Fukuyama tells us that by "the time of St. Bernard's death, the Cistercians had founded 338 abbeys" and had "accumulated great wealth"... (Fukuyama 4)
How are the building of abbeys and accumulation of wealth indicators of democracy?
(Remember to answer based on what you've read and understood. When using an idea of Fukuyama's, use quotes and a page number.)
The building of abbeys is an indicator of democracy because the abbeys preached Christianity and moved people away from Protestant views. With this push to Christianity came more equality among the people. Followers of wealth and low classes had the same goal and were apart of the same mission. St. Bernard had a very large following when he became apart of the process, and with more abbeys being built, Christianity and democracy spread more. The accumulation of wealth is an indicator of democracy because there is a direct correlation between wealth and power. The more wealth these abbeys received the more popular and powerful they became. More and more people followed Christianity and pushed for democracy.
ReplyDeleteAn abbey is based on nunnery and it was based on a foundation for the churches. The abbeys went for Christianity, after St. Bernards death they built more which created more wealth for the country. Creating more wealth establishes a great standing for a democracy. What would a democracy do without some type of wealth. Wealth is what provides for the country and its people. A democracy is supposed to stand for its people and lead them in the right direction, so the building of the abbeys helped. Christianity and democracy progressed more throughout the country. The abbeys made them stronger and they became powerful, while being influenced by Christianity.
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ReplyDelete"The issue of democracy's relationship to Christianity and its potential universality is of key importance to the future of democracy in the world. The universality of the democratic principle is the very issue that today divides .those who insist"-(p.16). While reading this something that drew my attention with fukuyamas essay was when he spoke about christianity as a symbol that will never die. See an abbey is occupied by nuns and monks. To build stability and peace you need figures like that in your town to keep the peace and promote harmony. Money cannot buy happiness no matter what happens there will always bring problems. Without the increase in wealth your nation cannot move further and stay the same leading to other nations invading your territory. You need to establish wealth to promote trade throughout your nation. This helps democracy by letting others speak about how the government can use their wealth to help the country instead of the leaders make decisions without the consent of the people.
ReplyDeleteCenturies ago, Christian church/religion was very powerful and had control over people. Since they want to keep spreading their teachings and believes, about 338 were created by the St. Bernard of Clair Vaux’s death. These abbeys helped people to get closer to God and made the belief of human equality stronger and see democracy as a result of their belief. Religion have been shaping the behavior of people throughout history giving them a grade of morality and therefore laws nowadays are based on religion for example civil rights which protect anyone from discrimination either for the race, gender, or religious beliefs. Abbeys also supported education and other activities for example agriculture which-at the 12th Century- was a breakthrough for economic growth. People mainly peasants, became enterprising farmers and merchants, which led to the decline of feudalism and the rise of a market economy where wealth was distributed equitable among society. Cities saw a great economic growth and citizens demanded for equal rights and independence and therefore democracy was born and was diffused throughout the world.
ReplyDeletethe building of abbeys and the accumulation of wealth are indicators of democracy for the following reasons.
ReplyDeleteit caused the seperation between religion and government. The more abbeys that were built the more wealth was accumulated which gave strength to democracy. This led to the deterioration of religious establisments which made the church less influential.
This shows that wealth is needed for the growth of any Govt and democracy.
Throughout the article, it is safe to say that Fukuyama believe that God played a role in the rising of Democracy. Abbeys were meant to help Christianity thrive and prosper; they kept Christianity alive and tried to change the views of others too. St. Bernard had a lot to do with the growth of Cistercians and abbeys. They created 338 abbeys by the time of his death. Abbey accumulated wealth that helped Christianity and Democracy prosper. One of the drivers of Democracy is economic growth. Since they were accumulating wealth it allowed Democracy to continue, any country can switch to democracy however it is economic growth that allows it to be stable and long lasting.
ReplyDeleteThe building of abbey's helped the peoples economic growth and also helped influence the people to become involve in democracy. St. Bernard was a french abbot and the primary builder of the reforming cistercian order. He was one of the most commanding church leaders in the first half of the twelfth century as well as one of the greatest spiritual masters of all times. St. Bernard spread religion around witch helped enable democracy. Tocqueville mentions what happened to the french history to prove his point on how St. Bernard spreading of the monastic order accumulated great wealth by allowing people to get close to god and see democracy through religion. The abbeys became more wealthy which made them more powerful. They also allowed people to become more independent on their belief which made them more wealthy.
ReplyDeletethe building of abbeys would indicate democracy because those abbeys are the community and in those communities are people such as nuns and or monks. They make the dictions in that time because the church was in charge of that time frame. in the march of equality by Frances fukuyama he states that " it is worth noting that the modern belief in human equality is the product of philosophy but come out of religion"(6 fukuyama). this is one of the examples of how the building of the abbeys are indicators of democracy. another one is the economic growth because with the abbeys that they build the helped the economy and the Christianity by the time of state Bernard's death. with economic growth money was made within the church and the country was being lead by the church which must have been the group of people just like modern day.
ReplyDeleteThe building of Abbeys and the accumulation of wealth prove to be indicators of democracy by being available to all people, poor, rich and by integrating into the government. The buildings of abbeys according to Tocqueville, “enabled people of humble origins to reach top ranks of power”(Fukuyama 15). Abbeys enforced the concept of equality amongst the people; no one was excluded or discriminated against due to their financial state. This idea of equality caused many followers to join the movement. By abbeys associating with the government, this move was in turn a positive aspect because people from abbeys gradually incorporated the concept of equality thus leading to the overall principle of democracy. Another driver of democracy which connects to the idea of abbeys is economic growth which feeds into the concept of accumulation of wealth. According to Adam Przeworski’s hypothesis, “…countries are more likely to remain democracies as they become wealthier”(Fukuyama 13). Przeworski insinuates that wealth is a factor associated with democracy. The various levels of wealth in abbeys allows for a flow of wealth within the nation. Democracy allows for the people to rule, and if the people rule they will freely give to their desired form of government. Democracy also advocates equality and the concept of equality is one that is practiced heavily within abbeys. The concepts of religion, wealth, equality, and democracy are all interrelated which proves necessary for the success of a nation.
ReplyDeleteIn this essay the author states “It is worth noting that the modern belief in human equality is not the product of philosophy but comes out of religion.” (Fukuyama,6) This statement supports the theory that the building of abbeys and accumulation of wealth in the twelfth century were builders of democracy. This is evident in the case of The Cisterians. The Cisterarians, a monastic order, built many monasteries and abbeys on large pieces of land. Their sole role in life was to work the land and pray. Working these lands diligently led them to be profitable, and gain wealth quickly. With this newfound wealth and power, they were able to spread Christian beliefs. As Tocquevilles explains, Christaian doctrine led to democracy. “Tocqueville makes repeated references throughout Democracy in America to Christianity as the source of the belief in human equality and to the sociological impact that the Christian church had on the spread of democracy over the centuries.” (Fukuyama, 5)
ReplyDeleteHe building of abbeys and accumulation of wealth are indicators of democracy because people of wealth are able to rise in power and influence and in most cases are even worshipped by those monetarily below them. They then allowed people who weren’t of substantial wealth or clout to reach similar latitudes of influence. The Cistercians were apparently those ones who allowed this to happen with their 338 abbeys who helped immensely. They owed a lot credit for a lot of the progression made in France at the time of their activity. It’s easy to imagine the gratitude felt by those who are given opportunity by those in power and as such would find devoting their loyalty to them some from of thanks. In this way perhaps democracy arose by people choosing to select those who kindest in them lead them or reign over them as may have been.
ReplyDeleteThe buildings of abbeys and accumulation of wealth were indicators of democracy in a few ways. To start off a democracy is a form of government where the citizens play a major role in choosing the type of government they want. Now in order to have a functioning democracy there are certain factors that need to come into play. Out of the six drivers of democracy, economic growth and Christianity stood out to me. The buildings of abbeys and it was driven by Christianity goes hand in hand. The role of an abbey is someone who is typically a Christian and serves his or her religious community. It is essential for religion to tie in with a functional democracy. The text states, “ This suggests the revelation, not reason is the driving force behind human history.” That sentence gave me a clear vision that Christianity had great significance. The accumulation of wealth can be represented in two ways. One could be from a financial perspective, which would be based on it was driven by economic growth. The second would be the number of abbeys increased the wealth also increased, which benefited the democracy in a positive and major way.
ReplyDeleteThe building of Abbeys is an indicator of Democracy. In the sense that the building of Abbeys brought an economic growth to the people and also it helps in drawing the people into Democracy and what it will offer. Any government or Democracy will never function without money or fund, which means that the building of Abbeys brought wealth to the people and also it made the system of government more functional and effective.
ReplyDeleteThe building of the abbeys and the accumulation of wealth are direct indicators of Democracy. Upon the instillation of the abbeys a semblance of equality was spread throughout the nation. Abbeys, once established granted people of even humble beginnings the power to move up to higher ranks. This was a welcomed change to the people, no longer was your birth standing the deciding factor of your life. Trade increased and with it the accumulated wealth of the nation. Overall the common people of the nation gain more power. Dispersing power throughout the nation, advancing the spread of democracy.
ReplyDeleteThe abbeys were all for Chrisitianity and not Protestants. Since democracy is for equality abbeys were spread throughout the nation. Abbeys brought wealth to people because it made the government more effective.Without money the government of democracy would not be able to function. It is important for religion to be assimilated with democracy.Religion is owned alot of credit for progression in different types of countries. It was turned into a positive way because people want equality which is what democracy has to offer.
ReplyDeleteThe spreading of abbeys contribute to the concept of democracy because by the time of St. Bernard's death, the Cistercians who were an association of nuns had built a total of 338 abbeys. These abbeys were places of worship where equality, which is a major concept of democracy ruled. The Cistercians saw how these places of worship accumulated great wealth and sought to expand the concept by building more churches, thus reaching 338 abbeys. The building of abbeys influenced the spread of democracy which Tocqueville notes,"...grew first on Christian soil (Fukuyama 15). Fukuyama goes on to say that, "Equality is apprehended first through religion, and democracy is basically a secularized form of Christianity"(Fukuyama 16), meaning that the roots of democracy stems from the Christian religion which was first practiced within abbeys.
ReplyDeletethey abbeys where were the nuns living in a community within them selves an like the government they where in charged of making decisions and also that back with St. Bernard's death the nuns where in charge with the help of the pope . people back then did not know how to read so they looked up to the church and followed what ever law that they would come up with. like in Fukuyama states that religion was the first to show signs of democracy and also that the abbeys where buildings that the Christian religion spread so fast and like democracy it spread everywhere.
ReplyDeleteWith abbeys being created it shows democracy is being enforced. Now everyone has the right to there own religion and can push it as much as they like because it represents all that democracy stands for and the roots from which it came. Without wealth and prosperity a democracy cannot form or function and help fulfill the people living there.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the abbies and accumulation of wealth are the direct result of the power democracy. Not only were ordinary people of no particular specialty given a chance to rise in power but they then belonged to a group who made noteworthy changes to France. And in doing so, became quite wealthy. This is an indicator of democracy because of non of this may have happen if nothing was opened up to the people.
ReplyDeleteAbbeys purpose is to get people to have a relationship with God. God and religion is a part of democracy which is how they are related
ReplyDeleteAccording to Thesaurus, an abbey is a building inhabited by a community of monks and nuns governed by an abbot or abbess. At the death of St Bernard, the total number of abbeys was 338, and had spread from country to country around Europe. After the constructions of the abbeys, the Cistercians have made the abbeys available to the public Christians. As a result people became more involve in religion. Overall, the abbeys bring people with different socio-economic class together to cooperate and make one community. The building of abbeys was priority for the Cistercians because they were breaking some of the most status by accumulating property and wealth. Abbeys supported economic growth as one of the drivers of democracy because with economic growth, any country can make the transition to democracy at any level of development. Abbeys continues to increase the likelihood of people getting more power. Everyone could have a chance to overcome their voice. Therefore the distribution of power is what is important to the survival of democracy.
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