Chapter Eight: Old Stuff....1450-1750

Here Is a rough start on my chapter eight outline. I will revise later.

Chapter Eight: Old Stuff
Approximately 1450 through around 1750 C.E.

Revolutions in European thought and expression
Europe has been Christian for thousands of years.
Life was dominated by
a. Local issues
b. Salvation
c. Territorial disputes
d. Black death
e. Lack of education
f. Small scale trade

The Renaissance-classical civilization part II

Note: After the Black Death, Europe began to swell, demands for goods and services began to increase, people moved to cities, and the middle class was made up of bankers, merchants and traders.

a. Humanism- a bit more focus on the here and now

(1) Life was something to be suffered through to get to heaven
(2) As Europeans discovered ancient texts, they got the idea that instead of fulfillment of the afterlife people could participate in the here-and –now
(3) But Catholic Church and afterlife remained dominant. Europeans just grew fascinated with Greek and Roman concepts of beauty and citizenship.

b. The Arts stage a comeback

(1) Renaissance starts.
(2)There were artists like Michelangelo, Brunelleschi, Leonardo da Vinci and Donatello.
(3)Artists start painting more realistically, paintings started to have a 3-D feel to them and it was a big step towards realism.

c. Western writers finally get readers.

(1) With the result of the printing press, there was more of a demand for books and more people began learning how to read.
(2) Famous writers included Erasmus, Sir Thomas More, and William Shakespeare.

The Protestant Reformation: streamlining salvation

Notes: Popes wielded considerable political power. The church was the one thing that Western Europe had in common. It was a unifying force. To pay for building projects and Renaissance artists, the church began to sell indulgences, which was a piece of paper that people could purchase to reduce time in Purgatory.

a. Martin Luther- man on a mission

(1) 1517 Martin Luther nailed 95 theses that outlined his frustrations of common church practices on a church door.

(2) Luther thought that church services should be translated into the local language of the people. He translated the bible into German so more people could read it.

(3) He suggested that the bible teaches that people could appeal to God directly for forgiveness.

(4) Pope Leo X got really mad at Luther, and ordered him to retract the theses.

b. Christianity splits again

(1) People who followed Luther were called Lutherans.
(2) John Calvin led a Protestant group.
(3) Henry VIII was king.

c. The Counter Reformation: The Pope reasserts his authority

(1) During the Catholic Reformation 16th century, the church reformed
(2) They banned indulgences
(3) Priests lived the catholic life rather than just preaching it

The scientific Revolution: prove it or lose it
Notes: People believed Earth was the center of the universe, and that planets and stars revolved around it.

The Copernican Revolution: A Revolution About Revolutions

(1) Nicolas Copernicus made his theory that the earth rotated around sun
(2) 1632 Galileo publishes dialogues concerning two chief systems of the world.

The Scientific Method: In Search of Truth

(1) Copernicus and Galileo were the fathers of Scientific Method
(2) Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) built an observatory
(3) Francis Bacon published works on inductive logic
(4) Johannes Kepler developed laws of planetary motion
(5) Issac Newton invented calculus

Deism: God Is A Watch Maker

Notes: The scientific revolution contributed to the belief of Deism, which believed in a god that created and presided a realm but did not interfere with it’s workings.


The Enlightenment: Out of the Darkness into the Light

Notes: The enlightenment in 17th and 18th century focused on Government

First a Little Background: Devine Right

(1) During the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Counter Reformation, the church allied itself with strong Monarchs.
(2) King James said (about Devine Right) “The king is from God and the law is from the king” so an illegal act would be an ungodly act.

The Social Contract: Power to the People

(1) Thomas Hobbies saw people as greedy and prone to violent warfare,
(2) John Locke believed mankind was good,
(3) Jean-Jacques Rousseau thought all men were equal.

European Exploration and Expansion: Empires of the Wind

15th century exploration for Europe; increased number of explorers….

a. Amerigo Vespuci
b. Ponce de Leon
c. Vasco de Balboa
d. Ferdinand Magellan
e. Biaranni da Verrazano
f. Sir Francis Drake
g. John Cabot
h. Henry Hudson

And Now for a Quick Word from Our Sponsors
(Things that helped the time of exploration)

a. Stern post rudder: added better navigation
b. Lateen sail: allowed ships to sail in any direction
c. Astrolabe: navigation device
d. Magnetic Compass: also a navigation device
e. Three Mast Caravels: Bigger ships

The New World: Accidental Empire

a. Hernan Cortez landed in Mexico in 1519
b. Conquistadors introduce horses to Mexico (the Aztec capitol of Tenochtitlan)
c. Montezuma (the Aztec Ruler) mistakes Cortez for a god and sends gifts of gold to appease deity…this fuels the fire to conquer more.

Disease: The Ultimate Weapon of Mass Destruction

a. In 1531, Francisco Pizarro fought the Inca tribes
b. Disease, superior weapons and help from enemies quickly destroys what little resistance the Incas could mount.

The Encamienda System: American Feudalism

a. Spaniards came to build an empire in new world. The colonial society was a hierarchal organization.
b. At the top, peninsulares, Spanish officials
c. Crillos, people born in the colony to Spanish parents
d. Mestizos, those with European and Native American ancestry
e. Native Americans

The African Slave Trade: The Love of Money

a. 15th century, Portuguese captured slaves
b. When plantations in the new world needed labor…slaves were sent
c. Many slaves died en route before leaving the ships

The Columbian exchange: Continental Shift

a. This introduces new foods, animals and resources into the new world
b. This included horses, pigs, goats, Chile peppers and sugar

The Commercial Revolution: The New Economy

The age of exploration made new financing schemes like….
a. Joint stock company which pooled the resources of many merchants
b. Moscovy Company of England who monopolized trade routes to Russia
c. Dutch East India Company who controlled routes to the Spice Islands

Oh Yeah….Remember Asia?

a. 16th-18th centuries Europeans establish trade with Asia
b. Portuguese set up trading in Goa (West Coast of India) and gain control of Spice Islands
c. Both China and Japan work very hard at being isolationists (keeping the world out)

II. DEVELOPMENT IN SPECIFIC COUNTRIES AND EMPIRES 1450-1750 C.E.

A European Rivals

1. Spain and Portugal

a. In 1469, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella initiated the consolidation of Spain
b. International Importance grew under Charles V. (Charles V was a Harpsburg from Austria.)
c. 1519, Charles was also elected Holy Roman Emperor.
d. The Spanish Empire in the West sees it’s greatest expansion under Philip II.
e. England and Spain fight over the Brittish Isles. England wins this and moves on to expand their own territory.

2. England

a The Popes authority was nullified, in England, by King Henry VIII (a clever rouse so he could divorce his wife, Anne Boleyn).
b. Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII, oversees the Golden Age of the Arts…known as the Elizabethan Age (1550-1603).
c. During this time the Moscovy Company was founded
d. King James (1607): Widespread problems persist with the various religions (Protestant Reforms, Catholics, Puritans….) Inspiring the Puritans to cross the Atlantic to Plymouth Colony (1620).
e. Charles I (son of James) rises to power (1625) and three years later signs the petition of Rights (a document limiting taxes and forbidding unlawful imprisonment).
f. Long Parliament limits the absolute power of the Monarchy.

Notes: Oliver Cromwell defeated the armies of Charles I and the King was later tried and executed.
g. Cromwell ruled as Protector of what is called the English Commonwealth
h. Charles II (son of Charles I) takes the throne, restores limited monarch; this is called Stuart Restoration (1660-1688)

Note: Charles (a closet Catholic) acknowledges the rights of the people, especially religion; he agrees to the Habeas Corpus Act (which protects people from arrest with out due process).
3. France

a. Cardinal Richelieu played an important role as Chief Advisor (he was succeeded by Cardinal Mazarin).
b. Louis XIV was four when he inherited the crown of France (his Cardinal Mother ruled in his name until he reached adulthood).
d. Jean Baptist Colbert-to Manage royal funds- he wanted to increase the size of French Empire.

4. German Areas: (The Holy Roman Empire, Sort of)

a. Holy Roman Empire was in Germany and Austria
b. It was Feudal, with Lords running things
c. It lost parts of Hungary to the Turkish people in the 16th century
d. The 30yr war weakened the Holy Roman Empire
e. By the 18th century, German City States were gaining power

B. Russia Out Of Isolation

1. Turks conquer Constantinople, and the center of the Orthodox Christianity moved to Moscow
2. 1480, Ivan III declared Russia free of Mongol rule
3. His grandson, Ivan IV or Ivan the Terrible, expanded Russia’s holding with no cost to the people
4. Ivan dies in 1584 and no one knows who should be Czar. In 1613, Michael Romanov was elected Czar and the Romanov family ruled until 1917.

C. Islamic Gunpowder Empires: Ottoman, Safavid and Mughall

1. The ottomans made Constantinople their capitol city…renaming it Istanbul (great song BTW!)
2. Christians and Jews were allowed to practice their own religions making it one of the more tolerant Nations
3. Ottomans turned Christian children into warriors called Janissaries
4. Ottoman Empire lasts until 1922
5. The chief rivals of the Ottomans were the Safavids
6. 1526, a man named Babur establishes a new Empire in India called Mughall Empire, which lasted for 300years.

D. Africa

1. 10th century, states develop in Southern and Western Africa based on wealth
2. Empire Songhai was an Islamic state with economic ties to the Muslim world (through the trade of salt and gold)
3. The Kingdom Kango had trades with Portuguese merchants as early as 1480’s
The Portuguese had a small trading post South of Kango and Ndongo.

E. Isolated Asia

1. China

a. 1368, the Ming Dynasty kicked out the last Mongol rulers
b. In 15th century, China built huge fleets that went through Southeast Asia, Indian Ocean and all the way to Africa
c. 16th century, Ming Dynasty started to decline
d. The Machus ruled China until 1912

2. Japan

a. (16th c.) Many Shoguns ruled Japan: Emperor merely a figurehead
b. Feudalism waned during the century
c. 1542, Portuguese establishes trade with Japan
d. In 1600, Takugawa Leyasu made the Takugawa Shogunate a strict, ridgid government that ruled China until 1868
e. Tokugawa was so worried that Japan would be overrun by foreign influences, that when the Portuguese people sailed into Japan (in 1690) he had them executed on the spot.

III. Technology and Innovations 1450-1750

A. Europe becomes powerful force

1. Willingness to adapt

B Europe establishes overseas trading empires

1. Moved plants and animals and transformed the interactions of the world

IV. Changes and Contributions in the Roles of Women

A. Many women took power at this time like Elizabeth I, Isabella of Spain and Nur Jahan of India.

B. However freedoms and status still changed very little from last period

V. Pulling It All Together

1. European exploration of the Americas
2. The start of direct contact with Asia
3. In Renaissance, Europe explored it’s own History
4. During Protestant Reformation they explored their relationship with God
5. During Scientific Revolution, they explored the Universe and Scientific Laws6. Commercial Revolution, they explored their own potential