“struggle for existence”:

a concept referring to the battle for resources needed to live & both in human society and nature.  First used late 18th century notably in Malthus (a population exceeding resources).  Darwin used the phrase in a broader sense & it is the title to his 3rd chapter in On the Origin of Species (1859).   He uses Malthus’s idea with his view of adaptation, an idea influential in the formulation of the theory of natural selection.

 

Heraclitus:

see Chapter III page 109 and Chapter IX page 315

 

ή όδός άνω κάτω:

Greek, quote from Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, by Diogenes Laërtius, Book IX, section 8, written 230 BC and referring to Heraclitus.  The meaning of the full phrase is: Change he [Heraclitus] called a pathway up and down, and this determines the birth of the world.

 

monasticism (as movement): * see EndNote<A>

The Benedictine Order was established in 520 AD & until 910  it remained the basic monastic form.  That year saw the first change, a movement to reinvigorate fading Benedictine values, the Cluniac Reforms, which rapidly spread across most of Western Europe.  A second reform wave followed in 1098 with the Strict Observance of the Cistercians, again looking to re-establish their founders’ ideals.  They too were highly popular & the number of Cistercian establishmets grew to 500  by the late 12th century.  In that  century  a new form, an order of warriors, was born, the Knights Templar.  They became part of the Frist Crusade.  In the 13th century 2 new orders were born to address the needs of the growing urbanization of Europe, the Franciscans. & Dominicans.  Each of the new branches were notable for their progressive innovations even if in some case they looked back to an older ideal.

 

askesis:

Greek, exercise, training;  the Englsih word asceticism is derived form this Greek root; it is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals; practitioners withdraw from the world or if they continue in society, adopt a frugal lifestyle, the renunce material possessions & physical pleasures; they fast & concentrate on reflections upon spiritual matters.

 

Ataraxia:

Greek, from the root of tarachê (meaning disturbance, trouble), the prefix “a” acts as a negation, generally translated as "imperturbability", "equanimity" or "tranquillity"; first used in Greek philosophy by Pyrrho (360-270 BC) and subsequently Epicurus (341-270 BC) and the Stoics (3rd century BC) for a lucid state of robust equanimity characterized by on-going freedom from distress and worry.

 

Enlightenment (& the Church): * see EndNote<B>

aka the Age of Reason, 1715-89, an intellectual & philosophical movement in Europe born in the 17th century, prominent in the 18th century.  In part it was a response to the preceding century of religious conflict in Europe & in particular the Thirty years War (1618-48) which had led to the deaths of 8 million Germans.  In France its central doctrines included (among other things) religious tolerance & opposition to the fixed dogmas of the Catholic Church.  It also promoted separation of church & state.  Enlightenment ideas helped give birth to the French Revolution, which in turn prompted a wave of violent anti-clericalism.  It promoted toleration of & between churches, yet also witnessed fanaticism aimed against the Church in the French First Republic, founded in 1792.

 

ego habeo factum:

Latin, I have done

 

city democracy (and the Church): see EndNote<C>

The nation state, a by-product of the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, claimed absolute sovereignty within its geographic territory.  The domestic authority of these states was considered unabridged by any principle, treaty or law.  These nation-states, independent & sovereign, subjected the Church of Rome to its will.  The Church came under increasing regulation & state management.  This was especially pronounced in the case of France, where secularism emerged as a dominant force in 1789.  Since the third Republic French secularism, or laïcité, has successfully controlled Church & State relations.  Starting in 1877 the power, wealth & influence of the Church has been progressively scaled back in France.  In effect the state excluded the church from many if not all areas of previous involvement (education, health, politics, culture). 

The Papal States, the last vestiges of the supranational entity, would be extinguished by Italian nationalism.  By 1861, much of the Papal States' territory had been conquered by the Kingdom of Italy.  The capital city of the Church, Rome itself, would fall to the Italian nation state in 1870 when it was occupied by an Italian army.