Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Baccalaureate

6.4. The Catholic Monarchs and the Organization of the State: Institutions of Government. The Catholic Monarchs' political program was straightforward, aiming to strengthen royal authority, modernize the state, maintain the existing social hierarchy, and ensure religious unity. To achieve these goals, they improved existing institutions and made them function efficiently. The nobility retained its economic and social power, recognized by the Kings in the Laws of Toro (1505), but lost any previously granted privileges (income, taxes, land, annuities, etc.). The crown also recovered control of the military orders.

Government functions were organized around the Royal Council of Castile (or Council of Castile), which, reformed in 1480, became the...

Theatre of Epidaurus

General Information

Title:

Theatre of Epidaurus

Architect:

Polykleitos the Younger

Period:

4th Century BC

Material:

Stone

Location:

Epidaurus, Peloponnese, Greece

Formal Analysis

Description:

Nestled against a hillside, the Theatre of Epidaurus features distinct sections: the orchestra, the cavea (seating area), and the skene (stage building).

• Orchestra: A circular, sandy area at the base, used by the chorus and featuring a central altar dedicated to Dionysus.
• Cavea: The semi-circular seating area, accommodating up to 15,000 spectators, divided into two sections by a corridor (diazoma).
• Skene: A building tangent to the orchestra, serving as a backdrop, with a raised platform (proscenium) in front for theatrical action.

The theatre's lateral...

Karl Marx: A Materialist Perspective

The Essence of Man

Marx argues that the essence of man lies in work, emphasizing our material relationship with nature and others. While this perspective holds merit, it overlooks the sentimental aspect of human existence. Family bonds, for example, are not solely material but deeply emotional. However, I agree with Marx's assertion that humans must produce their livelihoods; acquiring goods or food necessitates work.

Alienation of the Worker

Marx's theory of alienation posits that workers are alienated from the product and process of their labor. Forced to sell their labor power for survival, they lose control over their work and themselves. This resonates with the current reality where unskilled workers...

French Classical Drama

The theater became one of the major genres in European literature in the 16th century. During the Middle Ages, the first theatrical performances sprang from religious and secular matters.

The fifteenth century was an important step in the history of the theater. Dances of death became fashionable, and humanistic comedy also emerged with important Spanish works such as La Celestina by Fernando de Rojas. At the end of the sixteenth century, the fusion of popular and cultured theatrical trends led to the birth of national theaters in England, Spain, and France.

The theater in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries became a mass spectacle, and plays reflected the life, feelings, and needs of the people.

Some theorists believed...

Franco's Regime and Repression

Franco's Political Thought

During the dictatorship (1939-1975), Spain experienced a vacuum of political normalcy. Francisco Franco was a Spanish military, Africanist, and nationalist. Catholicism and the army were the essence of his ideology. He saw himself as a character chosen by God to save the fatherland. For Franco, the nation and Catholicism were synonymous.

His natural enemies were liberals, Freemasons, anarchists, socialists, communists, and Jews. Franco was firmly against democracy.

Characteristics of Franco's Regime

• Personal and single-party dictatorship.
• Permanent division of the country into winners and losers.
• A version of fascism.
• Lack of principles, replaced by repression and subjugation.
• Significant presence

Quattrocento: The Dawn of the Renaissance in Florence

The Medici's Influence

The Quattrocento, a period of artistic and cultural revolution, had its epicenter in Florence. The powerful Medici family played a crucial role, patronizing various artists and fostering a climate of creativity. Quattrocento art subsequently spread to other Italian republics. This era was characterized by intense research and experimentation, laying the groundwork for the classicism of the Cinquecento.

Quattrocento Architecture

General Characteristics

Quattrocento architecture drew inspiration from Vitruvius's treatise, rediscovered in the monastery of Saint Gall. Key features include:

• Predominance of columns and pilasters as supports, replacing the Gothic pillar.
• Classical

Line Projections in Descriptive Geometry

Oblique Line Projections

For oblique line projections, both the horizontal projection (r1) and the vertical projection (r2) intersect at the reference line (LT).

Frontal Line Projections

A frontal line is straight and parallel to the Vertical Plane (PV). Its horizontal projection (r1) is always parallel to the reference line (LT).

Lines Parallel to the Reference Line (LT)

For lines parallel to the reference line (LT), both horizontal (r1) and vertical (r2) projections are parallel to the LT.

Vertical Line Projections

A vertical line is perpendicular to the Horizontal Plane (PH). Its vertical projection (r2) is perpendicular to the reference line (LT).

Edge View Projections (Perpendicular to PV)

When a straight...

Key Economic Terms

Externalities

Positive or negative effects on third parties not included in the costs of a company without compensation.

Macroeconomics

The study of the economy as a whole for all economic agents in the country. Key variables include CPI, GDP, GNP, aggregate spending, consumption, investment, and unemployment.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

The monetary value of the production of final goods and services produced within an economy of a country in a specific time period, usually one year.

Gross National Product (GNP)

Value of final production of goods and services made by firms and production factors for a year.

Economic Policy Instruments

Fiscal Policy

Uses the state budget.

Monetary Policy

Concerns the amount and price of money (interest...

The Cánovas Restoration System

The Spanish Restoration era saw the consolidation of a conservative party system under Antonio Cánovas del Castillo. This period was marked by a political agreement between Cánovas and Práxedes Mateo Sagasta, known as the Pact of El Pardo, which ensured a peaceful alternation of power between the Conservative Party (1875-1881) and the Liberal Party (1881-1890). This system, however, was plagued by electoral corruption, often referred to as caciquismo. Power was centralized in Madrid, controlled by an oligarchy, while provincial governors and local chiefs manipulated elections, leading to widespread rigging.

Reign of Alfonso XII and Key Events

The reign of Alfonso XII (1874-1885) was crucial for the consolidation...

The French Revolution

The Gironde Convention

The Republic was in the hands of the Girondins, who called for universal male suffrage elections for the new National Convention. The Convention conducted a trial of King Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, who were ultimately executed by guillotine. The king's death led to the formation of a coalition of European monarchies against revolutionary France.

In 1793, the Republic was in danger. Internally, counterrevolutionary riots erupted. Externally, allied armies invaded France.

The Jacobin Convention

In 1793, the Jacobins seized power and arrested the main Girondin political leaders. That same year, they promulgated a new constitution based on social democracy: popular sovereignty, universal suffrage,...