We still tend to see the nineteenth century as the century of urbanisation, modernisation, secularisation. It was probably more the century of the Virgin Mary

Résumé du document

It is true that the nineteenth century is usually perceived as the century of urbanization, modernization and secularization. These phenomena, in truth, represent major features of this period. As the European population doubled, the Industrial Revolution laid down the economic pattern of the modern world. After the French Revolution, the confessional state was seen as being largely dismantled. The numerous technical advancements and scientific discoveries which were made in the nineteenth century inevitably led to an antagonism between religion, the Catholic religion in particular, and science. Thus one of the most delicate points of this century was the agreement between faith and science. This also came about because this period saw, even if it can be seen as contradictory, an important revival of cults and notably the cult of the Virgin Mary. It would be interesting to see why exactly the nineteenth century was viewed as the century of urbanization, modernization, and secularization, and if this viewpoint is well-founded. We will also see if it can be toned down, and if the period can more truly be seen as the century of the Virgin Mary.

Extraits

[...] Actually, we witness during the nineteenth century the acceleration of modernisation. But this modernisation met some limitations. Profound as was the economic transformation of Europe in the nineteenth century, the Continent remained essentially as it had been under the Ancien Régime. And in spite of the revolution in communication and the many changes in agriculture and in rural life, traditions still had a large influence in most parts of Western Europe. However, urbanisation was incontestable, even if some areas remained rural. [...]

[...] Religion and Rebellion, (1997) Hearder H., Europe in the nineteenth century : 1830-1880, (1988) T. Kemp, Industrialization in Nineteenth-century Europe, (1969) Knapton E., Europe 1815-1914, (1965) H. McLeod, Religion and the people of Western Europe 1789-1970, (1981) H. McLeod, Secularisation in Western Europe, 1848-1914, (2000) H. McLeod and W. Ustorf, The Decline of Christendom in Western Europe, (2003) Britannica Encyclopaedia, Article "Modernization and Industrialisation". Hearder H., Europe in the nineteenth century : 1830-1880, (1988) Hearder H., Europe in the nineteenth century : 1830-1880, (1988) Britannica Encyclopaedia, Article "Modernization and Industrialisation". Ibid. [...]

[...] We still tend to see the nineteenth century as the century of urbanisation, modernisation, secularisation. It was probably more the century of the Virgin Mary It is true that the nineteenth century is usually perceived as the century of urbanisation, modernisation and secularisation. Indeed, these phenomena represent major features of this period. The European population doubled, the Industrial Revolution laid down the economic pattern of the modern world, and after the French Revolution, the confessional state was seen as being largely dismantled. [...]

[...] We must see the nineteenth century as a period in which increasing secularization and religious indifference battled with revivals of religion in its most uncompromising, irrational form. Thus the cult of the Virgin Mary knew a huge revival. Indeed, the Virgin Mary had a much more importance during this period than we usually think. However, characterizing this century only as a Marian century would be an exageration. Bibliography R. Burton, Blood in the City: violence and Revelation in Paris, 1789-1945, (2001) M. [...]

[...] Carroll, The Cult of the Virgin Mary, Psychological Origins, (Princeton, 1986) J. Eade and M. Sallnow, eds., Contesting the Sacred: the Anthropology of Christian Pilgrimage, (London, 1991) pp. 30-50. [...]