European shifts from conflict

Protestant Reformation
Scientific Revolution

Warfare was nearly constant in Europe during the early Modern Era. List the
wars and examine their economic and human costs. Why were these wars
fought and what was the outcome and significance in European history?

There was widespread death and destruction of the religious wars of

Catholics versus Protestants as well as the internal and international
wars of the era.
The financial expense of these wars should also be addressed. Despite
the enormous costs in human life and money, these wars led to
tremendous innovations in weaponry and skill.
All states developed armies and navies according to their particular
needs.
For instance, England, an island nation, had no standing army and a large
navy.
The continental states had much larger armies than navies.

Refinements (rather than revolutions) in technology, in such areas as

firearms, shipping, and metallurgy, were important, as were advances in
communications and transportation.
The development of modern diplomacy was a lasting result of that era of
warfare, which was evident in the precarious and shifting balances of
power.

How did the European states pay the piper? Were politics and
warfare related to European economies and economic development
from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century?

Wars were waged for political gain, and the high cost of
warfare demanded further increases in revenue.
Monarchs promoted alliances with commercial elites, as
well as across religious boundaries. States also began to
tax the nobility and raise those taxes directly. Colonialism
helped promote economic growth, and government
protection and stimulus further increased economic
development. On the other hand, Spain is an example of
a country that kept increasing its military expenditures
without promoting economic development. It also
ignored alliances for the sake of religious uniformity and
aristocratic privilege.

A statement by the French scholar Loys Le Roy regarding the 1700s was that
he was living at a turning point in world history.
Was Le Roy correct?
First, Europe was ascending to power and the Ottoman Empire was declining from
power.
Second, were the events that contributed to this ascension to power by the
Europeans
On an intellectual and cultural level, there was the Protestant Reformation that
shattered Latin Christian unity, but opened the way for intellectual freedom and
encouraged some to challenge traditional ideas.
The Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment laid an intellectual foundation for the rise
of European world dominance.
Next, were the economic and social changes that contributed to European power.
The rise of a bourgeoisie and the expansion of maritime trade with the support of
government were instrumental in this change.
Government support took the form of joint-stock companies and other projects to improve
economic conditions.
This led to reliance on conquest for control of the trade routes and flow of the bullion and even
further production within the country, or the concept of mercantilism.

Lastly the European state development and the efforts of European monarchs to
consolidate their control were through absolutist policies, therefore we see the Age of
Absolutism.
The constant warfare of the era also produced positive results for states.
These wars inspired the creation of large standing armies, better skilled soldiers, and
military hardware.
These military improvements proved to be essential in the coming centuries of
Europes rise to world dominance.

Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire failed to unify Europe while the
European royal monarchies centralized their state control in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

There were attempts by Charles V to unify Europe under the rule of the Holy
Roman Empire.
His Hapsburg Empire included the Iberian peninsula and eventually the French catholics.
There single minded purpose was to prevent the expansion of Islam into Europe and after
the Battle of Mohacs and the defeat of Hungary to the Ottomans, their resolve deepened.
Following the death of Charles, the Holy League defeated the Ottomans in a great naval
battle at Lepanto in 1571.

Although the Ottoman Empire was turned away in 1529, Charles V eventually gave
up his goal of European unification after decades of bitter fighting.
Spain, France, and England began to build successful states based on political
centralization and religious unity.
Royal authority was boosted by limiting the authority of the church, although
different nations took a wide array of routes to that end.
For example, Spain united behind the Inquisition after the Reconquistalsion of the
Jews and Muslims from the Iberian peninsula.
France switched from Calvinism back to Catholicism following the 100 Years War
(Paris is worth a mass)
England created the Church of England (Henry VIII and Tudors and Stuarts)
Monarchs also promoted national institutions, such as standardized national
languages and political offices and national armies.

There were disparities among the various social classes in European urban society
between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Who were the bourgeoisie? What
conditions did the poorer classes endure?

The contrasts in wealth in Europe were startling.

The new well-off class of urban dwellers, referred to by the French as the
bourgeoisie, got its wealth from manufacturing, finance, and trade.
Its connections to the monarchy and the monarchys need for revenue were
important.
There were many contrasts of the new wealthy class with the rural
aristocracy, as well as contrasts between the urban poor and the artisan
classes, in areas such as marriage, education, and child rearing. Although
serfdom had been on the decline in Europe for a long time, the peasantry
lived under worse conditions as a result of constant warfare, economic
conditions, and environmental problems. By 1700 the introduction of
American crops improved the diet by providing potatoes and corn to
peasants. Deforestation hit the peasantry hard as it eliminated a big
resource for the peasantry of lumber and wild game as well as nuts and
berries. Many peasants were forced to move to the urban areas where they
became beggars, prostitutes, and criminals. The misery of these people
erupted in uprising and mob violence.

Describe the experiences of women in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe

There are some of the basic difficulties of explaining the experiences of women. First, women
generally lived in patriarchal societies and therefore ranked below men throughout the world.
However, social class played an extremely important part in defining their life experiences.
Women of the elite class enjoyed a life much different from those of the lower classes.
Most European women married and their lives were defined by their husbands status and their
children.
Widowed and single women had lower status.

Single women had few opportunities open to them; however, becoming a nun was one of the few
respectable options for a single life.
There continued to be a tradition of arranged marriage versus romantic marriages among Europeans.

These changes had important demographic results.

Delaying marriage also resulted in the rise of brothels and rape in society.

Education was also determined as much by class as gender.

Among the elite classes arranged marriage remained important, but among the lower classes romantic marriage
became fashionable.

Some women of the elite or bourgeois class were educated; in fact, Europe led the world in female
literacy.
Men and women of lower classes did not have access to education.

Witchcraft issues were gender issues as well.

The Christian belief that women were morally inferior to men led accusers to assume that women,
especially widows and single women, were more susceptible to the devils temptations.
Women also performed the function of midwife as well as healer where they influenced life and death.
This role made them likely to be accused over men as well.

How can one explain the witch-hunts that swept through Europe in the late sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries? Who were the victims? Why were so many of the accused
women?

The minds of most Europeans were shaped by a mixture of Christian and folk
traditions.
Europeans believed in supernatural and magical causes for events. Disasters such
as crop failures could be construed as punishment for sin or considered due to evil
magic.
In the seventeenth century, authorities tried over a hundred thousand people, threefourths of them women, for practicing witchcraft.
Many were tortured until they confessed to casting spells and using evil magic, and
many were executed.
The Christian belief that women were morally inferior to men led accusers to assume
that women, especially widows and single women, were more susceptible to the
devils temptations.
Women also performed the function of midwife as well as healer where they
influenced life and death.
This role made them likely to be accused over men as well.
Explanations for these witch-hunts vary.
Some believe that women who were outside of male authority, such as widows, were
accused because of their potential independence and power in society.
It is also posited that the witch-hunts were a violent reaction to the social tensions, rural
poverty, and environmental strains.
Finally, historians also consider that some of the accused were actually practicing witchcraft
against their enemies.

Describe the intellectual revolution of the Scientific Revolution. Why did

it begin? Who were some of the notable minds responsible for this
revolution? Was there widespread acceptance of their ideas?

The origins of the Scientific Revolution emerging out of the

Renaissance rediscovery of Greek thought.
In the sixteenth century some great thinkers began to
challenge the discoveries of the Greeks, particularly
Aristotle, and begin a movement to explain the workings of
the universe based on natural causes and mathematics.
The contributions of Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, Galileo, and
Newton all combined to alter the way of thinking established
by Aristotle.
The heliocentric theory of the universe was intertwined with
the Age of Discovery and Exploration.
Galilieo was condemned for his writings.
The scientific method also made contributions to social
thought, which, along with economic and political changes,
resulted in the Enlightenment.

How did the basic tenets of Lutheranism and Calvinism differ from
those of Catholicism? What was the Catholic response to the
Protestant Reformation?

These differences hinged on the differing emphases on

the path to salvationthe Catholic belief in salvation
through good works, the Lutheran emphasis on faith,
and the Calvinist belief in predestination.
The different philosophies regarding church
ornamentation and hierarchies were also prominent.
The Catholic Reformation addressed the Protestant
challenge at the Council of Trent.
While many Catholic beliefs were clarified, the council
mostly reaffirmed papal and church power.