The Canterburry Tales

CHAUCER

• first significant work in english vernacular
• describes a group of pilgrims travelling in england

On the Origin of Species

DARWIN

• scientific text that revolutionized how science views the origins of organic life
• natural selection
• theory of evolution

The Divine Comedy 

DANTE

• a trilogy
• bridge between Middle Ages and Renaissance
• Inferno
• Purgatorio
• Paradiso
• first work in Italian vernacular
• journey of the soul after death

The Decameron

BOCCACIO

• a hundred stories told by ten friends during a ten day period of hiding from the black death outside the city of Florence

The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini

CELLINI

• "man can do all things"
• a work that celebrated the uniqueness of the individual
• author a great artist; "The Saltcellar"

The Courtier

CASTIGLIONE

• ettiquet book of the Renaissance gentleman
• Renaissance man <- would possess the best of medieval and modern man 

The Prince

MACHIAVELLI

• first major work of political science
• "it is better to be feared than loved"
• "the ends justify the means"
• ruler serves the state not the other way around

Don Quixote

CERVANTES

• first major work in Spanish vernacular
• masterpiece of classical Spanish literature
• mocks medieval values

Vulgate Bible

(many authors)

• ancient, medieval version of the Catholic Bible

In Praise Of Human Folly

ERASMUS OF ROTTERDAM

• satire
• praised clearly stupid things the church did
• mocked clearly logical ones
• great work of sarcasm

Utopia

MORE

• author's description of the perfect world where people treat each other with pure Christian kindness

95 Thesis

LUTHER

• author's arguments about the church teachings about works
• written in Latin to start a debate among the German priesthood

122 Thesis

TETZEL

• author's response to Luther's 95 Thesis
• too little too late

Against the Robbing and Murdering of Hordes of Peasants

LUTHER

• author's condemnation of the social revolution
• opposed the Peasants' Revolt of 1525

Institutes of the Christian Religion

CALVIN

• author's description of the reformed religion
• key idea: doctrine of the elect (predestination)

In Defense of the Seven Sacraments

HENRY VIII

• author's pro-catholic condemnation of Luther and the reformed religion

The Book of Common Prayer

(no one author)

• compilation of prayers used by the Church of England (Anglican)

The Way of Perfection

ST. THERESA OF AVILA

• Catholic devotional
• she argues that there is a path of sainthood for every man

Spiritual Exercises

IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA

• Catholic devotional
• author founded many schools and monasteries all over the continent 

Index

(no one author)

• compilation of books catholics were forbidden from reading

Paradise Lost

MILTON

• masterpiece of baroque literature that described the battle for control over heaven

On the Revolution of Heavenly Bodies

COPERNICUS

• first scientific text to support the heliocentric theory

New Astronomy

KEPLER

• scientific text that proved the heliocentric theoryusing mathematics
• elliptical orbits

Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems

GALILEO

• discussion on the heliocentric vs. the geocentric theory
• does not argue but shows evidence

Principia

NEWTON

• summation of Newton's work with the universal science
• gravity, integral calculus, astronomy

Optica

NEWTON

• explains the study of light

The Leviathan

HOBBES

• says people make an agreement with the government that can never be broken once made

On the Structure of the Human Body

VESALIUS

• first major work of anatomical drawings to be published since antiquity

On the Motion of the Heart and Blood

HARVEY

• description of the circulatory system and the role of the heart and lungs

Inquiry into the Cause and Effect of Vaccine

JENNER

• description of his research in cowpox and the benefits of inoculation 

New Instrument

BACON

• philosophical text in
• demands all knowledge must be based on empirical data
• Scientific Method

Discourse on Method

DESCARTES

• summation of his philosophy that all knowledge begins with doubt
• "cogito ergo sum" (i think therefore i am)

The Republic

BODIN

• a description of the absolute divine-right monarchical state argued that king should have total power because God chose him

Of Civil Government: Two Treatises

LOCKE

• he had his own version of the social contract that differed from Hobbes
• argued rights of "life, liberty, and property"
• said the contract can be broken "right to revolt"

True Law of Free Monarchs

JAMES I

• echo of Jean Bodin's The Republic
• uses the Bible to justify divine-right monarchy

Candide

VOLTAIRE

• satirical work that mocked the optimistic views of the dayand belief of loving God
• "we live in the best of all possible worlds in the best of all possible times" -Dr. Pangloss
• see the world with rose-colored glasses

Philosophical Letters on the English

VOLTAIRE

• a love letter to England
• written during his exile from France
• "England, where men think free and noble thoughts"

The Spirit of the Laws

MONTESQUIEU

• influential political work that advocated separation of political powers into different branches of government
• influenced the drafting of the US constitution

The Social Contract

ROUSSEAU

• revolutionary work that opposed hereditary monarchy
• man is happiest in the "natural state" and civilization is corruptive
• favored democracy
• "man is born free, yet everywhere he is in chains"

Encyclopedia

DIDEROT

• a compendium of all human knowledge to be at quick access
• 28 volumes

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

GIBBON

• first modern history book based on empirical data rather than legend or myth

The Wealth of Nations

SMITH

• probably the single most important economics text ever written
• argued against mercantilism and in favor of supply and demand CAPITALISM
• government should be "laissez-faire" (hands off) towards economy

The Laws of War and Peace

GROTIUS

• first major book of international law
• argued that nations were governed by the same laws as people
• 3 mile limit

Gulliver's Travels

SWIFT

• 18th century satire that mocked English society

What is the Third Estate

DE GOUGES

• first ever argument made in favor of women's rights

Vindication of the Rights of Women

WALLSTONECRAFT

• english language echo of De Gouges argument in Declaration of the Rights of Women
• written about 5 years later

Reflections on the Revolution

BURKE

• condemnation of the French Revolution
• first major work of conservatism
• "no single generation has the right to destroy all those that came before it"