Comprehensive Study Notes on New Monarchs, Mercantilism, and European Exploration

Territorial Consolidation and the Consolidation of Monarchical Power

• Spain and the Reconquista:     * Monarchs (Ferdinand and Isabella) sought to establish justice in their names and consolidate territorial control.     * They completed the Reconquista, a process by which they drove Muslims and Jews from the Iberian Peninsula.     * They established Catholicism as the official religion of Spain.

• France and Bureaucratic Growth:     * French monarchs used consolidation methods similar to Spain, primarily through national taxes and the creation of a complex bureaucracy.     * The Concordat of Bologna ($1560$):         * This was a pivotal agreement between King Francis the first and Pope Leo the tenth.         * The Pope was granted the right to collect income from the French Catholic church.         * Francis I retained the power to appoint French Catholic church leaders.         * This restricted the French clergy's ability to communicate with the Pope directly, effectively shifting more power to the King.

• The Holy Roman Empire (HRE):     * The Peace of Augsburg ($1555$): This agreement granted individual leaders within the Holy Roman Empire the right to determine whether their subjects would be Catholic or Lutheran.     * This trend reflected the growing claim of New Monarchs to dictate the religious lives of their subjects as a means of political control.

Economic Institutions and the Rise of the Money Economy

• Establishment of the Banking Industry:     * The Medici family established the foundational banking industry in Italy.     * The Fugger family performed a similar role in Augsburg, Germany.     * These families accumulated a "tremendous amount of boom boom in their vaults," referring to their immense wealth.

• Political Implications:     * The rise of a money-based economy and the alliance between these banking groups and monarchs allowed these families to exercise significantly increased political power in their areas of influence.

Motivations for Maritime Exploration: God, Gold, and Glory

• God (Religious Motivation):     * Europeans were motivated by a desire to convert non-Europeans to Christianity.     * Spain, having completed the Reconquista in $1492$, wanted to spread Catholicism globally.     * The Protestant Reformation intensified this, as Catholics wanted their faith to be in an "ascended position" over Protestants.     * Jesuit missionaries were sent to the New World to convert indigenous populations.     * Christianity was often used as an instrument for control and subjugation, with many Europeans viewing indigenous people as "lesser humans" suitable for forced labor.     * Exception: The Spanish priest Bartolome de las Casas worked to establish dignity for indigenous peoples and their environment.

• Gold (Economic Motivation):     * Mercantilism: This was the dominant economic system of the period. It posited that there was a finite amount of wealth in the world, measured strictly in gold and silver ("the country with the most gold wins").     * Favorable Balance of Trade: To accumulate wealth, countries sought more exports than imports so that gold and silver would flow into the country rather than out.     * Colonies: The establishment of colonies was a necessity under mercantilism to provide the mother country with mineral wealth and new markets for sale.     * Jean Baptiste Colbert: The French controller general implemented mercantilist policies; the speaker notes he was perceived as an "asshole" and "stupid."     * Asian Luxury Goods: High demand existed for Asian luxuries, but the Ottoman Empire controlled all land routes between Europe and Asia, leading to exorbitant prices. Europeans sought sea routes to bypass these costs.

• Glory (Political Motivation):     * The "colony game" created a bitter rivalry between European powers.     * Grabing colonial possessions became the path to regional dominance and status.

Technological Innovations in Navigation and Printing

• Printing: Enabled the spread of geographic and navigational knowledge across the continent.

• Shipbuilding:     * The Caravel: Developed by the Spanish and Portuguese, it was fast and highly maneuverable.     * Lateen Sail: A triangular sail that could take wind from any side. This was a massive innovation compared to older square sails, which could only take wind from behind. The speaker compares the lateen sail's impact to if Steve Jobs had introduced it $500$
  years ago.

• Instruments:     * Compass: Used to establish direction.     * Astrolabe: Allowed for an accurate reckoning of latitude; the technology was derived from Chinese and Muslim navigators.

The Global Expansion of Colonial Empires

• Portugal:     * Prince Henry the Navigator was the first European to seek a sea route to Asia by sailing around the coast of Africa.     * Trading Post Empire: Instead of establishing large, costly colonies, the Portuguese built trading posts along the African coast and eventually dominated trade in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia.

• Spain:     * Ferdinand and Isabella (described as "the most jolliest people") commissioned Christopher Columbus, an Italian, to find a sea route to Asia.     * Columbus landed in The Bahamas in $1492$ and eventually claimed the Caribbean, Central America, North America, and the South American coastline.     * Success was largely due to the introduction of deadly diseases like smallpox and measles.

• France:     * Claimed large parts of North America and Canada.     * Primarily focused on the fur trade and did not establish many permanent settler colonies.

• England:     * Claimed parts of Canada, the Caribbean, and the Eastern coast of North America.     * Built settler colonies where people moved to build homes and start new lives, rather than just trading.

• The Netherlands (The Dutch):     * Primarily interested in trade; established few colonies in the Americas but focused on dominating trade in Southeast Asia.

Diplomatic and Armed Rivalries Between European Powers

• Diplomacy and Negotiation:     * Treaty of Tordesillas ($1494$): Mediated by Pope Alexander the sixth, this agreement divided the Americas between Spain and Portugal with a line of demarcation. Spain was granted everything to the left of the line, and Portugal everything to the right.

• Coercion and Warfare:     * The division of the world led to armed conflicts later, as countries like England and France wanted portions of North America that had been assigned to Spain.     * War of Spanish Succession: A future conflict fought by France, Spain, and England over colonial possessions.

• The Balance of Power: The fundamental goal for European nations was to ensure that no single power held "all the cake." Maintaining a rough equality of power was the primary objective of these rivalries.

Questions & Discussion

• Speaker Commentary on Videos: The speaker notes there are $16$ videos in this series, each approximately $33\,\text{minutes}$ long.
• Complexity of Names: In response to the high number of names introduced (Medici, Fugger, Colbert, etc.), the speaker mentions that this level of detail (about $10\,\text{names}$) is typical for the first two weeks of AP Euro.
• Visual Commentary: The speaker makes an aside that people in historical portraits were "just ugly."
• Exchange Reference: The transcript ends as the speaker begins discussing the significance of the exchange between the Old World and the New World.