EMP Western Europe

From slow political and ec dev -> oversea exploration/colonization, est of trade routes

Politiques: moderates who approached ruling with practicality than theology

• Ex - Henry IV (Henry of Navarre) -> inc nat. sovereignty & absolute power

  • Converting a religion (Christianity in WE) to solidify power (divine right)

Church: had great power with feudalism but power decrease as Europe shifted to nationalism

• Corruption of church/theological disagreements -> led to reform movements

Luther objected against: Indulgences- granted a person absolution from the punishments for sin and simony: selling of church offices.

• Luther’s persistence led to his excommunication -> split of the RCC and Holy R Emp

  • His ideas had a social impact on the clergy and women (direct access to God)

• Calvinists: encouraged to work hard and reinvest their profits

• Anglican: Henry VIII became the English Pope of the Anglican Church

The RCC embarked a Counter-Reformation using three tactics: Inquisition, Jesuit missionaries (Soc. of Jesus), & Council of Trent (reviewed and edited doctrine & implementing trad rituals)

• Was successful- Catholicism remained the predom. Rel. in W.E

Wars of Religion

Germany: Charles V vs. Lutheran Schmalkaldic League -> Peace of Augsburg: Allowed German state to choose whether the state is Lutheran or Catholic. Those who did not agree with the choice of Religion could move to another preferred state.

France: Catholics vs Huguenots -> King Henry IV converted from Protestant to Catholicism to unify the country. Edict of Nantes: sanctioned rel toleration of Huguenots (French Calvinist)

• Shows how the pressures of the RCC caused switch religions for the means of unification and power

Thirty Years War: Led to economic catastrophe (cause by looting of troops) -> widespread of famine starvation, and disease -> Peace of Westphalia: each are of Holy Roman Emp could pick whether to be Roman Catholic, or Protestant: Lutheranism/Calvinism -> stability

Roman Catholicism: France, Spain, Italy | Protestant: N. Europe including England.

• Political effects: allowing choice -> more autonomy (the right/condition of self-government)

Creation of monarchies was bc of the desire to centralize power by controlling taxes , the army and religion. Bureaucracies inc power of the middle class at the expense of church & nobility

• Prev in the middle ages, states were decentralized and the church & nobility held most of the power

• Centralization-> absolute sovereignty (Eng & France): True Law of Free Monarchy (parliament did not agree) Eng, divine right (right to rule by God) France

  • Foreshadowed dev of national monarchy. Parliament & divine-right remained predom.

English Civil War (Puritan Revolution): Stuart monarchy vs Parliament (mostly Puritans) -> disputes over how powers of Parliament should have in relation to those of the monarch. Charles I did not follow the Petition of Right (monarch could not do things w/o Parliament consent) which caused the war. The parliament was in domination w Oliver Cromwell until the return of the monarchy. James II, on of Charles II, became king resulting in a break w Parliament and fear arose bc people believed that he would convert to Catholicism-> invitation of William and Mary (Protestant Monarchs of Neths) became joint rulers of England. Making James II flee known as the Glorious Revolution.

• William and Mary: Signed Eng. Bill of Rights: assured individual liberties and req agreement w Parliament, limiting the powers of the monarchy

  • Toleration Act: allowed non-Anglicans to freely worship

  • Two Treatises of Gov

Absolutism (France):

Intendants: royal officials (tax-farmers) sent out to the provinces to execute orders of the central gov. and oversaw various taxes

Louis XIV: accepted divine right to hold absolute power and expand France. Versailles was a pol instrument that housed thousands but kept nobles, servants, under control from rebellion. Versailles exemplified Louis XIV's vast power.

• He was head of law making and justice system

• Refusal to share power weakened the government

Scientific Revolution: A time of scientific advancements in the 1600s. Ex) English Scientist Francis Bacon: Empiricism: the collection of data to pack a hypothesis. Ex) Issac Newton combining Galileo and Kepler laws of motion to public Principia (about gravitational force)-> led to new vision of the world->intelects believing the world was ordered and rational-> led to Enlightenment

• Enlightenment: switching from theological debates of Scholasticism (relationship of faith w reason) to application of reason to natural law->philosophes (wrote abt enlightenment ideals and worked to incorp. Into gov and society.

Mercantilism: the economic theory that trade generates wealth. By maximizing the amount of precious metals into the country (exports) and minimizing the amounts of it being bought (imports) to minimize flow of metals out of the country.

• Accumulation of capital grew due to entrepreneurs entering long-distance markets. However, the putting-out system led to capital changing from the hands of the entrepreneurs to laborers.

• Adam Smith: opposed mercantilism and believed that freer trade and trust in law of supply & demand would make more people wealthier.

  • “Known as the Father of Capitalism”

Commercial Revolution: local/small-scale trading->large-scale intl. trade using gold and silver

Affects (globally): dev of Euro oversea colonies, new trade routes, population growth, inflation/rise in prices (Prices Revolution)-> due to inc in pop growth & amount of gold/silver.

• Joint-stock (personal): ppl invested capital into companies and share benefits & risks of exploration and trading ventures

  • Limited Liability made investing safer

  • French Dutch and English developed joint-stock companies

  • Spain and Portugal’s government did most investing through grants to explorers

Demographic pressures pushed Euros to explore and trade

• As population grew, not all workers in Europe could work or have food -> settling to new areas

• More active in trade in the I.O-> competition (w Euros & M.E merchants)-> Christopher Columbus sought to find a new route to india to avoid competition

• Est. of maritime emp (based on sea travel)

• Cartography: Mapmaking & knowledge of wind patterns improved navigation -> led to rapid expansion & global trade.

• Gunpowder: aided european in conquests

• Primogeniture laws: gave estate to eldest son

Absolutist Control v Constitutionalism:

Dutch and British: operated under constitutional liberties (successfully)

• Centralized gov but not absolutist.

• Glorious Revolution: Assured that the central gov operated w approval of Parliament (ENG)

• Dutch: Maintained autonomy even after formation of central gov, Dutch Republic in the Treaty of Westphalia

French: FIrmly absolutist control (Louis XIV & his successors) continued to maintain the Sun King’s policies (less successfully)

Social Order

Neths and Britain: nobility held power and took active role in gov

• Landowners: Dutch- provided stable support to local provincial gov Eng- large landowners controlled Parliament

French: nobles were ignored by monarchy (monarchy had full control)

• France suffered socially from the growing of the Third Estate (made maj of France population) to gain rep in the gov. Members of the Third Estate remained legally subordinate to the clergy and nobles.

Acceptance of Jews: jews began to have a bigger role in countries. Previously had been expelled from many Euro countries

(had been previously expelled from England, France, Spain, and Portugal)

Ferdinand and Isabella: expel of Jews was sig because many lived in Spain->many moved out to med Sea

• Spain jews traced back heritage and became Sephardic Jews (Sepharad)

• Centra/Eastern Europe: Ashkenazi Jews (Germany)

• Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment reduce prejudice against Jews-> were able to move freely. Jews became imp in baking and economy. Neths were tolerant