The Idea of Europe

What, when, in which lecture

Timeline

The events and people of the course, by period. Events come first; below them are the thinkers and politicians, with a bar showing each one’s lifetime.

“c.” means the years are approximate.

Antiquity

to the 5th century

  1. c. 430 BCIn the Histories, Herodotus wonders why the earth, which is one, has three names: Europe, Asia and Libya.Lecture 01
  2. c. AD 8Ovid tells the myth of Europa and Zeus in the Metamorphoses.Lecture 01

The Middle Ages

5th–15th centuries

  1. c. AD 799A poem from Charlemagne’s court calls him rex pater Europae, “king and father of Europe”.Lecture 01
  2. c. 1088The University of Bologna, considered the oldest in Europe (the traditional date).Lecture 01
  3. 1453Constantinople falls. The word “Europe” comes back to the fore.Lecture 01
  4. 1458Enea Silvio Piccolomini, the future Pope Pius II, writes De Europa.Lecture 01

The modern age

1500–1914

  1. 1730Strahlenberg proposes the Ural Mountains as Europe’s eastern border.Lecture 01
  2. 1751Voltaire describes Europe as “a kind of great republic divided into several states”.Lecture 01

The 20th century

1914–1989

  1. 1919Paul Valéry, “The Crisis of the Mind”: “We civilisations now know that we are mortal.”Lecture 01
  2. 1935Husserl gives the Vienna lecture “The Crisis of European Humanity and Philosophy”.Lecture 01
  3. 1949The Council of Europe is founded.Lecture 01
  4. 1956W. B. Gallie proposes the notion of an “essentially contested concept”.Lecture 01
  5. 1973Patočka gives the private seminars later published as Plato and Europe.Lecture 01
  6. 1977Charter 77. Patočka, one of its spokesmen, dies after interrogations.Lecture 01
  7. 1987Morocco’s membership application is rejected: Morocco is not a “European state”.Lecture 01

From 1989 to today

Europe after the Cold War

  1. 1995The Republic of Moldova joins the Council of Europe.Lecture 01
  2. 1999Turkey becomes a candidate for EU membership.Lecture 01
  3. 2022The Republic of Moldova applies to join the EU and becomes a candidate country.Lecture 01
  4. 2024Accession negotiations begin. The referendum of 20 October writes European integration into the Constitution.Lecture 01

People

The thinkers and politicians of the course. The bar shows each one’s lifetime.

Antiquity

  1. c. 484–425 BCHerodotusGreek historianLecture 01
  2. c. 43 BC – AD 17OvidRoman poetLecture 01

The Middle Ages

  1. c. AD 748–814CharlemagneemperorLecture 01
  2. 1126–1198AverroesArab philosopher, commentator on AristotleLecture 01
  3. 1405–1464Enea Silvio Piccolominihumanist, Pope Pius IILecture 01

The modern age

  1. 1676–1747Philip Johan von StrahlenbergSwedish officer and geographerLecture 01
  2. 1694–1778Voltairewriter and philosopherLecture 01
  3. 1859–1938Edmund HusserlphilosopherLecture 01
  4. 1871–1945Paul Valérypoet and essayistLecture 01
  5. 1889–1951Ludwig WittgensteinphilosopherLecture 01
  6. 1907–1977Jan Patočkaphilosopher, dissidentLecture 01
  7. 1912–1998W. B. GalliephilosopherLecture 01