One of the secrets behind the development of Europe and the West lies right here, in this little corner of Burgundy.
I've long wanted to write about the fundamental role played by the monks of the Cîteaux Abbey in Europe's economic and technological take-off: (1/10)⤵️🧵
The Cîteaux Abbey was founded on 21 March 1098. The Cistercian monks advocated asceticism and made work a fundamental value, in contrast to the wealthy nearby abbey of Cluny, which they criticised for devoting too little time to work in daily life.
Cîteaux would develop an extensive European network: it was the mother abbey of more than 500 monasteries, from Portugal to Scotland, from Provence to Romania. It was a truly pan-European multinational.
So, what was its fundamental impact on Europe's development?
Beyond the immense spiritual influence of Cîteaux (& Cluny) on medieval Europe, Harvard anthropologist 🇺🇸 Joseph Henrich shows that Cistercian monasteries played a crucial role inshaping the mentalities and techniques that paved the way for the industrial revolution.
First, mentalities.
Henrich explains that several centuries before Protestantism (at the origin of the spirit of capitalism according to Max Weber), the Cistercian monks propagated the work ethic throughout Europe. It is based on an academic study (Andersen
& al, 2011) on the influence of Cistercian monasteries in England: the more Cistercian monasteries a county had, the more its current inhabitants respond that children should be taught the importance of hard work.
Next, the techniques.
The Cistercian monks were obsessed with agricultural and industrial innovation. More production meant more resources to serve their spiritual mission. Every year, monks from the European daughter abbeys came to Cîteaux:
They took advantage of the opportunity to share their technical and agricultural advances. Innovation was thus disseminated throughout Europe. And people living close to the monasteries benefited because the monks taught them about these advances. He quotes a study
showing that English counties with Cistercian monasteries enjoyed faster growth in productivity from the 13th century onwards.
Another concrete example: it was in the forge of the Burgundy Abbey of Fontenay that the hydraulic hammer was invented in the 13th century, a major breakthrough in the history of European metallurgy.
In his book La Religion industrielle, philosopher Pierre Musso explains that it was in the European monasteries of the 12th century that the concept of productivity first appeared. Monks divided their time between prayer and work ("ora et labora", pray and work):
improving productivity at work meant that more time could be devoted to prayer. The spirit of production and the value of work developed in these monasteries: for the author, industry was originally a Western vision of the world.
The monastery is the ancestor of the factory.
In conclusion, these Cistercian monks did more than just pray to God:
throughout Europe, they sowed the seeds of the industrial revolution that would enable the continent to achieve an economic and technological take-off unprecedented in the history of mankind.
Note: once again, we see that Europe's development is linked to its cultural particularities. The discourse of repentance "Europe became powerful through slavery or colonisation" is simply false. These are consequences, not causes.
Sources :
- "The WEIRDest people in the world" by J. Henrich
- "La Religion industrielle" by Pierre Musso
- "Religious Orders and Growth through Cultural Change in Pre-Industrial England", Andersen & al, 2011
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“The Japanese seem to love themselves much better than we do, or at least support themselves”:
in The Lessons of Japan, a French historian compares 🇯🇵 and 🇫🇷. He shows that this country, very politically incorrect, escapes many ills.
What I've learned: ⤵️(1/10)
To begin with, Bouissou explains that 🇯🇵 is one of the few countries to have a religion that it doesn't share with any other country.
It was born 15 centuries ago by combining 3 elements: Shintoism (the only indigenous element), Confucianism (imported from China), and Buddhism.
This Shinto-Confucian-Buddhist assembly, whose 3 components are perfectly complementary, ensures the country strong social cohesion.
In his masterful work "What is the West?", political ideas historian Philippe Nemo explains the 5 historical processes that have led to the success of the West, shaping the mindset of today's Western civilization:
(1/10)⤵️🧵
1. The Greek Miracle: the invention of democracy, freedom under the law, and science.
He shows that the Greek City constituted an unprecedented revolutionary leap. For the first time in history, power shifts from the secrecy of the royal palace to the agora. This marks the
emergence of politics: public affairs are discussed by citizens, implying their equality before the law and the use of reason to persuade (thus aiding the advancement of science).
Since the law is human rather than mystical-religious, it can be freely modified by humans.
The passenger's dilemma, or why Westerners conquered the world.
A friend is driving way too fast and hits a pedestrian. You are a passenger in the vehicle. If you testify that he was within the speed limit, he avoids prison. What do you do?
Westerners respond (1/12)⤵️ 🧵
very differently from the rest of the world. And 🇺🇸 anthropologist and Harvard professor Joseph Henrich explains why in his book "The WEIRDest People in the World - How the West Became Psychologically peculiar and Particularly Prosperous".
Indeed, in 🇨🇦, 🇨🇭 or 🇺🇸, 90% of participants replied that they don't want to lie to help their friend.
Overall, Westerners stand out from the rest of the world for the very high proportion of participants who refuse to lie to help their friend.
From the invention of eyeglasses to the conquest of the world:
in "The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, Why some are so rich and some so poor", Harvard historian 🇺🇸 David S. Landes explains why the Industrial Revolution took place in Europe: ⤵️(1/10)🧵
First of all, Landes shows that the Western scientific and economic take-off of the 16th century did not come out of nowhere: far from the cliché of the "Dark Ages", medieval Europe was one of the most innovative and inventive periods in history.
Here are just a few examples:
- the invention of eyeglasses in Italy in the 13th century, which extended the working lives of many precision craftsmen (toolmakers, weavers, metalworkers, etc.)
- the invention of the mechanical clock. The very notion of productivity is a by-product of this invention.
"How the West grew rich": a few notes on this book by 2 🇺🇸 academics explaining the reasons for the Western economic and technological take-off from the 15th century onwards.
And it has nothing to do with "luck" or colonization. (1/11) ⤵️🧵
The authors point out that for millennia, poverty among the masses was the norm: "These eras of misery have been mythologized and may even be remembered as golden ages of pastoral simplicity", when in reality, the masses lived in the "silence of poverty".
The authors then examine various widespread but false explanations for the West's economic take-off:
- the authors show that it was not colonization that enriched the West: there is