The Transformation

of the West

1450-1750

The Italian Renaissance

• 14th/15th Century artistic movement which challenged medieval intellectual values and styles

• Writers such as Petrarch and Boccaccio stress secular subjects such as love and pride

Renaissance Art

Renaissance Art

The Italian Renaissance

• Painting:– Realism, classical, and human centered themes

• Religion is on the decline!• Machiavelli: Political discourse• Humanism: focus on humankind as the center

of intellectual and artistic life

The Northern Renaissance• After invasions from France and

Spain, the renaissance moved North• Centered in France and England

– A more religious renaissance than the Italian

• Blended secular interests with Christian devotion

The Northern Renaissance• England: Shakespeare• Spain: Cervantes• France: Francis I becomes a patron of

the arts• Kings were still confined by the old

feudal order

The Protestant Reformation

• 1517: Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses in Wittenburg

• Protestantism pushed for state control of the church, rather than papal authority

• Protestantism was attractive to ordinary people as well

The Protestant Reformation• Henry VIII sets up the Anglican

church(England)• Calvinism: The idea of Predestination,

eventually makes its way to the New World

• Catholic Reformation is launched to counter Luther’s attacks

The Religious Wars• France: Edict of Nantes in 1598 grants

religious toleration to Protestants• Thirty Years’ War: 1618, German

Protestants against Catholic Holy Roman Emperor

– 1648: Treaty of Westphalia grants territorial tolerance

English Civil War

• Parliament claims right of control over Absolute monarchy

• Charles I is beheaded• Oliver Cromwell becomes “Lord

Protector” (not King)

The Commercial Revolution• Colonial Markets stimulate

manufacturing• Proletariat: Growing class of people

without access to wealth producing property

– Manufacturers and Laborers• Throughout the 1600’s popular

protests were waged to help gain political rights for peasants

The Scientific Revolution• Copernicus (or whomever) figures out that

the earth revolved around the sun• Galileo publishes Copernicus’ works, and

adds laws of gravity etc.• Harvey demonstrates movement of blood in

animals (heart)• Descartes: skeptical review of all received

wisdom

Absolutism and Parliamentary Monarchies

• The Feudal Monarchy becomes undone in the late 17th Century

• French kings slowly built up power throughout the 17th Century, crushing nobles power…

France and Louis XIV• Louis XIV

– Absolute Monarch– “I am the State”– Patron of the Arts– Palace at Versailles– Tariffs were set high and colonies were

sought for raw materials and markets

Other Absolute Monarchies

• Spain: Philip II• Prussia (Germany)

– Strong army and bureaucracy– State sponsored school system

• Austria-Hungary: Habsburg Rulers

Britain (the different one) and the Netherlands

• Emphasized role of central state, but encouraged parliamentary regimes where king shares power with representatives

• 1688: Glorious Revolution finally puts Parliament in the driver’s seat!

Growing Political Ideologies• John Locke (and others)

– Power to rule comes from the people (not from a divine right)

– Kings should be restrained to that which operates only towards the public interest

– Rights to freedom, property– Revolution could be justified to oppose

unjust rule

Absolute Monarchies and Parliamentary Monarchies

• Nation-States rule people who share a common culture, and language (unlike former Empires).

• Nation-States begin to take on additional welfare-like functions (even though those that need it aren’t represented)