The Transformation of Europe
Chapter 23
The Fragmentation of Western
Christendom
• Christianity had united a culturally diverse Europe
• 16th-17th centuries: revolts against the Catholic
Church ended that unity
– Protestants est’d independent churches
– Roman Catholic Church responded
The Protestant Reformation
• Problem: connection between church officials and
politics  greed and corruption = hypocrisy 
criticism and demand for personal involvement
with the divine
• Martin Luther: Ninety-Five Theses (1517)
– Main issues: indulgences, monasteries, Latin bible,
priestly authority (esp. pope), focus on actions
– Success: printing press, followers, Lutheran church,
German princes, spread all over Europe
Protestant Reformation (cont.)
• Outside Germany: Switzerland, Low Countries,
Italy, Spain, England (Henry VIII -> Anglican
Church)
• John Calvin: French, organized Protestants in
Switzerland, codified Protestant teachings,
inspired missionaries (esp.
in Netherlands
and Scotland)
The Catholic Reformation
• Goals: response to Prot. Ref., clarify differences,
persuade converts to return, deepen rel.
commitment of Catholics)
• Council of Trent: assembly of church leaders, met
1545-1563
– Acknowledged abuses, defined theological elements,
set standards of morality for officials, set up
schools/seminaries to prepare priests
The Catholic Reformation (cont.)
• St. Ignatius Loyola: founded Society of Jesus
(Jesuits) to extend reforms
– Education in theology, phil., classical languages, lit.,
history, science
– Produced excellent missionaries: became counselors
to kings and rulers and brought Christianity to India,
China, Japan, Philippines, and the Americas
Religious Tension: Witch-Hunts
• Religious divisions  social and political conflict,
including witch-hunts in areas with lots of tension
between Prot and Cath
• European belief that some had special powers
(=witches)
• Late 15th century: theologians decided it came from
the devil in exchange for worship
– Witches became scapegoat for crop failures, fires, deaths,
inability to conceive; spread to America
– Suspects were tried, and many executed by hanging or
burning at the stake (most were poor, old, single/widowed
women = marginalized)
Religious Tension: Wars
• Within countries (France: 1562-98 between Cath
and Prot)
• Between countries (Spain (Cath) and England
(Prot) -> demise of Spanish Armada) and (Spain
(Cath) and Netherlands (Prot) -> rebellion and
independence of United Provinces)
Religious Tension: Wars (cont.)
• The Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648):
– Holy Roman Empire tried to force Bohemians back to
Cath.
– Other countries got involved
– Motives for involvement varied: political, economic,
and complicated by religion
– Results: violent, brutal, destructive to economies and
society (1/3 of German pop. died)
Consolidation of Sovereign States
• Monarchs used religious issues to strengthen states
and enhance their own authority
• H.R.E. attempted empire-building
• Monarchs raised funds to ensure their positions
• Constitutional state & absolute monarchy emerge
• Balance of power must
be maintained among states
Attempted Revival of Empire
• H.R.E.: included Germany and N. Italy, but
opposition from local princes
• Charles V (Hapsburg Dynasty) tried to build
empire through marriage alliances (land and
titles) -> Austria, Low Countries, Spain
– But, could not maintain authority (religious issues,
princes, no single admin.
structure)
– Army put down rebellions,
did not expand
H.R.E.: Foreign Challenges
• France and Ottomans feared empire
– France: created obstacles (Lutheran rebellions)
– Ottomans: conquered Hungary, tried for Vienna, and
expanded in N. Africa (shipping)
• 1556: Charles V allows princes
and cities to determine religion,
abdicated, split holdings
– Spain, Italy, Low Countries to son (Philip II)
– Habsburgs land imperial throne to brother (Ferdinand)
The New Monarchs
• Regional states ruled and built power (esp.
England: Henry VIII, France: Louis XI and Frances I,
and Spain: Ferdinand and Isabella)
• New sources of finance: sales taxes (F and S),
fines, fees, and church assets
• Enlarged admin. staffs (tax collection and policy
implementation)
The Spanish Inquisition
• Began in 1478 by Ferdinand and Isabella with
pope’s approval
• Original goal: get rid of Jews and Muslims; later,
Protestants
• Suspects were tried, killed or imprisoned
• => Protestantism did not flourish in Spain
Constitutional States
• After 30 Years’ War: 2 lines of development – Constitutional states (England, Netherlands): rulers
and representative institutions
– Absolute monarchies (France, Spain, Austria, Prussia,
Russia): king had total power
Constitutional States (cont.)
• No written constitution
• Gov’t with limited powers, some individual
rights, representative institutions => enabled
merchants to flourish
England
• English Civil War (1642-49):
– King levied taxes with approval of parliament ->
political tension
– Anglicans (Cath-like) and Calvinists (Ant-Cath
hierarchy, ritual) -> religious tension
– Charles I and army vs. Parliament (oliver Cromwell)
and army  king was captured,
tried for tyranny, beheaded
England (cont.)
• Cromwell took over (dictator-like) -> parliament
restored monarchy in 1660 -> conflicts resumed > Glorious Revolution (1688-89)
– Bloodless, King James II was deposed
– Daughter, Mary, and William of Orange (from
Netherlands) invited to rule
– Results: kings ruled in cooperation
with Parliament (represents nobles,
merchants, etc.)
The Dutch Republic
• Also had political and religious tensions (1567:
Philip II of Spain tried to suppress Calvinists)
• 1579: Dutch provinces formed anti-Spanish
alliance -> United Provinces, each run by assembly
England and Dutch Republic
• Popular support -> state power
• Strong merchant communities, favored maritime
trade, commercial overseas empires
• -> prosperity in late 17th -18th centuries, as
merchants supported state with wealth and rulers
looked out for their interests
Absolute Monarchies
• Based on theory of Divine Right of Kings
• King had absolute authority, highly centralized
• France: devised by Cardinal Richelieu for Louis XIII
– Undermined nobles’ power (destroyed castles and
conspiracies)
– Built large bureaucracy of loyal commoners
– Allowed Calvinism, except if allied with nobles
France: The Sun King
• Best example: Louis XIV (r. 1643-1715)
– 1670s: Versailles – lavish palace, patron of arts, court
ritual
– Large standing army to keep order and for expansion
– Supported new industries, transportation, abolished
internal tariffs, encouraged exports
Absolutism in Russia
• Ruled by Romanov Dynasty, recently built empire
• Peter the Great (r. 1682-1725): wanted Russian to
be a great military power, like W. Europe -> lots of
reforms
– Copied European admin. (overhaul of bureaucracy)
and mil. (better pay, peasant drafts, training, modern
equipment, navy) techniques, plus western-style
fashions, no facial hair, new capital (St. Petersburg)
Absolutism in Russia (cont.)
• Catherine the Great (r. 1762-1796)
– Reforms: admin. Provinces for efficiency, economic
development, tried to improve peasants’ lives (but
backed off after noble-led rebellion)
The European States System
• Early modern states were much more powerful
than medieval ones -> competition, conflict
• The Peace of Westphalia: post-30 yrs’ war; system
of independent, competing states
• Treaty terms: sovereign equals
• Fighting continued over territory: Louis XIV tried
to expend (into Germany,
Spain, and the Netherlands)
and Seven Years’ War
European States System (cont.)
• Shifting alliances to try to maintain balance of
power to prevent empire-building and ensure
sovereignty
• Led to development of new military leadership
and technology -> military academies for officer
training, powerful cannons and small arms for
infantry
Early Capitalist Society
• Expanding population and economy ->
restructuring of European economy
• Communication and transportation technology ->
profit from distant markets
• New organization of merchants & manufacturers
for market
•  wealth in western Europe
 social implications
Population Growth and Urbanization
• Pop. Growth due to better nutrition and
decreased mortality rates
– Columbian Exchange (esp. potato, maize, tomatoes,
peppers)
– Old diseases killed fewer people, esp. plague
• Rapid pop increase -> rapid urbanization
– Cities grew as sites of government (e.g., Madrid) and
as commercial/industrial/government centers (e.g.,
Paris, London)
Early Capitalism
• = People work for wages; land and capital goods
(machinery, tools, buildings, raw materials) are privately
owned; capital is invested for profit (free market)
• Economic decisions are made by individuals
• Business compete in the market
• Supply and demand determine prices (communication and
transportation)
• Business can fail
• Institutions, services, and business models
supported capitalism: banks, insurance
companies, stock exchange, joint-stock
companies
Politics and Capitalism
• Some governments supported capitalism, esp.
England and Netherlands
• Favorable policies: individual right (e.g., private
property), enforcement of contracts, settlement
of disputes
• Chartered joint-stock companies
•  imperialism (trading posts and
colonies for natural resources and
commodities)
Protoindustrialization: Putting-Out
System
• To avoid dealing with guilds, entrepreneurs
moved production to rural areas
• Delivered raw materials to houses, paid them,
picked up finished goods to sell (e.g., cloth, nails,
pins, pots, etc.)
• Benefits: cheap and increased efficiency
Social Change
• Big changes due to capitalism
• More money in rural areas = higher standard of
living (more and better stuff)
– Individual economic independence -> less of control
and importance of extended family
• Serfdom in Russia: few opportunities other than
agriculture – landlords took advantage
– 1649: law code est’d caste-like social order (restricted
occupational and geographic mobility)
– Grain and raw materials to capitalist western Europe
Social Change (cont.)
• Profit and ethics: in Medieval times, profit was
considered bad (selfish, competitive), including
interest on loans
– Adam Smith (Wealth of Nations): society will prosper
when individuals pursue their own interests
– Social tension -> violence (banditry, muggings, witchhunts?
• Nuclear family: principal unit in
society, marriage for love
Science and the Enlightenment
• More changes: intellectual and cultural
• Esp. in astronomy and physics: rejection of
Classical authorities, use of direct observation and
mathematical reasoning
•  scientific revolution
• Later, methods and reason applied to moral,
social, and political thought  weakened church
influence
The Reconception of the Universe
• The Ptolemaic Universe (Greek): geocentric –
everything revolves around earth in circular
orbits; unchanging cosmos, not subject to earth’s
physical laws
• But, based on observations, the planets did not
follow regular movements – explained away as
epicycles
The Universe (cont.)
• 1543: Nicolaus Copernicus (Polish astronomer) –
heliocentric theory: the earth and other planets
revolve around the sun
– Responses: negative from scientists and the church
– Gradually, scientists accepted it, based on
observational data and some studied mechanics
•  use of observation and mathematical
reasoning  Scientific Revolution
Other Developments: Death of
Ptolemaic theory
• J. Kepler (Germany): planets’ orbits are elliptical
• G. Galilei (Italy): telescope, “flaws” in heavenly
bodies, terrestrial motion (velocity of falling
objects)
• I. Newton (England): astronomy + mechanics, laws
of universal gravitation and motion
• Influenced: anatomy, physiology, microbiology,
chemistry, botany
Women in Science
• Male-dominated: women and their bodies seen as
inferior
– -> confirmed and validated society’s views, but some
female scientists emerged
• E. du Chatelet (French): translated and clarified
Newton’s work, studied Liebniz
The Enlightenment
• Rational analysis applied to humans -> natural
laws governing human society
– Abandoned Aristotle, Christian theology
• J. Locke (English): laws of politics – antiabsolutism, consent of the governend
• A. Smith (Scottish): laws of economics –
supply and demand
• Montesquieu (French): politics – liberty and
stability
The Enlightenment (cont.)
• Centered in France with the philosophes (more
intellectuals, than philosophers)
– Wrote various genres of text for the people
• Voltaire (French): used wit and irony; individual
freedoms, anti-oppression (gov’t and church)
– Deism: god as “watchmaker” – hands off
• Theory of Progress: through science and rational
thinking; greater human control of the world,
freedom, prosperity, equality