西方文化概论重点

1.What are the major reasons for the Trojan war ？One reason is that: The war originated from a quarrel between the goddesses Athena, Hera and Aphrodite, after Eris, the goddess of strife and discord(argument), gave them a golden apple, sometimes known as the apple of Discord, marked "for the fairest". Zeus sent the goddesses to Paris, who judged that Aphrodite, as the "fairest", should receive the apple .In exchange, Aphrodite made Helen, the most beautiful of all women, fall in love with Paris, who took her to Troy, which annoyed Helen’s husband . Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and the brother of Helen's husband Menelaus, led an expedition of Achaean troops to Troy and besieged the city for ten years.Another reason is that : Troy has special geographical location and Agamemnon, king of Mycenae want to occupy Troy for long time.many countries want to have ecnomic expansion. So Helen is just an excuse.2.The background of the emergency of the middle age?Toward the end of the Roman Empire, there was a tendency for serfs to perform the hard labour created by the great;y reduced numbers of slaves. The resulted from the escapes and natural deaths of the slaves. To maintain a regular level of production in the plantation , theSlave owners had to reorganize their economy and distribute or rent their large tracts of farmland to tenants who were legally free but had to engage in agricultural production throughout their lives. These peasants exchanged their contribution of service for the use of land andFinally established themselves as a kind of serfdom. This is the biginning of European feudal society3．The reasons of the coming of feudal society in western European ?a. When the western Roman Empire grew weak, people lived in constant danger of attacksfrom invaders and robbers. They had to find ways to protect their families and homes.bOwners of small farms sought protection from large land—owners, by giving them land and services. In return the large landowners promised to protect the landless peasants and their family. c. Besides, wars had destroyed lots of towns, trade and business had declined more and more townspeople fled to the countryside to seek protection from those powerful landowners. Most of them became serfs, bound to the land where they had been born.4.Thebackground of crusades?To express their religious feelings many people in the Middle Ages went on journeys to Sacred places where early Christian leaders had lived. The Crusades were a series of religion-driven military campaigns waged（carry on) by much of Christian Europe against external and internal opponents. Crusades were fought mainly against Muslims though campaigns were also directed against pagan(异教徒）Slaves, Jews, Russian and Greek Orthodox Christians, Mongols, , Old Prussians, and political enemies of the popes. The Crusades originally had the goal of recapturing Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslim rule and were launched in response to At the end of the Eleventh Century, Western European social productivity has developed by leaps and bounds, separated from agriculture, handicraft industry city rise, the wealth has not been able to satisfy the feudal lord greedy desires, they yearn to grab land and wealth, political power, economic expansion5. theinfluence of crusadeThey had an important effect on the future of both the East and the West.They brought the East into closer contact with the West .And they greatly influenced the history of Europe.By the thirteenth century, universities, which grew from cathedral schoold , had spread all over Europe. Such knowledge as Arabic numerals, algebra(代数) and Arab medicine were introduced to the West.The Crusaders resulted in renewing people’s interest in learning and invention. At th e same time more and more people began to demand some of the luxuries of the East, Spices, silk, perfume , fine hand-woven carpets were pouring in. As trade increased, village and towns began to grow into cities. The rise of the towns and trade in western Europe paved the way of the growth of strong national government.5. the background of renaissanceAssimilation of Greek and Arabic knowledgeFurther information: Latin translations of the 12th century, Greek scholars in the Renaissance, Islamic contributions to Medieval Europe, and Islamic Golden Age. Greek and Arabic knowledge was not only assimilated from Spain, but also directly from the Greek and Arabic speaking world.Social and political structures in ItalyThe unique political structures of late Middle Ages Italy have led some to theorize that its unusual social climate allowed the emergence of a rare cultural of florescence.Black DeathOne theory that has been advanced is that the devastation caused by the Black Death in Florence (and elsewhere in Europe) resulted in a shift in the world view of people in 14th-century Italy.Substances: Medieval Europe, trade center in the Mediterranean, Italy produces most early bud of capitalism, the bourgeoisie wants to break through the bondage of church theology.7. the reason for the decline of Italian renaissanceA .the conflicts and rivalry between the city-statesThe feud of families and conflicts between city-states make it impossible for Italy to compete with the countries in northern Europe.the conflict and rivalry between the city states .the feud of families and the conflicts between city states make it impossible for Italy to compete with the countries in Northern Europe.b. With the discovery of America , the rounding of the Cape of good Hope in 1488, the opening of an all-water route to India transport became cheaper and cheaper,. Italy gradually lost its supremacy in trading.C. the Protestant reformationThe reformation forced the Roman Catholic Church to tighten its control over thought, speech and publication, consequently the joulous spirit had given place to a spirit of pessimismPeople couldn’t release their talents.d. foreign invasion and frequent WarsThe cradles of Renaissance such as Florence ,Venice and Naples Milan were pillaged and devastated in the Italian Wars. Some foreign countries such as Spain, France and England fought for control of its resources。