This chapter explores the contribution of the French counter-revolutionary thought to the invention of the concept of Europe. After the watershed of the Revolution, counter-revolutionary thinkers anticipated the romantic re-invention of Europe as christianitas, and they significantly contributed to the conceptualisation of the Middle Ages as the cradle of Europe and as an age of order, peace and culture. This conception was linked to the post-revolutionary preoccupation with the dissolution of the liens sociaux and the hierarchical order: to the ghost of a torn and atomised society, the counter-revolutionary thought opposed the myth of the strong cohesion of the Middle Ages; to modernity’s rights of men the idea of duties and a deep respect for the constituted order. The counter-revolutionary position acted as a bridge between the fury of Voltairean criticism of the Middle Ages and their 19th century re-discovery, thus contributing to the idea of Europe as a champion of civilisation and enemy of despotism.

Evoking Europe against the French Revolution: the rhetorical tools of counter-revolutionary thinkers

Ceretta, Manuela
2017-01-01

Abstract

This chapter explores the contribution of the French counter-revolutionary thought to the invention of the concept of Europe. After the watershed of the Revolution, counter-revolutionary thinkers anticipated the romantic re-invention of Europe as christianitas, and they significantly contributed to the conceptualisation of the Middle Ages as the cradle of Europe and as an age of order, peace and culture. This conception was linked to the post-revolutionary preoccupation with the dissolution of the liens sociaux and the hierarchical order: to the ghost of a torn and atomised society, the counter-revolutionary thought opposed the myth of the strong cohesion of the Middle Ages; to modernity’s rights of men the idea of duties and a deep respect for the constituted order. The counter-revolutionary position acted as a bridge between the fury of Voltairean criticism of the Middle Ages and their 19th century re-discovery, thus contributing to the idea of Europe as a champion of civilisation and enemy of despotism.
2017
Discourses and Counter-discourses on Europe. From the Enlightement to the EU
Routledge
Critical European Studies
5
35
51
978-1-138-64072-6
French Revolution, Europe, Nation, Counter-revolutionary thought
Ceretta, Manuela
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2318/1653619
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