Setting the Scenes

Setting the Scenes • Domestic Growth and Expansion Abroad • Population and Economics • Colonialism • Centralization of Power • The New Statecraft • England, France, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire

Population and Economics • 1600s 80% of the European Population was Agrarian • Soil was not keeping up with population • 4 or 5 bushels of wheat were yielded for every bushel sown • Modern farmers yield 40 • During times when the soil was stingy people had to seek alternatives- “famine foods” • Chestnuts, Stripped Bark, Dandelions, Grass, Community in Norway was forced to collect manure piles to wash the hay out of them to make bread • Rumors of cannibalism • Smallpox, influenza, dysentery and other intestinal ailments wiped out up to 1/3 of the population in some towns

Open Field System • Open land was divided up among the peasants into narrow strips without fences or hedges to be farmed • By farming the same piece of land over and over it was stripped of its nutrients • A year of fallow was required but it wasted a season of harvest and still required work to keep the weeds down • Year one- wheat or rye • Year two- oats or beans • Year three- fallow • Sometimes peasants were forced into “gleaning the grain” after the harvest was done • See Jean Francois Millet’s The Gleaners

Agricultural Revolution • Peasants were restless to take land from those who owned strips of it and did not farm it • Nobles and Clergy • Powerful forces stood in the way • Fallow had to be eliminated • They needed to replace the fallow with nitrogen-storing crops • Some of these were peas, beans, and root crops like: • Turnips • Potatoes • Grass and Clovers • These were rotated, soil nutrients were preserved and farming was economized

The Revolution Begins • Eventually more sophisticated methods were developed to suit different soils • New crops brought better feed for animals • More animals meant more meat and better diets • More animals also meant more manure which meant even more produce and eventually more animals • Common lands for grazing became increasingly important for the peasants who needed space for their animals and wood from the lord’s forests for fuel

Later Improvements • By the turn of the 18th century engineers and scientists began working with agriculturalists to develop new strategies • Dutch Engineer Cornelius Vermuyden worked on a massive drainage project in Yorkshire • Viscount Charles “Turnip” Townsend learned about and began using turnips and clover in the sandy soil in Norfolk • Jethro Tull began to use horses for plowing and drilling equipment to sow seeds

Effect on Population • Population grows and shrinks in cycles • Black Death caused a sharp decline in the 14th century • Labor shortage • Lords had to reinforce serfdom • Reaction failed but food prices dropped while wages rose creating a better standard of living for peasants • This higher standard caused a population upsurge in the 16th century that was finding less and less food per person and a surplus of labor • By 1600- widespread poverty

The Cottage Industry • Rural dwellers with little or no land became part of the urban economy to supplement their income. • They worked in their own homes for less money than their counterparts in the city were willing to work for • The “Putting Out” System emerged • City merchants would loan raw material to the rural cottage worker • The worker would craft a finished product and the merchant would then purchase it from them and sell it in the city or abroad • In 1500 ½ of England’s textiles were produces in the countryside • By 1700 English industry relied heavily on the “putting out” system

Colonialism • What factors contributed to the need for colonization? • How might the new colonies have affected the local peasant? • How did it affect the nobility? • Did population play a role in European colonization? • Can you make comparisons to ancient Rome or Greece? • Who were the biggest players in the game of world monopoly? • What do you predict will happen?

European Expansion • By the 16th century trade increased and populations grew steadily • Partly because of rising confidence as assertive regimes restored order • Plague was gone • Warming weather and agrarian reforms allowed for better harvests • Enclosure of common land once again became an issue

Economics • Banking- financiers who invested n trade made fortunes • Johannes Fugger of Augsburg • Italian and German Bankers controlled all of Europe's finances • Business- guilds incorporated new trades and gave the merchant class new structure • Silver- huge quantities were imported from the new world making money more readily available • Most of the silver passed from the Spanish to the Italians and Germans who financed the Spanish wars and controlled American trade • Commercial revolution- new methods of bookkeeping, letters of credit, corporate partnerships, venture capital, etc. • Capitalism- both a product of and an agent of economic growth • The Merchant of Venice attacks the values that capitalism represented

Powers on the Seas • Portuguese- began exploring in the 1410s-realized the value of firepower and traveled in squadrons • Henry the Navigator • Bartholomew Dias • Vasco Da Gama • The Portuguese empire relied on many small trading ports with warehouses and arsenals • Developed a more sophisticated culture because of contact with the east • Sold maps to the rest of Europe • Re-established the slave trade

The Spaniards • Second tier of exploration • Focused more on the American continent • Founded their empire on conquest and colonization • Financed (through the Medici Bank) the voyage of Cristofero Colombo

Part 2: The New Statecraft • International relations • Resident ambassadors • Representatives in every major court • Diplomatic immunities • Machiavelli • The Prince • Gucciardini • The History of Italy

The Prince • One of the few radical books in history • Wrote about the method of power • First attempt at political science • Tells what a ruler needs to do and how he needs to maintain it • Religion and law as tactics in government • Unity and contentment • Fear and respect are the basis of a ruler’s power

New Monarchs • England • France • Spain • The Holy Roman Empire

Tudor England • England contained around fifty out of 2.5 million families that were noble • Gentry class begins to emerge • Parliament gained power as the only organization that could give the ruler’s actions a stamp of approval • Henry VII- 1st concern was finance- paid off debt of the crown with fees and fines and assigned managers to handle finances • Henry VIII- arrogant and opposite of his father • Removed a longstanding thread in the north by defeating the Scots • In breaking with the church he strengthened his rule and the role of parliament • House of commons and house of lords • Edward VI, Mary, Elizabeth

Elizabeth • Ascended the throne in 1558 and during her reign England became leader of the protestant nation of Europe • She laid the foundation for a world empire • Inherited a religious problem from her half sister Mary • She remained moderate but repealed Mary's catholic laws • Act of Supremacy made her the only governor of church and state • Her Church of England was basically Protestant but was moderate enough to make it somewhat acceptable to Catholics • She was also cautious about her foreign policy; war would be disastrous

Trouble on the Rise • Liz sent secret aid to the French Huguenots and to Dutch Calvinists in order to weaken France and Spain • She is eventually drawn into war with Philip II of Spain who had been toying with her for years • In 1588 he sent over the Spanish Armada • They underestimated England and thought that God would be on their side • The Armada was battered in battle and then got nailed by a major storm

Valois France • Lacked cohesiveness- Aristocrats had too much authority • Size of the kingdom was a barrier • Roman law dominated (England had common law) • Estates limited the power of the throne • Army was the biggest advantage • Francis I and the pope become allies and France gains some control over the church in France

War Torn France • 16th century was one of war and religion was at the center of it • Calvinism was spreading and the Huguenots were putting up a fight against the government (with Liz’ support) • Possibly 40-50% of Nobles became Huguenots, including the house of Bourbon which stood next to the Valois in line fro succession and ruled the southern French kingdom of Navarre • The Catholic Majority still heavily outweighed the Calvinists • The Catholics supported strict oppression of the Huguenots • There was also a political agenda • In 1589 Henry of Navarre, a Bourbon Huguenot, took over the throne • He knew that the Catholics wouldn’t put up with monkey business so he Issued the Edict of Nantes- Catholicism was the official religion but Huguenots could practice freely

Spain • Castile and Aragon united under Ferdinand (Sicily and Aragon) and Isabella (castile) • Reduced the number of nobles in the council • Gave positions based on ability rather than status • Charles I gains complete control over the church • Continued to rely on roman law • Received permission for the inquisition to out out conversos and moriscos

The Holy Roman Empire • Charles V- Ferdinand and Isabella’s grandson becomes heir to Spain and the Hapsburg dukedom • Elected emperor • Kept n entirely Spanish administration in Spain • Ruled almost all of continental Europe • Away from Spain for almost 2/3 of his 40 yr reign • Constant war hurt the treasury and the size and inefficiency of institutions led to powerful princes breaking down the unity of the empire

SALANIO Believe me, sir, had I such venture forth, the better part of my affections would Be with my hopes abroad. I should be still Plucking the grass, to know where sits the wind,Peering in maps for ports and piers and roads; and every object that might make me fear Misfortune to my ventures, out of doubt Would make me sad. SALARINO My wind cooling my broth Would blow me to an ague, when I thought What harm a wind too great at sea might do. I should not see the sandy hour-glass run, But I should think of shallows and of flats, And see my wealthy Andrew dock'd in sand, Vailing her high-top lower than her ribs to kiss her burial. Should I go to church And see the holy edifice of stone,And not bethink me straight of dangerous rocks, which touching but my gentle vessel's side, Would scatter all her spices on the stream, Enrobe the roaring waters with my silks, and, in a word, but even now worth this, And now worth nothing? Shall I have the thoughtTo think on this, and shall I lack the thought That such a thing bechanced would make me sad? But tell not me; I know, Antonio is sad to think upon his merchandise. ANTONIO Believe me, no: I thank my fortune for it, My ventures are not in one bottom trusted, Nor to one place; nor is my whole estate Upon the fortune of this present year: Therefore my merchandise makes me not sad. Act 1, Scene 1

Millet’s The Gleaners

Setting the Scenes