CANS 200 Study Guide - Eys, Egalitarianism, Latte

• School: McGill University
• Department: Canadian Studies
• Course: CANS 200
• Professor: Nicholas Dew

Document Summary

Europe for most of its history has been a land of war. By europe, i mean that land coextensive with what was once known as christen- dom : the region over which for a thousand years the western. Christian church held sway, or rather whose rulers were legitimized by the sanction of that church, from about the ninth century until the secularization of european society a hundred years or so ago. This christendom was a war- rior culture, though it may embarrass some christians to have to recall it. It had to be, if it was to survive. The families who ruled europe during this mil- lennium justified their power and their privileges by their successful conduct of war. Then they consolidated their power against one another through the formation of states (which usually involved destroying the autonomy of many distinct cultures, regions, and communities).