1. Chapter XVI Transformations in Europe 1500-1750
(Region 4)

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5. Chapter XVI Quote “I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot, and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against my conscience. I cannot do otherwise, here I stand, may God help me. Amen.” Martin Luther Diet of Worms, 1521

6. Remember his name. Remember his invention.
Mr. Whitaker’s Quote
“Johannes Gutenberg…
Remember his name. Remember his invention.
Remember the incredible changes
the World saw in so short a period of time.
The ripple effect of the Printing Press is still felt today.”

7. Chapter Objectives
- How did religious reformation & dynastic rivalries further divide Europe at a
time when greater unity seemed desirable?
- How did royal centralization increase the unity & power of Spain, France,
& England?
- How policies regarding economic growth & military reorganization, warfare,
& diplomacy enable northern Europe to move ahead of Spain?
- What were the relationships among climate change, human-induced
environmental change, & social change in Europe?
- How did witch-hunts, the Scientific Revolution, & the Enlightenment reflect
different European views of the natural world ? of human society?

8. Culture and Ideas Early(?) Protestant Reformation
In 1500, the Catholic Church, benefiting from European prosperity, was building new churches, including a new Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Pope Leo X raised money for the new basilica by authorizing the sale of indulgences (there are 2 types)
German monk (?) Martin Luther (Doctor of Theology) challenged the Pope on the issue of selling indulgences & other practices that he considered corrupt or not Christian (i.e.: Faith through Works)
Luther began the Protestant Reformation, arguing that salvation was by faith alone, this belief was based only on the Bible & Christian tradition
Protestant leader John Calvin had a different theological position, in (The) Institutes (of the Christian Religion). He argued salvation was God’s gift to those who were predestined & that Christian congregations should be self-governing & stress simplicity in life & in worship

9. The Protestant Reformation appealed to religious sentiments, also to Germans who disliked Italian-dominated Catholic Church & peasants & urban workers who wanted to reject the religion of their masters
Catholic Church agreed on a number of internal reforms & a reaffirmation of fundamental Catholic beliefs in the Council of Trent. These responses to the Protestant Reformation, along with the activities of the newly established Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) comprise the “Catholic Reformation” A Scholarly reaction, using the Bible
The Protestant Reformation led to a number of wars of religion, the last of them concluded in 1648

10. Local Religion, Traditional Culture & Witch-Hunts
European concepts of the natural world were derived from both local religion & folk customs. Most people believed that natural events could have supernatural causes
Belief in the supernatural is vividly demonstrated in the witch-hunts of the late 16th & early 17th centuries. Over 100,000 people (3/4 of them women) were tried, about half of them were executed
Reasons for the witch-hunts were many but at the bottom was tension between traditional beliefs & new religious & political institutions

11. The Scientific Revolution
European intellectuals derived their understanding of the natural world from the writings of the Greeks & Romans (Aristotle! Explained everything)
The observations of Copernicus & other scientists, including Brahe, Kepler, & Galileo, undermined the earth-centered model of the universe & led to the introduction of the Copernican heliocentric model (Aristarchus was first!)
The Copernican model was initially criticized & suppressed by Protestant leaders & the Catholic Church. Despite opposition, printed books spread these & other new scientific ideas among European intellectuals
Sir Isaac Newton’s discovery of the law of gravity showed how natural laws govern all physical objects. Newton’s discoveries led to the development of Newtonian physics. However, Newton & other scientists did not believe that their discoveries were in conflict with religious belief

12. The Early Enlightenment
Advances in scientific thought inspired European governments & groups of individuals to question the reasonableness of accepted practices in fields ranging from agriculture to Government, religions, & social hierarchies
This intellectual movement, which assumed that social behavior & institutions were governed by scientific laws, is called the Enlightenment
Enlightenment thinkers were also influenced by the Reformation & by accounts of other cultures (including Jesuit accounts of China)
New scientific methods provided the enlightened thinkers with a model for changing European society. They were not a homogeneous group, but drew inspiration from disparate sources & espoused a variety of agendas. Most were optimistic that the application of reason would lead to human progress
The ideas of the Enlightenment aroused opposition from many Absolutist rulers & from clergy, but the printing press made possible the survival & dissemination of new ideas

13. Section Review
Outraged by corrupt church practices, reformers like Luther & Calvin challenged the Pope & traditional Catholic theology
In response, the Pope launched a Counter Reformation
Both Protestants & Catholics, seeking to enforce orthodoxy, sanctioned widespread witch-hunts
The thinkers of the Scientific Revolution challenged traditional biblical & Greco- Roman conceptions of the cosmos
The advances in science prompted Enlightenment thinkers to question many conventional ideas & practices

14. Social and Economic Life
The Bourgeoisie
Europe’s cities experienced spectacular growth between 1500 & The wealthy urban bourgeoisie thrived on manufacturing, finance, & especially trade, including the profitable trade in grain
They forged beneficial relationships with Monarchs & built extensive family & ethnic networks to facilitate trade between different parts of the world
Partnerships between merchants & governments led to the development of joint-stock companies & stock exchanges. Government also played a key role in the improvement of Europe’s transportation infrastructure
The Anglo-Dutch wars of the 17th century provide evidence of the growing importance of trade in international affairs
The bourgeois gentry gradually increased their ownership of land; many entered the ranks of the nobility by marrying into noble families or by purchasing titles of nobility

15. Peasants (vs. Serfs) and Laborers
While serfdom declined & disappeared in Western Europe, it gained new prominence in Eastern Europe
African slaves in the Americas contributed greatly to Europe’s economy
The condition of the average person in Western Europe declined between 1500 & due to warfare, environmental degradation, & economic contractions
New World crops (potatoes & maize) helped peasants avoid starvation
High consumption of wood for heating, cooking, construction, shipbuilding, & industrial uses led to severe deforestation in Europe in the late 17th & early 18th centuries. Shortages drove the cost of wood up
Europeans began to use coal (mining knowledge from China) instead of wood. Some efforts were also made to conserve forests & to plant trees, particularly to provide wood for naval vessels (or just get it in American colonies)

16. Women and the Family
Women’s status & work closely tied to that of their husbands & families
Common people married relatively late until young men could make a living on their own & young women could work enough to earn their dowries. The bourgeois class also married late partly because men delayed marriage until after finishing their education. Late marriage enabled young couples to be independent of their parents & to keep the birth rate low
Bourgeois parents put great emphasis on education & promoted the establishment of schools
Most schools, professions, & guilds barred women from participation

17. Section Review
Early Modern European society was more fluid than it appeared, with an expanding economy & improved education promoting mobility
The urban bourgeoisie created much of Europe’s wealth through trade, manufacture, finance, & technological innovation
Monarchs sought alliances with the bourgeoisie, whose wealth afforded them political & social advancement as well as revenue
Oppressed by economic & environmental trends, peasants & laborers generally lived in poverty, their misery often provoked rebellion
Although women remained subordinate to men, class & wealth were the main determinants of their positions in life

18. Political Innovations
State Development
Between 1516 & 1519, Charles V of Burgundy, of the Austrian Habsburg family, inherited the thrones of Castile & Aragon (Spain), with their colonial empires; the Austrian Habsburg possessions; & the position of Holy Roman Emperor. Charles V was able to forge a coalition to defeat the Ottomans at Vienna in 1529, but he was unable to unify his many territorial possessions
Lutheran German princes rebelled against the French-speaking Catholic Charles V, seizing church lands, giving rise to the German Wars of Religion. The Peace of Augsburg gave religious freedom to the various princes (by their choice: Catholic or Protestant)
When Charles V abdicated the throne, Spain (& America) went to his son Philip while a weakened Holy Roman Empire went to his brother Ferdinand

19. Monarchies in England and France
England: conflict between Parliament & (Stuart) Charles I led to English Civil War (Bye-bye Charles) & a Puritan republic under Oliver Cromwell
After Stuart line restored, Parliament enforced its will & drove King James II from the throne in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, forcing his successors, William & Mary (of Orange), to sign a document, English Bill of Rights, to limit the power of the crown (Constitutional Monarchy)
France: Bourbon kings circumvented the representative assembly known as the Estates General & developed an Absolutist style of government. Louis XIV’s finance minister Colbert was able to increase revenue through more efficient tax collection (Peasants paid all taxes) & by promoting economic growth, while Louis entertained & controlled the French nobility by requiring them to attend (stay at) his court at Versailles
John Locke’s Second Treatise of Civil Government challenged the necessity of a monarch that was proposed by Thomas Hobbes (Leviathan)

20. Warfare and Diplomacy
Constant warfare in early modern Europe led to a military revolution in which cannon, muskets, & commoner foot soldiers became the mainstays of European armies. Armies grew in size, & most European states maintained standing armies, except England, which maintained a standing navy!
England took the lead in the development of new naval technology, as was demonstrated when the English Royal Navy defeated The Spanish Armada in 1588, signaling an end to Spain’s military dominance in Europe
With the defeat of Spain, France rose as the strongest power on continental Europe, while its rival England held superiority in naval power. During the War of the Spanish Succession, England, allied with Austria & Prussia, was able to prevent the French house of Bourbon from taking over the Spanish throne
With the War of the Spanish Succession, the four powers of Europe: France, Britain, Austria, & Russia, were able to maintain a balance of power that prevented any one power from becoming too strong for about two centuries

21. Paying the Piper (Economics)
European states needed to raise new revenue to pay the heavy costs of their wars
The Spanish undermined their economy by driving out Jews, Protestants, & the descendants of Muslims so that bullion they gained from America was spent on payments to creditors & for manufactured goods & food (?)
The United Provinces of the Free Netherlands (Dutch), & Holland favored commercial interests, craftspeople, & manufacturing enterprises. Amsterdam became a major center of finance & shipping
After 1650, England used its naval power to break Dutch dominance in overseas trade. The English government also improved its financial position by collecting taxes directly & by creating a central bank
The French government streamlined tax collection, used protective tariffs to promote domestic industries, & improved its transportation network. The French however, were not able to introduce direct tax collection, tax the land of nobles, or secure low-cost loans

22. Section Review
Greater political centralization enabled early modern monarchs to exert increased influence on economic, religious, & social life
While the Holy Roman Empire fragmented along religious and political lines, Spain, France, & England achieved greater centralization & religious unity
Spain enforced Catholic unity with the Inquisition & France through Bourbon policy, while Anglican Church became an arm of royal power
In both England & France, monarchs struggled with rivals over the limits of royal authority
Armies grew larger & more sophisticated while European powers strove to maintain a balance of power
High military costs drove the European powers to attempt a variety of tax & financial policies, the most successful being those of England & the Netherlands

23. Conclusion
The religious reformations combined with the Scientific Revolution led the way for the Enlightenment, an age of reason, & the movement to apply newly discovered natural laws to social (Political) behavior
Foreign & domestic trade (Economic) spawned rapid growth in European cities & the rise of a wealthy commercial class (Social), with Amsterdam in the Netherlands the most vivid example. Agricultural improvements increased production but the Little Ice Age & increased mining of forests caused more difficulties for the poor (Environmental)
The Holy Roman Empire declined in strength from religious fragmentation while Spain & France increased centralized power (Political)
England increased naval power & established direct taxation & a central bank, making the nation stronger financially than other European powers (Political)