Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society, 10th Edition

Marvin Perry - Baruch College, City University of New York Myrna Chase - Baruch College, City University of New York James R. Jacob - John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City

University of New York Margaret C. Jacob - University of California, Los Angeles Theodore H. Von Laue - Clark University ISBN-10: 1111831688 ISBN-13: 9781111831684 960 Pages Paperback ©2013 Published College Bookstore Wholesale Price = $145.25

http://college.cengage.com/history/west/perry/western_civilization/9e/prepare/prepare9.html

Chapter 9: The Heirs of Rome: Byzantium, Islam, and Latin Christendom

Byzantine Civilization: The Medieval Christian East Eastern Roman Empire turns into Byzantine civilization: Christian, Greek, and Roman

influences, sophisticated society based in fortress city of Constantinople Conflict with the Roman Church

o Many quarrels developed between the Eastern and Roman church over:

Ceremonies Holy days Display of images Rights of the clergy

o Christian church split in 1054 into Western Roman Catholic and Eastern Greek Orthodox o Political and cultural differences widened the gap

Latin was the Western language of religion and intellectual life Greek was the Eastern language of religion and intellectual life

Imperial Growth and Decline

o Byzantine emperors were absolute rulers

Successors to Roman emperors who claimed to rule all the imperial lands

o Justinian (527–565) the first great Byzantine emperor

Major achievement was codifying Rome’s ancient laws and commentaries Corpus Juris Civilis became official body of law of Byzantine Empire and

then Western Europe Justinian also tried to reconquer lands from Germans, including:

North Africa from the Vandals Southern Spain from the Visigoths Italy from the Ostrogoths Yet these successes did not last

Justinian’s costly wars drained defenses to the north and east By the seventh century, Persians had seized Syria, Palestine, and Egypt

o Heraclius (610–641) regained the provinces and crushed the Persians

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Yet a new threat emerged in the Muslim Arabs pushing north

o By the eighth century, Arabs had taken Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and North Africa

In 717, Muslims besieged Constantinople but met with “Greek fire” Crucial turning point: had Constantinople fallen, Europe would likely have been

Muslim

o Invasions ultimately bring the Empire to an end

Byzantines appeal to Latin Christians for help in the late eleventh century Initiated the crusades, including the sacking of Constantinople (1204) Westerners not driven from Constantinople until 1261

Ottoman Turks invade Constantinople in 1453, and the Byzantine Empire comes to an end

The Bequest of Byzantium

o Byzantium had a significant impact on world history

Prevented Muslim Arabs from advancing into Europe Codified and preserved the laws of ancient Rome Preserved the philosophy, science, math, and literature of ancient Greece Contacts with Byzantium stimulated Islamic and Latin Christian learning

Influenced Romanian and Slavic literature and language

Islamic Civilization: Its Development and Dissemination

The Prophet: The Founding of a New Religion

o The second Eastern civilization to emerge out of Rome’s fall was Islam

Emerged in the seventh century among the Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula Founder was Muhammad (570–632), a prosperous merchant in Mecca

He received visions from the angel Gabriel and became a prophet Rejected tribal gods and called for monotheism Muhammad’s sayings recorded into book form, the Qur’an

o Muslims regard Judaism and Christianity as faiths of the book, precursors to Islam

Jesus was considered a great messenger, but not the Son of God

o The Five Pillars of the Faith are essential to Islamic practice

Accept that “there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet” Pray five times a day facing Mecca Give alms to the poor Fast during the month of Ramadan Pilgrimage to Mecca once in a lifetime

o The prophet’s message began to appeal, but local rulers resisted him, so he fought

In 622, he and his followers left for Medina; the Hegira, or “emigration,” is the first year of the Muslim calendar

o Within 20 years, Muhammad united feuding Arabian tribes into a unified force

On his death in 632, his father-in-law became his successor—“caliph” Islam gave diverse Arab tribes unity, discipline, and organization to dominate

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Arabs overran neighboring territories quickly and powerfully to Persia, North Africa, and Spain

Northward push by raiding parties to Frankish lands was halted in eighth century

The Muslim State and Society

o The Islamic state was a theocracy rooted in Qur’an and hadith (“sayings”)

Thus Islam was not only a religion but also government, society, and law Separation of church and state is an alien concept to much Islamic thought

o But emergence of sects ruptured the unity

Sunni majority traditional and based on established practices Shi’ite minority supported descendents of Ali, Muhammad’s cousin

Seventh-century murder and massacre incited Shi’ite anger and devotion to Ali

The Muslim Golden Age

o In the eighth and ninth centuries, Muslim civilization entered a golden age

Led by Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad

o Muslims had acquired Greek learning from Persian and Byzantine civilizations

Muslims made advances from Greek science, philosophy, and mathematics This intellectual heritage would be passed on to Christian Europe:

Concept of zero and “Arabic” numerals Algebra and trigonometry Astronomy, physics, and optics Medicine and surgery

o Muslim thinkers also deployed Greek philosophy to explain Islamic doctrine

Ibn-Sina (980–1037), aka Avicenna, was a broadly talented thinker Avicenna’s philosophical works relied on Aristotle and influenced medieval

Christian thinkers Ibn-Rushd (1126–1198), aka Averroës

Insisted Koran and ancient Greek philosophy were compatible, Greeks offered path to truth

His commentaries on Aristotle were studied in Western universities

Mongol Invasions and Ottoman Dominance

o Arab unity of common language, faith, and culture disintegrates by eleventh century

Seljuk Turks had taken Asia Minor and conquered many Arabic lands Political power rested with the Seljuk sultans

o In eleventh and twelfth centuries, Muslims lost Sicily and much of Spain to Christian European

o Thirteenth century brought new wave of invaders from Mongolia

Led by Genghis Khan, Mongolian archers poured west across Asia Mongols plundered Baghdad in 1258 and slaughtered 50,000, including

Abbasid caliph By fourteenth century, Mongols had converted to Islam

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Final push under Tamerlane menaced the Near East, but Mongols were halted by 1404

o The Ottoman Turks took over after the Mongols

Ottoman Empire reached its height in the sixteenth century Siege of Vienna (1529) spread panic in the West Ottomans were effective administrators but this was not an era of brilliance, as

under Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad

o Vitality of Muslim world had dissipated

o Latin Christendom: The Rise of Europe

Political and Economic Transformation

o Emerging European culture mixed Greco-Roman, Christian, and Germanic civilizations

Germanic tribes tried to keep political and administrative aspects of Rome However, Germanic kingdoms had weak political bases, and cultures varied

o Exception was in Gaul/south-central Germany where Frankish kingdom would emerge o By end of seventh century, old Western Roman lands declined in government, urban

life, commerce, and learning

Shift from urban to rural economy accelerated under Germanic chiefdoms

o Shrinking commerce was a major part of decline in the sixth and seventh centuries

The Waning of Classical Culture

o Greco-Roman humanism declined following disintegration of the Roman Empire

Roman schools closed and law fell into disuse Intellectual figures were salvaging and transmitting classical civilization

o Boethius (480–c. 525) had classical training, Latin and Greek

Translated Aristotle into Latin Wrote treatises on theology, math, astronomy, and music Accused of treason by Theodoric in 525

While in prison awaiting execution, Boethius wrote The Consolation of Philosophy

Boethius here ponders life’s meaning and turns to philosophy as his guide Bridged dying classical civilization and embryonic Christian civilization

o Cassiodorus (c. 490–575) contemporary of Boethius

Wrote 12-volume History of the Goths Established monastic library with Greek and Latin manuscripts Advocated higher education to improve quality of clergy

o Isidore of Seville (576–636) in Spain

Compiled an encyclopedia of diverse topics (included many errors, though) The Etymologiae served as standard reference work throughout medieval

monasteries

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o Translations and compilations of Boethius, Cassiodorus, and Isidore transmitted classical thought through monks, nuns, and monastic schools of medieval West

o The Church: Shaper of Medieval Civilization

The Church as Unifier

o Christianity was the integrating principle of the Middle Ages, church the dominant institution

Unlike the Roman state, the church was a healthy and vital institution The Church tamed the warrior habits of the German peoples

o The Church also acted as a unifying agent among the diverse peoples of the West o Thus the Christian outlook was the foundation of medieval civilization o Membership in a universal church replaced citizenship in a universal empire

Monks and the Papacy

o Monks helped construct the foundations of medieval civilization o Monasteries of Ireland and England preserved a tradition of Latin and even Greek

learning

Anglo-Saxons who converted to Christianity established monasteries The Venerable Bede (673–735) translated John’s gospel into Anglo-Saxon

Wrote the Ecclesiastical History of the English People, one of the finest medieval historical works

o Monasteries, with their libraries containing theological and classical Latin works, were cultural centers

Monks also reclaimed neglected/devastated lands Offered help to sick and destitute Monks’ and nuns’ selfless devotion was a model of the Christian way of life

o Pope Gregory I the Great (590–604) formed new power of the papacy, brilliant administrator

Insisted that all bishops and the Byzantine Church were subject to papal authority Tightened the bond between monks and papacy

Sent Benedictine monks as missionaries across Europe to England Gregory was also an intellectual who wrote on Christian themes The pope was very politically astute, wanted an alliance with the Franks For these reasons, Gregory is considered the father of the Latin Church

o Gregory’s efforts to form an alliance with the Franks came to fruition 150 years later

o The Kingdom of the Franks

The Kingdom of the Franks

o Clovis (496) united Frankish tribes and converted to Roman Christianity

This conversion brought Franks closer to Rome as a potential ally Charles Martel, the king’s chief office, subjects all Frankish lands to his rule

Battle of Tours in 732 defeated Muslim raiders Charles’s son Pepin the Short deposed the king in 751 and became king

The Era of Charlemagne

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o Alliance between Franks and the papacy continued by Pepin’s successor Charlemagne

Charles the Great (Charlemagne) ruled 768–814 Continued policy of expanding Frankish kingdom Created administrative structure (weak compared to Islamic/Byzantine models)

The “empire” was divided into 250 counties administered by loyal counts Royal messengers (“missi dominici”) journey about to enforce his authority

o Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Emperor of the Romans in Rome in 800

The title indicates that the tradition of world empire survived The Frankish empire, of course, was only a dim shadow of the Roman Empire

o Fact that pope crowned the emperor reveals papal/imperial spiritual/political bond o Represents merging of German, Christian, and Roman traditions of medieval society

Carolingian Renaissance

o Charlemagne felt duty to raise educational level of clergy

Fostered education of clergy, administrators, and even himself (learned Latin)

o Charlemagne gathered fine scholars, such as Alcuin of York (735–804)

They created schools and libraries, copied manuscripts, developed literary standards

Focus of Carolingian Renaissance was Christian: to improve knowledge of Bible/Church fathers

Monastic copyists preserved ancient texts that would not otherwise have survived

o Carolingian Renaissance reversed process of cultural decay

During reign of Charlemagne, distinct European civilization took root, a blend of: Roman heritage of a world empire Intellectual achievement of Greco-Roman thought Customs of Germanic peoples Deeply different from Byzantine and Islamic civilizations

o Engendered ideal of unified Latin Christendom crucial to medieval growth

The Breakup of Charlemagne’s Empire

o Empire’s strength had rested on Charlemagne’s personal qualities

When he died in 814, his successors were not able to preserve it Empire was divided in 843 among the three surviving sons (Treaty of Verdun)

Louis the German gained Eastern part (beginning of Germany) Charles the Bald gained the Western part (beginning of France) Lothair received the Middle Kingdom (Rome to North Sea), problem region

o Ninth and tenth centuries brought waves of invasions

Muslims from the south Magyars from the east Vikings from the north

Vikings devastated lands and plundered European economy

o Terrible attacks heighten political insecurity and decentralization 6

Local lords and counts start to take over land they defended for the king Nobles exercise public power formerly held by kings (“feudalism”)

o At this time, the essential unit of government was not a kingdom but a local region

o Medieval Society

Medieval Society

o “Feudalism” was an improvised system to provide order and security

Rooted in ineffectual central authority, power devolved to local powers Feudalism shaped Western notions of honor, chivalry, and romantic love It also laid groundwork for principle of limiting royal power

o Feudalism was built on economic foundation of ‘manorialism’

Manorial village with serfs bound to the land became economic unit Manorialism and feudalism assume stable social order of clergy, nobles, peasants

o A person’s rights, duties, etc. depended on social ranking

Vassalage

o Feudal relationships let lords increase military strength

A vassal was a knight who pledged loyalty to a lord In return for military service, vassals received a fief (land/crops) Vassals also owed other duties and obligations of service and relationship

o Oath of loyalty was crucial to lord and vassal, created bonds of feudal society o In theory, king was regarded as the chief lord and the highest political authority

Yet in practice, he was often less powerful than other nobles

o Decline of feudalism was a gradual process that would yield centralized royal state

Feudal Law

o Feudal law incorporated German and Roman law o Yet in contrast to Roman law, feudal law was based on ancient, unchanging customs

Less rational than traditional and customary Lords often battled each other to defend their rights

Feudal Warriors

o Feudal lords were warriors who demonstrated value through combat

Twelfth century brought peace and boredom, and nobles staged tournament battles

Code of behavior called chivalry emerged out of these pastimes True knight expected to fight bravely and demonstrate loyalty and courtesy

o Church infuses religious element into warrior culture o During this era, Church fused Germanic military courage with Christian ends

Placed knight’s role as that of defending women, children, innocent, faithful, etc. 7

o Church imposes the “Peace of God” and the “Truce of God” to limit feudal warfare

Noblewomen

o Feudal society was a man’s world

Women deemed inferior to men in all ways, ideas rooted in classical misogyny Aristocratic girls were married to much older men Wives were at the mercy of their husbands

o However, the Christian world-view brought Mary as an alternative image to that of Eve

Numerous depictions of Mary as Queen of Heaven indicate popularity of her cult

o Some aristocratic girls entered a convent where they could organize, lead, be educated

Hroswitha (935–1001) of Gandersheim in Saxony wrote poetry, history, and plays on the classical model

o Lords’ wives also had significant responsibility and involvement

Agrarian Life

o Manorialism was agriculture-based, improvised relationships and practices

Typical manor had 12 families, a large one 50 or 60 Peasants grew grain and raised animals with local parish priest for pastoral care Serf and family lived with animals in dark one-room cottage Poor roads, few bridges, and dense forests made travel difficult and dangerous

o Peasants generally never left the village of their birth

Serfs owed obligations to lord for protection, and had little personal freedom Lord could select a wife for his serf, impose taxes and fines, and demand labor Life of a serf unrelenting and difficult, at the bottom of the social scale Sometimes peasant discontent erupted in refusal to work or rebellions

However, lords were so powerful that peasants had no chance to dominate

o Manorial system promoted attitudes of dependency and servility o Deficiencies of medieval agriculture included:

Short supply of fertilizer Inadequate wooden plows and primitive harnessing methods

o Yet important improvements would soon transform agriculture

o CHAPTER 9o The origins of manorialism (ma-ner-e-liz-em) can be traced in part to The Late Roman

Empire, when peasants depended on the owners of large estates for protection and security. This dependence increased during the Early Middle Ages, especially during the invasions of Northmen, Magyars (ma-jars), and Muslims in the ninth and tenth centuries. Peasants continued to sacrifice their freedom in exchange for protection, or, in some cases, they were too weak to resist the encroachments of local magnates.

o A lord controlled at least one manorial village; great lords might control hundreds. A small manor included a dozen families; a large one, as many as fifty or sixty. Peasants grew grain and raised cattle, sheep, goats, and hogs; blacksmiths, carpenters, and stonemasons built and repaired dwellings and implements; the village priest cared for the souls of the

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inhabitants; and the lord defended the manor and administered customary law. The serf and his family lived in a dismal, one room cottage that they shared with livestock. In the center burned a small fire, the smoke escaping through a hole in the roof. When it rained, water came through the thatched roof and turned the earth floor into mud. Poor roads, few bridges, and dense forests made travel difficult; thieves and warring knights made it unsafe. Peasants generally lived, worked, and died on the lord’s estate and were buried in the village churchyard. When a manor was attacked by another lord, the peasants found protection inside the walls of their lord’s house. In many places, by the twelfth century, this building had become a well fortified stone castle. In return for protection and the right to cultivate fields and to pass these holdings on to their children, serfs owed obligations to their lord, and their freedom was restricted. Bound to the land, they could not leave the manor without the lord’s consent. Serfs also paid a variety of dues to the lord, most notably for using the lord’s mill, bake-oven, and winepress. Serfs did derive some benefits from manorial relationships. They received protection from roving brigands and warring nobles. And they possessed customary rights to cottages and farmland. But in a world periodically threatened with famine and epidemics, serfs faced an unrelenting struggle to survive. If a lord demanded more services or dues than were customary, or if he interfered with their right to cottages or strips of farmland, the peasants might demonstrate their discontent by refusing to work for the lord. Up to the fourteenth century, however, open rebellion was rare because lords possessed considerable military and legal power. The manorial system promoted attitudes of dependency and servility among the serfs; their hopes for a better life were directed toward heaven. Medieval agriculture suffered from several deficiencies. Among them was the short supply of fertilizer; farmers depended solely on animal manure. Inadequate wooden plows and primitive methods of harnessing draft animals resulted in low yields. In the High Middle Ages, the revival of an urban economy and the reemergence of central authority would undermine manorial (and feudal) and relationships.

Chapter 9

After reading and studying this chapter, students should be able to:

· Describe the general political, economic, cultural, and religious features of the Byzantine Empire, and explain its historical importance.

· Discuss the origins of Islam, its basic tenets, and the reasons for its rapid expansion in the seventh and eighth centuries.

· Trace the political and economic transformation of Europe from the sixth to the eighth centuries and describe the evolution of Latin Christendom out of classical Greco-Roman culture.

· Explain the pivotal role played by the church—monks, nuns, and popes—in establishing and dominating medieval culture.

· Analyze the emergence of the Frankish empire under Charlemagne and the implications of its collapse for Western civilization.

· Describe the rise of feudalism and manorialism in Western Europe, and discuss the various elements of the lord-vassal relationship and its relationship to agrarian society.

Focus Questions

1. How did Latin Christendom blend Christian, Greco-Roman, and Germanic traditions?

2. In what ways were Greco-Roman ideas and institutions alien to Germanic traditions?

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3. What was Byzantium’s long-term influence on world history?

4. What does Islam have in common with Christianity? How do they differ?

5. What was the significance of medieval Muslim intellectual life?

6. What conditions led to the rise of feudalism and manorialism?

Review Questions

1. Compare the Byzantine Empire with the Latin West. How and why does Eastern Christianity break with the Catholic Church?

2. The Byzantines originally sought to regain control of the old Roman Empire. How successful was the Emperor Justinian at reaching that goal? What factors led the Byzantines not only to fail at that goal but ultimately to decline and fall?

3. Discuss the major contributions of Byzantium to world history.

4. How did Islam and the civilization that surrounded it draw both from the traditional desert culture and from Judaism and Christianity?

5. How does the Muslim Golden Age mark a major accomplishment in cultural diffusion from the perspective of what the Muslims inherited from other civilizations, what they accomplished, and how they influenced other civilizations?

6. While the Germanic tribes that invaded the Roman Empire in the west actually sought to share in its advantages rather than to destroy it, they were poorly suited to continuing Roman traditions. How did Germanic customs compare with Roman traditions? To what extent did Germanic customs come to dominate Western Europe, and to what extent did the Germans modify their practices to incorporate Roman traditions?

7. How was the church able to emerge as the dominant institution in Western Europe and how did the world outlook of Western Europe reflect the teaching of the church?

8. What role did the monasteries play in shaping the culture of Latin Christendom?

9. How did Charlemagne’s empire embody the concept of a universal Christian empire and reflect the essential character of medieval civilization?

10. Why were the Franks unable to continue Charlemagne’s empire?

11. What was the accepted social order under feudalism, and why was that social order deemed so important for the system to work well?

12. How did the system of feudalism, including vassalage and feudal law, provide some order and security at a time when central authority was collapsing, the economy and town life was declining, and people feared invasions?

13. Describe the role of noblewomen in feudal society. To what extent did the church support this role through its teaching and doctrine?

14. Why did manorialism develop, and what kind of life did it offer a peasant?

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Chapter 10: The High Middle Ages: Vitality and Renewal

Economic Expansion Agricultural Revolution

o Important advances in agriculture were made by the end of the thirteenth century:

Heavy plow Collar harness Horseshoe Three-field system that increased production

Two-field system had left half the land fallow

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o Higher agriculture production reduced deaths and increased population

Growing population exceeded manorial farmland Lords promoted conversion of uncultivated soil into agricultural land

Drain swamps Clear forests Establish new villages

o Eleventh- and twelfth-century peasant labor brought vast new areas under cultivation o Colonizing and cultivation of new land brought decline of serfdom

Percentage of French peasants who were serfs fell from 90 percent (1050) to about 10 percent (1350)

o Surplus food and higher population made possible expansion of trade and town life

Revival of Trade

o Revival of commerce in the Latin West took place c. 1100 for several reasons:

Expanding agricultural production End of Viking and Hungarian attacks Greater political stability Increasing populations Eleventh-century Italian trading cities cleared Mediterranean of Muslim ships

o By early eleventh century, European economy showed tendency to recovery

Some historians call it a commercial revolution Class of traders (some former serfs) emerged International fairs where all goods were traded cropped up (3–6 weeks)

o Principal arteries of trade were between:

Eastern Mediterranean and the Italian cities Scandinavia and the Atlantic coast Northern France, Flanders, and England Baltic Sea to Black Sea and Constantinople via Russian rivers

Items included Flemish cloth, Scandinavian fur, English wool, French wine

o Italian towns acted as intermediaries between trade centers of East and West o Increased economic activity brought other advances in business techniques:

Underwriting, banking and credit instruments Bill of exchange, double-entry bookkeeping, formation of commercial law

Rebirth of Towns

o In the eleventh century, towns emerged to become active commercial/intellectual centers

Towns were a revolutionary force with new opportunities and a new “middle” class

Town growth spurred by increased food supply from agricultural advances Towns emerged along natural trade locations

Seacoasts Riverbanks Crossroads Market sites

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Outside fortified castles and monasteries Medieval towns protected by thick, high walls and towers Most had small populations, large ones 50,000–100,000 by fourteenth century

o Walled towns were crowded with people, wares, refuse, animals

Occasions would include processions, executions, and other public events Nights were dangerous and fire was a constant hazard Merchants and craftspeople organized guilds for competitive protection Women were actively involved in economic life of towns

Worked with men (usually husbands) in various crafts Brewed beer, sold food, ran inns, and sometimes were even guildswomen

o Tensions developed between merchants and local lords and bishops

Townspeople (“burghers”) refused to be treated as serfs Rather than fighting, they usually bought their rights from lords in charters Leading citizens of towns, patricians, were members of merchant guilds Towns loosened the hold of lords on serfs: “City air makes a man free”

o Thus towns became the first self-governing municipalities since Greco-Roman days

Church was largest owner of property in the city To allay concerns about their spiritual state, people donated money and property Bequests financed hospitals and schools and other charitable urban institutions

o A new breed of medieval European emerged in the cities:

Engaged in business, and had money and freedom The market was their world, not church, castle, or manor Revived Greco-Roman ideal of active citizenry Emerging secular civic life with education provided practical balance to Christian

otherworldliness.

The Rise of States

England

o After Roman legions left, island of England invaded by Angles and Saxons, then Danes

Alfred the Great (871–899) Saxon king Like Charlemagne, founded schools, studied Latin, read Gregory I and Boethius In 1066, Northmen (Vikings who raided and settled in northern France) defeated

Anglo-Saxons William the Conquerer (1027–1087), a powerful new leader who shaped

English history Distributed land among his Norman nobles who swore loyalty to him Careful not to let any baron become too strong

o Norman conquest and practices powerfully strengthened royal position

William kept Anglo-Saxon division of land into “shires” ministered by “sheriffs” Ordered census of people and property in every village (Domesday Book) Developed common law

o Growth of law and financial institutions emerges out of this period

Henry I became king in 1100 and noted conflicting legal traditions Royal court took over important cases, and decisions were recorded as guides Slowly a law common to the whole land prevailed over local practices

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Provided a unified and fairer system of justice Common law remains the foundation of the English and U.S. legal systems

Trial by jury became a regular procedure (12 men called to swear) Began practice that was an ancestor to the modern grand jury

o Growth of efficient financial administration parallel to strong new judicial system

Exchequer, royal accounting office, formed under Henry I Its officials collected all revenues owed to the king King John (1199–1216) accidentally shaped the political development of England In war with France he pushed his vassals too far

In 1215, the angry barons forced him to approve the Great Charter or Magna Carta

Prohibited unusual feudal dues or taxes, limited power of the king The document implied that the king governs by law, laid foundation for

future political growth English kings kept Anglo-Saxon custom of considering advice of leading men Nobility and townspeople also began to be summoned to meet with the king

These two bodies eventually became the House of Lords and the House of Commons

By mid-fourteenth century, the English Parliament was a permanent institution

o Thus England became a centralized and unified state with a powerful legal system that constrained even the king’s authority.

France

o Western part of empire faced ordeals after Charlemagne’s death o Lords chose strong one of their own as king

Hugh Capet (987–996) had the lords elect his son as co-ruler

o Began 200-year period of increasing royal power

Philip Augustus (1180–1223) expanded royal authority Louis IX (1226–1270) was beloved monarch who also promoted order Philip IV in early fourteenth century summoned Estates General

o Compared to England, no comparable checks on the king’s power developed in France

Germany

o German territories of Charlemagne’s empire broken into large duchies o German king had little authority over dukes o Otto the Great (936–973) allies himself with bishops to dominate lords

In 962 the pope crowned Otto “Emperor of the Romans” or “Holy Roman Emperor”

o Revival of empire in Germany tied its history to Italy and the papacy

The Emergence of Representative Institutions

o Major contribution of the Middle Ages was representative institutions o Parliaments began in Spain and developed elsewhere o Kings generally accepted need for parliamentary consent and advice o Future kings would ignore or dominate the parliaments, but the principle of

constitutional government was pivotal for Western civilization

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o The Growth of Papal Power

The Sacraments

o Clergy channeled grace through seven sacraments o Baptism, confirmation, matrimony, extreme unction, Eucharist, penance, absolution

Gregorian Reform

o Emergence of a reform movement in monasteries raised power of the papacy o Generated a reawakening of spiritual fervor among the clergy, particularly regarding:

Worldly goods Taking mistresses Diminishing commitment to the Benedictine rule Secular involvement in appointing bishops

o Latter sets off Investiture Controversy between King Henry and Pope Gregory

German kings had earlier made vassals of the upper clergy Gregory calls for an end to it; the two fight until Gregory dies in exile in 1085

o In 1122, papacy and Emperor Henry V reached compromise (Concordat of Worms) o Yet conflict between papacy and German rulers continued thereafter; princes gain by it

The Crusades

o Crusades were wars to regain Holy Land from the Muslims o Emerged from new commerce, growth of towns, and spiritual self-confidence in Europe

Byzantine emperor asks Pope Urban II for help against Seljuk Turks Pope calls for crusade against Turks in 1095 and mobilizes a Christian army

Like Gregory VII, Urban II sought to show the supremacy of the pope Spiritual fervor was stirred up by popular preachers

Common people also joined the early ill-fated expeditions

o Army of knights seized Jerusalem in 1099

Muslim world, weakened by rivalries, did not quickly unite against invaders Muslim leaders called for jihad and in 1144 took back Edessa Second Crusade (1147–1149) was a complete failure In 1189, brilliant Muslim commander Saladin took back Jerusalem Third Crusade (1189–1192) with three royal participants also failed to win back

Jerusalem Pope Innocent IV called the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204)

Crusade became misdirected and ended up looting Constantinople Left legacy of bitterness between Latin and Greek Christendom

o Other crusades followed, but the last Christian stronghold fell in 1291 o Immediate effects of the crusades on Christendom:

Contributed to the decline of feudalism and the rise of monarchy Fostered trade between East and West Sparked interest in geography and travel and introduced new cultures Yet did not significantly influence European intellectual progress Drew praise for heroism but also criticism for intolerance and massacres

Dissenters and Reformers

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o Church felt obligation to end heresy (beliefs that challenged church)

Used power of excommunication, investigations, and interrogations Yet dissent often reformist, inspired by Gospels, calling for apostolic poverty

o The Waldensians

Followed wealthy merchant who converted to life of poverty and preaching Waldensians considered themselves true Christians, survived persecution

o The Cathari

Catharism blended Eastern traditions with Christianity, but much different from Waldensianism

Cathars believed in eternal conflict between god of good and god of evil Jesus not a God but an angel for Cathars Believed the soul was trapped in wicked flesh and that sex imprisoned

spirits in the body Catharism centered in southern France where strong tradition of anticlerical

protest existed Pope Innocent III called a crusade against Cathars and the lords who protected

them (1208–1229)

o The Franciscans and the Dominicans

Saint Francis of Assisi, like founder of Waldensians, rejected wealth and embraced poverty

He preached Christ’s message and helped the poor, attracted followers Respected papal authority and asked for permission to continue the path Franciscans grew in popularity and spread across Europe, Africa, East Yet schisms within the order led some to be accused of/executed for

heresy Dominican order founded by Saint Dominic (1170–1221) preached against

Cathars Like Francis, he drew followers versed in Christian teaching to fight heresy Dominicans became leading theologians in the universities

Innocent III: The Apex of Papal Power

o Innocent III (1198–1216) brought papal theocracy to its zenith

Asserted theory of papal monarchy When King Philip Augustus divorced Ingeborg, placed interdict on France to

compel the king to take her back Strove to make Holy Roman emperor subservient to papacy Called ill-fated Fourth Crusade against the Muslims Also initiated Albigensian crusade against heretics in southern France

o Culmination of his pontificate was summoning of Fourth Lateran Council (1215)

Council issued major decrees: Maintained Eastern Orthodox Church was under Roman Catholic Church Prohibited state from taxing clergy Made bishops responsible for finding heretics in their dioceses Required each Catholic to confess once a year Established principle of transubstantiation (real presence of body and

blood) in Eucharist

o Under Innocent, the church tightened its control over conscience of Europe

o Christians and Jews 16

Medieval Christians not only demonstrated hostility toward pagans, heretics, and Muslims, but also expressed a deep hatred of Jews, a visibly alien group within Christendom

o First Crusade was a turning point for medieval Jews

Little organized violence before the First Crusade, but many pogroms after Kings and lords regarded Jews as exploitable possessions Jews were expelled from England (1290) and France (1306) Expulsions and massacres (1290–1293) destroyed Jewish community in S. Italy

o Jews accused of conspiring to cause the Black Death (1348–1349) by poisoning wells

Thousands of Jews were burned alive or otherwise killed in German lands

o Several factors contributed to medieval anti-Jewish feelings

Christians perceived Jewish refusal to accept Christianity as wickedness Blamed Jews for “deicide,” or the killing of God Christian theology taught they were to remain subjected to Christians City magistrates and princes periodically confiscated their property Myths spread that Jews tortured and murdered Christian children Role of Jews as moneylenders also provoked animosity

Excluded from most professions and guilds, but moneylending was open Crucial economic function forbidden to Christians

o Official church policy was that Jews should not be harmed, yet leaders also wanted their ongoing humiliation for refusal to accept Christianity

Thus the Fourth Lateran Council barred Jews from public office and required them to wear an identifying badge

Christian art and literature identified Jews with the devil Hatred of Jews increasingly seen as an expression of Christian virtue

o Even under persecution, however, Jewish communities continued their faith and scholarship, translated documents, and continued cultural traditions

Moses ben Maimon (1135–1204), or Maimonides, is a good example Born in Spain under Muslim rule, he went to Egypt to serve the sultan Became a leading philosopher, theologian, mathematician, and physician Like Christian and Muslim philosophers, he tried to harmonize faith with reason

CHAPTER 10

In their relations with heretics, pagans, and Muslims, medieval Christians demonstrated a narrow and hostile attitude that ran counter to the Gospel message that all human beings were children of God and that Christ had suffered for all humanity. Muslims were seen, in the words of Pope Urban II, as a “enemies of God.” While the clergy denounced war among Christians, they considered it a duty to wage war holy war against non-Christians, and knights regarded fighting the Muslims in Spain or the Holy Land as the highest expression of the chivalric ideal.

Medieval Christians also showed hatred for Jews-a visibly alien group in a society dominated by the Christian world-view. The First Crusade was a turning point for medieval Jews. Until then there were few instances of organized violence against Jewish communities. In 1096, bands of crusaders, proclaiming that they were seeking vengeance against “Christ-killers,” slaughtered Jews in French and German towns. The crusaders were often aided by townspeople driven by hateful images of Jews and eager to seize Jewish property. Viewing Jews as possessions to be exploited, kings and lords also taxed and fined them relentlessly and periodically expelled from their territories in order to confiscate their property. Several factors contributed to anti-Jewish feelings during the Middle

17

Ages. To medieval Christians, the refusal of the Jews to embrace Christianity was an act of wickedness, particularly as the church taught that the coming of Christ had been prophesied in the Old Testament. The crime of deicide(de-e-side)- the killing of God-eternally stained the Jews as a people; medieval Christians saw Jews as dangerous, criminal people rejected by God and deserving ceaseless punishment. Although some popes condemned the charges as groundless, this blood libel was widely believed by the credulous masses and incited numerous riots. The role of the Jews as moneylenders also provoked animosity toward them. Jews were increasingly excluded from international trade and most professions as well as were barred from the guilds and some areas of landholding. Hence virtually the only means of livelihood open to them was moneylending- In reality an important activity in an expanding economy. This activity, which was in theory forbidden to Christians, aroused the hatred of the individuals who did the borrowing.

Nevertheless, medieval Jews maintained their faith, expanded their tradition of biblical and legal scholarship, and developed a flourishing Hebrew literature. The work of Jewish translators, doctors, and philosophers contributed substantially to the flowering of medieval culture in the High Middle Ages. The foremost Jewish scholar of the Middle Ages was Moses ben Maimon(mi- man)(1135-1204). , also called by the Greek Maimonides ( mi-ma-ne-dez). During his lifetime, Maimonides achieved fame as a philosopher, theologian, mathematician, and physician. He was recognized as the leading Jewish sage of his day, and his writings were respected by Christian and Muslim thinkers. Like Christian and Muslim philosophers, Maimonides tried to harmonize faith with reason, to reconcile the Hebrew Scriptures and the Talmud(Jewish biblical commentary) with Greek philosophy. In his writing on ethical themes, Maimonides demonstrated piety, wisdom, and humanity.

CHAPTER 10

The High Middle Ages: Vitality and Renewal

Instructional objectives

After reading and studying this chapter, students should be able to:

· Describe the advances in agriculture that led to increased production, and explain the social and economic effects of this greater productivity on the High Middle Ages.

· Discuss the nature and importance of medieval representative institutions, and compare the political development of England and France to that of the German and Italian regions.

· Explain the significance of the church and clergy in medieval Europe, and chart the growth of papal power before and after the reform movements of the eleventh century.

· Describe and account for the changing position of Jews in Christian European society, and explain the policy of the Church toward them.

Focus Questions

1. What were the signs of vitality and recovery in European economic, political, and religious life during the High Middle Ages?

2. What factors contributed to the rise of towns? What was the significance of the medieval town?

3. Why was there a conflict between church and state during the Middle Ages?

4. What prompted lords and commoners to heed the papacy’s call for a crusade?

5. What conditions led to the rise of states? What were the essential differences characterizing the development of medieval England, France, and Germany?

18

6. What factors led to the rise of anti-Semitism during the Middle Ages? How does anti-Semitism demonstrate the power of mythical thinking?

Review Questions

The High Middle Ages: Vitality and Renewal

Review Questions

1. In what ways did the agricultural advancements of the High Middle Ages change and improve the conditions of life in Europe?

2. How did business techniques change to meet the needs of the increased economic activity of the High Middle Ages?

3. How did the rise of towns contribute to the decline of serfdom and the power of local lords while contributing to a new social and political structure?

4. Several factors contributed to the centralization of power in England and the development of a strong state. At the same time, other factors also limited the king’s power. Identify these factors and explain how they led to the centralization of power or limited the king’s authority.

5. Beginning with Louis VI, how were the French kings able to establish a unified state and increase their power through the reign of Louis IV?

6. Explain why the German territories were not able to achieve any real unity in the Middle Ages.

7. List and describe the seven sacraments. How did the church use them to try and enforce its moral standards?

8. In what ways was the church in need of reform by the tenth and eleventh centuries? Identify the Investiture Controversy, including what was at stake for the primary two parties involved. To what extent was the controversy simply a power struggle and to what extent did it represent a genuine effort to achieve reform? Justify your answer.

9. What reasons did Pope Urban II give for launching the First Crusade? To what extent did recent history and conflicts between the West and the East justify Pope Urban’s stated reasons for going to war against the Muslims?

10. What is a heretic? Why did the church in the High Middle Ages consider heresy such a major threat, and how did the church deal with this threat? How did the heretics view themselves and their views? Did they see themselves as challenging true Christianity?

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Chapter 11: The Flowering of Medieval Culture: The Christian Synthesis

Revival of Learning Cultural revival took place in the High Middle Ages, also called the Twelfth-Century

Awakening

o Greater stability as invasions ended

Revival of trade and growth supported literacy New wealth supported variety of enterprises

o Increased contact with Islamic and Byzantine cultures brought new ideas o Preserved Greek philosophy and science, bridged antiquity and high medieval

Medieval universities established crucial Western tradition of learning

o Universities were guilds or corporations organized by students and masters o University students studied ancient topics, also theology and medicine o Also fought, drank, gambled, and got into trouble o Students learned to reason and argue

o The Medieval World-View

The Universe: Higher and Lower Worlds

o Medieval thinkers differentiated between spirit and matter, higher and lower

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o Medievals inherited theory of earth-centered universe from Aristotle and Ptolemy

Earth-centered universe matches notion that God created universe for humans Thus earth at the center of all, even while human sin kept earth corrupt Medieval thinkers believed heavenly bodies moved in perfect, uniform circles

o Geocentric view of universe would be shattered in sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

The Individual: Sinful but Redeemable

o At center of medieval belief was idea of a perfect God and sinful human beings

Universe as hierarchy created by and culminating in God Hierarchy extends down from God to angels, humanity, animals, nature, etc.

o Medieval people derived a sense of security from this clear hierarchy

Even sinners could ascend to the higher world of perfection

o Knowledge was also arranged hierarchically: spiritual knowledge surpasses all else

God both the source and the end of knowledge Thus to challenge God or divine will was sinful and self-destructive

o Three great expressions of this view were:

Scholastic philosophy Dante’s Divine Comedy Gothic cathedrals

Philosophy-Theology

Philosophy-Theology

o Medieval philosophy (scholasticism) applied reason to revelation

Masters used reason to serve and clarify faith Wanted rational thought to be directed by faith and scripture

o Some Christian thinkers, however, rejected reason as pagan o By revitalizing Greek thought, medieval philosophers nurtured a powerful force o Modern Western thought is based in refusal to subordinate reason to religion

Saint Anselm and Abelard

o Saint Anselm (1033–1109) was an early scholastic and Benedictine abbot

Argued that faith was precondition for understanding Developed philosophical proof for existence of God

o Peter Abelard (1079–1152) was young theologian at Notre Dame

Had tragic affair with young student Héloise, who castrated by her family Developed a dialectical argument to reconcile apparently divergent opinions

o Both men were firm believers who sought to buttress faith with reason

The Recovery of Aristotle 21

o Muslim scholars translated Aristotle into Arabic in the Early Middle Ages o Preserved works translated into Latin in the High Middle Ages o Aristotelian ideas created dilemma for religious authorities o For Aristotle, God was impersonal principle, and soul was not independent of body o Aristotle’s scientific works were periodically forbidden at University of Paris

Saint Thomas Aquinas: Synthesis of Christian Belief and Reason

o Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) rejected conservative fear that philosophy contaminates faith

Wanted to reconcile Aristotelianism and Christianity (reason supporting faith)

o Wrote the Summa Theologica, a tremendous systematic exposition of Christian thought

Aquinas divided truth into two categories: Beliefs whose truth can be proved by reason Beliefs that reason cannot prove true or false Yet the latter (Trinity, Incarnation, Redemption) are certain because from

God

o Aquinas said evidence of faith cannot conflict with evidence of reason (both from God) o In exalting God, Aquinas also proclaimed value of human intelligence and rationality o Thus gave new importance to the empirical world and scientific speculation

Aquinas altered Augustinian tradition dividing higher and lower worlds Yet his theology still viewed theology, grace, revelation as most important

Strict Aristotelianism: The Challenge to Orthodoxy

o Based on Muslim thinker Averroëes, some Parisian teachers held to strict Aristotelianism

Did not argue that Aristotle was right and faith wrong, Instead, only maintained that Aristotle could not be refuted by natural reason

o Bishop of Paris condemned 219 propositions in 1277, including some of Aquinas’s

Condemnation a triumph for conservative theologians

o However, action also led some thinkers to critically read Aristotle’s natural philosophy o May have led the way to early modern scientific rejection of Aristotelian physics

o Science

Science

o Few scientific works from ancient world available in Early Middle Ages o Spain and Sicily were key intersections of Christian, Greek, Islamic thought o Yet thirteenth and fourteenth centuries brought genuine scientific movement

Dominican Albert the Great (1206–1280) studied nature using empirical evidence Robert Grosseteste (c. 1175–1253), chancellor of Oxford University

Argued that reason could prove earth spherical, and studied mathematics Monk and philosopher Roger Bacon (c.1214–1294) read Arabic studies on light

Experimented in optics and speed of light

o Medicine elevated to a formal discipline in the West based on ancient/Islamic texts o Medieval scholars did not break through to modern science but did advance knowledge

22

o Developed anti-Aristotelian physics, which may have influenced Galileo o New interest in expressing motion mathematically also emerged at this time o Yet scholars argue over the relationship between modern science and medieval thought

o The Recovery of Roman Law

Recovery of Roman Law

o In eleventh and twelfth centuries, Roman law was revived (especially in Bologna) o Roman law assumed universal principles, in contrast to tribal Germanic law o Roman legal example stimulated medieval jurists to organize own legal tradition

Roman law influenced church law, derived from: Bible Church fathers Church councils Decisions of popes

o Canon law codified in last part of eleventh century, aided by Roman legal tradition

o Literature

Literature

o Medieval literature was written in both Latin and vernacular (spoken language) o Many poetic forms emerged in the High Middle Ages

French chansons de geste were epic poems: Song of Roland in French Nigelungenlied in German (“the Iliad of the Germans” “Roman,” a blending of chivalric ideals and Christian concepts

o Troubadours sang courtly love poetry that exalted women

Noblewomen influenced the rituals and literature of courtly love Courtly love typically a nobleman’s yearning for unattainable married woman Through courtly love, rough earlier medieval knights were becoming refined and

chivalrous

o Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) was greatest medieval literary figure

In the Divine Comedy, Dante synthesized various elements of medieval thought It describes the poet’s journey through hell, purgatory, and paradise Hell consists of concentric circles, the worst circle reserved for traitors (Judas,

etc.)

Architecture

Architecture

o Two styles of architecture evolved in the Middle Ages: Romanesque and Gothic o Romanesque dominated eleventh century

Imitated Roman structures, using massive walls and rounded arches Little light was able to enter Romanesque buildings

o Gothic architecture characterized, in contrast, by soaring pointed arches and much light

Development of pointed arch permitted lofty vaulted ceilings

23

Gothic buildings gave illusion of lightness and upward motion

o Gothic cathedrals expressed medieval conception of hierarchical universe

Material ascends to the spiritual; natural assumed into supernatural Stained-glass windows and sculptures of Gothic cathedrals depict scripture and

daily life Gothic cathedrals took many decades to complete and required massive

donations

o Gothic style remained vigorous until the fifteenth century

CHAPTER 11

Two styles of architecture evolved during the Middle Ages: Romanesque (ro-ma-nesk) and Gothic(ga-thik). The Romanesque style dominated the eleventh century and the greater part of the twelfth. In imitation of ancient Roman structures, Romanesque buildings used massive walls to support stone barrel and groin vaults with rounded arches. Thick walls were needed to hold up the great weight of the roofs. Because the walls had few spaces for windows, little light entered the interior of Romanesque buildings.

The development of the pointed arch permitted supports that lessened the bearing pressure of the roof on the walls. This new style, called Gothic, allowed buildings to have lofty, vaulted ceilings and huge windows. Whereas Romanesque buildings produced an impression of massive solidity, Gothic buildings created an illusion of lightness and upward motion. The Gothic cathedral gave visual expression to the medieval conception of a hierarchical (hi-e-ark-ikel) universe. This illusion is created by the tall and narrow proportions of the interior spaces, the springing pointed arches, and the marching patterns of closely spaced columns and colonnettes.

The magnificently designed stained-glass windows and complex sculptural decoration of Gothic cathedrals depicted scenes from the Bible and the lives of saints, as well as scenes from daily life, for the worshipers, many of whom were illiterate. The reduction of wall space, which allowed these massive glass illustrations, was made possible by the flying buttresses on the buildings’ exteriors. These great arcs of masonry carry the weight and thrust of the stone vaults out to the exterior walls. The light cage of buttresses surrounding the cathedral makes the exterior silhouette appear as airy and diffuse as the interior spaces. Gothic cathedrals took many decades to complete and required donations from the devout. These vast building projects, many of them in northern France, were made possible by economic prosperity. Funds were raised from a variety of sources. Cathedrals owned income-producing properties, such as farmland, mills, and forests, and received donations from pilgrims visiting relics of famous saints. Clerics also collected tolls and taxes on goods shipped to fairs through the region. The Gothic style was to remain vigorous until the fifteenth century, spreading from France to England, Germany, Spain, and beyond. Revived from time to time thereafter, it has proved to be one of the most enduring styles in Western art and architecture.

Not too long ago, some intellectuals viewed the Middle Ages as a period of ignorance and superstition, an era of cultural sterility that stood between the high civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome and the modern West. This view of the Middle Ages as a dark age has been abandoned, and quite properly so, for the High Middle Ages saw the crystallizing of a rich and creative civilization. To be sure, its religious orientation sets it apart both from classical civilization and from our modern secular and scientific civilization. But the Summa(Su-ma) Theologica(the-a-la-ji-ka) of Aquinas (a-kwi-nes), The Divine Comedy of Dante(Dan-te), and the Gothic cathedral all attest to the creativeness and genius of the medieval religious spirit.

CHAPTER 11

The Flowering of Medieval Culture: The Christian Synthesis

Instructional objectives

24

After reading and studying this chapter, students should be able to:

· Describe and give examples of the revival of learning that began in eleventh-century Europe and explain the consequences of this revival.

· Analyze the view of the universe that originated with Aristotle and Ptolemy and explain how it meshed with medieval notions of the relationship of the individual, God, and the universe.

· Discuss the intellectual problem that scholastic philosophy tried to solve and explain how Anselm, Abelard, and Thomas Aquinas contributed to its solution.

· Explain why the condemnation of strict Aristotelianism may have contributed to science, and discuss the questioning of Aristotle by specific medieval scientists.

· Account for the revival of Roman law that occurred in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, describe its general principles, and explain how it was used by kings and clerics.

· Discuss in general terms the major medieval literary forms, and explain why the Divine Comedy is considered to be a synthesis of the medieval world-view.

· Contrast the Romanesque and Gothic styles of architecture and explain what made the Gothic style possible and in what ways it was an expression of the medieval vision.

Focus Questions

1. What conditions contributed to the revival of learning during the High Middle Ages?

2. What were scholastic philosophers trying to accomplish?

3. How does the medieval view of the universe differ from the modern view?

4. How did religion pervade much of medieval philosophy, science, literature, art, and architecture?

Review Questions

The Flowering of Medieval Culture: The Christian Synthesis

Review Questions

1. What factors contributed to the Twelfth-Century Awakening? How did each of these factors impact it?

2. What was the geocentric view of the universe? How did medieval thinkers incorporate their theological principles into their understanding of the universe?

3. How did medieval man view God’s creation as a hierarchy? How did he view his place in this hierarchy, and in what ways did it provide a sense of security?

4. Why did conservative theologians oppose the use of reason by the scholastics? What would be the long-term consequences of revitalizing Greek thought?

5. How did Saint Anselm prove the existence of God, and how does his approach differ from that of modern logic?

6. In what ways did Aristotle’s comprehensive philosophy of nature and man create dilemmas for Christian scholars? Why did some church officials try to ban the teaching of Aristotle’s works and how successful were they?

25

7. How did Aquinas alter the traditional medieval view? How did Aquinas’s outlook influence the way knowledge would be pursued?

8. What were the consequences of the bishop of Paris condemning ideas taught by expositors of Aristotle at the University of Paris?

9. What were the major accomplishments of the scientific movement of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries? How did the scientific perspective of medieval scholars differ from modern science?

10. Describe the role of courtly love in medieval society.

11. How did Gothic architecture reflect medieval theological beliefs?

Chapter 12: The Late Middle Ages: Crisis and Dissolution

An Age of Adversity Economic Problems, Black Death, and Social Tension

o Late Middle Ages brought severe economic problems

Heavy rains and frost Shortage of agricultural production Starvation Shortage of silver Prices rose rapidly

o Compounding economic crisis was the Black Death

Disease carried by fleas on black rats from Mongolia (1331–1332) Reached Europe 1347–1351 and killed c. 20,000,000 people (1/4–1/3 population) Contemporaries viewed this as divine punishment for human sin Responses to plague included:

Panic, abandoning family and friends New artistic forms focused on decay and morbidity Jewish communities were massacred Food production plummeted Economic and social tensions emerged into rebellions Peasant revolts in 1323, 1358, 1381

The Hundred Years’ War

o Conflict between English and French kings opened up over territories

English inflicted defeats in 1346 and 1356 using longbows Fighting continued on and off throughout fourteenth century

26

Unemployed soldiers devastated French countryside during times of peace

o After English victory at Agincourt (1415), England held most of northern France

Joan of Arc (1412–1431) emerged, driven by visions to rescue France Rallied French troops but was later captured and executed by the English

Inspired by her death, the French drove the English from all French lands but Calais

o Consequences of the war included:

New taxes for French kings, which supplemented their income War contributed to growing national French unity England also emerged with stronger Parliament and solidarity Yet French peasantry was devastated and lands destroyed

The Decline of the Papacy

Conflict with France

o Pope Boniface VIII (1294–1303) claimed papal supremacy over secular rulers

Issued Unam Sanctam (1302) claiming all humans subject to the pope Issued Clericis Laicos (1296) decreeing that kings and lords can’t tax clergy

o Boniface and King Philip IV faced off on issue of royal authority over clergy

In 1303, Philip captured Pope Boniface VIII, who died shortly thereafter Benedict XI (1303–1304) and Clement V (1305–1314) tried to placate Philip Clement moved from Rome to Avignon in southern France

o From 1309 to 1377, papacy was in Avignon and popes were all French

Luxurious lifestyle and Avignon added to growing antipapalism

o Marsiglio of Padua (c. 1290–c. 1343) critiqued clerical intrusion in worldly affairs

In The Defender of the Peace, claimed state to run without religious commands Thus Marsiglio denied essential premises of medieval papal political theory

The Great Schism and the Conciliar Movement

o Avignon popes capable and tightened hold over church administration o But problems continued after Pope Gregory XI returned the papacy to Rome in 1377

Urban VI elected in 1378 but abused cardinals Cardinals fled, declared the election invalid, elected Clement VII the new pope

Urban and Clement excommunicated each other: now two popes Prominent churchmen called for general council to end the schism

Council of Pisa in 1409 deposed both and elected a new pope But neither deposed pope recognized the council’s decision, so then there were

three

o New council called at Constance in 1414, and the schism finally ended in 1417 o Church councils met regularly in fifteenth century to combat heresy, reform church

Yet papacy regained its authority: in 1460, conciliarism was deemed heretical

Fourteenth-Century Heresies 27

o New radical reformers questioned function of the church

Paved the way for the Protestant Reformation

o John Wycliffe (c. 1320–1384)

Stressed personal relationship between individual and God Claimed that the Bible was the ultimate Christian authority Argued that salvation was not just through the church Wanted the state to confiscate church property and wanted the clergy to be poor

o Czech Jan Hus (c. 1369–1415)

Wycliffe’s ideas welcomed by Czech reformers like Hus Hus advocated vernacular translations of the Bible Criticized upper clergy for luxury and immorality

o Hus and some of Wycliffe’s followers were burned at the stake o Yet the ideas would remain and merged with doctrines of the Reformation

o Breakup of the Thomistic Synthesis

Breakup of the Thomistic Synthesis

o Duns Scotus (1265–1308), Scottish Franciscan

Held that human reason cannot prove that God is omnipotent Thomistic relationship of reason and revelation was altered It was now held that articles of faith were to be believed, not proved Snapped the link of reason and faith that Aristotle and scholastics had forged

o William of Ockham (c. 1285–1349)

Chief proponent of new outlook was William of Ockham In contrast to Aquinas, he argued that reason could not prove tenets of faith

For Ockham, there was no rational foundation to Christianity Ockham separated natural knowledge from religious dogma

Thus Ockham and Duns Scotus were forerunners of modern rational mentalities

The Middle Ages and the Modern World: Continuity and Discontinuity

Continuity and Discontinuity

o Modern world is linked to the Middle Ages in many ways:

Cities, middle class, state system, common law, universities New business practices, bookkeeping, bill of exchange Scholars preserved priceless Greek and Arabic thought Feudal traditions lingered up through French Revolution Medieval idea of noble and aristocratic ideals continued into modern world

o During Middle Ages, European society developed in crucial ways for the West

Technology and inventiveness rooted in Christianity Notion of individual worth and human spiritual equality influenced the West Ideals of Judeo-Christian traditions have become part of Western civilization Idea that law should be rooted in collaboration of king and subjects

o Yet characteristic medieval outlook very different from the modern

28

Medieval mind rejected autonomy of reason Saw nature and society as a hierarchical order

o In contrast, modern view sees nature and human intellect as self-sufficient

Postulated uniformity of nature, rejected hierarchy Broke rigid tripartite division of medieval society Rejected personal and customary character of feudal law, finding law more

objective Articulated new outlook on infinite universe that challenged medieval idea that

human beings are special children of God

o Modern outlook developed gradually from the Renaissance to the eighteenth century

CHAPTER 12

The modern world is linked to the Middle Ages in innumerable ways. European cities, the middle class, the state system, English common law, universities-all had their origins in the Middle Ages. During medieval times, important advances were made in business practices which paved the way for modern banking. By translating and commenting on medieval scholars preserved a priceless intellectual heritage without which the modern mind could never have evolved. Numerous strands connect the thought of the scholastics and that of early modern philosophers. During the Middle Ages, Europeans began to take the lead over all the other peoples in the use of technology. Medieval technology and inventiveness stemmed in part from Christianity, which taught that God had created the world specifically for human beings to subdue and exploit. Moreover, Christianity taught that God was above nature, not within it, so the Christians faced no spiritual obstacle to exploiting nature- unlike, for instance, the Hindus. In contrast to classical humanism, the Christian outlook did not consider manual work degrading; even monks combined it with study. Feudalism (fyu-de-li-zem) also contributed to the history of liberty. According to feudal custom, the king was duty bound to honor agreements made with his vassals. Lords possessed personal rights, which the king was obliged to respect, Resentful of a king who ran roughshod over customary feudal rights, lords negotiated contracts with the crown, such as Magna Carta (Mag-ne Kar-te) (1215), to define and guard their customary liberties. To protect themselves from the arbitrary behavior of a king, feudal lords initiated government by consent and the rule of law. A related phenomenon was the rise of representative institutions, with which the king was expected to consult on the realm’s affairs. The most notable of such institutions was the British Parliament. Though subordinate to the king, it became a permanent part of the state. In the seventeenth century, Parliament would successfully challenge total authority. Thus, the continuity exists between the feudal tradition of a king bound by law and the modern practice of limiting the authority of the head of state. Medieval thought began with the existence of God and the truth of his revelation as interpreted by the church, which set the standards and defined the purposes for human endeavor. The medieval mind rejected the autonomy of reason. Philosophical inquiry was permissible only if the mind arrived at clerically approved conclusions. Scholastics engaged in genuine philosophical speculation, but they did not allow philosophy to challenge the basic premises of their faith. Unlike ancient or modern thinkers, medieval schoolmen believed that reason alone could not provided a unified view of nature or society. For medieval philosophers, the natural order depended on a supernatural order for its origin and purpose. To understand the natural world properly, it was necessary to know its relationship to the higher world. The discoveries of reason had to accord with Scripture as interpreted by the church. For the medieval philosopher, God was the source of moral values, and the church was responsible for teaching these norms.

CHAPTER 12

The Late Middle Ages: Crisis and Dissolution

Instructional objectives

29

After reading and studying this chapter, students should be able to:

· Discuss the social and economic problems that afflicted western Europe in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, noting especially those related to the Black Death and the Hundred Years’ War.

· Analyze the issues at stake for the papacy in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, including conflict with secular rulers, the Avignon period, papal schism, and conciliarism.

· Discuss how the synthesis achieved by Aquinas broke down in the Late Middle Ages and how Ockham’s views were a radical departure from those of Saint Thomas.

· Contrast medieval and modern views of nature, society, law, and the individual’s place in the universe.

Focus Questions

1. Why is the fourteenth century described as an age of adversity?

2. What led to the decline of the medieval papacy? What is the historical significance of this development?

3. What is the significance of thinkers who challenged the Thomistic synthesis?

4. What is the legacy of the Middle Ages to the modern world?

5. How does the characteristic outlook of the Middle Ages differ from that of the modern age?

Review Questions

The Late Middle Ages: Crisis and Dissolution

Review Questions

1. What factors contributed to the famine of the Late Middle Ages?

2. How did Europeans react to the Black Death? How did the Black Death impact both society and the economy?

3. What were the positive and negative impacts of the Hundred Years’ War for the French?

4. Trace the conflicts between the papacy and the French kings. How did these conflicts impact the power and influence of the papacy?

5. How did the ideas of Marsiglio of Padua in The Defender of the Peace challenge the traditional medieval ideas about the roles and relationships of the church and the state?

6. How did the Conciliar Movement attempt to change the papacy and what was the result?

7. In what ways did the teachings of John Wycliffe challenge the church? How did the church react?

8. Compare the ideas of William of Ockham and Thomas Aquinas. How do Ockham’s ideas represent a changing philosophical outlook in the Late Middle Ages?

9. Identify the major elements of the medieval world that continue to influence the modern world.

10. Compare the outlook of the Middle Ages with that of the modern age.

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Chapter 13: The Renaissance: Transition to the Modern Age

Italy: Birthplace of the Renaissance Political Evolution of the City-States

o City-states of northern Italy were developed urban centers

Resembled those of ancient Greece Different from rest of Europe in two ways:

Flourishing commercial and banking centers by late eleventh and twelfth centuries

Feudal nobility less influential in government than elsewhere

o City-states were inherently unstable due to:

Internal conflicts between merchants and nobles External rivalries among city-states themselves

o Political experimentation in northern Italy in two periods

Republicanism (1300–1450), especially in Florence and Venice Self-government built around elected chief magistrate and constitution Also developed theories defending and justifying their liberty Yet in fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, republican institutions toppled

Despotism (1450–1550) emerges due to: Class war between rich merchants and nobles Economic disasters, famine, disease of 1350–1450 City-state reliance on mercenary troops

o By mid-fifteenth century, five major powers emerged from the fighting

Kingdom of Naples and Sicily Papal States City-states of Florence, Venice, and Milan

o In 1454, these powers established the Peace of Lodi

Endured due to diplomacy, alliances, new balance of power Peace ends in 1494 when French king Charles VIII invaded northern Italy

Renaissance Society

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o Marriage and Family Life

City life altered family structure and relations between the sexes Older men married younger brides, and widows inherited property Large number of single urban adults brought new sexual mores Upper-class women had greater freedom than in the medieval period

o Patronage of the Arts

Upper classes patronized arts with financial support Families wealthy from commerce dominated cities, used culture to justify power Art could serve a political function, both for secular and ecclesiastical powers Explosion of creativity resulted from this new patronage, along with a scramble

for honor and reputation

o Secularism

Renaissance society marked by growing secular outlook New emphasis on civic engagement and worldly pleasures Upper class did not allow religion to interfere with the challenge of living well in

the world

o Individualism

Individualism was another hallmark of Renaissance society. Urban elites strove to express themselves and fulfill ambitions Renaissance ideal was explicitly elitist and was not available to all Yet individualism became embedded in the Western soul and shaped future

cultural development

The Renaissance Outlook: Humanism and Secular Politics

Humanism

o Humanism was educational and cultural program based on study of ancient literature

Unlike medievals, Renaissance humanists did not adapt classics to Christianity Instead, they used the classics as inspiration and a guide to good living Humanists restored to circulation every Roman work that could be found Humanists also studied Greek to read Homer, Plato, and others in the original Italian humanism was not, however, un-Christian.

Attacked scholasticism for hairsplitting arguments but did not challenge Christian belief or question the validity of the Bible

Stressed Christianity based on direct study of scripture and patristic writings

o Early humanists included Petrarch (1304–1374) and Boccaccio (1313–1375)

Petrarch was drawn to Cicero, emphasized knowledge of communication Emphasized rhetoric and moral philosophy in education Helped make Ciceronian values dominant among humanists

Petrarch’s followers set up schools to further the new educational ideal Central to humanist educational ideal was new view of human

o Renaissance humanists perceived individuals as capable of achieving excellence

Emphasis on human creative powers was one of the most influential aspects of Renaissance

Writers such as Giovanni Pico della Mirandola also called for human mastery of nature through philosophy and also magic

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Thus, humanist ideas were a major psychological driving force of the Scientific Revolution

o Yet the new humanist image was compromised in terms of women and gender

Some powerful women ruled, but they were always thought inferior and were exceptions

Other aristocratic women patronized humanist scholars, but again, this was exceptional

Humanists generally insisted that women should be obedient, not educated However, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (1486–1535) disagreed

He argued, in his work On the Nobility and Excellence of Women, for full equality of the sexes

Similarly, humanist Christine de Pizan (1364–c. 1430) attacked ancient prejudice in The City of Ladies, although she also fell back on stereotyped roles

o By second half of fifteenth century, civic/Petrarchan model replaced by princely rule

Influence of Medici family played a crucial role in shaping new ideals Emphasis on pursuit of virtue and honor, humanist education, and courteous

behavior Aim of princely rule was peace and security, requiring not republic but hereditary

monarchy New advice books for princes became popular

The Book of the Courtier by Baldesar Castiglione (1478–1529)

A Revolution in Political Thought

o Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527) wrote the era’s most important advice book, The Prince

o Offered critique of humanist ideal and shaped modern political theory o Machiavelli argued for the rational deployment of force rather than the exercise of

virtue o Called for a leader to be wily and virtuous and to know how to dissemble—to cultivate a

reputation for virtue rather than virtue itself o Machiavelli thus broke with both the medieval and the humanist traditions of political

thought: a secularist who did not draw on Christian teachings

o The Spread of the Renaissance

The Spread of the Renaissance

o Renaissance spread to Germany, France, England, and Spain in late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries

Yet different aspects appealed to these regions: In England, France, and Spain, Renaissance culture was aristocratic In Germany, vital lay piety and no monarch created anticlerical blend of thought

o Northern humanists were profoundly dedicated to ancient learning, like the Italians

Yet focus was on problem of the ancient church, ideal Christian model for reform

o Two factors accelerated spread of Renaissance culture after 1450:

Growing prosperity Peace and decline of famine/plague led to new schools and colleges

Printing press (c. 1445): shift from block printing to movable type accelerated the spread of Renaissance ideas

Book-publishing industry began to boom

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First printed books were religious, followed by secular subjects as well Printed books were much cheaper, and books became a huge business 15–20 million books were published by 1500, 150 million more by 1600 Literacy rates began to climb, as did publications in the vernacular Printing also provided sounder basis for scholarship

o Not everyone was enthusiastic: elites and authorities were concerned

Catholic Church created Index of Prohibited Books in the mid-sixteenth century

o Tension between power of print and desire to control opinion would continue

Erasmian Humanism

o Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536) made Renaissance humanism international o Erasmus used the pen to attack scholasticism and clerical abuses and to promote faith

His satiric Praise of Folly and Colloquies won him international acclaim

o Erasmus said true religion is revealed in the Bible and accessible to all o For Erasmus, all people are naturally capable of understanding and living by Scripture o Erasmus worked for peace and balance and was horrified by much of the Reformation

However, his influence shaped subsequent history, and later humanists looked back to him

French Humanism

o German and French humanists pursued Christian humanist aims

Had faith in the power of words and sought accurate biblical texts Protestant reformers such as Martin Luther would rely on such humanist

scholarship

o French thinkers took humanism in distinct new directions o Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)

Montaigne advanced skepticism, Christian faith, but also tolerance He argued that people should not be punished for their beliefs In his Essays, he devoted himself to Socratic self-examination This humanist work shows transition from civic virtue to introspection,

selfhood Montaigne’s focus represented a retreat from Renaissance humanist

idealism

o François Rabelais (c. 1494–1553) took a different route

He asserted the goodness of the individual and one’s right to enjoy the world Gargantua and Pantagruel celebrates earthly life, and the motto “Do what thou

wilt”

Spanish Humanism

o Spanish humanism was a special case o The church hierarchy in Spain monopolized humanist learning and applied it

In contrast to northern humanism, Spanish humanism had no room for dissenting voices

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o Man behind authoritarian Spanish humanism was Cardinal Francisco J. de Cisneros (1436–1517)

De Cisneros founded university, published classical and linguistic studies Like other humanists, he desired a return to pure Scriptural sources

o A century later, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547–1616) wrote Don Quixote

The novel satirized ideals of knighthood and chivalry and was apparently still influential in seventeenth-century Spain

English Humanism

o Christian humanism in England sharply differed from that in Spain

In England, it was developed by secular men as often as by clerics

o Sir Thomas More (1478–1535) was a major figure

Lawyer, civil servant, member of Parliament His book Utopia was first major utopian treatise since Plato’s Republic In Utopia, he argued that an acquisitive society is both unjust and unprosperous More set out to invent an ideal society in which private ownership was abolished

o Was lord chancellor under Henry VIII but resigned when the king broke with Rome

He was executed in July 1535 for refusing to acknowledge the king’s ecclesiastical supremacy

o William Shakespeare (1564–1616) expressed Renaissance values of honor, heroism, and fate, often in classical contexts

His greatest plays explore themes of strength but also human weakness

o Shakespeare was intrigued by contradiction between Renaissance image of nobility and man’s capacity for evil and self-destruction

o The Renaissance and the Modern Age

The Renaissance and the Modern Age

o The Renaissance marks a shift toward modernity in:

Art The idea of the individual’s role in history and nature Society Politics War and diplomacy

o Commercial wealth and new politics made a new culture: Renaissance humanism and art

Talented individuals returned to classical antiquity and rejected the Middle Ages Yet the humanists simultaneously differentiated themselves from the classical

past and thus acted as first historians Renaissance works often depict a world without reference to supernatural realms

o From Machiavelli’s politics to mathematical perspective, new points of view emerged based on classical sources and examples

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o New confidence of Renaissance humanism also expressed in cult of the individual o Ideal of meritocracy and individual potential was powerful, at least in theory

Yet this ideal was also limited to a small, exclusive, and mostly male urban elite

CHAPTER 13

The Renaissance marks the birth of modernity- in art, in the idea of the individual’s role in history and nature, and in society, politics, war, and diplomacy. Central to this birth is a bold new view of human nature: individuals in all endeavors are free of a given destiny imposed by God from the outside-free to make their own destiny. Individuals, set free from theology, are seen to be the products and the shapers of history. Within the Italian city-states, where the Renaissance was born, rich merchants were at least as important as the church hierarchy and the old nobility. The city-states were almost completely independent because of the weakness of church and empire. The northern Italians were left free to invent new forms of government, in which merchant-oligarchs (a-le-garkz) humanists, and condotierri (kan-da-tyer-e) played a more important part than priests and nobles, who dominated politics in the rest of Europe. Along with the inventiveness, however, this newness and lack of tradition produced disorder and violence. Condottieri grabbed power from hapless citizens, and republics gave way to despotism. But the problems created by novelty and instability demanded solutions, and the wealth of the cities called forth the talent to find them. Commercial wealth and the new politics produced a new culture: Renaissance art and humanism. Talented scholars, poets, artists, and government officials returned to classical antiquity. Ancient models in art, architecture, literature, and philosophy provided answers to their questions. The revival of antiquity by the humanists did not mean that they identified completely with it. In the very act of looking back, the humanists differentiated themselves from the past. They were in this sense the first modern historians because they could study and appreciate the past for its own sake. In the works of Renaissance artists and thinkers, the world was depicted and explained without the reference to a higher supernatural realm of meaning and authority. Closely associated with this secular element in Renaissance culture was a new realism that beckoned toward the modern outlook. This realism also manifests itself in the realm of art, where mathematical perspective renders the world in its spatial dimension and gives it the solidity and drama that constitute a modern visual and esthetic realism. The sources for both the esthetic and the political realism were the cultural forms of ancient Greece and Rome. Renaissance humanism exuded deep confidence in the capacities of able people, instructed in the wisdom of the ancients, to understand and change the world. In place of Christian resignation there grew a willingness to confront life directly and a belief that able human beings can succeed even against great odds. This new confidence is closely related to another distinctive Renaissance feature-the cult of the individual. The Renaissance image of the individual and the world, was the exclusive prerogative of a small, well educated, urban elite, and did not reach down to include the masses. Nevertheless, the Renaissance set an example of what people might achieve in art and architecture, taste and refinement, education, and urban culture.

CHAPTER 13

The Renaissance: Transition to the Modern Age

instructional objectives

· Describe the special conditions existing in northern Italy that gave rise to the Renaissance and explain how those conditions were related to one another.

· Define and describe humanism, explain the humanists’ interest in classical literature, and assess their contributions to modern education and scholarship.

· Explain how and why the Renaissance spread beyond Italy and cite specific writers and their works to illustrate its influence in Germany, France, Spain, and England.

· Use examples drawn from works of writers and artists to contrast the Renaissance outlook with that of the Middle Ages and to compare it with the modern world-view.

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Focus Questions

1. What conditions gave rise to the Italian Renaissance?

2. What is the historical significance of Renaissance humanism?

3. How did Machiavelli’s political thought mark a break with the medieval outlook?

4. What were the effects of the printing press on European civilization?

Review Questions

The Renaissance: Transition to the Modern Age

Review Questions

1. To what extent can the Renaissance be seen as a continuation of the Middle Ages? Why can the Renaissance be viewed as the point of departure for the modern world?

2. What were the two periods of political experimentation in the northern Italian city-states? What political ideas and practices developed to justify the first period? Why did a republic form of government ultimately fail in most of these city-states?

3. How and why did marriage and family life change in Renaissance Italy?

4. How did attitudes about secularism and individualism change in Renaissance Italy?

5. What was humanism, and how did it influence the Renaissance outlook, including the understanding of individualism?

6. In what ways, if at all, did the Renaissance change the understanding on the role of women in society? Support your answer with discussions of specific authors. Do their conclusions seem consistent with the actual role women were playing politically, economically, and socially? Support your answer.

7. The Renaissance altered perspectives on both civic humanism and princely rule. What did these two concepts have in common, and how did they differ?

8. How did Machiavelli’s understanding of the state differ from both medieval and humanist traditions of political thought?

9. In what ways did the printing press stimulate learning, scholarship, and the Renaissance? Why did some authorities consider it to be a threat?

10. Identify Erasmian humanism. How did Erasmus describe true religion?

11. In what ways did the French thinker Michel de Montaigne challenge traditional Christian ideas about the role of faith and reason in religion?

12. How did Spanish humanism differ from that of the northern Renaissance?

13. What aspects of the Renaissance were most important in ushering in the modern age?

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Chapter 14: The Reformation: The Shattering of Christian Unity

The Reformation: The Shattering of Christian Unity By early sixteenth century, the church was under attack

o Reformers criticized its desire for wealth and power o Drew on literary criticism to undermine papal authority (Lorenzo Valla’s proof that the

Donation of Constantine was a forgery) o Yet although humanists called for reform, the Reformation did not originate with

humanists and went far beyond humanist ideals

The Reformation began with monk Martin Luther in Germany

o In 1517 he proclaimed the Ninety-five Theses, short propositions that started a rebellion against the church

o Ultimate consequence was the fragmentation of Christian unity o Reformation also brought significant political, social, and cultural change as well

o The Medieval Church in Crisis

Wycliffe and Hus

o Two reform attempts prior to Luther: Waldo and Wycliffe/Hus

Waldo in France emphasized vernacular Scripture and inner spirituality

o John Wycliffe in England and Jan Hus in Bohemia

Both were theologians who attacked vital church doctrines and practices Both called for vernacular Scripture and/or preaching

o Wycliffites (Lollards) and Hussites continued after their leaders’ deaths o Hussites broke with Rome and founded an independent Bohemian church

Mysticism and Humanism

o Wycliffe’s and Hus’ reform attempts coincided with strong new religiosity o Late medieval mysticism was swelling and was distrusted by the church

The Brethren of the Common Life propounded mystical devotio moderna Many late medieval mystics were women, excluded from other forms of religious

participation

o More radical expression came in millenarianism, belief in 1,000-year rule of saints on earth after the Last Judgment

The End of the World

o New sense of urgency in Wycliffite/Hussite circles, fueled by economic grievances 38

o Millenarians drew on biblical prophecy, demanded justice for the poor and oppressed o By 1500, biblical concept of Antichrist and Church as Whore of Babylon were central to

millenarian thinking. o Luther would draw on this tradition when he called the pope Antichrist

o The Lutheran Revolt

Luther: Humanist, Prophet, and Conservative Augustinian friar Martin Luther (1483–1546) embodied these elements

Came from newly rich family and had ambitious education At university, he studied law and read humanists such as Erasmus

o In 1504, however, he left legal studies to become an Augustinian monk

Later he described spiritual fear and guilt as the major motivator for that decision

o Luther was also a millenarian, believing he lived in the last days of the world o Though theologically radical, he was socially conservative, preserving the social order

Luther’s Break with Catholicism

o Even as a monk, Luther felt burdened by sin, dissatisfied with works as a means to salvation

Thus he increasingly turned to the Bible, especially passages on grace and faith

o Concept of salvation by faith alone satisfied Luther’s spiritual quest

No amount of good works, no matter how necessary, can ensure salvation At the University of Wittenberg, he began to share his views and preach

o After 1517 and the posting of his theses, he had a reputation as a brilliant scholar and also (in some circles) as a heretic

Major element of his theses was criticism of papal sale of indulgences Friar named Tetzel was selling them near Wittenberg in autumn of 1517 Luther attacks his exploitation of the people and the crudeness of his program

o Major differences between Luther and church

Luther required no works for salvation, whereas the church held that both faith and works were necessary

Luther claimed no difference between clergy and laity and maintained that the church held no mediating power for the individual

But Who Is Saved?

o How can a person know whether he or she has enough faith for salvation? o Notion of “predestination” to grace was never fully expounded by Luther o French theologian John Calvin, however, made predestination central

Assumption of predestination is that God gives faith to certain individuals Every person is predestined for either heaven or hell

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o Struggle of knowing whether one is saved continued

The Creation and Spread of Lutheranism

o Luther didn’t know what he started in 1517, but he continued to write and preach

By 1525, 3,000,000 printed Protestant pamphlets circulated in Germany

o Politics was key to maintenance of Lutheran reform

Luther appealed to elector Frederick of Saxony for help Frederick supported him and helped to keep him safe from enemies

o By 1520, it was too late for the pope quietly to suppress Luther

Luther claimed the pope was Antichrist and burned the bull of excommunication In Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (1520) he called for

princely support In The Freedom of the Christian Man (1520) he called for Christian discipline

among Germans

o In 1521, emperor summoned Luther to Worms where he defied leaders instead of recanting

Shortly thereafter, he went into hiding Translated New Testament into German to make it available to literate Germans

o His followers were eventually called Protestants for protesting against the church

Religious Reform or Social Revolution?

o Luther looked to every level of society for support

Same issues moving Germans appealed to people across Europe By 1520s, followers or readers of Luther were spread far and wide Lives changed with the new direction in faith and response to the Church

Luther married Katherina van Bora and had six children

o How did so much change in one generation?

Reformation gave nobility chance to confiscate church lands Also gave means of resisting Catholic Holy Roman Emperor But mostly it was a popular evangelical movement

o Luther was a political conservative who didn’t want to challenge secular authority

Yet he couldn’t prevent ideas from spreading orally to poor and peasants

o Millenarianism and poverty combined with Lutheranism to inspire social revolution

Luther attacked the rebellious peasants, urging their violent suppression In 1525, revolting peasants had been put down by the sword

o In Germany, religious Reformation did not mean social revolution or even reform

o The Spread of the Reformation

Calvin and Calvinism

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o Reformation’s success outside Germany derived from rigor of John Calvin

Calvin (1509–1564) was a French scholar and theologian As a young student in Paris, he was impressed by Luther’s ideas Like Luther, he came from a family of recently acquired substance

o Calvin was trained as a humanist (languages, philosophy, Scripture)

Riots were breaking out in Paris between Catholics and Protestants In 1534, French king declared Protestants heretics Calvin was now preaching the Reformation and God’s power over humanity

o For Calvin, the huge distance between divine and human was mediated only by Christ

Obedience to Christian law was dominating principle for Calvin He was forced to leave France due to politics and went to Geneva Geneva’s citizens were revolting against Catholic bishops; he was urged to stay Calvin and William Farel led Protestants in Geneva

o In Geneva, Calvin established an unofficial Calvinist theocracy ruled by older, pious men of the community

Elders of the Calvinist church strictly oversaw dress, sexual behavior, business Rigid discipline made Geneva prosperous

o Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536) became leading book of new theology

By second half of sixteenth century, theology of predestination spread across Europe

Calvinist theologians opposed monarchy and lent fuel to political revolution

France

o Protestantism was illegal in France after 1534, but persecution was halfhearted o French Calvinists (Huguenots) became organized underground movement

By 1559, they were rigorously challenging the Catholic Guise family In 1562, brutal civil war erupted between Catholics and Protestants In 1572, a popular uprising left thousands of Protestants dead (St. Bartholomew’s

Day Massacre)

o Catholics narrowly defeated the Protestants, but tentative peace was extended o In 1598, King Henry IV issued the Edict of Nantes (some toleration of Protestants) o In 1685, the Edict was revoked and 25,000 Huguenots fled to other areas in Europe or

the American colonies

England

o Reformation in England took a very different course from continental Reformation o In England, reform was driven by King Henry VIII (1509–1547), not clergy

Sparked by papal refusal to annul Henry’s first marriage to Catherine of Aragon

o He decided to remove the English church from papal jurisdiction

In 1529, Henry convinced Parliament to accept his Reformation In 1534, he was declared supreme head of the Church of England (Anglican) In 1536, he dissolved English monasteries, giving their properties to the nobility

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o Henry turned the Reformation into a national movement, using Parliament/gentry

After his death, some struggle, but England was Protestant again under Elizabeth

o Anglican Church differed only slightly from Roman Catholicism

Yet relationship of Anglicanism (Puritans) to Protestantism elsewhere uncertain Under Elizabeth, national identity flourished, only minor persecution of Catholics Calvinism flourished in Scotland, whereas Ireland remained Catholic

Southern and Eastern Europe

o Reformation did not take hold in Spain and Italy (where Inquisition was strong) o Spanish church and state had joined religious/national interests to drive out Muslims o The Reformation thus could not evade clerical authorities in southern Europe o Eastern Europe showed a different pattern

Reformation rushed into power vacuum of Hungary Hungarian reformers studied in Wittenberg and preached Lutheran gospel in

Hungary Hungarian Protestants remained influential in the intellectual life of the country

o Eastern pattern followed that found in the rest of Europe

Reformation began in cities where it had support from nobility But it lasted only when it took root in the general population (as in Poland)

The Radical Reformation

o Mainstream Protestantism called “magisterial” because reformers usually supported established political authorities

Yet Reformation did trigger revolts among artisan and peasant classes By 1520s, several radical reformers arose (often from lower classes)

o Such reformers tried to channel popular religion into new reformed Christianity for the oppressed

Some beliefs constitute what may be called the Radical Reformation They argued that ordinary people have inner light, direct communication of God

to his predestined chosen ones Spiritual freedom thus paralleled demands for social/economic freedom

o Largest group in Radical Reformation prior to 1550 called “Anabaptists”

On receiving the inner light, they felt born anew and sought rebaptism Implications are that infant baptism did not count Millenarian doctrines provided a sense of time and urgency of the moment

o In 1534, radical Anabaptists captured the city of Münster and awaited day of judgment

They were defeated by a Lutheran prince’s army and were brutally suppressed By the late sixteenth century, many radical movements had grown silent Yet during the English Revolution 1640–1660, beliefs and goals would reemerge

o Radical antihierarchical thought helped shape modern democratic thought

o The Catholic Response

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The Catholic Response

o Laypeople such as Ignatius Loyola (1491–1556) initially shaped the Catholic response

Spanish reformer Loyola created new order of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits)

o Jesuits became the backbone of the Catholic or Counter Reformation

They appealed to the papacy to lead international Christian universalism Jesuits noted that predestination inflicted despair and fear of damnation on all Thus they countered the Protestant Reformation by offering hope: religious

revival based on tradition, ceremony, and forgiveness

o Jesuits became great teachers in Europe, but concern about their intentions continued

New Catholic schools and universities appeared Also, a new form of art and architecture (baroque) responded to Protestant

inwardness

o By the 1540s, the Counter Reformation was under way

Some attempts to reform from within were benign, others bellicose Hostile and aggressive toward Protestants

Inquisition expanded its activities, though Protestants also executed people

Catholic Church also had tool of censorship, banning “dangerous” books

These included not only Protestant but also reforming Catholic works Index of Prohibited Books was not abolished until 1966

o Counter Reformation policies brought thousands of people back into the church

In 1545, the council of Trent met to reform the church Trent invigorated it and provided doctrinal clarity on issues of faith and works Intention of the decree was to give church a clear voice among Protestant voices All compromise with Protestantism was rejected, and the Christian split finalized

The Reformation and the Modern Age

The Reformation and the Modern Age

o Reformation shattered religious unity of Europe, cornerstone of medieval culture

Western Europe today still reveals Catholic and Protestant traditions

o Reformation furthered the growth of the modern state by strengthening power of monarchs and magistrates at expense of religious bodies

Protestantism did not create a modern secular state but freed state from subordination to religion

Indirectly, it contributed to the growth of political liberty (even while Luther and Calvin approved of close regulation of citizens by secular rulers)

o Reformation also contributed to Western individualistic ethic

Protestants interpreted the Bible for themselves and sought a direct relationship with God

Religious individualism was a counterpart to the intellectual individualism of Renaissance humanism

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o Max Weber argued in 1904 that Protestantism fostered nascent capitalism, applying moral virtues to work

o Tension between Roman Church and Protestantism set the former at odds with modernity

CHAPTER 14

The Reformation shattered the religious unity of Europe, and further weakened the principal authority in medieval society, the church. Its political power waned considerably. Protestant rulers completely repudiated the pope’s claim to temporal power and extended their authority over Protestant churches in their lands. In predominantly Catholic lands, the church reacted to the onslaught of Protestantism by supporting the monarchies, but at the same time it preserved a significant degree of political independence. Protestantism did not create the secular state; it did, however, help free the state from subordination to religious authority. Such autonomy is an essential feature of modern and secular political life. Indirectly, Protestantism contributed to the growth of political liberty. Luther said that subjects should obey the commands of their rulers, and Calvinists created in Geneva a theocracy (thee- a-kra-see) that closely regulated it citizens. Nevertheless, tendencies in the Reformation provided a basis for challenging monarchical (me-nar-ki-kel) authority. During the religious wars, both Protestant and Catholic theorists supported resistance to monarchs whose edicts, they believed, defied God’s Law.

An individualistic ethic was another of the Reformation’s contributions. Protestants sought a direct and personal relationship with God and interpreted the Bible for themselves. Facing the prospect of salvation or damnation entirely on their own, without the church to provide aid and security, and believing that God had chosen them to be saved, Protestants developed inner confidence and assertiveness. And the Protestant ethic developed concurrently with a new economic system. Theorists have argued ever since about whether the new Protestant individualism brought on the growth of capitalism or whether the capitalistic middle class values actually gave rise to the Protestant ethic. In the mid- nineteenth century, Karl Marx theorized that Protestantism gave expression to the new capitalistic values of the bourgeois (burzh-wa): thrift, hard work, self reliance, and rationality. Hence, Marx argues, the success of Protestantism can be explained by reference to the emergence of Western capitalism. Max Weber, the German sociologist, argued in 1904 that Marx had got it backward-that Protestantism encouraged the growth of capitalism, not vice versa. Weber perceived the spirit of capitalism in the Protestant ethic. For Weber, Protestants made the best capitalists because predestination made them worldly ascetics(e-se-tik): Christians forced to find salvation without assistance and through activity in this world. If Weber is right, commerce or family life could become sanctified. But this ethic did little to alleviate the condition of the poor, which had worsened by the end of the sixteenth century. The center of European economic growth shifted from Mediterranean and Catholic countries toward northern Atlantic areas in the late seventeenth century. Protestant cities, with their freer printing presses, were also developing into centers of intellectual creativity. London, Amsterdam, and Geneva were the western Protestant European cities with the modern world characteristics of individual expression, economic development, and scientific learning. By 1700, both the Protestant entrepreneur (an-tre-pra-ner) and intellectual began to symbolize the most advanced forms of economic and creative life. Sixteenth century Protestantism had created a new spirituality. Its doctrines eventually became useful in a highly competitive world where individuals rule their own lives and the labor of others and represent themselves and others in government.

CHAPTER 14

The Reformation: The Shattering of Christian Unity

instructional objectives

· Summarize developments of the late medieval period that influenced the emergence of new churches.

44

· Discuss Martin Luther’s personal struggle over the issue of salvation and explain how it was related to the issue of indulgences and the Ninety-five Theses.

· Explain why and to whom Luther’s ideas were appealing, how they were spread across Europe, and what the outcome was of the conflict between Catholics and Lutherans.

· Discuss the Roman Catholic reaction to the Reformation and what steps the church took to defend itself and to fight Protestantism in Europe.

· Describe the ways in which the Reformation contributed to the further breakup of the medieval world and the coming of the modern age.

Focus Questions

1. What is a Protestant?

2. Why did the Protestant Reformation occur when it did?

3. What are the differences among a Lutheran, a Calvinist, and an Anglican?

4. What were the characteristics of the Radical Reformation?

5. Did Catholics and Protestants approach the modern world differently?

Review Questions

The Reformation: The Shattering of Christian Unity

Review Questions

1. How did John Wycliffe and Jan Hus serve as forerunners of the Reformation?

2. What was millenarianism and how did it influence the demand for church reform?

3. How did Luther’s ideas of salvation differ from the traditional teachings of the Catholic Church?

4. What was predestination, and why did it play such a critical role in Protestantism?

5. What were the major ideas in Luther’s Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation and The Freedom of the Christian Man. How did these writings play a role in Luther’s teachings becoming acceptable to more people and therefore contributing to the spread of Lutheranism?

6. How did Lutheran ideas inspire some groups toward political and social change?

7. In what ways did Calvin’s doctrine of predestination have social and political implications?

8. How was the conflict between French Catholics and the Huguenots settled? How secure were the reforms instituted by the settlement?

9. Why did Protestantism have so little success in Italy and Spain?

10. Explain what the radical Protestants meant by the doctrine of the inner light. In what ways did this doctrine contribute to demands for social revolution?

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11. How did the Jesuits’ teachings and practices contribute to the Catholic Reformation? Why were their motives deemed so controversial?

12. In what ways did the Reformation contribute to the ideas and practices of the modern age?

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Chapter 15: European Expansion: Economic and Social Transformations

European Expansion Forces Behind Expansion

o Population increased between 1450 and 1600, and gentry needed more land o Merchants and shippers also had reasons to look abroad (trade, luxury goods, etc.) o Centralizing monarchical state also played key role

Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain established royal power at home and overseas

o Religion enhanced expansion, drawing on Christian crusade tradition o Technological revolution also contributed to European strength

Arms and new weapons technology Technological innovations in sailing ships gave Europeans decisive advantage

The Portuguese Empire

o Several reasons account for Portugal’s overseas success

Long Atlantic coastline ensured emphasis on the sea Feudal nobility was not powerful enough to suppress trade Portugal already supplied northern Europe with subtropical produce Royal policy favored expansion

o By 1400, Portuguese were expanding into Atlantic Ocean islands o By last quarter of century, they had a viable imperial economy in West Africa

Based on sugar, black slaves, and gold By 1488, Bartholomeu Dias reached southern tip of African continent Vasco da Gama sailed around tip and found all-water route to East

o Portuguese went directly to India and East Indies for spices

Portuguese domination made Genoese look farther to western Mediterranean Christopher Columbus (Genoese sailor) thus sought westward route to East

The Spanish Empire

o Spain stumbled onto its overseas empire, which was enormous and wealthy

Columbus was supported by Isabella, queen of Castile In 1492, he landed on a Caribbean island that he named Española, or Little Spain Even later, Columbus believed the West Indies were part of the East

o Spanish and Portuguese were not first outsiders to arrive, but were the first with guns, sails, horses, and religion

Though they obtained no spices, Spanish were enriched from land and precious metals

In 1519, Hernando Cortés landed on Mexican coast and defeated native Aztecs A decade later, Francisco Pizarro dominated the Incas of Peru Both Spaniards exploited hostility of subject tribes to their native overlords

o More important, however, was the effect of infectious diseases from Europe

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Gold and silver lured Spaniards overseas, but so did the crusading spirit Rewards were propagation of the faith, service to the crown, and new land

Encomiendas were grants of authority over natives; Estancias were remoter grants of land

Such relationships were major cause of decimation of native populations

o Between 1500 and 1600, native population shrank from 20 million to 2 million o As royal officials gained power, Spanish America became permanently divided between

privileged elite and poor masses

Black Slavery and the Slave Trade

o Black slaves were brought over from West Africa

Trans-Saharan trade of some 10,000 slaves a year was already in place But this annual traffic was dwarfed by trade between European colonies and West

Africa from the early sixteenth century When the Portuguese dominated Atlantic slave trade from 1450 to 1600, it never

exceeded 5,000 a year

o By end of seventeenth century, slaves shipped across the Atlantic rose to 30,000 a year; by the end of the eighteenth century, nearly 80,000

About 11 or 12 million blacks were exported to the New World Of these, 600,000 ended up in the 13 colonies of British North America

o Black African slavers captured victims and sold them to European companies who branded their “possessions”

Conditions on the slave ships were brutal About 13 to 30 percent died en route to the New World In Brazil and West Indies, slaves were worked to death In American South, large plantations were fewer, so fewer revolts took

place By 1830, southern slaves rose through natural increase to over 2 million

o What accounted for major increase in slave trade by eighteenth century?

New World had fields and mines to be worked, but native population had been wiped out

On African side, mostly men were shipped, and polygyny ensured that African women left behind continued to have children, so population didn’t diminish

o By 1700, introduction of guns allowed west African rulers to build armies for capturing other peoples, a spiral of mounting violence

o The Price Revolution

The Price Revolution

o Linked to overseas expansion was unprecedented inflation known as “price revolution”

Cereal prices increased by 9 times or more during sixteenth century After 1650, prices leveled off or fell

o Like colonization, price revolution played big role in the commercial revolution o One major cause was population growth during the late fifteenth and sixteenth

centuries

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Population of Europe nearly doubled between 1460 and 1620, though causes are unclear

Population decline in the seventeenth century was due to food shortages

o Second major cause was flow of silver into Europe from New World by 1552

Price revolution: too many people with too much money chasing too few goods

o Consequences of price revolution were momentous

o The Expansion of Agriculture

The Old Pattern of Farming

o Landlords held properties in manors all over Europe

By fifteenth century, much held by peasant-tenants (copyhold)

o Tenants had certain hereditary rights, including use of commons

Arable land worked in strips according to custom

o Whole pattern of peasant tillage and rights called open-field system o Remained same for centuries, then challenged by incentives of price revolution

Enclosure

o Open-field system used in medieval centuries prevented large-scale farming o In sixteenth century, English landlords began to pursue new profit possibilities o Two-pronged attack on open-field system emerged

Enclosure, fencing off the commons, became common practice Landlords also changed copyhold to leasehold (not heritable and fixed) Rural poverty and violence increased with mass evictions of tenant farmers Without tenants, fields could be incorporated into larger, more profitable units

o Subsistence farming gave way to commercial agriculture

Prosperous farmers (yeomanry) crucial to commercialization of English farming Eldest son inherited entire estate (primogeniture) so lands could stay undivided Rising prices forced less businesslike landlords to sell, concentrating land in

hands of more productive people

Convertible Husbandry

o In the Netherlands, price revolution affected agriculture as much as in England o Population soared, cities swelled, land reclamation soared o New system of convertible husbandry developed

This system alternated soil-depleting cereals with soil-restoring legumes/grazing Land thus produced more than it did under three-field system

o Increased productivity played key role in later industrialization of England and France

Agricultural Change in Eastern Europe

o From the Elbe River to Russia, dramatic effects of price revolution were also felt o Baltic lands provided regular shipments of grain

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o Baltic landlords became commercial farmers producing internationally o Enclosure to produce surplus occurred on vast scale o Eastern peasants were not evicted, but their status declined to serfdom

o The Expansion of Trade and Industry

The Domestic System

o Manufacturing and trade also reorganized, along with commercial/agricultural realms o Basic condition of price revolution produced expansion

In textile industries, increasing demand promoted specialization Markets shifted from local to regional or even international networks

o Emergence of merchant-capitalist with size and range to control local producers o Domestic system of cottage industry emerges at this time

Merchant-capitalist would buy raw wool from English (enclosed fields) Merchant’s agents gave wool to local villages to spin, dye, and weave

Many of the weavers were evicted peasants who needed the work Once processed into cloth, wool was picked up and shipped to market

o Domestic system a key step in evolution of capitalism

Represents a significant break with the medieval guild system Countryside rather than urban location allowed avoidance of guild restrictions New emphasis on division between owner and worker, not master and apprentice Enclosure also capitalized industry by lowering wages of workers

Innovations in Business

o Other business innovations emerged, some rooted in the Middle Ages o Banking operations became more sophisticated o Accounting methods improved, including double-entry bookkeeping o Shipping practices expanded to include maritime insurance o Joint-stock companies developed so small investors could participate in large ventures

Such companies accumulated huge amounts of capital for large-scale operations

Patterns of Commercial Development

o Responses to the price revolution varied in different parts of Europe

In England and the United Provinces, large-scale commercial expansion emerged New Dutch ship (fluit) handled bulky grain shipments easily from the Baltic Also allowed commercial penetration of the Orient

o Dutch challenged and displaced Portuguese in the spice trade o English trade continued in sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

Seventeenth century brought foundation of colonial empire on Atlantic seaboard English government was aligned with capitalist producers by end of that century Navigation Act passed in 1651 allowed English shippers to carry goods anywhere English displaced Dutch as leading power in international commerce after 1660

o France expanded commercially, but not as much, due to aristocracy and guilds o Spain possessed silver and the makings of expansion but did not capitalize on it

o The Growth of Capitalism

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What Is Capitalism?

o Capitalism is a system of private enterprise or free enterprise o Goods and labor are in opposite ratio to prices and wages o In the Middle Ages, capitalistic enterprise limited because of restricted market o In fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, conditions changed and incentives to invest

emerged

The Fostering of Mercantile Capitalism

o Several conditions sustained the incentive to invest and reinvest

Price revolution from a supply of commodities exceeded by demand

o Distribution of wealth emerged and promoted investment in three ways:

Inflation widened the gap between rich and poor Primogeniture focused wealth on eldest child, forcing younger sons into business International distribution of wealth promoted investment

o Governments also acted as giant consumers and fostered investment

State policies are known as mercantilism: pursuit of national wealth and power Mercantilism pursued favorable balance of international payments Mercantilists argued for goal of national sufficiency

o Thomas Mun (1571–1641) wrote of consumerism, that demand can be created o Mercantile capitalism paved the way for the first Industrial Revolution

o The Elite and the People

Traditional Popular Culture

o Economic expansion was accompanied by social and cultural changes as well

Traditional medieval distinction between elite and popular created split world Common people evolved a distinctive culture: a mosaic of customs Ordinary people worked, played, and worshiped in local world of village/city

o Certain occasions granted people freedom of expression o Carnival period preceding Lent was time of revelry, world turned “upside down” o Assemblies of common people for spectacle, celebration, social critique o One popular tradition was mockery of unusual marriages called the charivari

The Reform of Popular Culture

o In the sixteenth century, elites because increasingly hostile to popular culture

Two reasons accounted for this: First was elite’s fear of growing numbers of poor, and new waves of

religiosity Elites thought they would be able to reform society (especially humanists)

o Society came to be seen as divided between godly and ungodly

What ensued was a wide-ranging attack on all forms of traditional popular culture

o New bureaucratic state joined clergy in the reforming enterprise

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o In sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, many behaviors that had been sins were now made crimes

Public brothels were shut down after centuries Adultery, blasphemy, infanticide, sodomy, and witchcraft were criminalized

Witchcraft and the Witch Craze

o Prosecution of witches was a key element in attack on popular culture

Witchcraft had always been a part of traditional village culture (black and white) Medieval church developed a theology of witchcraft as conspiracy with the devil Witches thought to worship Satan in blasphemous, orgiastic nocturnal meetings Witches were prosecuted as early as the thirteenth century, tortured to confess

o Growth of printed literature influenced spread of the idea that witchcraft was a diabolical plot

o By sixteenth century, women were linked indelibly to witchcraft

In the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century trials, 75 percent of accused were women (usually single)

Perhaps 110,000 were prosecuted and 60,000 executed Ancient prejudice against women played a role Also social/economic pressure showing up vulnerability of poor older women

o By 1700, the witch craze had ended, first in Holland and in Spain

Religious turmoil triggered an intellectual backlash and skepticism “It is rating our conjectures too high to roast people alive for them” (Montaigne) Also elites began associating such beliefs with the uneducated and lower classes

o Belief in witchcraft lost appeal through social snobbery as much as through science

o Economic and Social Transformations

Economic and Social Transformations

o Transformations cited in this chapter were some of most momentous in world history

One small region dominated sea lanes and banking, established global hegemony

o Overseas expansion had profound effects on New World, Africa, and Europe

Widespread circulation of plant and animal life brought major consequences

o Western Europe was launched on a course of sustained economic growth

Traditional forms (primogeniture and holy war) grafted onto new forces Mercantile capitalism provided economic thrust for European world dominance

o Economic changes came with major shift in relations between rulers and ruled

Authorities became increasingly suspicious of the people Two separate cultures emerged that were hostile to each other Only in moments of panic and pressure (such as the witch craze) did people and

rulers come together to persecute a defenseless victim

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CHAPTER 15

Western Europe’s global hegemony(hi-je-me-nee) lasted well into the twentieth century. By conquering and settling new lands, Europeans exported Western culture around the globe. And the overseas expansion had profound effects. The native populations of the New World were decimated. To ease labor shortages, millions of blacks were imported from Africa to work as slaves on plantations and in mines. Black slavery would produce large-scale effects on culture, politics, and society, which have lasted to the present day. The widespread circulation of plant and animal life also had great consequences. Horses and cattle were introduced into the New World (The Aztecs were so amazed to see a man on horseback that they thought horse and rider were one demonic creature.) In return, the Old World sampled such novelties as corn, tomato, and most important, the potato, which was to become a staple of the northern European diet. Manioc(ma-nee-ak), from which tapioca(ta-pee-o-ka) is made, was transplanted from the New World to Africa, where it helped sustain the population. Western Europe was also wrenched out of the subsistence economy of the Middle Ages and launched on a course of sustained economic growth. This transformation resulted from the grafting of traditional forms, such as primogeniture(pri-mo-geni-chur) and holy war, onto new forces, such as global exploration, price revolution, and convertible husbandry. Out of this change emerged the beginnings of a new economic system, mercantile(mer-ken-teel) capitalism, which in large measure provided the economic thrust for European world predominance and paved the way for the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

CHAPTER 15

European Expansion: Economic and Social Transformations

instructional objectives

· Describe the changes taking place in Western Europe in the middle of the fifteenth century and analyze the forces that contributed to European expansion.

· Define and describe the price revolution and explain how it was connected to the expansion of Europe that occurred in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

· Compare and contrast the effects of the price revolution on the commercialization of agriculture in England, the Netherlands, and Eastern Europe.

· Describe the putting-out system and new business methods and organization.

· Define capitalism as an economic system and explain how its development was fostered by European expansion in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

· Discuss what is meant by “high” and “low” cultures and account for their changing relationship in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

· Analyze the economic and social transformations of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and their impact on Western civilization.

Focus Questions

1. What were the new forces for expansion operating in early modern Europe?

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2. How did the Spanish and Portuguese overseas expansion compare in terms of the motives, the areas of expansion, and the character of the two empires?

3. How did slavery in the United States compare with slavery in South America and the Caribbean?

4. What was the price revolution, what caused it, and what were its effects on agriculture, trade, and industry?

5. How and why did the traditional relationship between the people and their rulers begin to change in the sixteenth century, and with what result?

6. What accounts for the witch craze and its subsequent decline? Why were most of its victims women?

7. What were the long-term effects of European expansion during this period?

Review Questions

European Expansion: Economic and Social Transformations

Review Questions

1. Describe the economic, political, religious, and technological factors that influenced the expansionist expeditions in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

2. What unique factors in Portugal contributed to its success in overseas expansion?

3. What expeditions to the New World preceded Columbus’s? Why did the Spanish succeed in their efforts to claim territory in the New World when these earlier explorers failed?

4. Explain the factors on both the American and African sides that contributed to the growth of the large-scale slave trade.

5. Why and how did sixteenth-century English landholders attack the open-field system? What was the result for the tenant farmers? What was the result for agricultural production?

6. Describe how the Dutch dealt with their urgent need to increase agricultural production.

7. Describe the domestic system of cottage industry and explain how it represents an important step in the evolution of capitalism.

8. Why were France and Spain not able to expand commercially as quickly as England and the Netherlands?

9. Define capitalism. Why did capitalism not fully develop in the Middle Ages, and what factors contributed to its expansion in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries?

10. Traditional medieval popular culture included activities designed to “turn the world upside down.” What type of activities did this include? What are possible explanations for the popularity of such activities? To what extent were the upper classes a part of this revelry?

11. Why did the attitude of the elite change toward popular culture in the sixteenth century? What methods did the elite use to reform popular culture?

12. What were the results of the church developing a more theological interpretation of witchcraft? How did its interpretation compare with the traditional view of the practice? What theories offer explanations for the predominance of women charged with witchcraft?

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13. Identify the major consequences of European expansion.

Chapter 16: The Rise of Sovereignty: Transition to the Modern State

Monarchs and Elites as State Builders Monarchs and Elites as State Builders

o Kings drove the development of states and subordinated the aristocracy

Demise of medieval representative assemblies a dramatic illustration of royal will Rise of great early modern powers traced to royal military success and treasury

Dutch Republic an exception (elites-army-taxes instead of monarch)

o Where early modern monarchs dominated aristocrats, strong dynastic states emerged

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o Where the monarchs failed (Holy Roman Empire and Italy), no viable states emerged o Royal success also required subordinating religious authorities

This was done by linking religious and national identities

o Effects of European state building in France, England, Spain, and the Dutch Republic visible by late seventeenth century (though religious and political structures varied)

Monarchs and their states enshrined political power as masculine and familial

The Rise and Fall of Hapsburg Spain

Ferdinand and Isabella: Unity and Purity of “Blood” and Religion

o Ferdinand and Isabella (1479–1516) put in place a dynastic state/foundation of empire o They forged a Spanish identity based on “blood” ancestry as well as religion

The Spanish Inquisition was established to ferret out heretics and “false” converts

In 1492, the Spanish state expelled 150,000+ Jews and pushed Muslims out of their last stronghold in Granada

o By early sixteenth century, blood purity and orthodoxy were central to new Spanish identity

o Ferdinand and Isabella embarked on imperialist foreign policy in Europe and Americas o Their support of Columbus’ voyage paid off in eventual conquest of the Americas

From 1519, conquistador Hernando Cortés defeated Aztec nation Minor aristocrats (hidalgos) led the forces, created bureaucracy loyal to the king Bureaucracy and army of early modern states were key roles for lower nobility

The Reign of Charles V: Hapsburg, King of Spain, and Holy Roman Emperor

o Charles was the grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella, the result of dynastic strategizing o Ruling from 1516–1556, he inherited Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Sardinia, Sicily,

the kingdom of Naples, and Franche-Comté, and later elected Holy Roman emperor.

This inheritance was too vast to be governed effectively Lutheran Reformation in Germany was the first major and enduring challenge

o Achievement of his reign rested on twin instruments of army and bureaucracy

Hapsburg Empire in New World was well policed and precious metals flowed This money funded constant warfare and also the requisite bureaucracy

o Yet easy access to income prevented development of industry or commerce, and led to aggrandizement of military rather than commercial class

o The expansion of Spanish power in the sixteenth century sowed seeds of crisis by end of century

Philip II

o In reign of Philip II (1556–1598), strengths and weaknesses of empire became evident o Philip II was zealous Catholic who inherited huge empire in Old and New Worlds

Tendencies of “blood purity” and fierce Catholic orthodoxy heightened hostility to recent converts, or “New Christians”

o In the 1560s, Philip send massive land army into Netherlands vs. Protestant resistance 56

Netherlands revolt lasted until 1609 and was ultimately a defeat for the Spanish In later 1575 and 1585, Spanish army sacked Antwerp (leading commercial

center in northern Europe) Result was that Antwerp’s trade and educated elite went to Protestant

Amsterdam

o Philip also disastrously attempted invasion of England vs. Protestant Queen Elizabeth

Spanish Armada (22,000 men) defeated in 1588 in the English Channel Psychological effects of the defeat were profound for the Spanish

o Cultural renaissance of Shakespeare’s England rooted in Protestant, anti-Spanish pride

The End of the Spanish Hapsburgs

o After Armada defeat, Spain withdrew its imperial ambitions in northern Europe

From 1590s on, major weaknesses appeared in Spanish economic and social life These included bankruptcy and agricultural stagnation

o Yet Spain still took aggressive stance during Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648)

Austrian branch of Catholic Hapsburgs joined Spanish cousins Protestant Swedes and Germans and Dutch could not stop them Only French participation on the Protestant side tipped the scale against the

Hapsburgs

o By 1660, Spanish Hapsburg domination of Europe had ended, and a new era began:

Protestant princes ruled in Holy Roman Empire Largely Protestant Dutch Republic flourished Portugal and its slave colony of Brazil were independent of Spain European dominance had passed to France Quality of material life in Spain deteriorated rapidly Ever-present gap between rich and poor widened No effective leadership emerged in traditional aristocracy and church

o Resulting rigidity of institutions and values meant that Spain remained authoritarian longer than other European countries

o Spanish experience illustrates two aspects of history of European state

State as empire could thrive only with expanding domestic economy States with a vital mercantile class prospered in the early modern period

The Growth of French Power

The Growth of French Power

o Two states in the early modern period most effectively consolidated central government

England evolved into a constitutional monarchy The French model emphasized the sovereignty of the dynastic state but

developed slowly

o French notion of divine right of kings emerged in tenth century, giving monarch sanctity

French kings used the theory to enforce their commands over rebellious lords Yet medieval kings did not rule absolutely, acknowledged estates and courts

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Medieval kings did not originate law, but guaranteed and administered it

o Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453) transformed the political and social landscape

War enabled French kings to levy new taxes, maintain army, eject the English

o But only during reign of Louis XIV did French monarchy consolidate its power base

Religion and the French State

o In every emergent state, tension existed between the monarchy and papacy

In 1516, Francis I (1515–1547) concluded Concordat of Bologna Pope Leo X permitted king to nominate/appoint bishops in the French church Laid the foundation of Gallican Church, indicating authority of church in France Ecclesiastical and religious settlement was at the heart of royal authority

o Thus the Protestant Reformation threatened the survival of France as unified state

Once linked, religious/political opposition to central government was dangerous In following decades, Protestant minority grew in strength By challenging church, they were also inadvertently challenging royal authority Thus Protestantism became the basis of an increasingly revolutionary movement

o From 1562 to 1598, waves of religious wars in France stripped vast areas from king

Anonymous Huguenot attack on rights of kings in 1579 was the first of its kind Same treatise translated into English in 1648, just before execution of Charles I

o French monarchy foundered in face of combined religious/political opposition

Francis I era of royal supremacy ended under Henry II (1547–1559) Royal troops killed 5,000 Protestants in St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre (1572) Civil wars begun in 1562 continued until 1589

o Finally, under Henry IV (1589–1610), Edict of Nantes (1598) granted some toleration

The Consolidation of French Monarchical Power

o Protestant defeat set stage for the final consolidation of France under Bourbon kings

Louis XIII (1610–1643) realized need for bureaucracy, treasury, and vigilance Cardinal Richelieu (minister 1624–1642) was architect of French absolutism Richelieu’s morality rested in concept of raison d’état, reason of state

Increased central bureaucracy Attacked independent cities Harassed Huguenots Humbled great nobles

In 1643, Cardinal Mazarin took charge of minority of Louis XIV and continued Richelieu’s policies

The Fronde (series of street riots) threatened to become full-scale uprising

o When Louis XIV ascended in 1661, he vowed the Fronde would never be repeated.

Aided by minister of finance Colbert, Louis crafted the absolutist state The king became source of all power, and the central government supported him No monarch in Europe ever held so much authority or such a military machine

o Louis XIV’s reign represents culmination of increasing early modern royal authority 58

Why did the system work? Size of royal army and police made revolt nearly impossible Absolutism rooted in joined aristocracy, officials, church, revenues/army

o Yet Louis XIV’s system was flawed by there being no limits on war or expenditure

In 1685 Edict of Nantes revoked, and in 1689/1701 he started military campaigns Combined English, German, Austrian, and Dutch resistance emptied his treasury By late seventeenth century, taxes, bad harvests, and plague created intolerable

plight

o At his death in 1715, Louis XIV left onerous bureaucracy and tax system that needed reform, and overcontrolling central government that limited commercial expansion

By the 1780s, manufacturers clamored for freer markets; they later would contribute to revolution in 1789

The Growth of Limited Monarchy and Constitutionalism in England

The English Parliament and Constitution

o Medieval English Parliament had two distinguishing characteristics

National, not provincial Representatives elected by property, not birth or status, and voted as individuals

o In contrast to the French model, England developed into a constitutional monarchy o Magna Carta (1215) had guaranteed certain aristocratic privileges o Theoretical foundation for constitution grew out of legal customs of common law o Feudal law applied only locally, but common law extended throughout the realm

The Tudor Achievement

o Out of War of the Roses (1455–1485), Tudor Henry VII (1485–1509) emerged

Henry consolidated authority, remade institutions, checked noble ambitions

o Strength and efficiency of Tudor government demonstrated when Henry VIII (1509–1547) made himself head of the English church

Protestant Reformation in England was royal as well as ecclesiastical revolution Yet it also enhanced the power of Parliament, which participated in the change By end of his reign, Henry VIII was as powerful as French Francis I

o After some troubled brief reigns, Henry’s second daughter Elizabeth (1588–1603) brought stability

o In the seventeenth century, English would look back on her reign as a golden age

Social and economic changes of Elizabethan age seen in microcosm in Durham 1580–1640 brought new coal-mining industry Wool trade prospered New economy brought political tensions between “court” and “country” Gentry gained social status and wealth, wanted access to political influence

o By early seventeenth century in England, aristocracy was more commercial and less military than continental counterparts

Political initiative gradually slipped from great lords into hands of the gentry

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Elizabeth I, Queen of England (1558–1603)

o Elizabeth (daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn) was raised Protestant.

Rome considered Elizabeth a bastard, and she saw her position as precarious

o Elizabeth became queen in 1558 after short reigns of Mary and Edward o Despite worries of male contemporaries, Elizabeth proved an able monarch

Had her rival Catholic cousin Mary Queen of Scotland executed In 1588, Elizabeth’s reputation bolstered by failure of Spanish Armada She secured England for the Protestant cause, and religion/politics were realigned

o Age of Elizabeth brought cultural flourishing, including Shakespeare’s plays

The English Revolutions, 1640–1660 and 1688–1689

o First two Stuart kings, James I (1603–1625) and Charles I (1625–1649) ineffective

Like continental counterparts, each believed in royal absolutism Sought to establish court/crown as sole governing bodies, but had no solid base Stuarts preached doctrine of divine right of kings through the established church Both James and Charles tried to centralize power and win over monarchy

Charles’s goals were twofold Rid the nation of Puritans Root out the “country” opposition

Policies were disastrous: by 1640 the Puritans and gentry opposition were closer

o First English Revolution began in 1640 due to Charles’s need for money for his efforts against the Scots

Calvinist Scots had rebelled against Charles’s religious policies Charles had to call Parliament for first time since suspending it in 1620 Parliament’s demands were refused by Charles, and he tried to arrest its leaders

o In 1642, civil war began and continued for forty years

Two English Revolutions were part of two-generation constitutional crisis They culminated in regicide in 1649, flared up again after royal restoration in

1660 Issues were resolved finally in “Glorious Revolution” of 1688–1689

Charles II (1660–1685) never instituted royal absolutism His brother James II (1685–1688) was Catholic and absolutist admirer

o In 1688, opponents formed a conspiracy against James II to bring son-in-law William of Orange of the Netherlands to invade England

Dangerous plan succeeded for three reasons William and the Dutch needed English support against the French James lost loyalty of key supporters in army, church, and counties Political elite was committed and united in its intentions

William and Mary (James’s Protestant daughter) were declared king and queen by act of Parliament (Glorious Revolution)

Revolution Settlement of 1688–1689 resolved major constitutional and social tensions of seventeenth century

Created new public and political order admired by enlightened reformers Through eighteenth century, England ruled by kings/Parliaments in cohesive

oligarchy

The Netherlands: A Bourgeois Republic

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The Netherlands: A Bourgeois Republic

o Netherlands (seven Dutch provinces and Belgium) also developed representative government like England, in contrast to absolutist France

o In sixteenth century, Hapsburg Netherlands was economic linchpin of Spanish empire o Tightly organized Calvinist minority challenged Spanish power

In 1560s, Spanish try to export Inquisition to the Netherlands and send huge army

This aggressive action prompted response William the Silent (1533–1584) led the seven northern provinces in the Union of

Utrecht to resist the Spanish

o By 1609, northern provinces free of Spanish control, bound in loosely republican bond

Capitalism and Protestantism fused to do the work of princes—no absolutism Head of House of Orange was a limited monarch in a republican state Dutch achievement came in commerce, art, and technology Wide toleration without centralized censorship fostered Dutch book trade and

cultural centers

o By 1650, it was the richest and perhaps most stable state in Europe

o The Holy Roman Empire: The Failure to Unify Germany

The Holy Roman Empire: The Failure to Unify Germany

o In contrast to English, French, Spanish, and Dutch, Germans achieve no national unity

German nobility had extended and consolidated local rule Holy Roman emperors depended on powerful noble lords for support Emperor was elected, not hereditary, and seven electors were powerful Decentralizing tendencies were in place by thirteenth century

o During sixteenth century, Hapsburg emperors might have consolidated region

But war against Turks and France drained funds Protestant Reformation also played into local noble power structures War raged in Germany between Protestant princes and Charles V’s imperial army

o Treaty of Augsburg (1555) gave princes the right to determine religion in their region

Catholic Hapsburgs courted Counter Reformation Archduke Ferdinand II became emperor in 1619 Ferdinand initiated Catholic revival using Spanish officials from empire

o Consequence was the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648)

Initiated when Bohemians tried to elect Protestant king Hapsburgs sent in an army, forcing all to take sides Until 1630s, Hapsburg success appeared likely, but Lutheran Sweden intervened War devastated German and Bohemian lands and other central European regions Treaty of Westphalia (1648) brought continued German fragmentation

o Thirty Years’ War shaped the course of German history into the late nineteenth century

o The Emergence of Austria and Prussia

Austria

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o As result of Westphalia settlement, Austrian Hapsburgs controlled Hungary and Bohemia

Ruling elites in Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia were converted to Catholicism Austrian dynastic state finally emerges

o Military threat posed by Turks was an obstacle to territorial hegemony

1683, Turks besieged Vienna but were stopped by Catholic and unified Austrian army

Treaty of Karlowitz (1699) brought Turkish acceptance of Austrian rule

o In 1700 (death of last Spanish Hapsburg), Leopold I sought Spanish throne for his son

Leopold clashed here with Louis XIV, who was violently opposed to Hapsburgs Once again, Bourbon and Hapsburg rivalry provoked a major European war

o In the War of the Spanish Succession (1702–1714), Austrians join with English and Dutch against the French

Austria gained colony in what is now Belgium, and parts of Italy Became a major force in European power politics (though did not get Spain) English and Dutch suppress France and form a long alliance

o War marks beginning of England’s rise to status of world power

Prussia

o A state in the Holy Roman Empire, Prussia sought to consolidate its own authority

Prussia developed an absolute monarchy like France However, its aristocracy insisted on guarantees of feudal power over peasantry

o Hohenzollern dynasty had been minor nobles but pushed way to leadership role

Elector Frederick William (1640–1688) played key role in forging Prussian state Prussia was poor and suffered in Thirty Years’ War Junker class (landed nobility) supported national unity and strength

o Frederick William’s policy of foreign war, taxes, and military conscription strengthened the power of the central government, but the bureaucracy was entirely military, with no clergy or rich bourgeois

Pattern initiated by Great Elector (Frederick William) continued by his successors Alliance between aristocracy and military key in his reign (1713–1740) He undercut Prussian provincial assemblies (Landtage) by bringing Junkers into

government Kept taxpaying peasants in status of serfs

o At heart of Prussian state was military elite with no interest in reform and landed nobility enriched by labor of its serfs

o Russia: Great Nobles and Starving Peasants

Russia: Great Nobles and Starving Peasants

o Though remote from western Europe, Russia took on similar characteristics

Relied on absolute monarchy reinforced by feudal aristocracy 62

Yet resembled Prussia, where serfdom increased as centralized monarchy grew Monarchs bribed aristocracy with peasants

o Russian absolutism had a false start under Ivan IV the Terrible (1547–1584)

Waged futile war and created internal police force, ultimately unsuccessful On his death, the Time of Troubles emerged (invasion and civil war) Order restored in 1613 with the Romanovs (supported by aristocracy)

o Most important ruler was Peter the Great (1682–1725)

Suppressed independent aristocrats and invented new titles for supporters Reformed army with western European military standards Peasants were made personal property of their lords Taxes on peasants increased fivefold, to pay for professional army Russian Orthodox Church brought under control of the state Peter wed aristocracy to the absolutist state

o As a result, strong Russian monarchs such as Catherine the Great could embrace reform without jeopardizing stability

Once again, repression and violence (taxation, serfdom, and war) led to creation of dynastic state

o Russia proved least susceptible to reform, endured until 1917 and Russian Revolution

o The State and Modern Political Development

The State and Modern Political Development

o By early seventeenth century, Europeans had sophisticated concept of “the state”—an active political entity to which its subjects owed duties and obligations

Essential ingredient was notion of “sovereignty” State was supreme within its borders over other institutions, even the church Art of government molded powerful elites into service to the state

o Sovereign state (enhanced by war and taxation) became basic political unit in the West

Concept of human liberty was not articulated in these sovereign states Instead, it emerged from Italian theorists of late Middle Ages and Renaissance Not until middle of seventeenth century in England did arguments of liberty in

powerful national state emerge

o Despite English and Dutch developments, absolutism dominated the political development of early modern Europe

Republican ideal of Italian city states, England, and Netherlands did not gain wide acceptance until eighteenth-century European enlightenment

By that time, states had become larger than their creators

o National states of Western Europe and Americas would prosper based in part on administrative and military mechanisms of early modern kings

By eighteenth century, state and not locality was focal point of Western political life

o Until 1945, idea persisted that one state could dominate the West

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World war was a consequence, along with the pressing concern for balance of power

CHAPTER 16

By the early seventeenth century, Europeans had developed the concept of the state: an active political entity to which its subjects owed duties and obligations. That concept became the foundation of the modern state of politics. The one essential ingredient of the Western concept of the state was the notion of sovereignty (sov-ran-tee): the view that the state was supreme within its borders and that other institutions and organizations were allowed to exist only if they recognized the state’s authority. The art of government that entailed molding the ambitions and strength of the powerful into service to the state. The state, its power growing through war and taxation, became the basic unit of political authority. The concept of human liberty was largely an Italian creation discussed with great vehemence by Italian theorists of the later Middle Ages and the Renaissance. These humanists lived and wrote in the independent city-states, and they often aimed their treatises against the encroachments of the Holy Roman Emperor-in short, against princes and their search for absolute power. In the sixteenth century and seventeenth centuries, the idea of liberty was rarely discussed and was generally found only in the writings of Calvinist opponents of absolutism. Not until the mid- seventeenth century in England did a body of political thought emerge within the confines of a powerful national state: one governed by mere mortals and not by absolute kings. The republican ideal did not gain acceptance as a viable alternative to absolutism until the European Enlightenment of the eighteenth century. At the heart of the ideal lay the notion that the state serves the interests of those who support and create it. In the democratic and republican revolutions of the late eighteenth century, western Europeans and Americans repudiated monarchical systems of government in response to the Republican ideal. By then, princes and the aristocrats as well as military elites had outlived their usefulness in many parts of Europe. The states they had created, mostly to further their own interests, had become larger than their creator. Eventually, the national states of Western Europe, as well as of the Americas, proved able to survive and prosper without kings or aristocrats. By the eighteenth century, the state, not the locality, had become the focal point of Western political life. Peace depended on the art of balancing the powers of the various European states so that no single state could expect to win domination, or hegemony, over all the others. Whenever a European state believed that it could dominate , war resulted

CHAPTER 16

The Rise of Sovereignty: Transition to the Modern State

instructional objectives

· Trace the general development of nation-states in the early modern period, describing their major characteristics and the role played by kings, aristocrats, and the bourgeoisie.

· Account for both the power and the weakness demonstrated by Spain from the time of Charles V (king of Spain and Holy Roman emperor), through the reign of Philip II, to the War of the Spanish Succession.

· Describe the growing power of the French monarchy from the Middle Ages through the reign of Louis XIV

· Analyze the development of the nation-state in England from the conquest of 1066 through the Stuart kings, noting especially the role of Parliament, common law, war, and religion.

· Explain the conditions that led to the establishment of a bourgeois republic in the Netherlands and describe the nature of that government and society.

· Explain why a unified nation-state failed to develop in central Europe by the seventeenth century, noting especially the influence of religion and foreign intervention.

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· Compare and contrast the growth of unified governments in Austria and Prussia, noting especially the influence of war, noble-peasant relations, and religion.

· Examine the social, political, and economic dynamics of Russia, noting particularly the rift between elites and peasants

· Assess the importance of the early modern state in the development of modern political forms.

Focus Questions

1. How were monarchs able to build strong states?

2. What enabled Spain to rise to greatness, and why was this greatness short-lived?

3. What were the achievements and failures of Louis XIV’s reign?

4. What is the enduring historical significance of the English Revolution of the seventeenth century?

5. What were the distinguishing features of Prussia and Russia by the early eighteenth century?

6. What was the role of the lesser nobility in the process of state formation?

Review Questions

The Rise of Sovereignty: Transition to the Modern State

Review Questions

1. How were the kings of most European states able to expand their power, and by doing so, develop strong states?

2. How did Ferdinand and Isabella use both religion and “purity of blood” to build a strong Spanish state, along with a strong sense of Spanish identify?

3. How was Philip II’s reign influenced by his religious beliefs? What were the consequences?

4. What role did religion play in the building of the French royal authority? Why were the Huguenots seen as a threat to French royal authority? How did the conflict lead to civil war, and how was that war finally settled?

5. How was Louis XIV able to exert such absolute authority over France? What factors enabled the system to work? Why was there not a rebellion? What were the positive and negative consequences of this system for France?

6. Describe the relationship between the English Parliament and the monarchy through the Tudor dynasty. How did the two institutions work to strengthen each other and the English government?

7. What factors played a role in the Stuart kings being unable to establish absolute monarchy in England the way Louis XIV did in France?

8. What factors were at work in the German states that kept them from achieving the unity achieved in many other European states at this time?

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9. How were the Hohenzollern rulers able to work with the German nobility in order to forge Prussia into a state with absolute monarchy?

10. How did Peter the Great contribute to the emergence of a strong Russian state?

11. What was the seventeenth-century concept of a state? What role did sovereignty and human liberty play in that concept?

INDICE

Chapter 9 ………………………………….p.1

Chapter 10 ………………………………..p.9

Chapter 11 …………………………….….p.16

Chapter 12 …………………………….….p.21

Chapter 13 ………………………….…….p.25

Chapter 14 ……………………….……….p.31

Chapter 15 ……………………….……….p.37

Chapter 16 ……………………….……….p.43

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