Sociocultural context

Question 1

How did London react to the Great Fire? How long did it last?

Answer 1

It lasted 4 days, it left 100k people homeless. The Rebuilding Act, established in 1667, stated that new houses could have been built only in brick or stone, no wood

Question 2

Who oversaw the rebuilding of most London after the Great Fire?

Answer 2

Christopher Wren, thanks to whom we have St. Paul’s Cathedral

Question 3

What was the 17th century characterised by (religion wise)? Give some examples

Answer 3

Intolerance and persecution, as religious uniformity was seen as fundamental. E.g. The Parliament under Charles I tried its best at maintaining the ‘‘true Reformed Protestant Religion’’

Question 4

Talk about the scientific revolution during the 17th century.

Answer 4

1. Sir Francis Bacon ‘‘Novum Organum’’
2. John Wilkins formed the Oxford Philosophical Club
3. The Royal Society was founded
4. Isaac Newton

Question 5

What social class was born during the 17th century? Describe it.

Answer 5

The bourgeois class. It was formed by merchants, entrepreneurs and professionals. It exalted the values of work, effort and enterprise and criticised the aristocratic class who devoted itself to a life of leisure

Question 6

Describe the coffeehouses, their importance, their clientele and their contributions.

Answer 6

They were fashionable places that didn’t admit women. They were supplied with books to encourage the SPREAD OF NEWS AND OPINIONS. Their clientele was men of science, poets, traders, merchants, authors etc. The London Stock Exchange and the main two action houses (Christies and Sotheby’s) were born there

Question 7

When did political parties emerge in Britain? What were the main two political parties?

Answer 7

The Whigs (exclude accession of a catholic Heir, wished to limit the monarch’s power)
The Tories (defended hereditary right and the Divine Right Monarchy)