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Full Description
In the Catholic countries of seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century Europe, communities of monks and nuns were growing in number and wealth. By 1750 there were at least 25,000 communities containing at least 350,000 inmates. They constructed vast buildings, dominated education, and played a large part in the practice and patronage of learning, music, and the arts. They also fulfilled an amazing variety of political, economic and social roles, notably in providing career opportunities for women. Yet many accounts of the period ignore them altogether. Prosperity and Plunder recovers this forgotten dimension of European history, assesses the importance of monasteries across Catholic Europe, and compares their position in different countries. It goes on to explain the almost complete destruction of the monasteries between 1750 and 1815 through reforming rulers, 'Enlightenment', and the French Revolution, and asks how much society gained and lost in the process.
Contents
Introduction; Part I. At the Brim of Prosperity: 1. The Counter-Reformation and the monasteries; 2. The German Catholic lands; 3. France; 4. Spain and Portugal; 5. Italy; Part II. The Time of Reform: 6. The suppression of the Jesuits; 7. Patterns of reform (i): France: the commission des réguliers; 8. Patterns of reform (ii): the Austrian monarchy: the Joseph(in)ist solution; Part III. The Time of Revolution: 9. The revolution in France;10. The impact of the Revolution outside France; Conclusion; Bibliographical essay; Index.
