Chapter 16
Transformations in Europe,
1500 - 1750
AP World History
I. Culture and Ideas
A. Religious Reformation
• Catholic Church began to get money for building
new churches (St. Peter’s Basilica) by authorizing
sale of indulgences.
• Martin Luther challenged the church on these
practices that he considered corrupt and said
salvation could come by faith alone.
• John Calvin argued that salvation was God’s gift to
the predestined.
• Protestant Reformation appealed to Germans who
disliked the Italian dominated church and to
peasants and urban workers who wanted to reject
the religion of their masters.
• Catholics responded with the Council of Trent.
• The Protestant Reformation led to a number of
wars of religion ending in 1648.
St. Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any
Christian church in the world, holding 60,000 people.
It is regarded as one of the holiest Catholic sites.
It is the burial site of its namesake Saint Peter,
who was one of the 12 apostles of Jesus.
Martin Luther (1483 - 1546) was a German priest and professor of
theology who initiated the Protestant Reformation. He strongly
disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment of sin
could be purchased with money, called indulgences. His NinetyFive Theses in 1517 resulted in his excommunication in 1521.
John Calvin (1509 - 1564) was an influential French theologian
and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. Calvinism
teaches that salvation was a gift from God to only
those predestined for salvation. He broke from the
Roman Catholic Church around 1530.
The Council of Trent met on and off from 1545 to 1563. This
Catholic Reformation is considered to be one of the Church's
most important councils. It issued condemnations on what it
defined as Protestant heresies and defined Church teachings.
Religions in Europe after the Reformation.
B. Traditional Thinking and Witch Hunts
• European beliefs derived from both local folk
traditions and Judeo-Christian beliefs.
• During the 16th and 17th centuries over 100,000
people (3/4 women) were tried and about half of
them were executed on charges of witchcraft.
• Witch hunts became manifestations of fear of
unattached women without male guidance.
A witch-hunt is a search for witches or evidence of witchcraft,
often involving moral panic, mass hysteria and lynching.
The extraordinary fear of the power of witches in the late 16th
and 17th centuries is testimony to the belief in the spiritual
causes of natural events. (Over 100,000 people, 3/4 women,
were tried and half of them were executed)
C. Scientific Revolution
• According to Aristotle, everything on earth was
reducible to four elements; sun, moon, planets, and
stars.
– They were so light and pure that they floated in
crystalline spheres and rotated around the earth
in perfectly circular orbits.
• Copernican sun-centered model was initially
criticized and suppressed by Protestant leaders and
by the Catholic Church.
• Isaac Newton’s discovery of the law of gravity
showed why planets move around the sun around
the sun in elliptical orbits.
• Newton and other scientists did not believe that their
discoveries were in conflict with religious belief.
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 - 1543) was a Polish Renaissance
astronomer, priest and the first person to formulate a
comprehensive heliocentric cosmology. His book is regarded as
the starting point of modern astronomy which began the
Scientific Revolution.
The essentials of the Copernican Solar System were: 1) The
daily motion of the sun and stars is the result of the earth
turning on its axis. 2) The sun lies at the center of the solar
system. 3) All the planets orbit the sun in the same direction
with the planets closer to the sun going around faster. 4) The
shapes of the orbits are circles and that the planets move at
constant speed. (same as Ptolemy)
Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642) was an Italian physicist,
mathematician, astronomer and philosopher who played a
major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include
a 30 power telescope, consequent astronomical observations,
and support for Copernicanism.
After 1610, Galileo Galilei began publicly supporting
heliocentrism and was denounced to the Roman Inquisition
because it contradicted Aristotle’s model of the universe
as well as several passages of Scripture. In 1633,
he was sentenced to house arrest until he died.
Sir Isaac Newton (1643 – 1727) was an English physicist,
mathematician, astronomer, and theologian who is considered
to be one of the most influential people in human history. His
book discusses classical mechanics, universal gravitation, and
the three laws of motion. He helped prove heliocentrism and
built the first practical reflecting telescope.
D. The Early Enlightenment
• Intellectual movement that assumed that social
behavior and institutions were governed by
scientific laws.
• Also influenced by Reformation and by accounts of
other cultures.
• Most thinkers were optimistic that the application of
reason would lead to human progress.
• Aroused opposition from many absolutist rulers
and from clergy, but the printing press made
possible the survival and dissemination of new
ideas.
John Locke (1632 - 1704) was one of the most influential
English Enlightenment philosophers. His social contract theory
and contributions to classical republicanism are reflected
in the American Declaration of Independence.
François-Marie Arouet (1694 - 1778), better known by the
pen name, Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer,
historian and philosopher. He advocated civil liberties,
including freedom of religion and free trade.
Thomas Hobbes (1588 - 1679) was an English
Enlightenment philosopher who established the
foundation for most of Western political philosophy from
the perspective of social contract theory.
Montesquieu (1689 -1755), was a French Enlightenment social
commentator and political thinker who was famous for his
articulation of the theory of separation of powers, taken for
granted in modern discussions of government and implemented
in many constitutions throughout the world.
II. Social and Economic Life
A. The Bourgeoisie
• Europe experienced spectacular growth from
1500-1700.
• Wealthy urban Bourgeoisie thrived on
manufacturing, finance, and especially trade.
• Amsterdam’s growth, built on trade and finance
exemplifies Bourgeoisie power.
• Forged mutually beneficial relationships with the
monarchs and built extensive family and ethnic
networks to facilitate trade.
• Partnerships between merchants and monarchs
led to the development of joint stock companies
and stock exchanges.
• Anglo-Dutch wars of the 1600s provide evidence of
the growing importance of trade.
• Many Bourgeoisie married into noble families or
purchased titles of nobility.
The bourgeoisie were wealthy town dwellers who earned their
money by being a merchant or owning their own business. They
dominated trade, finance and manufacturing.
By 1700, Amsterdam was a major financial center and its ships
carried 80% of trade between Spain and northern Europe. It
was home to the Amsterdam exchange, the largest stock
exchange in Europe, and joint-stock companies which gave the
Dutch monopolies on trade to the East and West Indies.
B. Peasants and Laborers
• Serfdom disappeared in Western Europe, but gained
new prominence in Eastern Europe.
• African slaves contributed greatly to Europe’s
economy.
• New World crops helped peasants avoid starvation.
• High consumption of wood for heating, cooking,
construction, shipbuilding, and industrial uses led to
deforestation.
• Europeans began to use coal instead of wood.
• Deforestation had particularly severe effects on the
rural poor who had used forests for building materials
and food.
• Urban poor consisted of “deserving poor” and
“unworthy poor.”
The slave trade massively contributed to Europe’s
economy via the American colonies.
The trans-Atlantic slave trade Diaspora.
New World crops, like maize and potatoes,
helped peasants avoid starvation.
High consumption of wood for heating, cooking, construction,
shipbuilding, and industrial uses led to deforestation which had
particularly severe effects on the rural poor who had used
forests for building materials and food.
C. Women and the Family
• Women’s status tied closely to their husband.
• Young people of the Bourgeoisie married late to
finish education led to independence from parents
and a low birth rate.
• Bourgeoisie parents great emphasis on education
and promoted the establishment of schools.
• Most schools, professions, and guilds barred
women.
Bourgeoisie women married late to finish their education.
This led to an increased independence from
parents and a low birth rate.
III. Political Innovations
A. State Development
• Between 1516 - 1519 Charles of Burgundy
inherited the thrones of Castile and Aragon, with
their colonial empires, the Austrian Habsburg
possessions, and position of Holy Roman
Emperor.
• Able to form coalition that defeated Ottomans at
gates of Vienna.
• Lutheran German princes rebelled against Frenchspeaking Catholic Charles, seized church lands
and gave rise to German Wars of Religion.
• Charles abdicated the throne and his son Phillip
received Spain and a weakened Holy Roman
Empire went to his brother Ferdinand.
• Rulers of Spain, England, and France began to
pursue own efforts at political unification.
Charles V (1500 – 1558) was from the Habsburg family in
Austria. He became the Holy Roman Emperor, inherited the
Spanish throne, halted the Ottoman Empire’s advance into
Europe, and is best known for his strong opposition of the
Protestant Reformation.
Charles V territorial empire from 1519 - 1556.
Philip II (1527 – 1598) became the King of Spain when his
father, Charles V, abdicated and retired to a monastery. He
used the Spanish Inquisition to hunt down anyone who was not
Catholic (Jews, Muslims, Protestants, and his critics).
B. Religious Policies
• Rulers of Spain and France defended Catholicism
from Protestant Challenge.
• Henry VIII challenged papal authority and declared
himself the head of the Church of England
because the pope would not grant him a divorce
from Catherine of Aragon.
Henry VIII (1491 - 1547) was the King of England and
besides his six marriages, Henry VIII is known for his role
in the separation of the Church of England from
the Roman Catholic Church.
Henry VIII six wives.
Catherine of Aragon was the youngest child of Ferdinand and
Isabella. She was Henry VIII’s 1st wife, the mother of Mary
Queen of Scots, and her divorce resulted in the separation of
England from the Roman Catholic Church.
Anne Boleyn was Catherine of Aragon’s Queen consort,
Henry VIII’s 2nd wife, mother of Queen Elizabeth I, and
was beheaded at the Tower of London for adultery.
Jane Seymour married Henry VIII 10 days after
Anne Boleyn’s execution, died two weeks after the
birth of Edward VI, was the only wife to receive
a queen’s funeral, and was buried beside Henry VIII.
Anne of Cleves was Henry VIII’s 4th wife. She was German and he
married her from a portrait, but when she showed up he thought
she was ugly. Fearing for her life, she agreed to a divorce.
Catherine Howard married Henry VII’s 20 days after his divorce
from Anne of Cleves. She was Anne Boleyn’s cousin and was
beheaded in less then two years for adultery.
Catherine Parr was Henry VIII’s 6th and final wife. She
was the first queen of Ireland and was the most married
English queen - she had four husbands.
C. Monarchies in England and France
• Conflict between Parliament and Charles I led to a
civil war and the establishment of a Puritan
republic under Oliver Cromwell.
• After the Stuart line was restored Parliament
enforced its will on the Monarch with the Glorious
Revolution when William and Mary had to sign the
Bill of Rights which limited the power of the crown.
• In France the Bourbon Kings were able to
circumvent the Estates General and develop an
absolutist style of government.
• Louis XIV’s finance minister, Colbert was able to
increase revenue through more efficient tax
collection and promote economic growth while
Louis entertained and controlled the nobility at his
court at Versailles.
Charles I (1600 – 1649) was the king of England who believed
he was an absolute monarch and evaded any check on his
power by not summoning Parliament for 11 years. He
plunged his kingdom into the English Civil War after
ordering the arrest of his leading critics in the House
of Commons. He was later beheaded for treason.
Puritan General Oliver Cromwell (1599 – 1658) became the
leader of the new English republic after Charles I was
beheaded. He was as unwilling as kings to share power with
Parliament, so after his death, the monarchy was restored.
The English King James II (1633 – 1701) refused to respect
Parliament’s rights and was forced into exile in the bloodless
Glorious Revolution of 1688. William and Mary were called to
the throne by Parliament and to end the Glorious Revolution,
they signed the English Bill of Rights and began a new cooperation between the Parliament and the monarchs.
Louis XIV’s palace at Versailles symbolized
the French monarch’s triumph over the traditional
rights of the nobility, clergy, and towns.
Niccolò Machiavelli (1469 - 1527) was an Italian philosopher
and writer. He is one of the main founders of modern political
science and is most famous for his book, The Prince. He urged
rulers to achieve obedience by fear and deception.
John Locke (1632 - 1704) disputed monarchial claims to
absolute authority by divine right. He argued that rulers derived
their authority from the consent of the governed and, like
everyone else, were subject to the law.
D. Warfare and Diplomacy
• Military revolution in which cannon, muskets, and
commoner foot soldiers became the mainstays of
European armies.
• Europeans devised new command structures,
signal techniques, and marching drills.
• Ships became more deadly with multiple tiers of
cannon and four-wheel cannon carriages.
• England took the lead in naval development and
this was demonstrated when the Royal Navy
defeated the Spanish Armada which signaled an
end to Spain’s military dominance in Europe.
• France rose as the strongest continental power
while England maintained superior naval power.
• During the Spanish War of Succession England,
allied with Austria and Prussia were able to prevent
the French house of Bourbon from taking the
Spanish throne.
• With the emergence of Russia after the Great
Northern War the four powers of Europe; France,
Britain, Austria, and Russia were able to maintain a
balance of power.
Spanish galleons were slower than caravels
but it had superior firepower.
Spanish Armada was King Philip’s failed attempt
to invade England in 1588. A storm and superior
English tactics led to the defeat.
Route of the Armada.
War of the Spanish Succession. The great British victories in
this war were in the Spanish Netherlands and the Holy Roman
Empire and they established Britain as a great power.
E. Paying the Piper
• To pay heavy costs of war European monarchs
made profitable alliances with commercial elites.
• Netherlands became a commercial power after
wrestling autonomy from Spain.
• Spain damaged economy by kicking out Jews,
Protestants, and descendants of Muslims.
• England used naval dominance to break Dutch
trade power and improved its financial position by
collecting taxes directly and creating a central
bank.
• France used streamlined tax collection, used
protective tariffs to promote domestic industries,
and improved its transportation network, but were
not able to tax nobles or secure low cost loans.
Trade thrives when government taxation and regulation were
not excessive, where courts enforced contracts and collected
debts, and where military power stood ready to protect
overseas expansion by force when necessary.
IV. Comparative Perspectives
– In 1575, French scholar Loys Le Roy
described three technological innovations that
he thought had propelled Europe into a
golden age: the printing press, the marine
compass, and cannonry.
– Le Roy noted that Europe had finally caught
up to the Muslim world and had benefitted
from the spread of knowledge and the
Muslims refused to let documents be printed
in Europe.