After studying this chapter, students should understand and be able to discuss the following:
The major historical developments that occurred in the baroque period and how they helped shape the dominant cultural style
The impact of the balance-of-power principle on international affairs in the baroque period
The leading characteristics of secular monarchies in the seventeenth century
The development of absolutism in France and the defining role played by Louis XIV in shaping the classical baroque
The development of limited monarchy in England and the defining role played by England in shaping the restrained baroque
The characteristics of the variations on the baroque style and how each reflected its historical setting, such as how the classical baroque reflected French court society, how the florid baroque reflected papal court circles and the imperial worlds of the Spanish and Austrian empires, and how the restrained baroque reflected English and Dutch society
The role of the wars of Louis XIV in establishing the primacy of French culture on the continent
How the church of St. Peter's, Rome, expressed the florid baroque building style
The leading artists and architects of the florid baroque, the classical baroque, and the restrained baroque—and their contributions
How Versailles Palace expressed the classical baroque building style
The characteristics, major figures, and chief literary genres of baroque literature and the differences and similarities between the French and the English baroque
The four chief trends operating in baroque music
The reason that opera is the quintessential symbol of the baroque
The sources and early developments of opera
The contributions of the baroque composers Bach and Handel
The historic "firsts" of the baroque age that became part of the Western tradition: the system of great states governed by a balance of power, France and England's dominance of culture and politics, the concept and practice of "world war," mercantilism, the illusionistic ceiling fresco, opera, and oratorio
The role of the baroque age in transmitting the heritage of the past: redirecting classical ideals into the grandiose and exuberant baroque style; giving permanent stamp to the religious division of Westerners into Protestant and Catholic camps; bringing the monarchical tradition to its height in France; launching the trend toward rule by the people in the limited monarchy that developed in England; and carrying Western values to overseas colonies
