Transformations in Europe, 1500 - 1750

I. Culture and Ideas

A. Religious Reformation• Papacy – St. Peter’s Basilica • Indulgences• Martin Luther (1483 – 1546)• Salvation from faith in Jesus

Christ – not works• Rejection of papal authority –

Protestant Reformation• Bible, printing press• German support/nationalism

Religious Reformation Continued…

• John Calvin (1509 – 1564)• Faith not enough, salvation a gift

from God – “predestined” • Organization, lifestyle• Religious movements connected

to political circumstances• Trent – Catholic Reformation• Jesuits• Wars of Religion

B. Traditional Thinking and Witch - Hunts

• Folklore/magic• Christian teachings – miracles, devils, etc.• Natural events – supernatural causes• Lisbon – 1755 • Accused women and their fates…• Reformation’s focus on the Devil• Fear of independent women• Women’s sphere of influence

C. The Scientific Revolution• Influence of Greco – Roman sources/Bible• Aristotle – four elements and physics• Pythagoras• Scientific Revolution – observation• Nicholas Copernicus (1473 – 1543) –

heliocentric universe• Tycho Braches and Johannes Kepler –

elliptical orbits

The Scientific Revolution Continued…

• Galileo Galilei (1564 – 1642) – telescope• Challenge to religious/traditional beliefs• Galileo’s view of God’s truth• Roman Inquisition, The Starry Messenger • Robert Boyle – chemistry• Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727) – common physics,

law of gravity• Hostility of the church, challenges to authority

D. The Early Enlightenment

• Laws of human behavior – Enlightenment• Reason• Resistance to Enlightenment thinkers• Reaction against religious violence• Optimistic about future of human

behavior/institutions

II. Social and Economic Life

A. The Bourgeoisie• Population growth in

London, Paris• Bourgeoisie –

work/lifestyle• Netherlands – textile

industry, used foreign raw materials, publishing endeavors

• Amsterdam – commercial fleets dominated overseas trade during 1600s

• Merchant ships – fluit, “East Indiaman” Dutch banks – investments, capital

• Cartography

The Bourgeoisie continued…• Family connections/merchant colonies in

European cities• Alliances with monarchies• Joint – stock companies• Stock exchanges• Canals• British/Dutch competition – English supremacy• Gentry – alliances with old nobility; exemption

from taxes

B. Peasants and Laborers• Decline of serfdom/slavery in Western Europe –

relation to the Americas• Challenges to peasants – Little Ice Age• Impact of new crops from Americas by 1700• Exports of wheat• Deforestation (1709), impact on peasants• Migration to cities - no relief from poverty• Rebellions of the poor in Early Modern Europe –

resentment against privileged/landowning classes, exemption from taxation

C. Women and the Family• Women lower than men but mitigated by

class/wealth• Importance of a good marriage• Choice in marriage/married later• Abandoned children of unmarried women• Solid education for sons – languages,

business• Exclusion/participation (global perspective)

of women in Renaissance, Scientific Rev., Enlightenment

III. Political Innovations

A. State Development• Political diversity• Holy Roman Empire –

German• Charles V – Habsburg –

united Christian Europe vs. Ottomans

• French/German opposition• German Wars of Religion

and the Peace of Augsburg (1555)

• France, Spain, England strengthening central authority

B. Religious Policies• Spain/France – defended Catholicism

(Spanish Inquisition)• French Wars of Religion – Henry of

Navarre, Edict of Nantes• England – Henry VIII, Catherine of

Aragon, support of Parliament to make English monarch head of Church of England

• Disbanding of monasteries/church lands• Not as many reforms as English Puritans

wanted

C. Monarchies in England and France

• England – Charles I disbanded Parliament, needed help to gather taxes so brings them back, Parliament wanted guarantees of rights and Charles said NO – English Civil War in 1642

• Charles I executed, Oliver Cromwell instated, eventually Charles II restored

• James II a Catholic threat• Queen Mary and William of Orange –

Glorious Revolution of 1688• English Bill of Rights 1689

Monarchies in England and France Continued…

• Estates General • Monarchs sold

appointments/efficient tax collection

• Louis XIV – Palace of Versailles, kept political intrigues out of Paris

• French of Absolutism model widely admired

• John Lock (1632 – 1704) – disputed divine right of monarchs, authority from consent of the governed (life, liberty, property)

D. Warfare and Diplomacy• Warfare common in Early Modern period• Expensive/destructive• Thirty Years War (1618 – 1648)• European armed forces much stronger – larger

armies, centralized command structures, training, fortifications

• Stalemates – navy• Henry VIII – investment in navy, influence of the

Dutch, creation of Great Britain• Prevented Spain/France from uniting• Balance of power-alliances

E. Paying the Piper• Post 1600 – states needed more

revenue for militaries• Alliances with rising commercial elite –

needed space AND support• Spanish wars, religious expulsions,

and aristocratic exemption from taxes • American gold/silver – inflation• Netherlands revolted against Spanish

policies – 1648 achieved full independence

Paying the Piper Continued…

• United Netherlands decentralized – excelled in trade, commercial interests

• Rise of the English navy/merchant ships• English “financial revolution” – taxed

aristocracy, collected taxes directly, central bank

• France – some adjustments but stifled by aristocracy