exile in France and after restoration of [[Charles II]] retained the office of Lord Chancellor and was named Earl of Clarendon.

His conservative ideas on politics in Parliament and on morals in the Court, would later disfavour his political position and career. Edward Hyde was about to be accused of political crime, therefore he went to exile in France where he finished the history of [[Civil Wars]]. The book was published only posthumously under the title ''The True Historical Narrative of the Rebellion and Civil'' ''Wars in England''.

== References ==
Pant, David. ''Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, 1609-74''. 10. Jun. 2007. 03. Jul. 2009. http://www.brittish-civil-wars-.co.uk/biog/hyde.htm

''Edward Hyde, 1st earl of Clarendon''. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 4. Jul. 2009. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/119814/Edward-Hyde-1st-earl-of-Clarendon-Viscount-Cornbury

''Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon''. NC Learning. 04. Jul. 2009. http://www.learnnc.org/lp/multimedia/6216

Theodicy

2009-07-02T16:37:56Z

Evis:

== Definition ==
From Greek: theos means God, dicee means justice. Theodicy is that branch of theology which explains evil by justifying God for it's existence (evil's).

== Different Approaches ==
One of the earliest approaches on theodicy is that of St. Irenaeus (c. 120-203).The Irenaean tradition perceives the Fall, Adam and Eve's original sin, from an evolutionary point of view. Evil and good are fused together and man can learn by mistakes and sins. This would lead him closer to perfection.

St. Augustinus (354-430) offers another explanation to the Fall. In his model, evil is seen either as a punishment for the sin or as a consequence of the disturbance of the natural world, which was first established by God.

Thomas Aquinas, a 13th century theologian, argued that evil as such does not exist; under "evil" is to be understood the lack of good.

A modern and very important approach for theology and philosophy in general, is that of the German Philosopher, Gottfried Wilhelm Libniz, which is treated in his book ''Theodicy'' (1710). He categorises evil into three forms: moral, physical and metaphysical. According to Leibniz, our world is the best model of all the worlds that God could have created; as God wants the best for man, he gave us the best possible world and the closest one to perfection.

In almost all the approaches on theodicy, free will of man plays the crucial role for the existence of evil and sin.

== Milton and Theodicy ==
[[John Milton]] dealt with the topic of theodicy in his two famous epic poems: ''Paradise Lost'' and ''Paradise Regained''. Besides dealing with the biblical question itself, his works, especially the former, might have reflected the situation of puritans in England after the [[Restoration]] of [[Charles II]].

== References ==
''Milton's Religious Context''. 02. Jul. 2009.
http://www.christs.com.ac.uk/darknessvisible/religion.htlm

''Theodicy''. 02.Jul. 2009.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/590596/theodicy?view

Absolutism

2009-06-14T18:55:30Z

Evis:

== Definition ==
"Absolutism is the political doctrine and practice of unlimited, centralized authority and absolute sovereignity, as vested especially in a monarch or dictator. The essence of an absolutist system is that the ruling power is not subject to regularised challenge or check by any other agency, be it judicial, legislative, religious, economic, or electoral." (Encyclopedia Britanica)
The term "absolutism" was first used as such after the restoration of the Spanish monarchy in 1823. By the 1830s the term was widely spread over Europe.

== Absolutism in England during [[Restoration]] ==
The early [[Stuarts,]] [[James I]] and [[Charles I]],made some attempts to establish monarchial absolutism. But,this was not their primar political goal. They were actually trying to save the monarchy. The financial problems they were facing, forced them to undertake several political and social changes (ex. the introduction of ship-money for the whole country or the sale of honour tittles). These could be interpreted as trying to restore monarchial absolutism; but,it was in fact only the consequence of the neccessary stept for the survival of the monarchy. Probabbly this was the reason why absolutism was not successful in the early period of Stuart reign. The political power jumped from the monarch to the parliament and vice-versa.
As a philosophical concept absolutism was introdused in England by James I famous speeches to his parlamentarians when he claimed his devine rights as given by God. But the most important political and philosophical Enlish theories are to be found in Hobbes's ''The'' ''Leviathan'' and Robert Filmer's ''Patriarcha'' or ''The Natural Power of Kings''. Though the former was more general at defining the absolute power, namely suggesting that it could be a group of people who rule the country, they both implied that this absolute power was not to be resisted.

== Successfull absolutist systems in the 17th and 18th cent. Europe ==
Very well established absolutist monarchs in Europe in the 17th and 18th cent. were Luis XIV of France, Frederick I of Prussia, Marie-Therese of Austria and Catherine the Great of Russia.

== References ==
"Absolutism". ''Encyclopedia Britannica Online Encyclopedia''. Jun. 14. 2009. [http://www.britannica.com]

Chastian, James. "Absolutism". 2004. ''Encyclopedia of 1848 Revolutions''. Jun. 14. 2009.[http://www.ohio.edu/chastian/ac/ABSOLUTI.HTM]

"Hobbes's Moral and Political Philosophy". Aug. 23.2008. ''Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy''. Jun. 14. 2009.
[http://plato.standford.edu/entries/hobbes-moral/#Abs]

Hooker, Richard. "Absolutism". 1996. ''The European Enlightenment Glossary.'' Jun. 14. 2009.
[http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/GLOSSARY/ABSOLUTE]

Kimmel, Michael S. "Absolutism and its Discontent: State and Society in Seventeenth Century France and England". 1988. pp.139-141. ''Google Books''. Jun. 14. 2009. [http://books.google.com/books?]