Rudolf II and His World: A Study in Intellectual History, 1576-1612 - Softcover

Evans, R J; Evans, Robert John Weston

Softcover

ISBN 10: 019821961X ISBN 13: 9780198219613

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1984

Synopsis

Rudolf II of Hapsburg, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia and Hungary, was an extraordinary ruler, a monarch whose court occupied a central position in 16th-century Europe - yet he remained a shadowy and fugitive figure. The decades around 1600 saw sweeping cultural changes in Europe, with the waning of an old-world view and the beginnings of the 17th-century intellectual revolution. The author argues that the conflict which played itself out in the Hapsburg lands during these years was a political manifestation of the intellectual confrontation between the old guard and and their preoccupation with the mystical, spiritual and hermetic sciences, and the rise of a more rational and empirical view of the world. Rudolf, as the embodiment of the old philosophy, failed to grasp this profound shift in the prevailing climate of thought: Professor Evans argues that it was this failure which led to his eventual tragic downfall.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1984
• ISBN 10: 019821961X
• ISBN 13: 9780198219613
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 354