When we study another language, it is enriching to consider this language in its cultural context. Similarly, when we concern ourselves with an art form, it is important to reflect upon its social, historical and economic surroundings. Before we look at opera in the seventeenth century, let's take a glimpse at some of the people and events which shaped this era.The 17th century falls into the Early Modern period of Europe and was characterized by the Baroque cultural movement, the French Grand Siècle dominated by Louis XIV, and the beginning of modern science and philosophy. Warfare extended throughout the century, where the Thirty Years' War, the Great Turkish War and the English Civil War are but some examples. European colonization of the Americas began in earnest.
In the East, the 17th century saw the flowering of the Ottoman, Persian and Mughal empires, the beginning of the Edo period in feudal Japan, and the violent transition from the Ming to the Qing Dynasty in China.
Click here for a European world view of the seventeenth century.
Sources:
Timeline: 17th Century Europe/North America.
Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/17th_century
