Early Modern Europe 11/30/10 2:01 PM

“New Monarchies,
the Reformation,
and the Birth of the Nation-State

I. Timeline-Arts
A. 1300-1500: Italian Renaissance
i. Artists
a. Giotto (1300s)
1. first one chronologically
2. he is the beginnings of the Italian Renaissance; first of the Italian Renaissance artists;
transition
3. Madonna and Child (from Renaissance Art powerpoint)

A. influence of Byzantine iconography

B. http://lh5.ggpht.com/_SUBGzd1BG60/SXJO_w1fV_I/AAAAAAABvg8/kRiq5_-
E4rM/Giotto,+Madonna+%26+Child+1297.jpg
b. Brunelleschi’s Dome in Florence
 1. Brunelleschi is an architect
2. in Florence, Italy
3. represents a return to Classical precedence (remember Pantheon) and a new degree of
technological mastery to build such a massive dome
4. high degree of technique and artist skill*
5. dome is a classical architectural skill
A. see it in the Hagia Sophia in the Byzantine Empire (not in western Europe)
6. lots of skill to build gothic cathedrals as well, but it takes a different kind of skill to build
this dome
7. can see influences from Mediterranean world (Byzantine and ____ in the area; mixing of
ideas and cultures helped give birth to Renaissance)
8. Some from Islamic architecture, eastern Mediterranean/Leb architecture, Byzantine, etc.
shown
9. shows the wealth of Italy
10. faced with marble and has dome that is hard to build
11. should be able to recognize it/say why it’s important
http://www.paradoxplace.com/Perspectives/Italian%20Images/images/Firenze/Firenze_Skylines/90
0/Florence-Duomo-Nov07-RAW4827AR900.jpg

c. Leonardo Da Vinci (early 1500s)

1. In France a lot
2. Da Vinci is origin of Renaissance man; polymath
3. not only a brilliant artist, but also an engineer, inventor (created lots of siege warfare
technology, etc.), dabbled in anatomy (illegal at the time to dissect cadavers b/c it was
considered to be desecrating the body, so he dissected bodies underground and drew
very detailed anatomical drawings)
4. important b/c lots of medical info from Islamic peope ____
5. step forward in terms of curiosity/knowledge in terms of how human body worked
6. should be able to identify the Vitruvian Man
 A. has to do with ideal proportions
B. http://jbsecure.com/images/Sketch/SK-102-0001_vitruvian_man_500.jpg
d. after Da Vinci, two contempories and rivals for patronage: Michaelangelo and Raphael
1. both worked for Pope and helped decorate is palace in the Vatican
2. Popes had lots of $$ and used that money to endow spectacular works of art to glorify
God and demonstrate power/prestige/culturedness of pope himself
e. Michaelangelo
1. Great sculptor
2. Should be able to recognize Pieta and the David (both in RA powerpoint)
3. also a painter; his most famous painting is the Sistine Chapel (the ceiling and the walls
of a church within the Vatican)

A. all covered with images, etc. to show/tell Biblical stories

B. Adam and God and as they touch, God transmits the living, eternal spark to
Adam to bring him to life, but also a metaphor for the Renaissance in general
(spark of creativity, etc.)
4. technically define Michaelango in mannerism b/c he’s very ___
5. http://www.nycerome.com/rome-hotels-images/areas-of-rome-images/st-peter-vatican-
area-pictures/sistine-chapel-in-st-peter-rome.jpg
f. Raphael (early 1500s)
1. Only image need to know is the School of Athens
2. this fresco was painted on the wall of the Pope’s apartment/where he lived
3. considered to be the quintessential piece of Renaissance art
4. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Raphael_School_of_Athens.jpg
 5. Athens is referring to classical Greence (Renaissance idea of going back; yesterday
talked about Berkhart, who said it was a springing up out of the dark and he played up
the secular aspects and downplayed the religious aspects, and Haizingwa ___ talked
more about continuity)
6. Pagan/pre-Christian philosophers are on the pope’s wall! (weird?)

7. has lots of different figures doing different thing

A. greats of ancient philosophies
B. in the middle: Plato and Aristotle
i. Plato is pointing up
a. Took the approach that there were ideal forms of ideas in
the atmosphere and using only our senses, we could use
an abstract _____, the only way to get closer to
understanding abstract concepts was to use our
reason/logic/minds
b. pointing up is pointing up to those ideal forms
ii. Aristotle took almost opposite approach
a. What you know should come through observation
through senses
b. he studied/classified different things
c. he argued that once you observed/collected data, you
made a hypothesis from the date you had collected
8. painted himself in
9. glorification of ancients; use them as springboards for new knowledge; doesn’t matter
that they aren’t Christian
10. emphasizing their humanity, which is important in the Renaissance

(scientific revolution-scholars for the first time put together Platonic and Aristocratic method to create the modern scientific
methodoccurs later)

B. Thinkers
i. Nicholo Machiavelli wrote The Prince (late 1400s)
a. about how to rule a kingdom; a work of political philosophy
b. a guide to ___
c. remember: no one state; lots of different principalities in Italy
d. the guidelines/advice that Machiavelli gives to this prince are about doing whatever it takes to
remain in power
e. Machiavelli saying he needs to rule justly
1. not just religious well-being of people, but also military/ecnomic, etc.
2. mentality in this book: ends justify the means
f. famous quote: it’s better for a ruler to be feared than loved
g. also important b/c if focuses on the education of the prince of all ways
1. speak well, dress well, educated in all things, cultured; should appear like a
prince/should appear powerful, which is part of his power
2. what would epitomize the quintessential Renaissance ruler as opposed to the
quintessential medieval ruler?
A. Henry VIII and Louis the Pious of France
B. Louis was the son of Charlemange and he was renowned for his good
works/helping the church, but he wasn’t a very good ruler (def not a good
fighter); didn’t keep his kingdom together, which for Machiavelli would be a sin
(he’s the one who after his death his kingdom divided into 3 pieices)
C. Henry always depicted in the most luxurious clothing (how grand/ornate you
were was a symbol of power); padded to make self seem bigger; men of his
time liked to show off his legs; had a codpiece (metal piece you put over a
penis to make it look more imposing, like stuffing your pants)

D. http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/images/HenryVIII12.jpg
E. Henry had been second inline for the throne, and he married Katherine from
Spain to keep/make ties
F. Henry was a great patron of the arts, which was very important to Machiavelli
(build very sumptuous castles, i.e. Hampton Courthouse outside London;
master of diplomacy; ___ in state; not above putting himself or the state above
religion (i.e. he had no male heir and loved Anne Boleyn so he wanted a
divorce but the pope wouldn’t allow it/the Spanish considered it an insult for
him to throw out Katherine; Henry split with the church; this is why queen has
 title “Defender of the Faith”; in the beginning, his church was basically like the
old one, but eventually more Protestant, but eventually Mary came into power
and changed it back to Catholicism, and then Mary died and once again made
the Church Protestant) if it ____
G. Henry breaking w/ the church wasn’t just personal; meant he could seize the
wealth/land of the church and monasteries, and he needed a lot cash b/c he
was fighting a lot of wars; meant he could solidify his rule
H. Henry’s around in middle 1500s, after the Italian Renaissance, so he was part
of the northern Renaissance
I. Machiavelli is writing 50-100 years before Henry VIII is around, but ____
C. 1450-1600: Northern Renaissance
i. Humanism
a. studying the Humanities; move to study a whole range of topics, not just religion; also an emphasis
on skepticism about man/humanity’s role in the universe and to God
1. don’t take yourself too seriously
b. Erasmus’ In Praise of Folly (late 1400s) (Erasmus of Notre Dame)
1. quintessential ___
2. criticizes ____
3. says true learning helps you understand human nature, and you’ll learn that humans are
frail and make mistakes and that’s okay
4. Erasmus himself was considered to be the most erudite/learned person in Europe
A. he was one of the few people in Europe at the time that could read both Greek
and Latin fluently, which was important b/c the Bible was originally written in
Greek and he understood Greek (Greek was the language used in the eastern
half of the ___ empire)
B. he had access to original Greek texts of the bible and he compared it to the
Vulgate bible (Latin version people had been using for a long long time)
i. recognized lots of mistakes in the Latin version, so he created a
corrected Latin version of the Bible which created the standard
D. roughly 1450-1600: Northern Renaissance
i. Humanism (listening)
a. Erasmus’ In Praise of Folly
1. scholasticism from middle ages
2. famous for being most learned man in Western Europe b/c he could read Latin AND
Greek; allowed him to review the ancient Greek texts the Bible and compare those to the
Latin versions
b. Sir Thomas Moore’s Utopia (early 1500s)
1. he’s talking about what it would be to have an ideal world
2. also a very learned man
3. focused on how to bring out the best in humanity
4. worked in the court of Henry VIII in England and one of the most of revered scholars, but
he criticized Henry’s divorce  Henry had him executed
ii. Artists
a. Shakespeare (mid 1500s)
1. how might he be a Humanist/Renaissance?
A. focused on relationships b/w humans and psychology (not gods)
B. emphasized how little humans know little people know about afterlife
C. focusing on social fabric/how individuals fit into that; power dynamics
2. drew his inspiration for his stories from history and other works
A. mythology
B. ancient history (Julius Caeser, etc.)
C. idea of going to past for inspiration/reworking it
3. patronage of artists happened; celebrating genius of artists
II. Timeline-Religion
gives sense of turmoil that spilled over into political, social, and economic aspects of society; in this era, political struggle and religious
struggle were inextricablty linked (impossible to separate them)

A. 1500-1650: Reformation
i. 1455: Gutenberg’s printing press
a. Yohanas Gutenberg creates the moveable-type printing press
b. prints the Bible
c. had been invented centuries earlier in China, but it wasn’t practical; independently invented again
(didn’t have affect in China)
d. allowed books to be printed more efficiently/cheaply
e. paper had also been invented in China, which you needed to print things (like the Bible)
f. more people had access to books  literacy sky-rocketed
1. not as much peasants
2. merchants/traders/craftspeople in urban setting  areas where literacy is really catching
on
g. critical for the Reformation b/c since people can now read and have their own Bible, they don’t
necessarily need the Church or pries; people can take ownership of their religion
h. Luther said it wasn’t necessary for an individual lay person to go through a priest to have an
experience with God; could go through Bible yourself/cut out the middle man; whole
hierarchy/organization of church was priest was middle of man and God
1. priest did Communion, etc. and helped you understand what it was
i. huge threat to Church; precursor of Reformation
ii. 1517: Luther published 95 Theses
a. 1517 = official beginning of the Protestant Reformation
b. know this date
c. Martin Luther worked for a church in Germany (is a German monk) and wrote scholarly essay
about the relationship b/w individual and God and how it’s different than what people expect it to be
1. rethinking idea b/w individual and God ***
2. Luther goes to a church in the center of town where he is living and posts on the door
the 95 Theses, which attacks the power/privileges/structure of church as intermediary
b/w the people and God
3. Luther criticizing the Catholic church because he was angry about indulgences of the
Church
A. Indulgences = get out of purgatory quicker card
B. church said you could get out of purgatory quicker by doing good works
C. one of the ways you could do good works was by giving money to Church
(one of the things Church wanted to do was build large beautiful cathedral in
Rome)  plenary indulgence
D. Luther thought it was appalling/like buying salvation
E. Luther arguing that church itself was corrupt; his criticism spread across
Germany was quicker that it would have been before the printing press
F. huge threat to Church
iii. some people very unhappy w/ Luther, but couldn’t ___ him b/c at the time… (listen to recording)
the Church was very unhappy with Luther. However, politically, it was very difficult for the Church to charge
him. Germany at the time was known as the Holy Roman Empire. It was comprised by small electorates and
a person presided over the electorates called electors. Religious heads could be electors – the electors got
together and elected the king of all of them (the holy Roman emperor) and they were to choose one of among
them to be the boss.
a. Holy Roman Empire
b. elector
1. electors had an elected position, not a hereditary position where they chose one to be
Holy Roman Emperor; choose one from among them to be the boss
 c. over the century, though, one family came to dominate the position of Holy Roman Empire—the
Hapsburg
1. Hapsburg had land all over the place
2. Biggest land owners in Holy Roman Empire and able to capture title of Holy Roman
Emperor and told other electors what to do, but electors didn’t like the
Hapsburg/resented them and their power/influence
3. other problem for the electors is that the Hapsburgs are staunchly Catholic and have a
very close alliance with the pope
4. Luther comes along and challenges the Catholic hierarchy, which enrages Holy Roman
Empire from Hapsburg family, but some electors see in Luther the opportunity to weaken
the Hapsburg and the electors tell the Holy Roman Emperor he can’t go after Luther 
creates much turmoil/even warfare until 1555
5. Lutheranism pop in Germany
B. 1555: Peace of Augsburg (Germany)
i. Nobility of Germany fighting
ii. some nobles side with Luther and even adopt his ideas religiously  Lutheran; other ones remain Catholic
iii. Peace of Augsburg claimed that the electors could be any domination of the Catholic Church, but the people
within that sector that he ruled had to be at that same domination, which angered people – temporary
resolution
a. everyone in that region must be said religion
iv. only a temporary fix
C. 1524: Peasants’ War (Germany)
i. Peasants are economically struggling and getting angry at the nobles
ii. series of food shortages b/c of crop failures, etc; variety of grievances
iii. decide in 1524 to rebel and essentially try to strip the last vestiges of serfdom, but shocking to Luther they
use his ideas to justify their rebellion
a. just as it is okay for Luther to rebel against unjust religious authority, it’s okay for us peasants to
rebel against unjust secular authority
b. Luther not pleased; had a great respect for hierarchy; Luther had no problem with the peasant
rebellion being harshly put down; Luther said his ideas only for religious
D. 1541-1564: John Calvin in Geneva
i. Calvin was French
ii. started out with many of same ideas as Luther, but then he took those ideas even further and for his efforts,
he was essentially exiled from France b/c his ideas were considered to be too radical, so Calvin relocated to
Geneva in Switzerland and created his own theocratic state based on his idea
iii. Calvin’s strain of Catholicism becomes dominant in
a. France—known as Huguenots
b. England—known as Puritans
c.
E. 1534: Henry VIII established Church of England
i. Katherine of Aragon (country in Spain)
ii. Philip II closely allied with the pope
iii. when Henry wants a divorce with Katherine of Aragon, pope is against it, partly because ___of Spain is allied
w/ pope and is pressuring him
iv. Henry wanted to divorce b/c Katherine couldn’t give him a living son and b/c Katherine was originally
betrothed to his brother; in love with Anne Boleyn; broke off from that church so he could get a divorce and
created the Church of England (aka Anglican or Episcopalian)
v. originally Anglican church was almost the exact same; pope was not the head; archbishop of Canterbury
reported to king, not pope
vi. religious ideas that had been floating around Europe came to England (including Lutheran and particularly
Calvin)
vii. tug-of-war; who Henry was married to at the time
viii. after Henry beheaded Anne Boleyn, he married ___ Seymour, and then she died and married _____;
 a. family members of his new wife (___) had more influence/power/money at court—brought with
them religious ideology as well
b. his last wife more a Puritan than anything else; Henry had 3 children that lived past infancy (and
she cared for them all
1. Mary-with Katherine
2. Elizabeth-with Anne
3. Edward-with Jane Seymour
A. assumed the throne after Henry died, but he was a child
B. he had been raised as a very Puritan form of Calvinism
C. killed a lot of Catholics and moved Church itself to more Puritan practice
D. brief 6-day reign of ___ to keep Mary from the throng after Edward; Mary was
very Catholic, as was her Spanish husband Philip
c. Mary
1. kills people
2. “Bloody Mary”
d. Elizabeth-Protestant
1. Catholics thought she was a heretic, etc.
2. tried to lessen religious discord and moved back from Protestant style to more middle
b/w Protestant and Catholic
3.
4. beheaded those who plotted against her
e. heir to the throne of Scotland (listen to recording) Scotland has very strong ties to France; Mary
Queen of Scots
1. Mary thinks she is the rightful Queen, not Elizabeth; she is Catholic and so Catholic
leaders support her but she is brought up on charges of treason and killed
2. James I/VI; Mary’s son becomes king when Elizabeth dies because Elizabeth didn’t
have ____; James has to agree to be protestant as a condition of taking the throme
3. thus far have seen how religion/politics are intertwined in England, France, and
Germany

o 1534: Henry VIII was married to Catherine of Aragon (Spain). Phillip II was very close to the pope. When he
wants a divorce from Catherine of Aragon, the pope was against it, because there were pressures. Henry VIII
wanted a divorce because Catherine had not born him a son and she was already married before her to his
brother. He had also fallen in love with Anna Bolin.
 He broke away from the pope and the Catholic Church when he wasn’t allowed to get the marriage
annulled and formed his own Church – the Church of England/Anglican Church. The original
Anglican Church was in material aspects was the exact same as the Catholic Church – the same
structure, but it wasn’t under the pope’s authority.
 Over time, over Henry’s reign, all of the religious turmoil and the religious ideas came to
England, including the Lutheran ideas and particularly the Calvin ideas, so over time,
there was this tug-of-war over what type of religion should be practiced in the Church.
The religious ideas practiced transitioned with who Henry VIII was married with at the
time – the wives brought their religious ideas as well.
 His last wife, Catherine Parr, was a heavy Puritan and was responsible for raising her children.
Edward had been raised as a really heavy Puritan and was trained to move the Church itself
towards a more Puritan form of practice and prosecuted many Catholics. After Edward died, people
didn’t want Mary to be in power, because she was Catholic and married Phillip II.
 Elizabeth took over the thrown and she was Protestant, but she wanted to minimize all
the religious discord – allowed people to have religious freedom within Christianity so
long as they didn’t plot against her – she tried to lessen the religious discord and moved
the Church back from the Puritan style to a middle road between Christianity and
Catholicism.
 The main challenge to Elizabeth’s throne was from Mary, Queen of Scots. She was the
heir to the throne of Scotland (not directly controlled from England). Mary believed that
 she was the rightful queen of England, but she was Catholic. A lot of Catholic leaders
seized the claims of Mary and because of this, Mary was executed. However, her son,
James, becomes the king – James I of England, James VI of Scotland: because of
Mary’s dynastic relationship with England. He had to agree to be Protestant in order to
take over the religious throne.

F. 1572: St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre

i. many of the nobles in France had converted to Calvinism by the 1570s; at the time in 1572, France was ruled
by Catherine de Medici (same as Florence banking family; wealthy family)
a. good b/c had access to her wealth, so ___ married her
b. had a son and took power, but he died so her grandson took power, but he was too young so she
ruled in his place
c. people didn’t like her, though, and thought there was someone else who should take throne/more
legitimate people
1. people they wanted were Huguenots
d. ordered all Hugunots be killedled to several years of civil war b/w Huguenots and Calvinists
1. thought Huguenots were heretics
2. was a way to eliminate competition
ii. Henri of Navar became known as Henri IV of France issued the Edict of Nantes, which ordered religious
toleration and ended wars (more or less)
a. the tension b/w religion and politics, even if it has been officially silenced, still simmered beneath
the surface in every country
G. 1618-1648: Thirty Years’ War
i. tension boiled over
ii. soon engulfed most the continent
iii. most of war b/w __ and Catholics, but also lots of
a. Swedish king involved-Protestant at the time
iv. once again, religious/political tension **
H. 1648: Peace of Westphalia
i. the year when the Thirty Years War over
ii. once and for all, the peace of Westphalia established boundaries that exist today
iii. established “Balance of Power” in Europe
a. countries would continue to compete w/ each other, but basically now you try to maintain an
equilibrium b/w countries
iv. new power emerges as a result of the Thirty Years’ War: The Netherlands (the Dutch) ***
a. becomes an independent country
b. Netherlands proceeds to become one of biggest maritime powers
c. before this, Netherlands had been a battle ground for centuries b/w French, Hapsburgs, etc. (lots of
people), but now can concentrate on trade
III. Lutheranism vs. Calvinism
A. Luther
i. first big idea: “Priesthood of all believers”
a. means that the priest is not required to be the intermediary b/w an individual lay person and God;
individual can understand, but people need to be able to read so he translated the Bible into
Roman
1. translated Bible into vernacular
ii. only 2 sacraments that mattered
a. baptism, which brings you into this world
b. and communion
c. eventually more sacraments come back in, but those are the initial ones
d. the sacrament itself of communion is not the same as in Catholicism where priests enacts the
transubstantiation during mass
 e. in all Protestant sects, you have religious leaders (ministers, pastors, etc.), but they don’t have the
same almost mystical role as in the Catholic tradition
1. more there to help/guide you
iii. “Justification by faith alone”
a. means that what makes you a Christian is your belief in God; nothing else matters
1. in Catholic tradition you have to show your devotion through good works
2. here: good works not necessary for salvation, only thing important was your acceptance
of God
iv. Supported secular authorities, but not pope
v. Location today: Germany and Sweden (Northern Europe)
B. Calvin
i. mostly same ideas, but also:
ii. Predestination
a. God has already chosen who will be saved
b. Good works won’t help
c. “the Elect” will go to Heave
1. In Catholicism, you can change your status by good deeds, but Calvinism you were
either in or out
d. people freaking out; Calvin eventually said that as long as you believe in God and ____, you are
probably part of the elect
1. should still do good works (sobriety, etc.) and act as if you are an elect
iii. rejected religious trappings of religious ___
a. their churches were austere/not decorated/more simple
b. if you see cathedrals in places where religious wars were, can see statues that have been
beheaded or has body parts enough
c. Anglican churches often look a lot like Catholic churches (stained glass, incense etc.)
d. Baptists/___ are more Calvinist don’t have incense, etc. and music is simpler
iv. places where it took hold the post (location): Switzerland, France (Huguenots), ___, _____
C. Counter-Reformation (aka Catholic Reformation)
i. prompted a reform effort to try to reassert those aspects that defined Catholicism at it’s best/what people in
the Catholic hierarchy saw as being ____ while reforming those parts that people criticized
ii. 1478-1600: Spanish Inquisition
a. began during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabelle
b. to root out heresy/other faiths
1. most people practicing Judaism kicked out
c. often included use of rather grisly torture to make people renounce ____
iii. 1540: Jesuit Order established by St. Ignatius of Loyola
a. Jesuits were new branch of the priesthood whose purpose was to convince people of the rightness
of Catholicism through preaching and education
b. Jesuits known as not only brilliant scholars, but brilliant scholars to convince people that
Catholicism was right
c. also established number of educational institutions (ex. Georgetown)
d. had an enormous amount of political power; remain influential in Church, but sometimes they were
repressed b/c seen as threat to pope
iv. fs
a. series of Church councils that met that are collectively known as the Council of Trent
b. out of the Council of Trent came the Tridentine Reforms
c. here, the Church decided that there were parts of Catholicism were correct and if people knew
about them they’d stay Catholic
1. reaffirmed idea of good works, beauty of religious rituals in mass, priests’ role in
community (care-giving role to minister to sick/tend to the elderly)
2. emphasizing community aspects
3. get rid of ____ and indulgences, etc.; remove things that were driving people away
GET NOTES FROM BEGINNING OF CLASS 12/6
 v. 1550-1700: Baroque artists
a. example: Bach
b. examples of Baroque art
1. painting by the “quintessential” baroque painter, Peter Paul Rubens
A. The Miracles of St. Ignatius (120)
i. St. Ignatius is doing miracles and everyone is falling all over
ii. fleshy figures
a. that’s where we get the term “rubenesque” figures
iii. beautiful colors
B. Rubens was one of the most prolific artists of all time
i. tons ceilings, wall frescos
C. had little fat babies
i. sometimes cherubs, sometimes just around the paiting
ii. why?
IV. Timeline-Politics
A. 1300-1500: Italian Renaissance
i. Italy was not politically united during Renaissance and didn’t become united until
a. Germany and Italy were last to unify and didn’t become unified countries until 1860s/70s
b. Italy very politically fragmented for most of its history  contributed to a lot of the artistic patronage
and exploration and economic development of Italy itself
c. situation in Italy complicated further by the fact that a lot of European countries all wanted to
intervene and “muck about” and have political influence in Italy
d. Plus had the pope
e. chaotic, politically divided place with a lot of warfare going on
ii. divided into city states; Northern/central Italian city-states and duchies
a. duchies: ruled by a duke
1. Florence-famous duchy (?)
2. Venice-famous city-state (?)
3. some dominated by oligarchy (i.e. Medicis in Florence(
b. Dominance of wealthy 12amilies
1. Medicis in Florence, Sforzas in Milan
2. artistic patronage = political prestige
A. giving artist $ was a way of showing power; you are what you show to the
world
B. the leaders of different families and even the leadership of different city states
verse each other tried to compete with each other through their artistic glory
i. how luxurious/glorious the environment they created was
c. Competition, desire for self-improvement (listen to recording)
iii. Economic boom from trade and banking
iv. initially, it was considered un-Christian to lend money @ interest
a. yes lending, but prohitibions
b. Christians not supposed to charge interest, which created a niche that was filled by non-Christian
groups
1. EX: Jews, etc
2. one of the big innovations that allowed Christians to be involved in banking system was
that theologians created complicated justification of lending money/gaining money
A. there was a way to justify getting around it
B. took away the stigmaallowed people like the Medici to get in on the action
at a time when there was a demand for cash
B. 1450-1650: Northern Renaissance = “New Monarchies”
i. wanted to be in control more than their predecessors
a. feudal system = weak  kings wanted more power
1. in late Middle Ages, kings were already trying to assert control
A. battling with Church
 i. investiture, court jurisdiction, taxing property/personnel of the
Church
B. making alliances with cities, etc.
C. preoccupation for gaining revenue
b. decline of feudal structure
c. #1 Goal: More REVENUE
1. included creating the Church of England
A. one of the first things Henry did was confiscate church lands, etc.
B. others found new people to tax, including the nobility (had traditionally been
exempt from taxation)
C. in order to increase their power, new Renaissance monarchs fought the
church (and usually had upper hand by this point) and traditional landed
nobles
i. did this by building up new nascent middle class
a. come from ___ meaning birth
d. competition among kinds for land, riches, and power
1. land and sea power wanted
A. first along west coast of Africa—everyone looking for route to the Indies, and
eventually expands to include the Americas
2. how? Sponsored artists
A. King Francis of France sponsored Leonardo da Vinci
3. consolidated land—constant warfare!
A. built large land armies at the expense of the traditional noble cavalry
i. noblemen fought on horseback and peasants marched
ii. now size of the armies of those who were marching grew
significantly; many not particularly well prepared for combat
B. new weapons! (GUNPOWDER)
i. now beginning to see individual gunpowder weapons as opposed to
before ______
a. not accurate, but still had them
ii. gunpowder gave massive advantage on battlefield
C. besides warfare, also tried to consolidate landholds through marriage
i. pretty quickly, everyone intermarried
ii. also gave everybody a claim to everybody else’s throne  more
reason for warfare
iii. complicated web of alliances/wars
4. realized they needed an effective government administration that had been severely
lacking in the European Middle ages—began to build up bureaucracy
A. people owed positions to king
B. people now interested in finance/law, etc., which were sure routes to success
e. Ideal king: Louis the Pious vs. Louis the Spider?
1. louis the spider.
ii. something else driving monarchs was the Ottoman Empire, which was at this time at it’s height
a. capital at Istanbul, formerly Constantinople
b. enormous land army
c. had gone well up into Balkins and controlled territory there
d. seen as a big threat to Europe; at one point Ottoman’s able to but Viena under siege in 1600s
e. controlled SE Europa, at gates of Vienna!
f. Ottoman’s were Muslim and Christians didn’t want to over run by Isalmic empire  Ottomans were
big motivator
C. Spain
i. Isabella and Ferdinand (late 1400s)
 a. each heirs to the throne of large principalities within Iberian peninsula; married and ___ and ___
were united; with alliances and conquest, eventually they were able to control the majority of the
Iberian peninsula (not Portugal, though, which becomes independent state)
b. Reconquista
c. 1492—no longer had to pay for Moores  could finance people like Columbus
1. Porteguese had already ____ (Henry the Navigator)
2. had been sending them to west coast of Africa and some even go around south tip
3. trying to catch up to Portugese
d. Spanish Inquisition (listen)
e. Sponsored Chrstopher Columbus (who was actually Italian)  get notes/listen
ii. Charles V (ruled early 1500s through accidents of birth and dynastic alliances made by his relatives and
some warfareinherited large patchwork of land)—Hapsburg family
a. inerhited Spain, Netherlands and Austria/Czech Lands
1. not everyone Roman Catholic
A. had area that was strongly affected by Lutheran reformation!  political and
religious conflicts
B. Hapsburg family has title of holy roman emperor
b. Holy Roman Empire
1. forced to conceded Peace of Augsburg
c. inherited great rivalry with the French kings, which makes sense because his territory was much
bordering theirs; fighting particularly about Netherlands
d. but Charles did have lots of cash
1. inherited lots of land, but more importantly inherited all of Spain’s overseas colonies and
by this time Spain was in control of much of the New World (Mexico, Florida, Central
America, and all of South America except Brazil, which the Portuguese had)
2. Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)
A. Portuguese involved in exploration first
B. Spanish goes west and ends up n the Caribbean, but no one really has an
idea of what’s out there, so the pope, in order to settle the rivalry/claims
between two important Catholic monarchs draws a line down the map
i. east: Portugal (including coast of Africa)
ii. west: Spain
a. ultimately got better end of the deal, but didn’t realize it at
the time
b. what made those lands particularly valuable was the
resources they possessed
c. originally people wanted gold, but then silver was
important
d. silver from mines in Mexico/Peru made the crown of
Spain the most incredibly wealthy monarch in the world
at the time (not just in Europe)  gave Spanish king an
enormous leg up to competitors (could buy an army,
navy, etc.)
e. silver was the one thing that the Chinese would accept
as payment to the Chinese (Ming)
D. Phillip II (mid-late 1500s)
i. heir to Spanish portiono f Charles’ empire
ii. The archrival of Queen Elizabeth of England
iii. sent the Spanish navy with giant ____ to possibly attack, but luckily for England the Spanish armada was
deleted because (1) there was a storm which destroyed a lot of the ships and made it difficult to maneuver
between France and England and (2) the ships themselves were so large and unmanueverable b/c they were
designed for long-distance trade
a. compare to smaller ships being used by Sir Francis Drake and his seadogs (British sailors)
1. many of them had gotten itno trouble with Philip/Spain because of their piracy
iv. conflicts
a. Religion
1. Philip was married to Queen Mary of England, who was Catholic, and Philip was also
very staunchly Catholic/a close ally of the pope and found Elizabeth very heretical as a
Protestand
2. and Elizabeth’s under the table support of piracy
3. England didn’t have army or navy or financial resources to challenge Spain directly on
battle field and turned a blind eye to Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Francis Drake (both good
explorers, but also pirates)
4. Elizabeth could not officially condone this activity because it was illegal, but ____
b. England getting actively involved in overseas exploration game
1. now British were making claims in the Americas (first in Jamestown!)
A. Jamestown = unsuccessful
2. potential threat to Spanish hegemony
v. Philip had more success beating the Ottoman’s at the Battle of Lepanto
a. it’s the first the Ottoman’s were defeated at sea! ****
b. balance of power b/w the Ottomans (had been dominant and as a threat to Europe) and ___ began
to shift
c. eventually the tide will turn so much by the time you get into late 18th century/19th century, the
Ottoman empire becomes known as the sick-man of Europe (but not yet!) for all of his power and
wealth, Philip II of Spain is a weakling relative to the Ottoman empire
vi. dies without accomplishing
a. dominating and ____ ______ politically
b. ___ economically and politically altogether
c. all of the money to Spain from Charles V to Philip II becomes a curse
1. at first, silver allows them to buy weapons, a navy, and goods (Spain = very luxurious)
2. so much silver is pumped into the economy of Spain that it causes inflation  value
declines
3. moreover, the Spanish do not use this silver to invest in the development of industries
back in Spain that would help long term; instead they use it to buy goods from other
places and their army
A. no long-term/meaningful way of spending silver, so when the silver dries up
they have nothing to fall back on
B. Spanish were poor mercantilist
i. mercantilism becomes the dominant economic philosophy at the
time
a. idea that your economy will become prosperous because
you export more than you import
b. one of the ways you do that: have colonies! (provides
raw materials, which will be brought back to home
country, then sold again as finished goods)
c. internal manufacturing capability b/c need to be able to
produce stuff to sell
d. supposedly all countries going by mercantilism, but not
Spain (or Portugal)
e. emphasizes colonies/self-sufficiency
f. mercantilism is how the British tried to govern their
American company
ii. Problems of mercantilism:
a. colonies don’t like it/feel exploited
b. mercantilism operates under the assumption that ____ is
a “zero sum game”
c. competition! (European countries always competing with
each other)
 1. in mercantilism, there is assumption that one
country could be on top by creating a “sphere”
of sorts
2. if you export more than you import = good
C. don’t want an equal trading relationship (there is not an equal amount of
wealth in the world; someone always has to win and someone always has to
lose)
d. Adam Smith
1. says trade is not a zero sum gain and both sides will benefit; should abandon
mercantilist policy
E. France
i. faultered at the same time British econ started booming b/c bad at mercantilism
ii. Won Hundred Years War (mid-1400s)
a. against England
b. end result: a lot of the conflict b/w France and England involving England’s claims to France
monarchy was resolved
c. ___ is eager to compete on European stage, particular with England and Holy Roman Empire
iii. like we saw with England, spain, and Italy, the French kings patronized artists to show their
power/prestige/cultivation
a. Francis I patronized Italian artists (Leonardo!)
F. England
i. Francis I vs. Henry VIII

a. there was a meeting in which there were extended diplomatic negotiations about how many horses
they could have, what they cold wear, how many courtiers they could have/what courtiers could
wear, etc.
b. ^all indictive of ones power
c. couldn’t agree on this/about who could get more vindictive power
d. just trying to get a meeting with each other, but if they did it would’ve been a huge deal so wanted
to know who was better
e. fighting about what they get to wear to peace negotiations
G. Queen Elizabeth-the “Virgin Queen” (mid-late 1500s)
i. wasn’t actually a virgin, but painting herself as one was important politically
ii. Used position as potential bride to other European monarchs as a way of ___ her diplomatic relations
a. Betrothed to many different people at different times, and then would pull out
b. good at using her potential as a spouse for the benefit of England (both actually marrying and
potential were helpful!)
iii. ultimately her lack of a spouse also worked to her advantage politically b/c her own independence mirrored
England’s independence
iv. presided over time of great cultural flowering in England
v. was a period of relative peace/stability
 vi. although religious rifts b/w Catholics and Protests and even rifts among Protestants existed, Elizabeth was
overall masterful at tamping out flames
vii. dies without an heir, so she leaves her throne to her great rival son of Mary Queen of Scots
a. James VI of Scotland  James I of England
b. condition: accept England as Protestant
viii. from 1600-1800 known as the era of Absolute Monarch
a. “Absolute Monarchy” was only th norm in France, Spain, Austria (Hapsburgs), Prussia (northern
Germany), and Russia note: England and Netherlands not there!
1. culmination of trend of monarchs in the middle ages trying to put power in themselves
2. theoretical basis = “divine right of kings”
A. to challenge them would be to challenge God
3. king alone had decision-making authority
A. but had extensive bureaucracy that helped him govern his burgeoning empire
(advisors, etc.)
B. idea is that there is no limit on the power of the king
4. these countries tended have expansionist
A. France expanding in Europe/overseas (Canada and Louisiana)
B. Spain into __ and Philippines
C. Austria challenging Ottomans in Eastern Europe
D. Prussia challenging Russia and sometimes Hapsburg
E. Russia into ___, Siberia, and as far as northern California overseas
i. Russian explorers crossed Bering Strait and explored the west
coast by 1800
H. France = #1 Absolute Monarch
i. Louis XIII (1624-1642)
a. served under Cardinal Richelleu
1. taded the nobles, limited their activities, hiring new gov officials, engaging in complicated
diplomatic maneuvering to enhance France’s diplomatif standing

b. three muskateers and ___ shows ___ and their desire not to be under the “evil Cardindal Rechelu”
ii. Louis XIV
a. “L’etat – c’est mol”: I am the State
b. mercantilism
c. promoted internal manufacturing (i.e. sponsored French lacemaking industry and perfumes)
1. listen to recording
LISTEN—MISSED FIRST TEN MINUTES
(early modern is Renaissance-French Revolution)
V. Palace of Versailles
A. Wanted to be able to keep an eye on nobles
B. designed to demonstrate the French king’s power to the world
C. Hall of Mirrors
i. Baroque architecture and design
ii. heavy use of gold leaf
iii. paitings everywhere
D. everyone is huge/on a grand scale
VI. Timeline—Politics (cont’d)
A. “Constitutional Monarch” (1600-1800)
i. in absolute monarchys, such as in France, there are no legal limits on the power of kings (king has legal right
to do whatever)
ii. was the model that develops in England and the Netherlands
iii. not a “constitutional” model in a US sense
a. over time, ___evolved an ___ over king
b. became part of the system that individuals had that the king could not abrigate
 c. evolved representative bodies who served as not just consultative helpers to the king, but also had
legislative authority
d. king shared power with representative bodies and didn’t rule completely on his own
1. had own names, but representative bodies we know as parliaments
A. France: had Estates General, but Estates General had no power to enact
legislation or limit power of king (ultimately became an issue n the French
Revolution)
i. was a consultative body that the king could call when he wanted
advice orw anted to levy a lot of taxes, but had no authority over
king
e. in England though, beginning in 1215 with the Magna Carta, the king could not always do what he
wanted
f. Parliament had “the power of the purse”
1. Parliament has two houses: House of Commons (commoners) and House of Lords
(nobles)
2. when the king of England needs more money/revenue (usually because of war or wants
to build new palace), he can’t just raise taxes; he needs to ask permission
3. quid pro pro developled: king would say he needs more money, and in exchange
parliament would say that they’d give him more money if king gave parliament right that
they wanted
A. almost barter-exchange  parliament began to feel more imboldened
g. when John signed Magna Carta, he had to recognize fact that he, the king, could not do anything
he pleased
1. the king is not above the law
2. must respect prior precedence
3. we get something in return
4. parliaments become more imboldened over centuries in dealing with king
h. balance of power will shift so much toward parliament that the king becomes more like a rubber
stamp on the decisions of parliament
iv. Wealthy merchants prominent in politics
a. Places become wealthy through trade
b. once England becomes involved in overseas exploration, about finding new trade routes and
becoming intermediaries
c. merchants become prominent and have lots of voice in House of Commons, and since they are so
rich they have a lot of money that the kings want  kings have to work with merchants if he’s
going to get what he wants
d. governments actively helped these merchants in promoting overseas trade because it was
beneficial to both sides (time of mercantilism)
v. England
a. Ultimately, the conflict b/w the king and parliament as to who will be more powerfull comes to a
climax in 1649 when Parliament decided that the king had gone too far in his demands (he kept
trying to raise taxes w/o consent of Parliament, etc.), so Parliament declared that king was guilty of
treason and beheaded him
1. Civil War—King Charles I beheaded (1649)
2. idea that the king could be guilty of treason would not have even crossed people’s minds
in France during 1600s because of their mentality of the divine right of kings
3. after king is beheaded, there is no king for a while and the country ends up in civil war
4. but the country is headed by Oliver Cromwell, who gets the title “Lord Protector of the
Realm”
A. takes over as leader of the country
5. but a lot of people are unhappy with Parliament’s decision to behead the king
A. war b/w loyalists to monarchies and people who think that the monarchy
discredited itself
B. those who thought monarchy had discredited itself: Round-heads
 C. eventually, England decides to restore the monarchy, so they invite back a
relative of ____ because they want a king, as long as king recognizes power
of Parliament
i. but he and his wife were Catholic, and can’t have that in a
Protestant England
ii. didn’t work out well, but rather than execute him, Parliament
deposed him  still wanted a king, though, so they turned to the
Netherlands; William and Mary of Orange were asked to become
king and queen of England, as long as they agree that Parliament is
the ultimate decision maker of England (kings/queens = figurehead)
and there is no taxation without the consent of parliament (debate
over the power of the purse!)
b. “Glorious Revolution” (1688)  William and Mary in power
1. established once and for all that parliament is in charge of England and has ultimate
fiscal authority
2. after this point, the prime minister (head of dominant in House of Commons) makes
decisions
VII. European Economy
A. decline of serfdom, but taxes went up!
i. serfdom has basically died out in western Europe by 1800, but at the same time it is increasing in places like
Russia in the 1600s and 1700s!
B. all of the constant warfare (first religious wars, and then territorial wars) disrupted a lot of traditional economic and social
ties within communities
i. Story of Martin Gurerre
a. Martin Guerrer was a man from a village in central France an in 17th century he went off to war
1. if you were conscripted into army at this time, you are in for 20 years
2. marries right before he leaves, and 20 years later returns to his village and says he’s
Martin Gurerre to his wife
3. his wife was supposed to inherit a lot from her father, so a lot of people in town decided
it wasn’t Martin Gurerre, but ultimately it was her decision
4. ultimately, she does accept him as her husband b/c she’s been alone for 20 years, but
later it turns out that he’s an imposter
5. a relative brings the case to court
A. court case still exists
6. Martin Guerre, who ultimately was a fake, underwent torture, etc. to say that he was not
true  showed how much warfare disrupted traditional social ties
C. Despite _____, cities and towns continued to grow
D. but population did not
i. population in Europe had been rising in 1500s fell in the first half of the 17th century, but it begins in increase
in the 1700s and from then onwards it continues to steadily increase
a. important because it provides ultimately people to settle abroad, eventually growing population will
outstrip available land to feed them/work  provides pool of labor for Industrial Revolution, which
begins ___
b. new crops from America also help/allow population to grow (i.e. corn and potatoes)