Name ______4-1-1

Time Period 4: Postclassical Era (1450-1750)

Unit 1: Western Europe (Part 1 of 2)

The First Big Changes: Culture and Commerce

The Italian Renaissance

  • Rebirth of classical (ancient Greek and ______culture) beginning around 1400 C.E.
  • Renaissance began in Italy b/c:
  • Location: Italy was center of trade across Mediterranean to the Middle East (which connected to Silk Roads) and to North Africa (Trans-Saharan Trade)
  • Large trade-based cities emerge, and thus more money, which led to the growth of the European ______(wealthy) class, which supported the arts (______of the arts = people who paid for artistic creations); both individuals (such as the wealthy Medici family) and the government patronized the arts (governments able to collect more in taxes due to increased trade so had money to spend)
  • Religion declined as central focus (people still religious but life became more secular (secular = non-______)
  • Art and literature focused on classic Roman traditions, and became more secular
  • ______–Italian artist, inventor, and scientist during Renaissance; best known for painting the “Mona Lisa” and “The Last Supper”
  • Michelangelo Buonarroti–Italian Renaissance artist best known for the "David" and "Pieta" statues and the______frescoes (ceiling painting)
  • ______- WroteThe Prince, a guidebook for unscrupulous politicians;his advice to rulers, “It is better to be feared than loved”
  • ______= Philosophy of the Renaissance; focus on the human rather than the divine (religious world); stresses the potential of human beings; more secular view of world

The Renaissance Moves Northward

  • By the 1500, new trade routes (ex: across Atlantic Ocean) had begun, so Italy no longer the center of trade, and thus no longer the center of the Renaissance (which moved north)
  • This northern movement of the Renaissance is called the Northern Renaissance
  • Northern Renaissance writers included William Shakespeare (England), and Miguel de Cervantes (Spain)
  • As governments in northern Europe began collecting more revenues, they sponsored explorers and trading companies (which also funded exploration and trade)
  • Overall, the Renaissance only affected lives of the ______, not the average person

The Commercial Economy and a New Family Pattern

  • Other changes were taking place in Europe besides just the Renaissance. Two were:
  • Printing Press–Introduced in mid 1400s by ______, it built on earlier Chinese technology; allowed for rapid movable-type printing; as availability of books and newspapers spread, ______rates in Europe increased
  • ______-Style Family –Europeans began getting married later in life, which meant that they had less kids; with emergence of towns and cities, Europeans often lived with just their nuclear family

The Protestant and Catholic Reformations

  • Protestant Reformation – Attempt beginning in 1517 to reform the Catholic Church which resulted in the formation of new Protestant churches
  • Germany was not a country yet, it was a bunch of states mostly controlled by the Holy Roman Empire, which was Catholic; many German princes became Protestant as a way to break away from the Holy Roman Empire and the authority of the Pope
  • A questioning sprit – By questioning the Catholic Church, the Protestant Reformation ushered in a time of questioning authority in Western Europe, which would help lead to the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment
  • Other Protestant groups began to emerge, not just Lutherans (followers of Luther):
  • Anglican Church -Formed in England by ______in 1534 (Henry wanted a divorce from his wife, but Pope wouldn’t grant, so Henry began this new Protestant religion; about 10 years after Henry VIII, his daughter Elizabeth I succeeded him and made England even more Protestant
  • Calvinism– Begun by Jean Calvin; believe in ______(salvation decided at birth and predetermined); promoted of wider access to government and public education

The End of Christian Unity in the West

The Reformation led to religious wars throughout Europe
France / Holy Roman Empire
  • Catholic France persecuted Protestants (called Huguenots, most of which were Calvinist)
  • After much fighting and bloodshed, the Edict of ______(1598) was issued, which gave religious toleration to Huguenots
/
  • _____ Years’ War (1618-1648) - German states, which had become Protestant, rebelled against the Catholic Holy Roman Empire
  • Treaty of ______(1648) - Ended Thirty Years’ War, allowed princes within Holy Roman Empire to choose their region’s religion (either Protestant or Catholic)

  • As a result of the Reformation, and the many religious wars that followed, Christian unity was broken in the West
  • Women actually lost opportunities b/c Protestants closed convents

The Commercial Revolution

  • Commerce means trade, so the Commercial Revolution is when Western Europe began to get heavily involved in trade, beginning around 1300 C.E.
  • As trade began to increase, the demand for goods began to increase
  • As Spain established overseas colonies, they brought silver and gold back to Europe, which led to major inflation; one positive of inflation is that borrowing money becomes cheaper (since the amount you will eventually pay back won’t be worth as much), so merchants began borrowing money, which sponsored more trade voyages
  • Western Europe became wealthier, much more so than Eastern Europe at this time
  • Not everyone in the West was benefitting from trade, as the working class (called the ______) was hurt due to population growth and rising food prices
  • As a result, there were many peasant uprisings, especially from 1600-1650; the peasants wanted government to help them avoid poverty (most rebellions against taxes)

Science and Politics: The Next Phase of Change

Science: The New Authority

  • The Scientific Revolution was a period of rapid advances in math and science that occurred in Western Europe around 1550-1700
  • Many trace the beginning of the Scientific Revolution to the publication of On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, by ______, which stated that the earth revolves around the sun (heliocentric model)
  • Following Copernicus, a rapid progression of scientific discoveries occurred, some key figures in the Scientific Revolution include:Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei, Francis Bacon, Rene Descartes, and Isaac Newton
  • In order to blend these new scientific discoveries with religion, the idea of deismemerged (deism is the belief that there was a god, but his role was to set the laws of nature in motion)
  • People began applying scientific principles to government such as ______,an English philosopher who argued that government power came from the people, not god, and people could rebel if ruler not helping the people (this was the beginning of the Enlightenment, which we will learn about later)

Absolute and Parliamentary Monarchies

  • Up until the 1500s, much of Europe was ruled by feudal monarchies – those who had grown powerful as owners of estates during feudalism and were able to spread their authority over wider areas of land; even though feudalism had ended in Western Europe, these monarchies remained in power
  • By the 1600s, these feudal monarchies had lost power, and were replaced by larger, stronger monarchies that controlled much more land
  • After the religious wars died down, these monarchies gained power as people wanted order and protection, so large centralized monarchies controlled Western Europe
  • Most were absolute monarchies, in which the ruler had total power, often claiming a divine right to rule (divine right = monarch derives the right to rule directly from God), but a few parliamentary monarchies existed. The best examples are France and Great Britain:

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  • France = absolute monarchy
  • Britain = parliamentary monarchy

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The Nation-State

  • These new monarchies that were springing up in Europe (whether absolute or parliamentary) were different than empires from the past; these monarchies ruled over a group of people who were similar in culture, and spoke the same language, and thus the nation-state was born (basically like a modern day country)

The West by 1750

Political Patterns

  • Britain remained a parliamentary monarchy and France remained an absolute monarchy throughout this time period (though France would have major problems soon)
  • In central Europe, enlightened despots, such as Frederick the Great in Prussia rose to power (______ despots = leaders with absolute power, but who used it for the good of the public); examples of actions of enlightened despots include less harsh punishments for crimes and freedom of religion
  • Several wars took place in Europe during this time period, including the Seven Years’ War (known as French and Indian War in America, 1756-1763) between France and Britain, and Austria went to war with Prussia with Prussia gaining land and getting stronger

Enlightenment Thought and Popular Culture

  • Enlightenment – Intellectual movement in Europe in the 1600s through the 1700s, focused on using reason and science to improve society; furthered the questioning spirit of Europeans (Renaissance, to Reformation, to Scientific Revolution, to the Enlightenment)
  • Key Enlightenment figures included:
  • Adam ______– Wrote Wealth of Nationsintroducing capitalism
  • Denis ______– Wrote Encyclopedie, the world’s first encyclopedia
  • Voltaire – Promoted idea of free speech
  • John Locke – Promoted idea that people have natural rights and if government is not allowing these rights then people have right to remove that government (idea used by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence)
  • Mary Wollstonecraft – Pushed for women’s rights, women began printing journals and pushing for equality during the Enlightenment
  • Education for children was stressed by the Enlightenment, and family life changed b/c the Enlightenment taught that women and children should be treated better at home (such as no more physical punishment of children)

Ongoing Change in Commerce and Manufacturing

  • During this time period, the demand for material goods increased (this is known as mass consumerism)
  • Agriculture was becoming more efficient, and less people were needed to work on farms
  • So more people focused on manufacturing goods (this is prior to the industrial revolution, and these goods were made in peoples’ homes), with textiles (clothes) the biggest industry
  • As people made goods such as textiles at home, they came up with new innovations which would greatly enhance production
  • People began investing hoping to make a profit (this was part of the Commercial Revolution earlier in notes), which led to the growth of cities (especially port cities from which trade could occur), and thus the growth of an urban commercial class
  • Due to improved agriculture, as well as the growth of manufacturing, the population of Western Europe was rapidly growing by the 1700s

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