Political
• Early Modern Era: 1450-1750
• During this time frame:
• Ottomans: 1453
• Western Europe: 1434-1492
• China: 1433
• This is a time of change and transition
• No significant global change to gender roles/relationships
anywhere in the world
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Renaissance
Reformation
Catholic (counter) reformation
Scientific Revolution
Absolutism
Enlightenment
Commercial Revolution
• Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince—realistic discussion of
how to seize and maintain power
• Experimented with new ways to rule, not necessarily
through divine right, but wanted to improve the general
welfare
• Built more professional armies
• 1st time diplomacy used in the West through
ambassadors
• 1500 French & Spanish monarch invade Italy reducing political
independence
• Atlantic trade routes reduce importance of the Mediterranean
portshurting Italy’s economy
• $$increased ceremony with kings
• Literature—Shakespeare & Cervantes
• Ordinary people weren’t effected much by the Renaissance
• Peasants and artisans continued on as before
• 1517—Martin Luther, German
monk, nailed the 95 theses to the
Wittenberg church door
• Protested
– Selling indulgences, grants of
salvation
– Only faith could gain salvation,
church sacraments were not the
path
– Challenged the authority of the
pope
– Monasticism was wrong, priests
should marry
– Bible needed to be translated so
ordinary people could have
direct access to its teachings
• Luther received wide support
• German nationalist reaction because resented the authority
and taxes of the pope
• German princes saw it as an opportunity because the Holy
Roman Emperor was Catholic
• Princes ability to gain independence and seize church land
• Luther suggested state control of the church as an alternative
to papal authoritysounded good to the princes
• Peasants saw the attack on authority as sanctioning their own
rebellions against their landlords
• If faith was the main way to salvation, then money-making
was ok
• Henry VIII in England
• Set up the Anglican church
• Challenge the ability to
divorce in attempt to
produce a male heir
• He ended up with 6 wives
in all and executed 2 of
themshowing the poor
treatment of women in
politics
• Jean Calvin, French but base support in
Geneva
• Believe in God’s predestination of those who
would be saved
• Ministers became moral guardians and
preachers of God’s word
• Sought the participation of all believers in local
church administrationpromoted wider access to
government
• Promoted education to read the Bible
• Created a strong minority group and with
Puritans will bring it to North America in the
1600s
• Series of religious wars
• In France—Calvinist vs Catholics
• Edict of Nantes 1598—granting tolerance
• In Germany—the Thirty Years’ War 1618
• German Protestants & Swedish Lutherans vs the holy
Roman emperor backed by Spain
• Devastating to Germany; 60% population died
• Treaty of Westphalia 1648
• Granted tolerance and gave Protestant Netherlands
independence from Spain
• In England—English Civil
War 1640-1660
• Religious issues
• Claims of parliament to
rights of control over royal
actions
• 1688-1689 limited
toleration was granted to
most Protestants, but not
Catholics
Oliver Cromwell
King Charles II
• Religious wars led to limited acceptance of religious pluralism,
but Christian unity could not be restored
• led some people to be suspect of religion—could there be a dominant
single truth
• Affected the balance of power
• Changes in view of religion
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Protestants resisted the idea of miracles
Promoted greater concentration on family life
Encouraged love between husband and wife
Protestants abolished conventsfewer options for women other than
marriage
• Promoted growing literacy
Before 1500 scholars
referred only to ancient
Greek and Roman scholars
or the Bible
During the
Renaissance and
Reformation scholars
began questioning
those ideas
Scholars create new
ideas and discover
new things based on
observation and
logic
• Oliver Cromwell & Charles I
• Louis XIV & Palace of
Versailles
• Maria Theresa (Austria)
• Frederick the Great (Prussia)
• Peter the Great (Russia)
• 30 Years War & Peace of
Westphalia
• English Civil War
• War of Austrian Succession
• Seven Years War
• Absolutism- kings or queens who believe all power within their
state’s boundaries rested in their hands
• Believed in divine right
• Why did the European Monarchy grow?
• 17th century upheaval in Europe and monarchs respond by using power to
impose order
• Decline in feudalism and rise in cities
• Use of colonies to pay for ambitions
• Became king at the age of 4 ½
• His mother was regent over him
• Fell in love but married for political gain to Marie-Therese of
Austria who was the daughter of the king of Spain
• As an Absolute Monarch he centralized the control of France
• Promoted industrial growth
• Reform taxation and borrowing of money
• Reigned in the nobility and did things to keep them in control
Versailles
• deeply religious- very Catholic
and against Muslims and
Protestants !
• expanded territory- took control
of Portugal when Portuguese
king died without an heir
• built a large army
• Tried to control every aspect of
his empire’s affairs
• Peter the Great because he was a good reformer
• To force change on his people he increased his power as an
absolute ruler
• Brought Russian orthodox church under state control – Holy
Synod – group to run the church
• Reduced the power of the great landowners
• Modernized the army using European trainers
• Heavy taxes to pay for the army
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Introduced potatoes
Started first newspaper
Raised women’s status
Ordered the nobles to give up traditional clothes for western
fashion
• Wanted a seaport to the west. Fought Sweden for 21 years and
won St. Petersburg (named after his patron saint)
• Difficult to build St. Petersburg (many died). Ordered nobles to
settle there later
• 1725 Peter died and Russia was a power to reckon with
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1640 Frederick William built a strong standing army
Introduced permanent taxation to pay for the army
Weakened representative assemblies
Junkers (landowning nobility) resisted these moves but were
given army officer positions and Prussia soon became military
society
• Frederick II (son) followed many of his father’s policies but with
a softer hand and became known as Frederick the Great
• Ruler centralized
government and created a
standing army
• Her father took Hungary
from Ottomans in 1699
• Very Catholic- did not allow
any tolerance in her
kingdom
The Scientific
Revolution was
about using
reason to
explain science.
This prompted
people to use
reason to
understand
human behavior.
The Age of
Reason
Thomas Hobbes
• People are naturally selfish
and governments are
required to keep order. To
escape a chaotic life people
give up some of their rights
in exchange for a strong
ruler. The ruler needed total
control. This is a Social
Contract.
John Locke
• People could learn from
experience and improve
themselves. He favored the
idea of self-government.
• Believed in 3 natural rightslife, liberty, and property
and the purpose of
government is to protect
these
• Reason- truth through reason and logical thinking
• Nature- what was natural was also good
• Happiness- wanted well-being on earth and if you lived by
nature’s laws you would be happy
• Progress – using the scientific approach society can be
perfected
• Liberty – society could be set free
• Voltaire – Francios Marie Arouet- over 70 books- often satirical- got
him in jail and exiled to England. Fought for tolerance, freedom of
religion, and freedom of speech
• Montesquieu- studied political liberty- separation of powers
• Rousseau- committed to individual freedom – believed civilization
corrupted people’s natural goodness. Only good government was
one formed by freedom of the people
• Beccaria- laws exist to preserve social order not to avenge crimes
Punishment should be based on the severity of the crime
• Mary Wollstonecraft- argued for women’s rights
• Challenged long-held ideas about society
• Belief in progress- through reason a better society was possible
• Rise of a more secular outlook- questioning the church and their
religious beliefs
• Rise in individualism
A monarch’s
rule is justified
by divine right
Monarch rules
with absolute
authority
Rousseau
A government’s
power comes from
the consent of the
governed
Montesquieu
Separation of
powers among
executive,
legislative, and
judicial branches
• Massive amounts of gold and silver from Spain’s
colonies
• $$ in Europe &
Americas led to increase
demand  inflation
$$ being worth less led to merchants taking out loans
 trading companies like the Dutch East Indies
Company
• Iberian Peninsula (Catholic) had firm control over most of South
America
• Others
• France: Crossed Atlantic first and explored the Great Lakes Region and
Canada
• British: Really wanted to find the NW Passage.
• Did some exploring in the Hudson Bay but started colonizing North
America
• Dutch: Competed with Portugal in SE Asia
• Established settlements in Southern Africa
• Why were colonizes so significant to the changing world?
• Effects:
• “international inequality”
• Slave trade/coercive labor
• New social/ethnic classes
• Who’s included?
• Western Europe (Spain, Portugal, France, Great Britain)
• Asia: (Ottomans, Mughals, Russians)
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Changes were less significant
English had a bloated parliament
Popular concern for great representation
Prussia had greater changes
• Creating a military and bureaucratic organization
• Greater religious freedom
• Promoted better agriculture methods and the use of the potato
• Prince Henry the Navigator
• Motivated by a desire for:
• Excitement
• Missionary
• Wealth
• Slowly moved down the west coast of Africa
• Establishing factories
• Treaty of Tordecilla (1494)
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1488 Cape of Good Hope
1492 Columbus
1497 Vasco da Gama reached India
1500 reached Brazil
1514 Port. Get to Brazil and China and Indonesia
1519 Magellan Circumnavigates the World
1542 Port. Gets to Japan
• The British and Dutch began moving into the region and pushing
out the Portuguese
Two big advantages:
1) faster, cheaper and more powerful ships
2) efficient commercial organizations-joint stock companies
• Portuguese control over the Indian trade began to slip because
they did not have the resources (ships, men) to keep control
began to lose it in the late 16th century