The Lisbon earthquake of 1755 was not only damaging in its physical damage that was done to the lands; but also damaging in the sense that it caused a plethora philosophical and religious debates that shook, although eventually shaped European Enlightenment. In spite of this disaster; however, there were several new philosophical and scientific developments that are rooted in this earthquake. Nicholas Shrady gives an account of this disaster along with great detail of the aftermath and the process of rebuilding the city, and Western civilization as a whole.
On November 1, 1755, All Saints’ Day, Lisbon suffered through the most destructive natural disaster to date. Nearly all citizens were attending mass as this disaster began. After the earthquakes, causing a great amount of damage on their own, Lisbon then suffered through 3 tidal waves and a fire which burned for 5 days. Combined, this earthquake, these tidal waves, and this fire destroyed the entirety of the formerly prosperous city of Lisbon. By the end of these disasters, although there’s no definitive information due to most, if not all records being lost within this disaster, it’s estimated that anywhere from 15,000 to 60,000 casualties were suffered as Lisbon was flattened. Although Lisbon itself suffered many casualties, it’s important to remember the impact that this earthquake had on Portugal and Europe as a whole. At the time of this earthquake, Lisbon was heavily involved in trade with various countries such as Asia, Africa, India, and France. This economic loss became widespread quite quickly.
After disaster struck, King José I found himself in a state of confusion and disbelief. According to Shrady, “the king did precisely what no monarch should ever d...
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...ugal suffered through this earthquake, especially with discrepancies between God and philosophy. Formerly a nation as the subject of mockery due to their belief in superstitions, Portugal, more specifically Lisbon, proved that they weren’t truly in a permanent state of stagnation. It was the ideas of Carvalho that helped push Lisbon to this point.
It’s important to remember this earthquake of Lisbon because of all of the groundbreaking ideas it incorporates. It wasn’t any ordinary earthquake; it truly did shape western civilization to what it is today. The truly amazing part of this entire event is how Lisbon was at one point completely in disarray and destroyed, and still managed to redeem itself and rise up to other European countries again. The works of Voltaire, Locke, and discoveries in modern science owe a great deal of credit to this entire scenario.
Earthquake: a series of vibrations induced in the earth’s crust by the abrupt rupture and rebound of rocks in which elastic strain has been slowly accumulating; something that is severely disruptive; upheaval (Shravan). Tsunami: an unusually large sea wave produced by a seaquake or undersea volcanic eruption (Shravan). Combine these two catastrophic natural disasters, and it will be a day that will forever live in infamy through terror; a day much like that of October 28, 1746 in Lima, Peru, in which an entire city was destroyed within mere minutes. Author Charles Walker guides his audience through the devastation and wreckage of this heartbroken town and into the economic, political, religious, and social fallout that followed. Walker argues that the aftermath of this tragedy transformed into a voting of the citizens’ various ideas perceived of the future of Lima, theological consequences, and the structure of the colonial rule (p. 12).
He states, “A crowd in panic has no sense or conscience” (Esposito 71). This communicates the sheer horror and hopelessness of the trapped victims. The experiences of the witnesses compounds this image, making the book vivid and persuading the audience to consider the far-reaching nature of the tragedy. How prepared are we for disasters in the contemporary world? I could only shudder in fear as I visualized Esposito’s fear of ill-informed crowds. Esposito persuades me to embrace the concept of educating the masses to remain calm under storm to reduce the number of
Throughout the Iberian Peninsula and Colonial Europe, the sweeping philosophical shift from religious and spiritual pursuits to a greater emphasis on logic and reason foreshadowed remarkable social reformation. In Latin America, the Ibero...
“the Philosophes demolished the Heavenly City of St. Augustine only to rebuild it with more up-to-date materials.”
It is heavily believed that Leonardo da Vinci led the scientific revolution. Although most people know him as an artist, many fail to realize he played a much more important role in the Renaissance than just that. When he started the scientific revolution it revolutionized how scientists did their research and it’s an impact that still exists
Evidently, Spain’s loss of its colonies[3] lowered the morale of the Spanish people and reflected Spain’s backward and deteriorating nation,[4] especially in respect to the development of other European countries of that period. It was here that the Spanish realised their desperate need for ‘regeneration.’ However, a disagreement on the type of change needed divided the Spanish nation into two factions, ... ... middle of paper ... ...
On January 12, 2010, while vacationing in Santo Domingo, DR. Tragedy hit and my strong foundation no longer stood. An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 shook and uprooted homes, places of business and my sense of peace. After hearing news of the earthquake, I rush to Port-au-Prince to check on my family. I was reassured that my family was secured and had no life threatening injuries, but the same was not said to my grandparent’s neighbor. Their neighbor suffered from a head injury and deep laceratio...
The Haiti earthquake that occurred on January 12, 2010 just fifteen miles south of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince was a severely large-scale earthquake, at a magnitude of 7.0. The initial shock was then followed by a series of aftershocks with magnitudes ranging up to 5.9. Over three hundred thousand people died due to this extreme chaos. Many buildings collapsed and disintegrated under the force of the quake; both the cathedral and National Palace in Port-au-Prince were heavily damaged. In the aftermath of this tragedy, efforts to aid the people of Haiti with medical assistance, water, and food were hampered by the loss of communication lines as well as by roads blocked by debris. Over one million people were left homeless due to this quake. Two days after the earthquake, journalist Leonard Pitts wrote “Sometimes the Earth is Cruel,” an article describing how the people of Haiti responded to the disaster. In “Sometimes the Earth is Cruel,” a major theme is that some things are inevitable.
Lisbon and murdered more than 30,000 individuals, a large number of whom kicked the bucket while asking in chapel. The seismic tremor tested various Edification scholars' idealistic perspectives of the
The effects caused by earthquakes are devastating. They cause loss of human life and have effects on infrastructure and economy. Earthquakes can happen at any time anywhere. In January 12, 2010 an earthquake of a magnitude of 7.0 hit the nation of Haiti. An estimation of 316,000 people were killed, and more than 1.3 million Haitians were left homeless (Earthquake Information for 2010). Haiti was in a terrified chaos. After the earthquake, families were separated because many of the members were killed. Homes, schools, and hospitals were demolished. People lost their most valuable belongings. It will take time for the country to recover from this terrible disaster. The long damages are economic issues, health-state, and environmental issues that effect in the beautiful island of Haiti.
Voltaire asks where God is throughout Candide. Whenever an awful thing happens, one must ask oneself why, if God is merciful and benevolent, this would happen, or why these religious people would allow this. Voltaire uses these “awful things” as evidence of corruption within the church. After an earthquake in Lisbon, Candide and Pangloss are subjected to flogging and hanging, respectively. The two are treated like so in order to appease
Her point is validated in the literature in Ursula’s response to Jose Arcadio Buendia’s desire “to move Macondo to a better place” (13). Jose Arcadio Buendia feels the insatiable need to relocate to fulfill his craving for exploration, but Ursula will not stand for it and declares “we will not leave…we will stay here, because we have a son here” (14). Jose Arcadio Buendia’s selfish choice to relocate to satisfy his wishes exhibits no regard for others while Ursula’s declaration to remain stationary shows her concern for the women and children’s need for stability.
In the midst of the many events of the sixteenth century, a schism of the Catholic Church was due to the political, social, and economic aspects of life. Religion was ultimately the cause of the schism and was also greatly affected by the aftermath. To see this, one can observe the opposition to the Church at the time, the lack of a secular state, and the Church’s “need” for funds obtained via indulgences. Around this time, life was forever impacted by the many ideas differing from the Catholic Church.
The Church had held sway over medieval society for centuries, but it began to lose its grip in the fourteenth century. It was not only that it could not explain nor prevent the calamities that swept through the century, it was enduring its own calamities.
The earthquake in Lisbon, a true event, illustrates yet more satire on the church. Auto-de-fe is the Catholic response to catastrophe, and Voltaire takes a shot at religion here. Innocents are superstitiously hanged to prevent earthquakes, so Voltaire pens another earthquake on the very day of this “act of faith.” Pangloss is hanged for his innocent speech, which the church has convoluted, and Candide is flogged simply for listening with "an air of approbation."