October 24, 2024
Early Europe covered the Dutch and Spain. I don’t know why I had such a hard time with this lecture but I think keeping up with everything was what confused me. The Netherlands was sort of split in half? I think the Spanish owned the southern half while the Dutch unionized the north? I may be confused, maybe they did the unionizing afterwards? All I know is that Calvinism was popular and the Catholic Spaniards did not like that at all and it was a big issue for Philip II. The timeline for me was confusing. Union of Utrecht? I don’t know, I will have to read the textbook about it.
Modern History was our discussion day for All Quiet on the Western Front. Again, I do not participate in these as it requires us to get into groups, which I am not willing to do unless they are assigned but the professor, if that makes sense. I do not like to insert myself into other people’s business, yes I am aware that they are also getting into fairly random groups rather than congregating with friends but still. My anxieties are unfounded, I know but they still manifest quite strongly. Apparently the Netflix version changed the ending of the book and my professor is unsure as to how they were able to get the estate to sign off on it. Is the 2022 movie worth the watch? Are the older ones better? Maybe I should watch all three?
Did they teach about the royal marriages that led to Spain owning the Netherlands?
Only thing I could grasp was that the Netherlands was owned by the Hapsburgs. Philip II’s dad was more tolerant and knew Flemish so people liked him a little, but Philip came in as a pious Catholic and made enemies with the people. I also recall Margaret of Parma being appointed regent of the Netherlands, she at some point temporarily suspended heresy laws. The lecture was so messy, even my professor admitted it so sorry my response is all over the place. My notes for this lecture are hard to navigate due to the chaos of it.