CHAPTER 17: THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE WEST Mr. Toma Midwest City High School

ITALIAN RENAISSANCE Renaissance challenged medieval intellectual values Focused on humanism Idea that humankind is the center of intellectual and artistic endeavors, not God Leonardo da Vinci Niccolo Machiavelli Francesco Petrarch

NORTHERN RENAISSANCE Italian Renaissance began to decline around 1500 CE Northern Renaissance: France, the Low Countries, Germany, England after 1450 Northern humanists were more religious than Italian humanists, focused on nature Renaissance literature produced a new set of classics for literary traditions Most lives went unchanged by the Renaissance

CULTURE AND COMMERCE, Johannes Gutenberg invents the printing press in Germany Expanded Renaissance ideas European-style family patterns Later marriage ages Emphasis on nuclear families Limit family birth rates Access to property

RELIGIOUS CHANGES Martin Luther posts “95 Theses” on church door in Wittenberg, Germany Protesting the church’s use of indulgences, Bible in Latin, celibacy for priests, idea of Pope Holy Roman Emperor remained Catholic, German princes turned to Protestantism Henry VIII and the Anglican church Jean Calvin in Geneva: Calvinism Pre-destination Catholic Reformation Jesuits

END OF CHRISTIAN UNITY Thirty Years War Ended with Treaty of Westphalia 1640’s- English Civil War Religious toleration granted to Protestants, not Catholics Religious change promoted greater concentrations on family life with Protestantism Growing literacy and the spread of the printing press, spread of new religious ideas

COMMERCIAL REVOLUTION Inflation in western Europe caused by gold and silver imports Production could not keep pace with wealth Trading companies were backed by governments Agricultural specialty areas Wine, cheese, wool, shoemaking, metalwork Prosperity increased for ordinary people

SOCIAL PROTEST Beginning of the proletariat in the West People without access to wealth-producing property Population growth and rising food prices Social tension and new ideas of equality Witchcraft persecution 60, ,000 suspected witches killed New resentment against poor Role of women? Religious tension?

SCIENCE AND POLITICS Scientific Revolution, 17 th c. New ideas in science that laid foundations for modern scientific thought Copernicus- 16 th century Polish monk Planets revolve around the sun, not the other way around like previously thought Galileo- 17 th century scientist Formulated a comprehensive heliocentric theory Condemned by the Catholic church

SCIENCE AND POLITICS, CONT. William Harvey Circular movement of blood in animals= heart as “central pumping station” Rene Descartes “Father of Modern Philosophy” Skeptical of received wisdom “I think, therefore I am” Isaac Newton Defined forces of gravity Basic principals of motion John Locke People could learn everything they needed to know through their senses and reason; faith is irrelevant

SCIENCE AND POLITICS, CONT. Scientific institutes were established to advance research Growing belief that people could control and calculate environment Insurance companies Doctors attack healers Deism- there might be a divinity, but its role was only to set natural laws in motion The West becomes a leading center for science research

ABSOLUTE AND PARLIAMENTARY MONARCHIES French kings built up power in 17 th century Stopped convening parliament and passed their own laws Sent direct representatives to provinces Professionalized army King Louis XIV (r ) Eventually became an absolute monarch: “I am the state” Standardized French language Patron of the arts Palace of Versailles

ABSOLUTE AND PARLIAMENTARY MONARCHIES, CONT. King Louis XIV, cont. Created state-run manufacturing Government that promoted internal economy to improve tax revenues Limited imports from other nations; uses colonies to provide raw materials Absolute monarchies set up in Prussia, Spain, Austria- Hungary

ABSOLUTE AND PARLIAMENTARY MONARCHIES, CONT. Britain and the Netherlands built a parliamentary monarchy King shared power with representatives selected by the nobility and upper urban classes Glorious Revolution Overthrow of King James II Parliament won sovereignty over the king New political theory Right of revolution Monarchs should be restrained by institutions that protect public Right to freedom and property

THE WEST BY 1750: POLITICAL PATTERNS English politics were parliamentary and political groups competed for influence French absolute monarchy was less effective Aristocrats refused to give up tax exemptions Frederick the Great expanded economic functions in Prussia Encouraged better agricultural methods France and Britain fight in the Seven Years War Conflict focused on battle for colonial empires

ENLIGHTENMENT Scientific Revolution led to the Enlightenment Continued scientific advance Applied scientific methods to study society Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations People act in self-interest but through competition, promote economic advance Government should avoid regulation in favor of the operation of individual initiative and market forces

POPULAR CULTURE Enlightenment produced basic principles about human affairs: Human beings are good but can be educated to be better Reason is the key to truth Religions that rely blindly on faith and do not tolerate diversity are wrong Changes in popular outlook Attitudes toward children Swaddling declined Educational toys and books Emotional bonds in marriage

ONGOING CHANGE IN COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURING Economic change Commerce continued to spread Europeans began to buy processed goods Paid professional performers Agricultural change Three-field system declined Draining swamps for more land Seed-drills, use of scythes Use of the potato Capitalism spread Investment in funds in hopes for larger profits Domestic manufacturing