AP Review Key Concepts - Period 1 (1450-1648)

The Renaissance and Reformation movements raised debates about female roles in the family, society, and the church.

- "La Querelles des Femmes" (arguments about women) --> Women believed by many to be less rational than men and unable to control passions - Most religions would not allow women to preach (only Quakers did)

Most Europeans derived their livelihood from agriculture and oriented their lives around the seasons, the village, or the manor

- 80% of Europeans involved in farming before the Agricultural Revolution

The exchange of goods shifted the center of economic power in Europe from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic states and brought the latter into an expanding world economy.

- Atlantic states (Portugal, Spain, France, England, Netherlands) took over control of trade from the Italian city-states and the Hanseatic League - Dutch Republic dominated global trade and shipping during the 17th century

Francis Bacon and René Descartes defined inductive and deductive reasoning and promoted experimentation and the use of mathematics, which would ultimately shape the scientific method.

- Both Bacon and Descartes rejected the old medieval, scholastic approach to knowledge (everything as already known) - Francis Bacon: Inductive reasoning based on empiricism (experimentation and observation) - René Descartes: Deductive reasoning based on rationalism (logical thought)

Social dislocation, coupled with the weakening of religious institutions during the Reformation, left city governments with the task of regulating public morals.

- Calvin's Geneva - Carnival sometimes restricted or abolished - Laws limited prostitution and begging

Advances in navigation, cartography, and military technology allowed Europeans to establish overseas colonies and empires.

- Caravels equipped with triangular lateen sails could better travel against wind and explore unfamiliar waters - Compasses allowed sailors to orient themselves - Quadrants and astrolabes allowed sailors to better calculate latitude - Mercator map projection accurately depicted the true direction between two points (but distorted shape and size) - Horses and gunpowder better enabled Spanish conquistadors to conquer native peoples

Christian humanism, embodied in the writings of Erasmus, employed Renaissance learning in the service of religious reform.

- Christian humanists sought to reform Catholic Church and return to teachings of original Christians - Erasmus - Philosophy of Christ (WWJD), wanted to reform Catholic church but not leave it, attacked Julius II (warrior pope) for his focus on earthly power and wealth - Thomas More offered more fair, just version of society in his fictional work Utopia

New ideas and methods in astronomy led individuals such as Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton to question the authority of the ancients and religion and to develop a heliocentric view of the cosmos.

- Copernicus: Promoted heliocentrism, challenging geocentrism - Galileo: Empirical evidence challenging Aristotle and supporting heliocentrism (craters on moon, phases of Venus, moons of Jupiter); Inertia - Newton: Three Laws of Motion; Law of Universal Gravitation; invention of calculus to prove ideas

From the late 16th century forward, Europeans responded to economic and environmental challenges, such as the "Little Ice Age," by delaying marriage and childbearing, which restrained population growth and ultimately improved the economic condition of families.

- Couples often delayed marriage until mid to late 20s in order to acquire resources (e.g. land) to establish own households

Subsistence agriculture was the rule in most areas, with three-crop field rotation in the north and two-crop rotation in the Mediterranean; in many cases, farmers paid rent and labor services for their lands.

- Crop rotation (e.g. 3-field system) helped rejuvenate soil nutrients (esp. nitrogen) - Subsistence farmers consumed most of what they produced, made most goods that they - Harvest failure and famine common - Farmers worked land as a community (open-field system), had communal mindest (common lands), and were reluctant to try innovations

The competition for trade led to conflicts and rivalries among European powers.

- Elizabeth's England v. Philip II's Spain - Dutch dominance of international shipping during 17th century was challenged by England and France

Christianity served as a stimulus for exploration as governments and religious authorities sought to spread the faith and counter Islam, and as a justification for the physical and cultural subjugation of indigenous civilizations.

- Encomienda system in New World allowed Spanish settlers to use Native Americans as laborers in exchange for protecting them and Christianizing them - Jesuit missionaries sought to spread Catholicism in newly discovered lands - European Christians alarmed by 1453 capture of Constantinople by Muslim Ottoman Turks

New Monarchies laid the foundation for the centralized modern state by establishing a monopoly on tax collection, military force, and the dispensing of justice, and gaining the right to determine the religion of their subjects.

- Ferdinand & Isabella (Spain) built strongest infantry in Europe - Tudor Dynasty (England): Henry VII established Star Chamber to discipline nobles - 1555 Peace of Augsburg (Holy Roman Empire) allows each prince to choose religion of subjects - 1598 Edict of Nantes: Henry IV granted religious toleration to Huguenots

The Atlantic nations of France, England, and the Netherlands followed by establishing their own colonies and trading networks to compete with Portuguese and Spanish dominance.

- France acquired Quebec

The attempts of landlords to increase their revenues by restricting or abolishing the traditional rights of peasants led to revolt.

- German Peasants' Revolt of 1523-24 (inspired by resentment of serfdom and the example of the Lutheran Reformation)

Humanist revival of Greek and Roman texts, spread by the printing press, challenged the institutional power of universities and the Roman Catholic Church and shifted the focus of education away from theology toward the study of the classical texts.

- Gutenberg's movable type printing press reduced cost of books and promoted literacy - Machiavelli's The Prince drew heavily on ancient examples to explain his political ideas

The invention of the printing press in the 1450s aided in spreading the Renaissance beyond Italy and encouraged the growth of vernacular literature, which would eventually contribute to the development of national cultures.

- Gutenberg's printing press based on METAL MOVABLE TYPE -- dramatically reduced cost of printing and boosted literacy - Luther's German version of Bible - Shakespeare's plays in English

Anatomical and medical discoveries by physicians, including William Harvey, presented the body as an integrated system, challenging the traditional humoral theory of the body and of disease espoused by Galen.

- Harvey: Heart was responsible for circulation of blood - Vesalius: Anatomy textbook based on his own human dissections - Paracelsus: Use of proper chemical doses to treat disease

Religious conflicts became a basis for challenging the monarchs' control of religious institutions.

- Henry of Navarre led Protestants against Valois monarchy in French Wars of Religion - Frederick the Wise of Saxony (noble in HRE who wanted to weaken the power of HRE Charles V) supported Luther - Puritans in England (e.g. Cromwell) challenged Stuart monarchs

The Peace of Westphalia (1648), which marked the effective end of the medieval ideal of universal Christendom, accelerated the decline of the Holy Roman Empire by granting princes, bishops, and other local leaders control over religion.

- Holy Roman Emperor loses most of power, as each individual German state in Empire given control over war and peace and treaties - Each German prince able to choose religion of subjects (Catholic, Lutheran, or Calvinist) - Prussia & Austria become the most powerful German States

The Catholic Reformation, exemplified by the Jesuit Order and the Council of Trent, revived the church but cemented the division within Christianity

- Index of Forbidden Books listed books Catholics could not read - Jesuits founded to defend Catholicism through education and conversion - Council of Trent met to address Protestant challenge; Catholics made no changes in doctrine, but abuses were addressed (e.g. no more selling indulgences) - Roman Inquisition condemned Galileo's heliocentric teachings

Monarchs and princes, such as the English rulers Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, initiated religious reform from the top down (magisterial) in an effort to exercise greater control over religious life and morality.

- Isabella and Ferdinand used Spanish Inquisition (investigated conversos!) and expulsion of Jews to establish a purely Catholic Spain - Act of Supremacy: Monarch becomes head of Church of England - Henry VIII's Church of England changed very little in Catholic doctrine - Anglican Church of Elizabeth combined Catholic ritual and Protestant doctrine to maximize popular support

The English Civil War, a conflict between the monarchy, Parliament, and other elites over their respective roles in the political structure, exemplified the competition between kings and corporate groups within their kingdoms

- J-C-C-C-J - Stuart kings v. Parliament - Puritans of Parliament v. Catholic-friendly Stuarts - Power of the purse was the major issue - Absolute monarchy v. constitutional monarchy

Some Protestants, including Calvin and the Anabaptists, refused to recognize the subordination of the church to the state.

- Luther believed govt is superior to the church in secular matters (as made clear during the German Peasants' Revolt, when he opposed the peasants) - Calvin believed church and government must work together to create moral society (as in Geneva) - Anabaptists rejected all government (only authority is the church), making them a threat to every government

Admiration for Greek and Roman political institutions supported a revival of civic humanist culture in the Italian city-states and produced secular models for individual and political behavior.

- Machiavelli's The Prince encouraged a more secular approach to politics based on man's selfish nature (rather than Christian ideals) - Castiglione's Book of the Courtier argued that nobles should develop talents in wide range of fields in order to better serve their princes

Protestant reformers used the printing press to disseminate their ideas, which spurred religious reform and helped it to become widely established.

- Martin Luther's 95 Theses and other writings more easily spread due to the printing press - John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion (most important single Protestant work) spread Protestant doctrine and made Calvinism the dominant Protestant faith

Princes and popes, concerned with enhancing their prestige, commissioned paintings and architectural works based on classical styles and often employing the newly invented technique of geometric (linear) perspective.

- Medici family patronized Botticelli (Primavera and Birth of Venus), Donatello (bronze David), and Michelangelo - Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to paint Sistine Chapel ceiling & Raphael's School of Athens - Renaissance works like School of Athens incorporated classical themes (Aristotle, Plato, columns, dome) - Free-standing nude statues (Michelangelo's David and Donatello's David) were revived from the classical past

The rise of mercantilism gave the state a new role in promoting commercial development and the acquisition of colonies overseas.

- Mercantilists sought to maximize exports and minimize imports in order to acquire more gold/silver in their states (which could be taxed by governments for funds to wage war) - Spain and Portugal led effort to acquire overseas colonies (negotiating the Treaty of Tordesillas) - England, France, and Netherlands also built overseas empires

Europeans expanded the African slave trade in response to the establishment of a plantation economy in the Americas and demographic catastrophes among indigenous peoples.

- Middle Passage - African slaves sought as laborers in sugar, tobacco, and cotton production b/c Native Americans were decimated by European diseases (e.g. measles, smallpox)

Hierarchy and status continued to define social power and perceptions in rural and urban settings.

- Most countries dominated by nobility, who enjoyed privileges and tax exemptions - Towns and cities dominated by guilds which regulated the production and sale of goods - In France ... 1st Estate: Clergy 2nd Estate: Nobles 3rd Estate: Commoners (bourgeoisie, peasants)

A few states, such as France with the Edict of Nantes, allowed religious pluralism in order to maintain domestic peace.

- Netherlands (although officially Calvinist) was very tolerant of non-Calvinists (e.g. Lutherans, Catholics, Jews) - 1598: Henry IV (Henry of Navarre) issues Edict of Nantes to give religious toleration to Huguenots (after he himself had turned Catholic, because "Paris is worth a mass")

The family remained the primary social and economic institution of early modern Europe and took several forms, including the nuclear family.

- Nuclear family = two-generation household (parents + kids)

Advances in military technology (i.e., the military revolution) led to new forms of warfare, including greater reliance on infantry, firearms, mobile cannon, and more elaborate fortifications, all financed by heavier taxation and requiring a larger bureaucracy. Technology, tactics, and strategies tipped the balance of power toward states able to marshal sufficient resources for the new military environment.

- Only larger states could afford to finance lengthy wars - Spain under Habsburgs (Charles V and Philip II) became most powerful state in Europe during 1500s - During 1600s France under Louis XIV built the largest army in Europe (400,000)

Alchemy and astrology continued to appeal to elites and some natural philosophers, in part because they shared with the new science the notion of a predictable and knowable universe. In the oral culture of peasants, a belief that the cosmos was governed by divine and demonic forces persisted.

- Paracelsus and Newton were both alchemists - Kepler believed in astrology

Italian Renaissance humanists promoted a revival in classical literature and created new philological approaches to ancient texts. Some Renaissance humanists furthered the values of secularism and individualism.

- Petrarch (Father of Humanism) celebrated ancient Roman writers and culture as superior to his own - Erasmus (Northern or Christian Humanism) promoted church reform based on original Christian writings - Pico Della Mirandola's Oration on the Dignity of Man (man can achieve whatever he sets mind to)

States exploited religious conflicts to promote political and economic interests.

- Philip II waged war on behalf of Catholicism (Dutch Revolt in the Netherlands, sought to bring Elizabeth I's England back to Catholic Church) - Habsburgs (HRE+Spain) fought on behalf of Catholicism against Protestant princes in the Thirty Years' War - France (under Richelieu), Sweden (under Gustavus Adolphus), and Denmark intervened in Thirty Years' War on behalf of Protestants (against Catholic Habsburgs)

European states sought direct access to gold and spices and luxury goods as a means to enhance personal wealth and state power.

- Portugal sought sea route around Africa (Dias and Da Gama) to take over the spice trade with Asia - Spain under Ferdinand and Isabella financed Columbus's effort to reach spices of Asia by sailing West across the Atlantic

The price revolution contributed to the accumulation of capital and the expansion of the market economy through the commercialization of agriculture, which benefited large landowners in western Europe.

- Price Revolution = Inflation starting in 1500s driven largely by population growth - Enclosure movement commercialized agriculture --> Common lands and public access to others' land comes to an end

Population recovered to its pre-Great Plague level in the 16th century, and continuing population pressures contributed to uneven price increases; agricultural commodities increased more sharply than wages, reducing living standards for some.

- Price Revolution! Inflation created primarily by rising population (esp. increasing the price of food) - Resentment and fear caused by economic deprivation partly responsible for witch hunts

The Portuguese established a commercial network along the African coast, in South and East Asia, and in South America.

- Prince Henry the Navigator was an early sponsor of Portuguese exploration down the African coast (gold, slaves, and ivory!) - 1488: Dias rounds southern tip of Africa (then comes back) - 1498: Da Gama makes it all the way to India, opening up direct spice trade - Portuguese took over control of much of Asian spice trade from Muslim Arabs - Portuguese establish colony in Brazil

Local and church authorities continued to enforce communal norms through rituals of public humiliation.

- Public whipping and branding - Lawbreakers placed in stocks - Charivari: loud procession in which people were mocked and humiliating for violating social norms (e.g. adultery)

A human-centered naturalism that considered individuals and everyday life appropriate objects of artistic representation was encouraged through the patronage of both princes and commercial elites.

- Raphael's School of Athens (Plato, Aristotle, Michelangelo, Da Vinci all included) - Michelangelo's David (accurate depiction of human body) - Da Vinci's Mona Lisa (wife of Florentine merchant) - Van Eyck's Arnolfini Wedding (married couple standing in front of mirror in richly-decorated room)

Across Europe, commercial and professional groups gained in power and played a greater role in political affairs.

- Renaissance Italy: Merchant and banking families like the Medici dominated - Dutch Republic dominated by merchant oligarchy - France of Louis XIV: Nobles of robe created to empower and reward talented, loyal officials of king (replacing Nobles of Sword)

Monarchies seeking enhanced power faced challenges from nobles who wished to retain traditional forms of shared governance and regional autonomy.

- Richelieu (under Louis XIII) sought to weaken power of French nobility by eliminating their castles and private armies - The Fronde was a noble-led uprising early in reign of Louis XIV -- Successfully suppressed, but convinced Louis to find more subtle means to keep nobles in check - Poland (nobles strong, king weak) --> Poland crumbles due to weak central government, unwillingness of nobles to give power to a king

The growth of commerce produced a new economic elite, which related to traditional elites in different ways in Europe's various geographic regions.

- Rise of bourgeoisie (merchants and bankers) in European cities - Nobles of robe emerged in France (displacing nobles of the sword)

Secular political theories, such as those espoused in Machiavelli's The Prince, provided a new concept of the state.

- Rulers need to worry foremost about maintaining and increasing their power, without concern for morality - It is better to be feared than loved by one's subjects - Rulers must be willing to do evil when necessary - No mention of Christian teachings

Leisure activities continued to be organized according to the religious calendar and the agricultural cycle and remained communal in nature.

- Saints' Days celebrated in Catholic lands - Carnival, a festival of excess and indulgence, was celebrated before Lent

Migrants to the cities challenged the ability of merchant elites and craft guilds to govern and strained resources.

- Sanitation problems - Poverty and crime - Unemployment

As western Europe moved toward a free peasantry and commercial agriculture, serfdom was codified in the east, where nobles continued to dominate economic life on large estates.

- Serfdom endured in Austria, Prussia, and Russia

Following the Peace of Westphalia (1648), religion no longer was a cause for warfare among European states; instead, the concept of the balance of power played an important role in structuring diplomatic and military objectives.

- Thirty Years' War: France (Richelieu) provides assistance to German Protestants to weaken Habsburg power (even though France was a Catholic state) - War of Spanish Succession: States of Europe unite to attempt to prevent union of French and Spanish thrones

Issues of religious reform exacerbated conflicts between the monarchy and the nobility, as in the French Wars of Religion.

- Valois (moderate Catholics) v. Bourbons (Huguenots) v. Guise (arch-Catholics) - Catherine de Medici sought to preserve the crown of France for her sons (the House of Valois) - St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre (Slaughter of 1000s of Huguenots in Paris by Catholics)

The efforts of Habsburg rulers failed to restore Catholic unity across Europe.

- Wars of Lutheran Reformation in HRE end with Charles V agreeing to compromise of the Peace of Augsburg (each prince able to choose the religion of his subjects) - Philip II of Spain failed to suppress the Dutch Revolt or restore Catholicism in England (Spanish Armada)

Reflecting folk ideas and social and economic upheaval, accusations of witchcraft peaked between 1580 and 1650.

- Witches were accused of using power of Satan to do harm - Old women most likely to be accused because of their vulnerability and the belief that women could not control their passions --> they were often regarded as economic burdens by their communities - Caused in part by breakdown of communal values and fear of the poor - Ended when elites began adopting more rational approach to world

Rural and urban households worked as units, with men and women engaged in separate but complementary tasks.

- Working class women were expected to make significant economic contributions to their households

Innovations in banking and finance promoted the growth of urban financial centers and a money economy.

In the Netherlands... - Bank of Amsterdam guaranteed deposits - Dutch East India Company dominated global trade

Reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin, as well as religious radicals such as the Anabaptists, criticized Catholic abuses and established new interpretations of Christian doctrine and practice.

Examples of Catholic corruption attacked by Protestants: - Indulgences (sale of reduction of time in Purgatory) - Simony (sale of church positions) - Nepotism (appointing of relatives to church positions) - Pluralism (holding of multiple church positions) - Absenteeism (failure to fulfill church position's duties)

The exchange of new plants, animals, and diseases — the Columbian Exchange — created economic opportunities for Europeans and facilitated European subjugation and destruction of indigenous peoples, particularly in the Americas.

FROM EUROPE TO AMERICAS - Horses, cattle, sheep, pigs - Sugar and coffee (grew great in Americas) - Disease (e.g. smallpox, measles) FROM AMERICAS TO EUROPE - Potatoes and corn! - Tomatoes - Tobacco

Mannerist and Baroque artists employed distortion, drama, and illusion in works commissioned by monarchies, city-states, and the church for public buildings to promote their stature and power.

MANNERISM - Rejected realism of Renaissance art - Human figures often distorted and elongated - Harsh lighting and coloring - El Greco's Laocoon (Trojan priest and his sons being attacked by snakes) BAROQUE - Began as Counter-Reformation effort to reinvigorate Catholicism - Spotlight effect with dark backgrounds (tenebrism) - Often scenes of violence, movement, and action - Elaborate architecture and sculpture - Caravaggio's Judith and Holofernes (Jewish heroine beheading Assyrian general) - Velazquez's Las Meninas (little Spanish princess being coaxed by ladies in waiting to cooperate with family portrait) - Bernini's Ecstasy of St Theresa (white statue of woman with angel driving arrow into her) - Palace of Versailles