Emergence of Modern Europe : C

Published in 2011 by Britannica Educational Publishing (a trademark of Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.) in association with Rosen Educational Services, LLC 29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010. Copyright © 2011 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, and the Thistle logo are registered trademarks of Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Rosen Educational Services materials copyright © 2011 Rosen Educational Services, LLC. All rights reserved. Distributed exclusively by Rosen Educational Services. For a listing of additional Britannica Educational Publishing titles, call toll free (800) 237-9932. First Edition Britannica Educational Publishing Michael I. Levy: Executive Editor J.E. Luebering: Senior Manager Marilyn L. Barton: Senior Coordinator, Production Control Steven Bosco: Director, Editorial Technologies Lisa S. Braucher: Senior Producer and Data Editor Yvette Charboneau: Senior Copy Editor Kathy Nakamura: Manager, Media Acquisition Heather M. Campbell: Senior Editor, Geography and History Rosen Educational Services Alexandra Hanson-Harding: Editor Nelson Sá: Art Director Cindy Reiman: Photography Manager Matthew Cauli: Designer, Cover Design Introduction by Charles Doersch Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Emergence of Modern Europe : c. 1500 to 1788 / edited by: Heather M. Campbell. — 1st ed. p. cm.—(A history of western civilization) In association with Britannica Educational Publishing, Rosen Educational Services. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-61530-393-9 (eBook) 1. Europe—Civilization—16th century. 2. Europe—Civilization—17th century. 3 Europe— Civilization—18th century. 4. Civilization, Modern. 5. History, Modern. I. Campbell, Heather M. CB401.E44 2011 940.2'32—dc22 2010014511 On the cover: This painting by Pieter Snayers shows the Battle of Thionville (Diedenhofen) in 1639. It was one of the many fierce battles of the Thirty Years’ War, which raged across Europe from 1618 to 1648. Imagno/Hulton Archive/Getty Images On page viii: Winter Landscape #3, painted by Pieter Bruegel, the Younger (1564–1638), shows everyday life in the Netherlands. SuperStock/Getty Images On pages 1, 32, 58, 92, 152, 188, 231, 234, 236: Maria Theresa at age 35. The archduchess of Austria and queen of Hungary and Bohemia (1740–80) and empress of the Holy Roman Empire, she was one of the most influential leaders of her time. Imagno/Hulton Archive/Getty Images CONTENTS Introduction viii Chapter 1: European Economy and Society, c. 1500–1648 1 The Economic Background 2 Demographics 5 Trade and the “Atlantic Revolution” 8 Prices and Infl ation 10 Landlords and Peasants 12 Protoindustrialization 18 Growth of Banking and Finance 21 7 Political and Cultural Infl uences on the Economy 22 Aspects of Early Modern Society 24 Malleus Malefi carum 27 44 Chapter 2: European Politics and Diplomacy, c. 1500–1648 32 The State of European Politics 32 Discovery of the New World 33 Nation-States and Dynastic Rivalries 35 Turkey and Eastern Europe 38 Charles V 39 Reformation and Counter- Reformation 43 Süleyman I 44 60 Martin Luther 46 Diplomacy in the Age of the Reformation 49 Counter-Reformation 50 The Wars of Religion 54 Chapter 3: The Thirty Years’ War, 1618–48 58 The Crisis in Germany 59 Holy Roman Empire 60 The Crisis in the Habsburg Lands 65 The Triumph of the Catholics, 1619–29 70 The Crisis of the War, 1629–35 75 The European War in Germany, 1635–45 79 Making Peace, 1645–48 83 Problems Not Solved by the War 86 Problems Solved by the War 88 68 Chapter 4: European Society and Economy, c. 1648–1788 92 The Human Condition 99 Climate 101 106 War 103 Health and Sickness 105 Poverty 109 The Organization of Society 116 Nobles and Gentlemen 120 The Bourgeoisie 127 Bourgeoisie 129 The Peasantry 134 The Economic Environment 140 Early Capitalism 144 The Old Industrial Order 147 Chapter 5: The Rise of Absolutism 152 Major Forms of Absolutism 157 France 157 Louis XIV 158 The Holy Roman Empire 162 Maria Theresa 164 Prussia 167 Frederick II 168 Variations on the Absolutist Theme 170 165 Sweden 170 Denmark 172 Spain 173 Portugal 174 Great Britain 174 184 Netherlands 177 Russia 179 Peter I 180 Chapter 6: The Enlightenment 188 Sources of Enlightenment Thought 190 The Role of Science and Mathematics 191 René Descartes 192 The Influence of Locke 199 The Proto-Enlightenment 201 History and Social Thought 204 The Language of the Enlightenment 205 Scottish Enlightenment 208 The Individual and Society 211 The Encyclopédie 215 Rousseau and His Followers 217 The Enlightenment in Germany 221 The Enlightenment Throughout 193 Europe 224 Conclusion 228 Glossary 231 Bibliography 234 Index 236 209 Introduction 7 Introduction 7 odern Europe—the geographical, political, Meconomic, and cultural entity we recognize today—began to take shape between 1500 and 1788. The traditional view of the Renaissance, the European intel- lectual and cultural revival of the 1400s and 1500s, was that Europe had experienced a rebirth of reason follow- ing the thousand years of ignorance known as the “Dark Ages.” Of course, history is never that simple, and the Middle Ages, the period stretching roughly between the 5th and 15th centuries, was not truly a time of incredible ignorance and cultural backwardness. Still, if we were to travel back in time to the Europe of the Middle Ages, we would find its locally based political and socioeconomic structures largely strange to us. If we jumped ahead to the 1500s, however, we would find the “reborn” Europe increasingly recognizable in its national political organization, its expanding economies and cities, and its growing understanding of itself. This was the start of early modern Europe. If the 1500s were an exciting time of prosperity and discovery, they were also a period of disillusionment, when Europe lost forever the unity of its religious belief. If the 1600s saw a thrilling explosion of scientific discovery, philosophic inquiry, and the emergence of modern European values, they also witnessed horrific eruptions of religious wars that killed millions, bankrupted kingdoms, and left towns and farms in smoking ruins. While the 1700s raised up the banner of the Enlightenment, which preached the power of the human mind to liberate and improve people’s lives, that banner fell at the end of the century in a paroxysm of revolution, continent-wide war, and rabid nationalism that tore Europe apart. But as this volume will show, through the clouds of conflict and reaction from 1500 to 1788, the European trend toward greater economies, a greater consideration of the role of the state, ix The Emergence of 7 Modern Europe: c. 1500 to 1788 7 greater tolerance, and greater individual freedom became increasingly clear. Early modern Europe’s economy and society grew more firmly capitalist during the 1500s. Trade and com- merce flourished. New markets opened up, and the Continent found itself part of a world economic system. Capital now not only affected how economies organized themselves but also increasingly influenced politics and international relations. This was a heady time for many people. After two centuries of decline, recession, plague, famine, and war, things were finally looking up. Overall, Europe in 1500 had only a fraction of the population it had had two centuries earlier. Since more work was available now than there were work- ers, wages increased. Fewer people meant less demand, so the prices of land, livestock, food, goods, and services fell. Cheap food meant people could afford a better diet. Falling prices also meant this was a good time to invest in new enterprises with better technology. As the population began to increase, towns grew, cities grew, and the middle class grew. With them grew banks, financial institutions, and money markets—and these became more integrated. This kind of growth was facilitated by the early modern state, which was centralized, with an organized bureau- cracy and army, and with its authority vested in a strong executive, usually a monarch. An orderly state could pro- vide fertile ground for business and finance. Indeed, the centralized state was also a consumer, purchasing goods for its own support, as well as weapons for its military; it was also a client of banks, taking out loans and investing. But ironically enough, all this prosperity and economic development did not take place in a context of peace and mutual understanding. It took place in the context of religious division and war. Martin Luther’s criticism of some x 7 Introduction 7 of the practices of the Roman Catholic Church, his call for reform, and the papacy’s violent reaction ignited a socio- political and confessional firestorm that permanently changed the cultural mentality of Europe. Religiously uni- fied Europe was fractured into a hostile hodgepodge of Protestant states and Catholic states. While the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation unequivocally divided Europe, Europeans still yearned for religious uniformity. Although it may seem odd to us now, persecuted religious minorities in early modern Europe did not favour tolerance or freedom of worship. Europeans believed there was only one true religion—their own. All other beliefs were danger- ously false, even evil. Thus, conformity was the only moral solution to religious differences. Using force to return people to religious truth might save their eternal lives. Moreover, unlike the empires of Islam, which allowed Muslims, Christians, and Jews to worship relatively freely, Christian Europe generally viewed diversity as a threat. Conformity, Europeans felt, meant social cohesion and prosperity. The result of this mentality was, perhaps not surpris- ingly, religious war. The first round broke out in the Holy Roman Empire in the mid-1500s but did not last long, as no one had the military advantage. Lutheran and Catholic rulers then signed the Peace of Augsburg in 1555, whereby the necessary evil of toleration was formally instituted— but only among the various states of the empire.

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