World History:The Earth and its Peoples

Chapter 16The Transformation of Europe,

1500-1750

Objectives• Be able to show how the religious reformation and dynastic

rivalries further divided the people of Europe at a time when greater unity seems desirable.

• Be able to describe how royal centralization increased the unity and power of Spain, France, and England.

• Understand how states policies with regard to economic growth and military reorganization, warfare, and diplomacy enable northern European countries to move ahead of Spain.

• Be able to analyze the relationships between climate change, human-induced environmental change, and social change in Europe.

• Understand the ways in which witch-hunts, the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment reflected different European views of the natural world and of human society.

Religious and Political Innovations

New Modern Era1) Reformation2) Christian Europe unity

– competition

Religious Reform– economic prosperity

• Renaissance• St. Peter’s Basilica

– corruption• Pope Leo X (Medici) (1513-21)• indulgences

– Martin Luther (1483-1546)• challenge to Pope Leo• faith over works

Lutheranism

Religious and Political Innovations

Protestant Reformation– rejection of Pope’s authority

• word of God & Bible– Lutheranism

• salvation through Jesus Christ• German-speaker appeal

– printing press

John Calvin (1509-1564)– Protestant– Institutes of the Christian Religion

• Salvation is predestined• simplification of church rituals

– rejection of celibacy; pro-marriage

Catholic Reformation– Society of Jesus (1534)– Ignatius of Loyola

Failure of Empire, 1519-1556

Holy Roman Empire– federation of Germanic states

• Ottomans (Vienna)– Charles V - 1519

• Habsburg• Austria and Spain• Holy Roman Emperor• Goal: unite Europe

Opponents– King Francis I– Luther’s Reformation

• German Wars of Religion (1546)• Peace of Augsburg (1555)

– Breakup of empire– Catholicism or Lutheranism

Royal Centralization, 1550-1750

Key Ingredients1) Talented rulers (advisors)

– Jean Colbert (France)– Robert Walpole (Great Britain)

2) Long tenure– Spain 6 (1556-1759)– France 5 (1574-1774)

Increased Power• limit of church power

– Roman Catholic– King Philip (Spain)

• Inquisition– King Henry of Navarre (France)

• Catholic Conversion• Edict of Nantes

Royal Centralization, 1550-1750

Increased Power– King Louis XIV (France)

• Revocation of Edict of Nantes– King Henry VIII (England)

• Katharine of Aragon • Archbishop of Canterbury 1533• head of Church of England • monasteries and convents

• limit of noble power– uniformity in law - 1750

• intendants• army

– vernacular• nationalism over Latin

Absolutism & Constitutionalism

Absolutism– no check on power– France

• Estates-General– not called to session

• efficiency in tax collection• selling high office

– Palace of Versailles

Constitutionalism– written constitution checks

power– Great Britain

• coerced loans• Scottish rebellion 1642

– King Charles I

Absolutism & Constitutionalism

English Civil War– House of Commons 1642

• Two sides– Lords

• bishops and nobles– Commoners

• Puritans • “Rump” parliament

– Charles I executed (1649)– Oliver Cromwell (1649-1660)

• Glorious Revolution (1688)– William of Orange– Mary Stuart

• Refusals to call parliament

Building State Power

Powerful Military– firearms– large standing armies

• drilling techniques• France

– naval superiority• ramming to maneuverability• cannon technology• England

– 1588 - end of Spain’s dominance• Balance of power

– War of Spanish Succession• 1701-1721• Austria/ Prussia/ England

Building State Power

Economy– commercial elite alliances– trade and taxes ratio

• Spain– Protestants, Dutch, Muslim, Jew– religious uniformity

• Dutch– 1560s and 1570s revolts– sales tax and Catholicism– greatest trading nation by 1600s

• commercial shipping• England

– financial revolution• France

– aristocracy wins out

Dutch RevoltsThe Dutch

Dutch Trade Routes

Urban Society

Growth of Urban Areas– wealthy merchants

• bourgeoisie– town dwellers

• capital reinvestment– monarchial alliances

• state revenues– family / ethnic networks

• poor– “deserving” and “unworthy”

• marriage– partner choice– later / smaller families

Urban Society

Business Practices– family funded

• banks– big business / government– security

• joint-stock companies– limit of risk and reward– monopolized overseas trade

• stock exchanges• insurance companiesTechnology

– refinement of existing– spread of printed material

Rural Society

Average Person in 1500-1750– decline in serfdom– conditions worsen– war and drought

• Little Ice Age (1590-1700)– few degree drop– potatoes and maize

• deforestation– iron industry– effect on rural poor

• gentry– bourgeoisie estates

• rebellions– tax increases; food shortages

Realm of Ideas

European Thinking– folklore & Christian teaching

• natural / supernatural • witchcraft

– social tensions & poverty– Scientific Revolution

• natural causes• Nicholas Copernicus

– heliocentric• Galileo Galilei

– The Starry Messenger• Isaac Newton

– forces of gravity– Enlightenment

• power of reason• John Locke (1690)

– Second Treatise of Civil Government