The History Book

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 149 See also: Marco Polo reaches Shangdu 104–05 ■ The foundation of Tenochtitlan 112–17 ■ Christopher Columbus reaches America 142–47 ■ The Columbian Exchange 158–59 ■ The formation of the Royal African Company 176–79 European traders see Spanish and The Treaty of potential for rich profit Portuguese navigators Tordesillas resolves compete to gain new territorial conflicts in Asian spices and luxury goods. territories. between Spain Exploration opens and Portugal. eastern and western sea routes. By the 1490s both countries were Alexander VI (a Spaniard) proposed Portuguese colonies discovering substantial territories, a combined north–south and east– By the time the Tordesillas treaty including lands in the New World, west dividing line, suggesting that was signed, Portugal had already although at this point the size and any lands west and south of a line made headway in exploring Africa extent of the Americas was unclear 100 leagues west and south of the and southern Asia. Working south to Europeans. In spite of the fact Azores and Cape Verde Islands be from a North African base at Ceuta, that the Spanish Crown had funded allocated to Spain. John rejected the explorers established a series of Columbus’s voyages, Spain’s claim proposition, considering it to be trading posts on the West African to his discoveries was not clear-cut. biased in favor of his rivals, and coast, gradually pushing south The 1479 Alcaçovas treaty between eventually all parties agreed on the until, in 1498, Vasco da Gama the Catholic Monarchs of Spain meridian between the Cape Verde rounded the Cape of Good Hope and the rulers of Portugal gave all Islands and the Caribbean. The and sailed into the Indian Ocean. newly discovered lands south of the resulting treaty set the agenda for In the 16th century, Portugal had Canary Islands to Portugal. When future colonization, and influenced settlements in India, the Moluccas, Columbus landed at Lisbon after the fate of vast swathes of the world. Sumatra, Burma, and Thailand, and his first voyage, he told John II, king by 1557 they had established their of Portugal, that he was claiming I and my companions long-standing enclave in Macau, Hispaniola and Cuba for his Spanish suffer from a disease of the which became a hub for their trade backers. John wrote to Spain’s rulers with many Asian communities. immediately to say that he was heart that can be cured preparing to send his own ships to only with gold. The treaty line passed through claim the Caribbean for Portugal. South America, allocating a north- Hernán Cortés, 1519 western portion to the Portuguese. Legalizing possession In 1500, explorer Pedro Álvares To prevent such disputes erupting Cabral landed on the coast of Brazil each time a navigator made a and claimed it for Portugal. The fresh discovery, the leaders of both conquistadors exploited their new countries decided to review the colony, forcing indigenous peoples terms of the Alcaçovas treaty. to cultivate sugar cane, and later to The papacy had been involved grow coffee, and mine gold. The in the 1479 treaty, and now Pope laborers died in huge numbers, both from diseases introduced by ❯❯

150 THE TREATY OF TORDESILLAS the colonists, and as a result of the small but rich Aztec Empire. unknown to them, involving their ruthless treatment, and slaves The empire’s large, central capital firearms and the single-minded were brought in from Africa to was at Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico slaughter of opponents—Aztec replace them. Brazil, ruled from the City). With just a small force of practice was to capture prisoners, mid-16th century by Portuguese about 600 men, Cortés overthrew whom they would later kill in ritual governors-general, remained a the million-strong empire, eventually sacrifice. The Spanish were also colony until the early 19th century. killing its ruler, Moctezuma. helped by alliances they made Another Spanish leader, Francisco with local peoples who were hostile The Spanish in America Pizarro, conquered the Inca Empire, to the Aztecs. The result for Spain Following Columbus’s transatlantic which centered on Peru but also was a flow of wealth across the voyages and the settlement of the included Chile, Ecuador, and large Atlantic and a secure base for treaty, Spain turned increasingly to parts of Bolivia and northwestern building on their involvement in America, sponsoring expeditions Argentina. Again with just a small the Americas. that combined exploration with force (180 men), Pizarro laid the conquest and colonization. The first foundations of another Spanish Further Spanish colonization of these, led by Hernán Cortés, was stronghold and source of great followed, including that of Colombia, to Mexico, which was then home to wealth in precious metals. Peruvian known to the Spanish as New silver became the main source of Granada. By the end of the 17th The siege of Tenochtitlan, the Spain’s income from its colonies. century, much of western and Aztec capital, was decisive in the central South America was Spanish conquest of Mexico, and Several factors contributed to in Spanish hands. Conquered brought the Spaniards a step closer to Cortés’ and Pizarro’s astounding areas, and the people who lived in their goal of colonizing the Americas. conquests. The Aztecs were them, were parceled out to the overwhelmed by a kind of battle Spanish conquistadors, who

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 151 Those regions which America, and is remembered Ferdinand Magellan we found and explored with because America is named after the fleet… we may rightly him. The Portuguese navigator Born into a noble Portuguese Ferdinand Magellan was next to family, Magellan (1480–1521) call a New World. explore this route, this time on was orphaned as a boy, and Amerigo Vespucci, 1503 behalf of Spain. He believed that sent to the Portuguese royal the Spice Islands could be less than court to act as page. undertook to convert the locals halfway around the world when to Christianity. They did convert sailing west from the treaty line, As a young man, he them, but they also made them which would give Spain a claim to became a naval officer. He perform forced labor, especially in them. In 1519 he set out with five served in Portugal’s colonies the silver mines. Laborers fell victim ships in an ambitious attempt to in India and took part in the to disease and exploitation—like make the first circumnavigation conquest of the Moluccas, their counterparts in Brazil, but on of the globe. Although Magellan but after a disagreement with a lesser scale—and slaves from himself died en route, some of the the Portuguese king, he went Africa were brought in to expedition survivors completed the to Spain to look for support supplement their numbers. voyage, giving Spain a basis for its for his venture westward. By claim to land in Southeast Asia. 1518 he had the backing of The Spanish Crown tried to the Spanish king Charles I, control this large empire, appointing In 1529 the rival Crowns signed and set off the following year viceroys to rule over the settlers another treaty at Zaragoza. This with five ships. and the native American peoples, agreement assigned the Philippines to and taking a fifth of the profits from Spain and the Moluccas to Portugal. After losing one ship to silver mining. Settlers increasingly the weather and another to a resisted this external interference, The treaty’s heritage desertion, Magellan navigated however, and by the 19th century European countries not party to the narrow sea route (named the empire was diminishing as the Tordesillas agreement simply the Strait of Magellan in his areas from Colombia to Chile won ignored it, and soon began to move honor) between what is now their independence. in to develop their own empires. mainland South America and Britain colonized North America, Tierra del Fuego. He emerged Circumnavigation for example, the Dutch moved into in an ocean he named Pacific, The Treaty of Tordesillas set the the Spice Islands, and several because of its calmness. He seal of approval on Spain’s activity European countries set up colonies crossed this expanse of water, in America, but this deterred neither in the Caribbean. The treaty did, stopping at Guam, and then in Spain nor Portugal from looking for however, influence a significant the Philippines, where he was a westward route to eastern Asia, proportion of the world. It underlined killed. Only one ship, under a potential source of spices, luxury a development that was already Juan Sebastien del Cano, goods, and great wealth for traders beginning in Europe in which made it back to Europe in from Europe. Amerigo Vespucci, an wealth and influence were passing 1522, having achieved the first Italian navigator working for the from the old central European circumnavigation of the globe. Portuguese Crown, was one of the powers (based in the Holy Roman first to take this exploration further. Empire) to the coastal, maritime He explored the coast of South powers that looked to build empires in new territories. These empires brought both Spain and Portugal enormous riches, and their overseas empires left a significant cultural legacy: much of South and Central America is Spanish-speaking, and there is a major Portuguese heritage in parts of Africa and Asia, the greatest of all being in Brazil. ■

152 IN CONTEXT TTSNHHOEEEVHIEARIRGNBHCRUIAEILINSDTEISNDGS FOCUS The Renaissance BRUNELLESCHI DESIGNS THE DOME OF FLORENCE CATHEDRAL (1420) BEFORE 1296 Building work begins on the Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral (Il Duomo), Florence. 1305 Giotto completes his frescoes at the Arena (Scrovegni) Chapel in Padua. 1397 The Medici bank is founded in Florence; becomes the largest bank in Europe. AFTER 1434 Cosimo de’ Medici becomes de facto ruler of Florence and supports the arts. 1447 Francesco Sforza comes to power in Milan. His court becomes a center of culture. 1503 Leonardo da Vinci starts work on the Mona Lisa. 1508 Michelangelo begins to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Vatican. I n 1418, the wealthy Guild of Wool Merchants of Florence launched a competition to find a design for a dome to complete their unfinished cathedral—the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, commonly known as Il Duomo. The city of Florence was one of the richest in Italy, a center of banking and trade and it was on the basis of this wealth that the city could afford to commission a cathedral dome of unprecedented size. This lavish spending on art and architecture would soon be echoed across Italy, as the region’s growing prosperity meant that rulers and rich citizens could spend money to beautify their towns and enhance

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 153 See also: Athenian democracy 46–51 ■ The assassination of Julius Caesar 58–65 ■ The Sack of Rome 68–69 ■ The fall of Constantinople 138–41 ■ Christopher Columbus discovers America 142–47 ■ Martin Luther’s 95 theses 160–63 This enormous construction turned- architect Filippo Brunelleschi The Renaissance in Italy towering above the skies, won the competition with his Meaning “rebirth,” the Renaissance vast enough to cover the daring plan for a huge eight-sided was a movement that started in brick dome, but many doubted that Italy and began to spread across entire population of Tuscany he would be able to construct it. Europe from the mid-14th century. with its shadow. Its roots lay in the rediscovery of the The main problem was being culture of ancient Greece and Rome Leon Battista Alberti able to support the structure in and it influenced all the arts, as well such a way that it did not spread as science and scholarship. Painters, On Painting and Sculpture and collapse under its own weight. sculptors, and architects broke free (1435) Brunelleschi’s ingenious solution from the traditions of medieval art. was to construct two concentric They visited the monuments of their prestige. The strong economy domes—an inner supporting dome ancient Rome, looking at classical and deep civic pride in Italy laid and a larger outer one. The domes statues and the carvings on Roman the foundations for one of the most were then joined together with buildings, and created works of art significant intellectual movements huge brick arches and a complex in the classical style. This new in history: the Renaissance. interlocking system of “chains” movement inspired architects, made from rings of stone and such as Leon Battista Alberti and Il Duomo wooden beams that were attached Brunelleschi, and a wave of great At the time of the competition, by iron clamps to prevent the dome artists, including Michelangelo and Florence’s cathedral featured a from expanding outwards Leonardo da Vinci. Most of these vast octagonal space toward its figures were active in many fields— eastern end, but since work on the The result—which was finally Brunelleschi was a sculptor and building began in 1296 no one had completed in 1436—remains the engineer as well as an architect; worked out how to make a dome to largest masonry dome in the world. Michelangelo painted, sculpted, cover it. The dome would have to Combining the style of antiquity and wrote poetry; while da Vinci’s be the largest cupola constructed with new engineering techniques, achievements spanned both the since the late Roman period and it exhibited the blend of ancient arts and the sciences. ❯❯ the guild specified that it should be wisdom and modern knowledge built without external buttresses, that typified the Renaissance. favored by their political rivals in France, Germany, and Milan and also considered old-fashioned. This seemed an impossible task. The young goldsmith and clockmaker- Dominating the skyline of Florence, Brunelleschi’s groundbreaking dome remains the tallest building in the city, rising majestically from the surrounding red-tiled roofs at 374 ft (114 m) high.

154 BRUNELLESCHI DESIGNS THE DOME OF FLORENCE CATHEDRAL Michelangelo’s painted ceiling at the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican combines the Renaissance interest in physical beauty and realism with religious subject matter. Renaissance painters and sculptors read and translate the works. This powerful city-states—mainly sought to represent the physical led to the emergence of Renaissance Florence, Milan, Ferrara, and world in a more realistic way than Humanism in Italy, which involved Venice—together with Rome, their Medieval predecessors: they studying the humanities—grammar, from where the pope could exercise valued anatomical accuracy and rhetoric, history, philosophy, and great secular (“temporal”) power developed scientific methods of poetry—and, more broadly, a high as well as being the spiritual head illustrating perspective. As in regard for the dignity and potential of the Catholic Church. The city- classical art, there was more focus of the human race. states generated a lot of wealth on human beauty and the nude. from trade and—as in the case of At the time of the Renaissance, Florence—banking. Their ruling There was also a revival of life, business, and politics in Italy families, such as the Gonzaga in interest in classical learning, which were dominated by a number of was influenced by Greek scholars from the Byzantine Empire, who settled in Italy when Constantinople (the empire’s capital) fell in 1453. The émigrés brought with them ancient Greek literary, historical, and philosophical texts, which had been lost to the West, and taught the Italians Greek so they could The idea of the Renaissance Man, whose expertise The rediscovery and curiosity extends to a range of diverse subjects, of classical texts reflects the great thinkers of the era: polymaths such inspired thinkers to as Leonardo da Vinci, who mastered disciplines from emulate and even art to science. surpass the work of Humanism placed philosophers such mankind at the center as Aristotle. of the universe. It gave the credit for human accomplishments to people instead of God. Science and a growing Renaissance artists knowledge of how the made several great world works contributed achievements, which to fields as diverse as were inspired by the architecture and medicine. discovery of lifelike Greek and Roman sculpture, and aided by a new understanding of perspective.

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 155 Mantua, the d’Este in Ferrara, the text was possible was for each page Filippo Brunelleschi Sforza in Milan, and the Medici in to be carved by hand into a block of Florence, spent lavishly on palaces, wood, but as this was so laborious Born in Florence, Filippo churches, and works of art, and books were invariably written out by Brunelleschi (1377–1446) was became patrons of many great hand. Gutenberg’s method involved the son of a civil servant, who Renaissance artists. These wealthy arranging individual metal letters educated Filippo in the hope families also encouraged the revival and punctuation symbols in lines that he would follow in his of classical learning by employing and pages; when many copies of footsteps. However, Filippo scholars as tutors for their children. a page had been printed, the type was artistically talented and In addition, several members of the could be taken apart and reused. instead trained as a goldsmith Medici family became popes. He combined this new idea with and a clockmaker before the existing technology of paper- becoming an architect. When Spread of the Renaissance making and the kind of press used he was around 25, he traveled From the end of the 15th century, in wine production, and the result to Rome with his friend, the the Renaissance spread from Italy was the printing of multiple copies sculptor Donatello, where he to other parts of Europe and a of books for the first time. studied the remains of ancient Northern Renaissance emerged. Roman buildings and read the Northern countries, particularly Gutenberg’s invention had a treatise On Architecture by the Netherlands and Germany, major impact. It meant that books, the Roman writer Vitruvius. produced their own great artists, which had previously been costly In 1419, he won his first major such as Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) and took months to produce, were commission—the design of an and Hans Holbein the Younger now easily available and much orphanage, the Ospedale degli (1497–1543)—both gifted realists. more affordable, so ideas and Innocenti in Florence, which, Renaissance Humanism also spread information could circulate quickly with its arched loggia, is one northward, but northern writers and reach more people. While the of the first great Renaissance and philosophers, most notably church had used mostly Latin as buildings. A number of other Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466–1536), its universal language, writers now fine works, including chapels tended to place more emphasis on wrote in their local tongues, and as in Florentine churches and Christianity, education, and reform a result literature in French, English, fortifications for the city, than their Italian counterparts. German, and other languages cemented his reputation, but flourished. In addition, copies of the the stunning dome of Il Duomo The invention of printing ancient classics were reproduced is his masterpiece. In addition using movable type by Johannes in quantity, thus helping to spread to his buildings, Brunelleschi Gutenberg in Germany in the ideas that were central to both the did important work on the 1430s enabled Renaissance ideas Renaissance and Humanism. theory of linear perspective, to spread even more quickly. Before and designed machinery to Gutenberg, the only way printed The Renaissance’s impact produce special effects in By the mid-16th century, the theatrical productions. For the wise man influence of the Renaissance was there is nothing waning in southern Europe, but it lasted slightly longer in the north. invisible. However, many great Renaissance Filippo Brunelleschi works endured and they continued to inspire future generations of painters and architects. Indeed, the longstanding popularity of oil paintings and classical style of architecture, and the rise of Humanism, would all have been impossible without the movement that began with Brunelleschi in Florence in the 15th century. ■

156 DBWIEFACFROEHMRAEESNVTERY THE BATTLE OF CASTILLON (1453) IN CONTEXT Feudal system declines More efficient firearms as royal power rises. are invented. FOCUS Military revolution The role played by artillery at Castillon highlights advantages of hiring professional BEFORE 1044 The first surviving forces over levying troops from nobles. formula for gunpowder appears in a Chinese Royal power becomes more centralized as military compendium. nobles lose military and political strength. 1346 Edward II uses cannons Armored knights and bowmen are gradually replaced at the Battle of Crécy. by infantry armed with pikes and firearms. 1439 Jean Bureau is made I n July 1453, John Talbot, Earl and were armed with some master gunner of the of Shrewsbury, marched out 300 guns under the command French artillery. of Bordeaux with some 6,000 of artillery expert Jean Bureau. men towards the English-held town Expecting reinforcements, Talbot 1445 Charles VII creates of Castillon, which the French were signaled an attack but as the a French standing army. preparing to besiege. The French English approached, they found had constructed a fortified camp themselves outnumbered by a well- 1453 Constantinople falls to big enough to contain 10,000 men, prepared army. The French artillery an Ottoman army employing heavy cannons. AFTER 1520s The Italian Wars demonstrate the effectiveness of infantry with firearms. 1529 Michaelangelo designs a star fort for Florence. c.1540 Some German cavalry adopt wheel-lock pistols as their main armament.

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 157 See also: The signing of the Magna Carta 100–01 ■ The outbreak of the Black Death in Europe 118–19 ■ The fall of Constantinople 138–41 ■ Christopher Columbus reaches America 142–47 ■ The Defenestration of Prague 164–69 fired, their bowmen followed suit, and the English were mowed down en masse. It was the first field battle in European history to be decided by gunpowder. Hundred Years’ War ends Cannons and guns French troops (left) engage with the The Battle of Castillon was the The kings who fought for control of English over wooden defenses in this climax of the Hundred Years’ War, France relied increasingly on large 15th-century illustration of the Battle of fought since 1337 by England and armies and expensive artillery. Castillon, from a French chronicle of France, countries that had long Cannons, like those that secured King Charles VII’s life. been closely linked by their ruling the French victory at Castillon, families. By the time of Castillon, transformed warfare. The stout taxation systems and bureaucracies great changes had taken place in walls of medieval castles provided were established, curbing the the fabric of European life, which little defense against a cannonball. power of an aristocracy whose profoundly altered the armies with To better resist artillery rulers began, influence was already diminished which the French and English from the 16th century, to build a by the decline of the feudal system. monarchs fought. new type of fortification, the star fort. These forts had walls sunk into Victory at Castillon, guaranteed The Europe of the 15th century ditches to strengthen them against by gunpowder, ensured the survival was principally a money economy, direct fire and also used cannons of an independent France that was and everyone, including soldiers, themselves in an active defense. becoming more like a centralized expected to be paid. Kings were state and less like a feudal country. thus increasingly reliant on At the same time, hand firearms As a result of the French triumph, mercenaries who fought for pay. This that fired projectiles that smashed France was able to consolidate the was a sharp contrast to the feudal through the armor of mounted territory under its control and the system that had existed previously, knights and required little skill to map of this part of western Europe in which fighting men were provided wield, gradually replaced the bow. began to take on its modern form. by the nobility in exchange for land. Drilled infantry—wielding pikes England, bereft of its European Eventually, rulers began employing and firearms—replaced massed possessions, also became more mercenaries on a permanent basis: ranks of archers, and formed the centralized, and its rulers turned a standing army. But it wasn’t until core of the new line of battle. away from contintental Europe, the later 17th century that this leveraging the country’s resources model became the norm. To pay for their new armies, to begin maritime exploration of rulers steadily began to centralize the Atlantic and North America. ■ There is no wall, whatever its their domains. More efficient thickness that, artillery will not destroy in only a few days. Machiavelli, 1519

158 DFARSAYODMAIFNOFDUENRRIESGNHATST THE COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE (1492 ONWARDS) IN CONTEXT T he arrival in the 1490s of [The lands are] the first Europeans in very suitable for FOCUS North and Central America planting and cultivating, Ecological change reconnected ecosystems that had for raising all sorts developed in isolation from one of livestock herds. BEFORE another for thousands of years. In Christopher Columbus Pre-1492 American and the so-called Columbian Exchange, Eurasian ecosystems exist lives and economies that had altered dandelion and sow thistle. The in complete isolation. only gradually over centuries were exchange in the other direction suddenly transformed by the influx brought potatoes, tomatoes, sweet AFTER of new crops, animals, technology, corn, beans, pumpkins, squash, 1518 Charles V of Spain grants and pathogens. Many of the effects and tobacco to the Old World, as a license to sell African slaves were unforeseen and misunderstood well as turkeys and guinea pigs. in America’s Spanish colonies. by both Europeans and American Indians at the time, but once the The introduction of new staple 1519 Spanish conquistadors first landing had been made, there crops transformed lives on both bring horses to Mexico. was no turning back. sides of the Atlantic. Potatoes and maize, carbohydrate-rich and easily c.1520 Spanish settlers Food and farming grown, helped overcome chronic introduce wheat to Mexico. When Europeans began to settle food shortages in Europe and, along in the Americas, they brought with with manioc and sweet potatoes, c.1528 Spanish traders them their own domesticated spread on to Africa and Asia. In the introduce tobacco to the animals and foods. The enormous New World wheat, which thrived in Old World. range included citrus fruits, grapes, the temperate latitudes of North and bananas; coffee, sugar cane, and South America and in the c.1570 Spanish ships bring rice, oats, and wheat; and cattle, the first potatoes to Europe. sheep, pigs, and horses. To cultivate their crops and pasture their 1619 Dutch traders bring animals, the settlers cleared huge Africans from a captured areas of woodland, destroying the Spanish slave ship to habitats of some native wild species Jamestown, Virginia. in the process, and unintentionally contaminating American fields 1620 The Pilgrims bring with the seed of weeds such as livestock such as chickens and pigs to Massachusetts.

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 159 See also: Christopher Columbus reaches America 142–47 ■ The Treaty of Tordesillas 148–51 ■ The voyage of the Mayflower 172–73 ■ The Slave Trade Abolition Act 226–27 Columbus’s The Old Europeans introduce The New arrival in World technology, weapons, World imports America imports marks the and exports and literacy. and exports beginning via explorers Crops, livestock, and via Old World of the and settlers. Columbian diseases flow in explorers Exchange. both directions. and settlers. Europeans seek precious metals. highlands of Mexico, eventually settlers and the chickens, cattle, in 1738, and some other tribes became a fundamental food crop black rats, and mosquitoes that were wiped out entirely. European for tens of millions of settlers. The accompanied them introduced explorers encountered and brought arrival of horses in the New World contagious diseases to a people back American illnesses such as was also revolutionary, permitting who had no biological defense Chagas Disease, but the effect more effective and selective against them. American Indians’ on Old World populations was hunting, as well as facilitating immune systems were not adapted negligible compared with the travel and transport. to cope with alien diseases such consequences of Old World as smallpox, measles, chickenpox, pathogens in the New World. Biological catastrophe influenza, malaria, and yellow fever. The most immediately devastating Once they were exposed to them, Exchange economics impact of the Columbian Exchange they began to die in the hundreds From the start, the Columbian followed the introduction of new of thousands. Half the Cherokee Exchange had a strong economic diseases into the Americas. The nation died in a smallpox epidemic driver. Commodities ranging from gold and silver to coffee, tobacco, Cultural exchange American Indian–European and cane sugar were transported relations. The arrival of the on a vast scale, mostly to the New World peoples were using horse led to the emergence of a benefit of European traders and stone-age tools, had no wheeled new, nomadic American Indian plantation owners. vehicles, and few domesticated tribe that came to dominate the animals when they encountered southern Great Plains. Very soon, slave trading became Old World societies, who used Christianity started to spread in a key part of this network too. The guns and alphabets, farmed the New World, some elements movement of people from continent pigs, sheep, and cattle, and kept of which fused with pre- to continent in vast numbers bees. The huge cultural changes Columbian beliefs in the old Inca provided a continual supply of labor that ensued, especially in the and Aztec territories. West for expanding new economies at the Americas, were complicated by African religion also arrived, cost of unspeakable oppression, the two societies’ very different while introductions such as misery, and early death to many attitudes to the “ownership” of literacy and metal tools and generations. The dramatic and nature and property; attitudes machines, brought advances in irrevocable changes brought about that would have significant education, agriculture, and the on both sides of the Atlantic by the consequences for future evolution of warfare. Columbian Exchange continued to shape lives for centuries. ■

160 IN CONTEXT IOMTSOFYCGTCAHOOPEDNTSWIVCEOIERNDCE FOCUS Reformation and MARTIN LUTHER’S 95 THESES (1517) Counter-Reformation BEFORE 1379 English reformer John Wycliffe criticizes church practices in De Ecclesia. 1415 Czech reformer Jan Hus is burned at the stake. 1512 During a stay in Rome, Martin Luther’s eyes are opened to church corruption. AFTER 1520 Lutheran services are held regularly in Copenhagen. 1534 Henry VIII of England breaks from Rome and becomes head of the church in England. 1536 John Calvin begins his church reforms in Switzerland. 1545–63 The Council of Trent reaffirms Catholic doctrines, beginning the Counter- Reformation movement. I n the autumn of 1517, Martin Luther, a monk and teacher of theology at the University of Wittenberg in Germany, set off a chain reaction that would transform Europe. Deeply concerned by what he saw as corrupt practices in the Catholic Church, he wrote a series of 95 theses—arguments—against them, which he then circulated within the university. According to some reports, he also nailed them to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. The theses were soon published more widely, prompting Pope Leo X to charge Luther with heresy. Luther responded by breaking with the Catholic faith,

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 161 See also: The Investiture Controversy 96–97 ■ The beginning of the Italian Renaissance 152–55 ■ The Defenestration of Prague 164–169 ■ The execution of Charles I 174–75 ■ Henry VIII breaks with Rome 198 Injury is done to and Anabaptists were persecuted Importance of The Word the Word of God when, by Protestants as well as Catholics A central idea in Protestant theology in the same sermon, an equal for their radical views. Luther was that authority came not from or larger amount of time is himself supported the brutal the priesthood, but from scripture devoted to indulgences suppression of the Anabaptist-led itself. For this reason, access to Peasants’ Revolt in the 1520s. What the Bible was essential both for than to the Word. the Protestants had in common the reformers and their followers. Martin Luther, 1517 was that their views brought them Bibles printed in native European into fundamental theological languages were appearing by the so initiating the Reformation—the conflict with the Catholic church. 16th century, Luther’s German rise of churches based on reformed translation of the New Testament practices, and a focus on scripture Reformers’ ideas spread via the was published in 1522, and a rather than on priestly authority. relatively new technology of the translated version of the whole Because of the churches’ origin in printed word. Before movable type Bible including the Apocrypha protests against Catholic practices and presses made printed books followed in 1534. A year later, Miles and beliefs, they became known as possible in the 1450s, books were Coverdale (1488–1569), sometime Protestant churches. all written by hand in Latin, the friar, preacher, and Bishop of Exeter, international language of the produced the first complete Bible Spread of the Reformation church. Print allowed information in English. A French translation Luther was not alone in seeking to be reproduced cheaply and by theologian Jacques Lefèvre religious reform. Swiss preacher quickly, and demand rapidly grew d’Étaples (c.1450–1536) appeared Ulrich Zwingli (1484–1531) led a for books written in the vernacular. between 1528 and 1532. Protestant church based in Zurich, Luther wrote his theses in Latin, but and Frenchman John Calvin broke before long they had been translated By the mid-16th century, from the Catholic church in around and printed in German, French, Reformation ideas had been widely 1530. Forced to flee France, he went English, and other languages. Books disseminated. Lutheranism spread to Geneva, Switzerland, where he and pamphlets describing church across Germany and Scandinavia; supported the reform movement, abuses and outlining Protestant Calvinism took hold in much of eventually helping to shape theology soon followed, and were Switzerland, and made significant Protestant doctrine. printed in large numbers. inroads in Scotland. There were ❯❯ Reformers’ beliefs did not necessarily concur. Calvinists were markedly different from Lutherans, At the Diet of Worms in 1521, Luther refused to recant: “Unless I am convicted of error by the testimony of Scripture... I cannot and will not retract.... Here I stand. God help me!”

162 MARTIN LUTHER’S 95 THESES also Calvinists in France, where form of Protestantism was later I do not accept the they were called Huguenots, established in England under authority of popes and although that country was split Henry’s daughter Elizabeth I. between Catholics and Protestants, councils, for they who fought in the Wars of Religion Reformers risked their lives by have contradicted of the second half of the 16th speaking out at a time when heresy century. Spain, Portugal, and was punishable by death. Czech each other. Italy remained Catholic. reformer Jan Hus had been burned Martin Luther, 1517 at the stake in 1415, Zwingli died In England, the seeds of reform in a battle between Protestant and In what would become the first in were sown early. Many people Catholic forces in 1531, and English a long list of religiously motivated objected to abuses such as the use Bible translator William Tyndale conflicts between Catholics and of church funds to pay for clerics— was executed in 1536. Luther, urged Protestants, the Holy Roman including the Pope and foreign to recant by Pope Leo X in 1520, Emperor Charles V invaded bishops—to lead a life of luxury. threw the written request on a Lutheran territory in an effort to However, Protestant ideas were bonfire, so church authorities stamp out the movement. Lutherans not yet widely enough held for the handed him over to Frederick the united against him and, despite his faith to take hold. Things changed Wise, Elector of Saxony and founder triumph at the Battle of Mühlberg when Henry VIII of England broke of the University of Wittenberg, for in 1547, he was unable to suppress with Rome in 1534, rejecting papal punishment. Frederick convened a them. A temporary compromise was authority and proclaiming himself formal enquiry or “Diet” at Worms, eventually reached at Augsburg in head of the church in England. As at which Emperor Charles V 1555 when the emperor conceded supreme ecclesiastical leader, he presided. The emperor rejected that each prince within the empire exercised his sole right to authorize Luther’s arguments and banned his could choose how to worship in his the publication of the English Bible, views in the empire, but Luther own domain. The peace was not to the Coverdale Bible, but English refused to recant. He was outlawed last, however; bitter divisions drawn religious practice and doctrine and excommunicated, but Frederick by the Reformation would cause remained Catholic. A moderate saved him from execution by faking people across Europe to take up his abduction, then hiding him arms again, and the continent was Cartoon images of the pope as a at the Wartburg castle. Luther ravaged by more than a century bestial monstrosity communicated to continued to write and organize, of religiously-motivated conflict. an international audience, literate and garnering increasing support. not, a common Protestant idea that the Reform from within papacy was the institution of the devil. Powerful allies Even before Luther wrote his 95 Support from people in positions theses, a movement for reform had of power assisted the spread of the begun within the church. Inspired Reformation. Like Henry VIII in partly by Renaissance Humanism, England, the princes of Germany it brought on a resurgence of resented church wealth, taxation, scholarship and philosophy, and and its independent law courts, motivated churchmen such as and were also eager to strengthen Spaniard Francisco Ximenes, their own power. Throughout the who produced a Bible with texts in Middle Ages, popes had made Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Aramaic. alliances with kings and emperors, and intervened in secular affairs. Many German princes wanted to prevent such alliances by cutting ties with Rome and removing bishops from their princedoms, so their support for the reformers was motivated by political expedience as well as personal piety.

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 163 Has the Catholic Church multiple offices by one priest, set up The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, a been dead for a thousand training seminaries for priests, and, white marble altarpiece and one of the in an attempt to slow the spread of masterpieces of High Roman Baroque, years to be revived Protestant doctrine, established a by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the leading only by Martin? commission to specify which books sculptor of his day. Catholics were forbidden to read. In Cardinal Girolamo addition, a number of popes from Baroque churches were imposing Aleandro, 1521 Paul III onward lived austerely, and ornate, filled with affecting appointed like-minded bishops, sculptures, paintings, and strikingly However, Luther’s clear theological and reviewed papal finances. posed biblical scenes. This potent challenges prompted the papacy to propaganda served to underline prepare a more widely considered Counter-Reformation the difference between Catholic response. In 1545, Paul III called The council met periodically for churches and their Protestant together the Council of Trent at 18 years, and provoked a renewal counterparts, which were usually which bishops and cardinals and resurgence of Catholicism from plain and undecorated. Baroque art, reaffirmed Catholic doctrines, from within the church that is usually together with the zeal of reforming the importance of the priesthood called the Counter-Reformation. popes and Jesuit priests, helped to and sacraments to the legitimacy The new Society of Jesus (also ensure that the Catholic church of indulgences. But the council known as the order of Jesuits), survived and flourished in countries also introduced reforms: it forbade founded by Spanish knight Ignatius such as Italy and Spain, even while abuses such as the holding of Loyola in 1534, was approved by the Protestant movement was the pope in 1540 as an answer to gathering strength elsewhere. the Reformation, and it spread Europe, which had once been a powerful Counter-Reformation united under the pope in the message across Europe. The Roman Catholic Church, was now contemporary revival of Christian irrevocably split into Catholic and art, which coincided with the Protestant states. The seeds were flowering of the baroque style in sown for over a century of conflict Italy, added a vibrant emphasis. as subjects took up arms against their rulers, kings and princes Corruption is widespread in the Catholic Church. clashed, and nations attacked nations in the name of religion. ■ Martin Luther begins his Some attempts reform campaign based are made at on his 95 theses. internal reform. The Catholic Luther’s reforming influence church begins spreads across Europe and the Counter- Reformation. divides the Catholic church.

HE BEGAN WAR IN SBOUHEBMJIAUWGHAICTHEHDE HANISD FROERCLEIDGIINOTNO THE DEFENESTRATION OF PRAGUE (1618)



166 THE DEFENESTRATION OF PRAGUE IN CONTEXT Protestant nobles threw the imperial wanted to eliminate Protestantism. regents from the council room window, The largely Protestant Seven FOCUS signaling the start of a revolt against Provinces in the northern Low The Wars of Religion the Habsburg emperor and one of the Countries revolted against the opening phases of the Thirty Years’ War. king’s rule. Religious clashes BEFORE escalated into violence against 1562 The French Wars of The trio landed some 65 ft (20 m) the perceived repression of the Religion begin a 36-year below in a dung heap stacked Habsburg Crown, leading to the period of conflict in France. against the castle walls. Known formation of the independent Dutch as the Defenestration of Prague, Republic in the north of the region. 1566 The sack of the this event began the Thirty Years’ monastery at Steenvoorde, War, a series of conflicts that Philip also planned to conquer Flanders, leads to the devastated huge areas of Europe. England, which was moderately Dutch Revolt. Protestant under Elizabeth I, Religious differences and wanted to place a Catholic AFTER The Defenestration took place in monarch on the English throne. In 1631 Gustavus Adolphus’ the wake of long-standing disputes 1588, he sent his famous Armada victory at Breitenfeld protects between Catholics and Protestants to invade the country, but a German states from forcible about whether people should be combination of superior English reconversion to Catholicism. allowed to worship freely in their own way. These differences affected I would rather 1648 The Peace of Westphalia, much of Europe, and before war lose all my lands and a a series of peace treaties, ends ignited Bohemia, there were violent hundred lives than be the Thirty Years’ War (1618– religious conflicts in several other 1648) in the Holy Roman parts of the continent. king over heretics. Empire, and the Eighty Years’ Philip II of Spain, 1566 War (1568–1648) between The disputes also involved Spain and the Dutch Republic. rivalries for power between royal and aristocratic families who 1685 Revocation of the favored the different sides and used Edict of Nantes leads the conflicts to promote their own to renewed persecution interests. The Netherlands, of French Protestants. for example, were home to many Protestants, but were ruled by I n May 1618, a group of Catholic Spain, whose ruler Philip II Protestant leaders in Prague met a number of councillors in an upper room in Prague Castle. The councillors were Catholics, working as regents for Ferdinand, the new king of Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic); the Protestants wanted to be sure that the king and regents would not remove the religious freedoms that their former rulers had granted them. When the regents refused to give this assurance, the Protestants threw two of them, together with their clerk, out of the castle window.

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 167 See also: The fall of Granada 128–29 ■ Christopher Columbus reaches America 142–47 ■ Martin Luther’s 95 theses 160–63 ■ The opening of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange 180–83 naval tactics and stormy weather Protestant Mixed Catholic foiled the attempt, and England interests religious interests in remained independent. in Bohemia, commitments Spain and the the Dutch in German These religious differences Republic, and states and Habsburg proved particularly devastating in Sweden. Empire. 16th-century France, where the France. substantial Protestant minority generally known as the Huguenots Religious tensions come to a head were widely persecuted. Many at the Defenestration of Prague. Protestants, especially Calvinist ministers, had their tongues cut Conflict escalates as multiple rulers out, or were burned at the stake. are drawn into a pan-European war. In the so-called St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of 1572, a group of Rulers’ ruthless repression of any opposition causes targeted assassinations followed widespread devastation in mainland Europe. by a wave of mob violence against the Huguenots lasted several Protestants, but the area was part of Ferdinand, felt no obligation to weeks and left thousands dead. the large Holy Roman Empire, which honor the Letter of Majesty. He also included Germany, Austria, and suppressed Protestant churches There followed a series of so- Hungary, and was ruled by Catholic and appointed Catholics to high called Wars of Religion that lasted Habsburg emperors. The emperors positions. This reignited a dispute some 36 years. After eight periods acted as overlords to local kings, that had existed in Bohemia since of fighting, punctuated by uneasy princes, and dukes. Some of them, the first stirrings of the Protestant truces and broken agreements, notably Matthias, who was on the Reformation in the 15th century. the wars came to an end in 1598 throne when the Defenestration when the French king Henry IV, who took place, granted their Protestant After the Defenestration, both had been a Protestant leader before subjects the right to worship as sides began preparing for war, taking the throne, promulgated the they wished. Matthias achieved this but the process was accelerated Edict of Nantes. This agreement by ratifying the Letter of Majesty, when, in 1619, Matthias died. gave the Huguenots certain rights, a charter that had been signed by Ferdinand, who was already King including freedom of religion in the previous emperor, Rudolf II, of Bohemia, then also became particular geographical areas. It which guaranteed Protestants Holy Roman Emperor. Bohemia’s also maintained Catholicism as religious freedom and certain other Protestant leaders tried to reduce the established religion in France, basic rights. However, Matthias’ the Catholic emperor’s local and obliged Protestants to observe successor, the ardently Catholic power by deposing him as King Catholic holidays and pay church of Bohemia and inviting their ❯❯ taxes. Disputes between the two sides still flared from time to time, however, and many Huguenots left France to seek safety in other countries such as England and the Netherlands. Thirty Years’ War The religious wars and disputes in France, the Netherlands, and England formed a troubled backdrop to the Thirty Years’ War in Europe. Most people in Bohemia were

168 THE DEFENESTRATION OF PRAGUE own candidate, the Protestant compared to 700 of the empire’s The [Protestant] Frederick V, Elector Palatine, forces—and Tilly entered Prague. wound is degenerated to rule in his stead. Frederick fled, and many of the into gangrene; it requires Protestant leaders were executed; Frederick’s credentials as a ordinary Protestants were ordered fire and sword. Protestant were excellent, not only to leave or convert to Catholicism; Fernando Álvarez, because of his own faith, but also by and Bohemia was left devastated, marriage: his wife was Elizabeth depopulated, and almost powerless. c.1560s Stuart, daughter of England’s The area remained overwhelmingly Protestant king James I. However, Catholic into the 20th century. Most of the battles were in the in order to make Frederick king, German and central European lands. the Bohemians had to depose a A destabilizing reform In a few years the Habsburg imperial monarch who had been legally What happened in Bohemia was army, raised for Ferdinand and led crowned, a move that deprived a symptom of the instability of the by skilled military leader Albrecht them of support from a number of wider Holy Roman Empire. In its Wallenstein, had crushed its rivals in their potential allies. history there had often been power Germany, and gone on to overwhelm struggles between emperors and Denmark. By 1629, Ferdinand was in In 1620, the forces of Bohemia local rulers, but a general balance a position to reclaim the lands that gathered to face those of the Holy of power had emerged in which had passed into Protestant hands. Roman Empire at White Mountain, the emperor resolved to respect outside Prague. The forces seemed the rights of the individual states However, the Protestants still evenly matched: the Protestants that made up the empire. This had two powerful allies. One was under Frederick and Christian of balance was upset by the changes Sweden, under King Gustavus Anhalt had a larger force, but the of the Reformation, when Protestant Adolphus, an able military leader; empire’s soldiers were experienced beliefs strengthened in some places the other was France, a Catholic and well led by the Spanish–Flemish (such as Saxony), and Catholicism country, but one that wanted to nobleman Field Marshall Tilly, and prevailed in others (such as Bavaria). curtail imperial power. In 1630, renowned general Albrecht von A series of struggles then escalated Gustavus arrived in Germany with Wallenstein. After only one hour, into armed conflict. a large army and won a significant Bohemian forces were crushed— victory at Breitenfeld in 1631, with 4,000 dead or taken prisoner financial assistance from France. In the mid-1630s the Habsburgs fought back, with the help of Spain. The conflict had now become an all-encompassing war involving virtually every one of Europe’s major countries in a struggle for power. The emperor wanted to win Gustavus achieved his decisive victory at Breitenfeld with a new, combined-arms approach in which infantry, artillery, and cavalry worked together in self-supporting units.

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 169 As different powers intervened Sweden in the Thirty Years' War, the conflict morphed from a split over religion Denmark 1630 into a clash for European supremacy between France and the Habsburgs. 1625 Key Poland Campaigns 1635 Austria Austria invades Bohemia and France 1619 Frederick V’s territory in Germany. 1625 Denmark intervenes to help Spain Lutherans in northern Germany. Ottoman Sweden begins a campaign against Empire Catholic forces in Germany. France declares war against Habsburg Rome Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. Religious divisions Protestant majority Catholic majority back his lands in Germany, while together in cavalry charges backed Representatives of the empire, the Spanish wanted their allies the up by firearms, and large numbers Spain, France, Sweden, and the Habsburgs in power so that they of mercenaries were employed. The Dutch Republic, as well as rulers could cross Europe with ease battles were fought with professional of German princedoms and cities, in their hoped-for attack on the speed and ruthlessness, but what and other interested parties, Netherlands. France, fearful of being came after was sometimes even assembled in 1648 in two north- surrounded by the Habsburgs and worse. Vast armies committed German cities, Osnabrück and their allies, continued to try to infamous atrocities as they pillaged Münster, to agree the Peace reduce imperial power. huge areas of country to find food, of Westphalia. The talks could not and removed anything that might resolve basic differences between The end and the aftermath be useful to their enemies. Rural political and religious interests; By the 1640s, anti-imperial forces areas suffered particularly badly they did however produce an were regaining the upper hand. at the hands of the scavenging agreement to end the war, and France defeated Spain at Rocroi troops—Germany lost around the Peace established an overall in the Oise valley in 1643, while in 20 percent of its population—but balance of power among a number 1645, Sweden met the imperial army trade and manufacturing were also of independent nations. at Junkau, southeast of Prague. affected by the damage and Around half the 16,000-strong devastation left behind. Central Although Europe was now imperial army was killed in this Europe took decades to recover permanently divided into states bloody battle, and it looked as if from the war, although countries that were predominantly Catholic the Swedes would march on Prague with strong trade networks and sea or predominantly Protestant, they or Vienna. However by this point, power, such as England and the had agreed to learn to coexist with both sides were exhausted, and no Netherlands, fared better. one another. The Peace set the advance was made on either city. precedent of creating agreements Repeated artillery battles between nations by means of high- The battles of the Thirty Years’ also wore down both armies. level diplomatic meetings, the like War were conducted on a large Exhausted, the sides eventually of which have played a key part in scale. Forces of thousands came came together to make peace. international relations ever since. ■

170 FRROOEBRYAETLLHTLEYIOSINSPIARIRTEOMFEDY THE CONQUESTS OF AKBAR THE GREAT (1556) IN CONTEXT While in exile in Persia, Akbar’s father, Humayun, develops close ties with the Safavid court, who help him recover some FOCUS Islamic empires of his territories in India. BEFORE Akbar wins the Second Battle of Panipat and the 1501 The Safavid dynasty Mughal dynasty goes on to becomes the dominant unites Persia; they make Shi’a Islam the state religion, and power on the Indian subcontinent. suppress all other religions and other forms of Islam. Akbar strengthens the Persian artists and cultural, commercial, and scholars are lured to India 1526 At the first Battle of political bonds between Panipat, Babur, a descendant by the Mughal of Mongol rulers Timur and Persia and India. court’s brilliance. Genghis Khan, conquers Delhi and founds the Mughal Empire. Persian culture influences northern Indian literary, architectural, and artistic traditions, resulting in a distinctive Mughal style. 1540 Babur’s successor, Humayun, rapidly loses much I n February 1556, Abu Akbar inflicted a crushing defeat on of the empire and is exiled. became the new ruler of the Hemu, and regained territory lost Muslim Mughal dynasty in by Akbar’s father, Humayun. Akbar AFTER northern India, founded 30 years then gradually consolidated and 1632 The Taj Mahal, the earlier by Turkic-Mongol invaders extended his authority, annexing crowning glory of Mughal from Central Asia. The emperor’s all of northern and part of central architecture, is commissioned. forces immediately confronted the India. Rulers were deposed and army of Hemu, a rival claimant to killed and citizens massacred 1658–1707 The Mughal the throne of Delhi, at the Second as once-independent kingdoms Empire reaches its greatest Battle of Panipat. The Mughals became provinces of his empire. extent under Aurangzeb, but his harsh rule leads to revolt. 1858 The last Mughul emperor is removed by the British.

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD 171 See also: Muhammad receives the divine revelation 78–81 ■ The founding of Baghdad 86–93 ■ The fall of Granada 128–29 ■ The fall of Constantinople 138–41 ■ The founding of the Safavid dynasty, Persia 198 Support and survival himself was often on the move, Akbar Akbar maintained the political traveling with his court and harem unity of his sprawling realm by in well-appointed tents. Akbar was just 13 years old building an administration capable when he inherited the Mughal of expansion as new territories Another unifying factor was the throne, and initially ruled were incorporated. He created a spread of Islam, together with its under a regent, Bairam Khan, network of highly paid nobles who arts and culture; however, Akbar who assisted him in forcibly served as provincial governors, or believed in religious freedom and unifying India’s collection were employed as commanders of allowed the empire’s non-Muslim of regional kingdoms into a field armies or as part of the central populations, which included a large single, centralized political military—the backbone of the Hindu majority, to live by their own system within which the empire. He also recruited talented faiths, laws, and customs. emperor was the supreme men from across India (and Persia), source of authority. both Muslim and Hindu, into his Interaction with Persia government, remunerating them Babur, the founder of the Mughal Under Akbar, the dynasty with money or land. dynasty, and Humayun, Akbar’s became an artistic as well as father, had developed diplomatic, military power. Painting and This system rewarded cultural, and political links with literature blossomed under individual merit and loyalty, but another Islamic empire in the region, the emperor’s patronage— kept the administration from Safavid Persia, which stimulated although he himself was becoming too centralized—a Mughal interest in Persian fine arts illiterate, he acquired a library distinct advantage in an empire such as miniature painting and of 24,000 books. His capital at that was difficult to hold together the “art of the book.” Akbar set up Fatehpur Sikri also became a from a single center. The emperor studios to produce illustrated books center for religious debate and in the cities of Fatehpur Sikri his court a place of culture and In this miniature painting, the and Lahore (now in Pakistan), and learning. Although he never Mughals are seen battling their Hindu Persian architects and artisans renounced Islam, Akbar was enemies at Panipat. As later conquests were brought to India to design open to the ideas of other added money, men, and weapons to the and construct palaces, forts, faiths, and he invited Hindu, imperial army, it became supreme. mosques, and public buildings, Christian, and Buddhist including Humayun’s tomb philosophers to debate with in Delhi. This domed structure the Muslim theologians at his inspired major architectural court. He even conceived a innovations, and a unique Persian- new religion, which combined influenced building style developed elements of all these faiths, across the Indian subcontinent. with himself as the deity. The Mughal Empire continued to prosper under Akbar’s son Jahangir, but later in the 17th century it declined amid religious conflict and economic problems. The emperors were defeated by Afghan invaders, then came under the control of the Marathas, Hindu warriors who dominated Indian affairs in the second half of the 18th century, and finally were taken over by the British after Britain defeated the Marathas in 1818. ■

172 IATNHGWERYAERCADTHEZHREOAIPSLEHEADND THE VOYAGE OF THE MAYFLOWER (1620) IN CONTEXT I n 1620, a group of English own laws within the English legal people who could not legally framework. They settled at Plymouth FOCUS worship as they wished to in and, although many died that first North American England set sail across the Atlantic winter, their community endured. colonization to begin a new life in America. This group later became known as the Early colonization BEFORE Pilgrims. They set off on two ships, At that time, England, like other 1585 English settlers found but one proved unseaworthy so they countries, was competing to Roanoke Island Colony in had to continue in just one, the establish colonies in North North Carolina, but within Mayflower. Winter storms ravaged America. Jamestown had been five years it is abandoned. the 66-day crossing and the ship’s founded thirteen years before the main beam fractured. While still Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, but it 1607 The first permanent aboard, the Pilgrims drew up the was not a religious community. The English settlement in North Mayflower Compact, which pledged Colony of Virginia, centered around America is founded at their loyalty to the Crown but also Jamestown, had been established Jamestown, Virginia. asserted their right to make their by English colonists in 1607 under 1608 French settlers found English Protestants seeking religious freedom sail Quebec in Canada. to North America on the Mayflower. AFTER More religious separatists Other English colonies are 1629 English settlers found follow, swelling the founded by companies granted the Massachusetts Bay Colony royal charters from the Crown. on North America’s east coast. colony’s population. 1681 English Quaker The colonists develop a form of government based William Penn founds on the pursuit of religious freedom, following the Pennsylvania to provide a refuge for fellow Quakers. English parliamentary model. 1732 English settlers found Georgia, the last of the 13 original colonies on the northeast coast.

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 173 See also: Christopher Columbus reaches America 142–47 ■ The opening of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange 180–83 ■ The signing of the Declaration of Independence 204–07 ■ The opening of Ellis Island 250–51 The Mayflower attempted to depart England on three occasions: from Southampton and then Dartmouth in August, and finally from Plymouth on September 6, 1620. Navigation Acts, which required that all commodity trade take place in British ships crewed by British sailors. The colonists came to see these measures as a willful suppression of their trade and manufacturing. Tensions arose on both sides of the Atlantic as British and colonial merchants sought to protect their interests. a charter from the Crown, and was legislature had to work within the Colonial growth their first permanent settlement in framework of existing English law. Relations between the colonists and the Americas. French explorers had However, the king and government the indigenous peoples of the East established fur trading posts up in London, working with the Coast were also starting to strain. the rivers of Canada; Dutch and governor, saw the colonies as a The increasing colonial population Swedish colonists arrived in North resource, rich in raw materials, that put pressure on land and resources, America in the early 17th century, they could exploit to their advantage. pushing people west to settle on and in 1613 the Dutch established land belonging to American Indians. a trading post on the western shore To ensure America remained a of Manhattan Island. ready market for British industry, The groups struggled to coexist colonial trade was restricted by the harmoniously. An uneasy peace, punctuated by violence, typified relations between settlers and American Indians for many years. ■ Government and trade Religious persecution groups, known as Separatists, Both Plymouth and Jamestown set up their own “separate” developed representative institutions In the early 17th century, the congregations, but when their in which colonists elected officials English were legally obliged to leaders were imprisoned or even to govern their own affairs. Inspired worship as prescribed by the executed, they moved to the by the English parliamentary model, Church of England. Although more tolerant Netherlands. Here and growing out of the assertion of the English church had already they could adopt the simpler rights articulated in the Mayflower broken from the Catholic form of worship they preferred, Compact, these early developments Church, many people still felt but it was very hard to earn established a model of self-rule that its hierarchical priesthood a living because the country’s that came to characterize English and set rituals, hymns, and professional guilds were closed colonization in North America. prayers were Catholic features to them. This is part of the that should be swept away. reason that the Pilgrims, and Each colony had a governor, later others, decided to seek appointed by the British monarch, Puritans, so-called because a new life in North America. and a legislature, elected by the of their desire for religious colonists. There was often tension purity, hoped to reform the between the two, because the church from within. Other

174 HWCIRSEOWHWEINLALDUPCWOUINTTHIOTFTFHE THE EXECUTION OF CHARLES I (1649) IN CONTEXT King Charles I asserts his The king needs to raise divine right to rule. taxes to pay for wars. FOCUS English Civil War Parliament attempts to limit the king’s authority. A civil war erupts between Crown and parliament BEFORE 1639 English and Scottish for the right to rule. forces clash in the first “Bishops’ War.” Parliamentary forces, led by Cromwell, win the war. 1642 The Civil War begins The king is executed and an English at Edgehill, Warwickshire. republic is instituted. 1645 Oliver Cromwell’s “New D uring the 1640s, England parliament. On the other were the Model Army” scores victories was plunged into a series Parliamentarians—mainly smaller at Naseby and Langport. of wars, fought to decide landowners and tradesmen, many the future of the country and of whom held Puritan beliefs and 1646 Charles is forced to known collectively as the English disliked Charles’s autocratic stance. surrender to his opponents. Civil War. On one side were the By 1648, the Parliamentarians had Royalists—predominantly landed beaten Charles on the battlefield AFTER gentry and aristocrats who and Oliver Cromwell, their leader, 1649 The Commonwealth of supported King Charles I and ejected from parliament all those England (a republic) is formed. his right to rule independently of who were prepared to negotiate 1653 Cromwell takes the title Lord Protector for Life, giving him the power to call or dissolve parliaments. 1658 Cromwell dies and is succeeded as Protector by his son, Richard. 1660 The monarchy is restored: Charles II becomes King of England.

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 175 See also: The signing of the Magna Carta 100–01 ■ Martin Luther’s 95 theses 160–63 ■ The Defenestration of Prague 164–69 ■ The opening of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange 180–83 with the king, leaving the remainder for the first time in 11 years to raise He ruled with stern Puritan authority, (known as the Rump Parliament) to money to quell a Scottish revolt. imposing it ruthlessly on the Scots vote to end the monarchy. Charles Once called, parliament tried to and the Irish. Soon after he died, the was tried for treason against bring in further measures to limit country—perhaps tired of Puritan England and was beheaded in his power, such as making it illegal austerity—welcomed Charles I’s 1649, after which England began for the king to dissolve parliament, exiled son home to reign. Charles II an 11-year period as a republic. but he responded by trying to arrest agreed to limitations on royal five MPs. The dispute escalated power and to uphold the Protestant The causes of war into the First Civil War in 1642. faith, but his heir—his Catholic King Charles I and parliament were brother James II—clashed with natural opponents. Charles was The war and its effects Anglican bishops and offended sympathetic to Catholics while Initially, the Royalists gained Protestants by offering prominent parliament was Protestant, and the upper hand but in 1644 the positions to Catholics. he believed in the divine right of Parliamentarians reorganized their kings—the idea that the monarch’s troops under Oliver Cromwell. With Fears of having another Catholic appointment is approved by God their disciplined, professional king mounted until, in 1688, in what and so he or she has absolute power. approach, this “New Model Army” became known as the Glorious forced Charles to surrender in 1646. Revolution, James was deposed. The clash first came to a head However, the king restarted the The king was sent into exile and over the king’s repeated attempts war two years later, and this replaced by his Protestant daughter to raise money for a war in France. Second Civil War—which ended Mary, who ruled with her Dutch Parliament tried to curb his power in a Royalist defeat at the Battle of husband William of Orange. In 1689, to do so by introducing a Petition of Preston in 1648—began the chain William and Mary accepted a Bill of Right in 1628, making it a necessity of events that led to his execution Rights, which ensured their subjects for its members to approve taxation. in 1649 and the formation of a had basic civil liberties, such as trial However, Charles got around this republic under Cromwell called by jury, and making the monarchy by levying taxes using antiquated the Commonwealth of England. subject to the law of the land. Britain medieval laws, selling trading has remained a constitutional monopolies to raise cash, and ruling Like Charles, Cromwell found monarchy, in which no king or without parliament. In 1640, the relations with parliament difficult, queen could defy Parliament as king was forced to call parliament but he tried to bring in reforms. Charles I did, ever since. ■ King Charles I The son of Stuart King James I presbyterian system of church of England of England (King James VI of governance (without bishops) Scotland) and Anne of Denmark, with the more hierarchical Charles was born in 1600 and episcopal system (with bishops, became king in 1625. From the following the Anglican model), start, he alienated both subjects which led to political and and parliament with his demands military conflict in 1639 and for taxation (mostly to fund wars 1640 (known as the Bishops’ in France) and his assertion of War). During the English his divine right to rule. He also Civil War, he took an active part clashed with the church because in leading the Royalist armies of his sympathies with Catholicism until he was captured; initially, (he was married to the French he was put under house arrest, Catholic princess, Henrietta then he was imprisoned before Maria). In addition, he was his execution in 1649. He unpopular in Scotland, where he continued to assert his divine tried to replace the prevailing right to rule during his trial.

176 IN CONTEXT ODSSTEFHUEPREPTEPVHVNALEEYDNRPSTOYLSFUABPNNEOEITNNGAGTRTIOHOENS FOCUS Slaves and colonies THE FORMATION OF THE ROYAL AFRICAN COMPANY (1660) BEFORE 1532 The Portuguese found their first settlement in Brazil. 1562 British slave trading in Africa begins with the voyage of John Hawkins. 1625 The British claim Barbados on behalf of James I. 1655 The British capture Jamaica from Spanish colonists. AFTER 1672 The company is reconstituted as the Royal African Company. 1698 African trade is legally opened to all English merchants, provided they pay a ten percent levy to the company on all goods exported from Africa. I n 1660, the Company of Royal Adventurers Trading to Africa was established in England. Its charter, endorsed by the king, gave its ships the exclusive right to trade on the West African coast, and permitted its members to set up forts there, in exchange for giving the English Crown half the resulting profits. Twelve years later, the company was reorganized as the Royal African Company and given still greater powers: to build forts and “factories” (where slaves were held before being shipped over the Atlantic), and employ its own troops. The company’s particular significance is due to its crucial role in facilitating and developing the

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 177 See also: Christopher Columbus reaches America 142–47 ■ The Treaty of Tordesillas 148–51 ■ The Columbian Exchange 158–59 ■ The Slave Trade Abolition Act 226–27 The Atlantic slave trade was banned from 1807, but continued for decades. This engraving shows captives aboard an American ship, the Wildfire, bound for Cuba in around 1860. slave trade. It transported many thousands of Africans to a life of slavery, working with West African leaders to build a trade that lasted even after the company disbanded in 1752, and that would eventually see millions of Africans displaced to lives of toil in the Americas. Foundation of the company monopoly over the trade. After that it became part of the fabric of Soon after its foundation, the 1698, other merchants were allowed British mercantile life, continuing company became involved in the to join the trade but had to pay a throughout the 18th century. Second Dutch War, a trade conflict levy to the company of 10 percent between the Netherlands and on all their African exports. The The slave trade itself was England during which the Dutch involvement of other merchants much older than the Royal African took many English forts, excluding strengthened the trade to the point Company. Portuguese traders in them from the slave trade during the the late 14th century were the first ❯❯ war. Involvement in the war almost brought the Company of Royal Adventurers to bankruptcy, but in 1672, with a new charter from the king, the company re-emerged, renamed, restructured, and granted the right to carry slaves for sale in the Americas. It prospered, transporting some 100,000 slaves between that year and 1698 when, royal power having been restricted by the Bill of Rights, the company lost its English Crown needs revenue. Royal African Millions of English merchants see profit Company is Africans are in the slave trade. formed to displaced and organize trade enslaved in the Africa is a potential source of slaves. to enrich growing merchants and transatlantic slave trade. the Crown.

178 THE FORMATION OF THE ROYAL AFRICAN COMPANY I herded them as of items including cloth, guns, iron, Tobacco from Virginia was in great if they had been cattle and beer. Goods such as ivory and demand in Europe. Planters shipped gold were carried directly from their products directly to their home toward the boats. Africa to Europe, not as part of the countries and used the profits to buy Diogo Gomes, triangular trade but still bolstering African labor and European goods. the system. Portuguese explorer (1458) were then exchanged with African The trade network brought merchants for slaves. English cutlery Europeans to ship slaves from West huge profits to plantation owners from Birmingham and Sheffield was Africa. By the 16th century, the in the Americas, and to English also traded in the same way. So Portugese were bringing slaves manufacturers, as well as to the many people had vested interests in huge numbers to Brazil to work merchants who dealt in the slaves in the triangular trade that it on sugar cane plantations. Brazil and other goods. Port operators, became difficult for European remained the biggest destination West African leaders who sold politicians even to criticize the for the import of African slaves slaves, bankers who loaned money system, let alone abolish it. until the outlawing of the trade. for expeditions, and even English The first English slaving expeditions factory workers whose jobs The number of people who were took place in the 1560s, in which depended on raw materials enslaved and traded was vast. It merchants bought captured slaves imported from abroad, all benefited. has been estimated that by the from African rulers. During the 17th time the slave trade was outlawed century, with the increase of English As a key part of this trading in Britain in 1807, British merchants colonization, the market for African network, the slave trade made had forced some 3 million Africans slaves grew and the Royal African possible the rapid rise of Western into lives of slavery in the Americas. Company took full advantage of it. capitalism in the 18th century. Even Unknown numbers of people did factories some distance away from not even reach America, but died Triangular trade England’s trading ports became en route in the appalling conditions The transatlantic slave trade soon involved. A notable example was on board the slave ships. It is likely became part of a larger triangular the business of arms manufacture, that even more were carried by trading network, in which ships which was based in the English Portuguese traders bound for Brazil; took slaves from Africa to the Midlands at population centers such ships from other nations carried Americas; refilled the holds with as Birmingham, conveniently close smaller numbers. Some historians goods to transport to Europe; then to supplies of iron. Some 150,000 have estimated the total number at took European manufactured goods guns, mostly made in these Midland around 10 million; others put the on to Africa for sale, completing the factories, were exported to West figure still higher. triangle. Ships carried commodities Africa every year; almost all of them such as sugar, molasses, and coffee from the Caribbean to England; The shrieks of the women, rice, indigo, cotton, and tobacco and the groans of the from the southern colonies in North America; and furs, timber, and rum dying, rendered the whole from the northeast. On the England- scene of horror almost to-Africa leg, they carried a range inconceivable. Olaudah Equiano, African writer and freed slave (1789)

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 179 The triangular slave trade turned misery for 1 Manufactured goods some into wealth for others. While the profits and textiles were it generated accelerated the development of taken to Africa and European economies, the trade also displaced used to barter for slaves. millions of Africans. 3 After selling their slaves, merchants shipped cotton, sugar, and tobacco to Europe where they reinvested the profits and the cycle began again. The Middle Passage 2 Slaves were sold to merchants, who bought twice as many men as women. European colonies also prevalent in the colonies of Indonesia to southern Africa. Once Spanish, Dutch, and French settlers North America, especially the the Portuguese and English had set pioneered the plantation system in southern areas where crops such as up bases, there was also further the Caribbean, producing crops tobacco were grown on plantations. slave trading along the Indian coast. such as sugar and coffee on huge Slaves were often treated as non- farms, or plantations. Their principal human objects, forced into labor The slave trade was not solely Caribbean colonies included Cuba and subjected to cruelties such as carried out by Europeans. Muslim (a colony of Spain), Haiti (France), and beating, branding, and worse. merchants also transported slaves the Dutch Antilles (the Netherlands). from East Africa for sale elsewhere The use of slave labor on these Slavery beyond the triangle in the Muslim world. plantations generated substantial Colonists from Europe also practiced profits for owners. The British slavery beyond the Atlantic trading However, the triangular trade presence in the area increased in triangle. The Dutch pioneered slave was a crucial element in the the 17th century, when Britain’s most trading in Southeast Asia, and also creation of a global economy run successful colony was Barbados, traded across the Indian Ocean by Europeans and their colonial where there were 46,000 slaves by with areas such as Madagascar offshoots for their own profits. It the 1680s. In the 18th century there and Mauritius. Most of this trading permitted a phenomenal growth in was also a sugar boom in Jamaica. was conducted under the auspices the wealth of countries that ran the of the Dutch East India Company, trade. In Britain, for example, the Most of the native populations which had its eastern headquarters value of foreign trade rose from £10 were wiped out in the European on the island of Jakarta, known to million at the beginning of the conquests, and European workers the Dutch as Batavia, as well as a 18th century to £40 million at did not fare well in the local base in Sri Lanka. From these the end. But the human cost of the conditions, so plantation owners points they sent slaves around trade in slaves, which influenced increasingly relied on merciless the Indian Ocean, from eastern patterns of thought and behavior exploitation of slaves. Slavery was for centuries to come, remains incalculable today. ■

180 IN CONTEXT OCTTAHNOLEERKRNDEEOORFIESSWSNHNHOAOERTREES FOCUS The Dutch Golden Age THE OPENING OF THE AMSTERDAM STOCK EXCHANGE (1602) BEFORE 1585 The founding of the Dutch Republic; Protestants in the south move northward. 1595 Cornelis de Houtman leads an expedition to Asia, starting the Dutch spice trade. AFTER 1609 The Bank of Amsterdam is founded. 1610–1630 Land is reclaimed; the Dutch Republic increases in area by one-third and agricultural output increases. 1637 A single tulip bulb sells for up to 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman. 1650 Half the Republic’s population lives in urban areas; the Netherlands is the most urbanized region in Europe. T he Amsterdam Stock Exchange—the world’s first permanent market for stocks and shares—opened in 1602 under the auspices of the Dutch East India Company (known in the Netherlands as VOC). The company was a vast enterprise—in effect, the first international corporation—and it was created to facilitate trading expeditions to Asia. Unusually, the Dutch government had granted the company the power not only to trade, but also to build fortifications, establish settlements, raise armies, and enter into treaties with foreign rulers. Since the organization had a huge network of ships, ports, and personnel, it required considerable funding and many investors. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange was

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 181 See also: Christopher Columbus reaches America 142–47 ■ The Treaty of Tordesillas 148–51 ■ The Defenestration of Prague 164–69 ■ Stephenson’s Rocket enters service 220–25 ■ The construction of the Suez Canal 230–35 The Dutch East India Company ran its own shipyards, the largest being in Amsterdam, shown here. Very powerful in the 17th century, the company went bankrupt and was dissolved in 1800. originally set up to enable investors cities of Haarlem, Leiden, and worldly work was a duty and a route to trade their shares in the Dutch Amsterdam, boosting the Dutch to salvation—so productivity was East India Company, but it then Republic’s economy further. high. There was also a growing developed to become a vibrant population (especially of the urban market in financial assets and one As the 17th century progressed, middle classes) and an expanding of the drivers of a growing capitalist the Republic really began to prosper. major city—Amsterdam—which economy in the Dutch Republic. Various factors came together to proved an ideal center for trade. make this small region successful. All of these contributing factors An expanding economy Most importantly, the nation had a resulted in the Dutch economy In the 17th century, the Netherlands strong tradition of seafaring, giving moving increasingly toward was growing economically despite it a huge advantage over many other shipping, trading, and finance. being involved in a long war with countries. In addition, its citizens Spain. The northern part of the had a strong work ethic—largely Exploration and trade region (the Dutch Republic, which due to the Protestant belief that As a coastal nation, the Dutch was Protestant) had split from the Republic produced notable sailors southern half (Flanders, which was Agricultural revolution and explorers, so long-distance Catholic) in the late 16th century. trading was a natural consequence The Republic consisted of seven The expanding population of of the country’s maritime history. separate northern provinces, each the Dutch Republic in the 17th In addition, advancements in ship- with a great deal of independence century encouraged farmers building technology in the Republic but under the umbrella of a federal to make agriculture much more enabled the Dutch merchant fleet to government called the States- productive. In large part, this expand rapidly; by 1670, the Dutch General. Protestant merchants who was achieved through continued had more merchant ships than the had lived in Catholic cities, such land reclamation—a process that rest of Europe put together. ❯❯ as Antwerp, moved north to escape was already well underway by persecution, taking with them the late Middle Ages. The Dutch turnips, and clover, which they their capital and trading links. also changed the way they used could use as animal feed), in Also, many Flemish artisans who their land. Instead of growing order to improve the soil ready were skilled in textile production grain one year and letting the for the next corn crop. Growing (primarily weaving wool, silk, and land lie fallow the next, farmers more fodder meant that farmers linen) emigrated to the northern began planting certain nitrogen- could keep larger herds, thereby producing crops (such as peas, increasing production of meat and milk as well as manure, which could be used as fertilizer. This greater productivity helped to sustain a growing population, although some wheat still had to be imported to make up the shortfall. It also freed up larger segments of the population to work in trade or finance rather than agriculture.

182 THE OPENING OF THE AMSTERDAM STOCK EXCHANGE The expanding merchant class saw the Dutch had the ability to trade If one were to lead a large potential profits in the spice long-term, producing a massive stranger through the streets trade with Asia and, as in other boost to their economy. maritime cultures such as Spain of Amsterdam and ask and Portugal, navigators sought new A need for investment him where he was, sea routes to the east. The Dutch While the wealth generated by he would answer traveled all over the globe and set exploration and trade was injected “among speculators.” up colonies, including one in North back into the Dutch economy, at America: New Amsterdam, which the same time investment was Joseph Peso de la Vega they officially settled in 1624 and required to cover the considerable was renamed New York when the costs of overseas expeditions. A Confusion of Confusions (1688) British took over. In 1596, the Dutch trading voyage to Asia in the 17th explorer Willem Barentsz tried to century was a very risky venture— enterprise were allocated at the find a northern passage to Asia and the potential profits were high, but new Stock Exchange in Amsterdam. in the process discovered Svalbard storms at sea, pirates, warfare, or It was established at the outset that (Spitsbergen), which later became an accident could lead to the loss the owners could buy and sell these a destination for Dutch whalers. of a ship, crew, or cargo and wipe shares, and very quickly other out all the profits. It therefore made companies were listing their own Most importantly for their sense for many people to invest in shares on the Stock Exchange in prosperity, from 1595 the Dutch each voyage and spread the risk, order to raise money. The ease of began to make regular journeys rather than one entity shouldering buying and selling shares meant to Southeast Asia to trade in spices, all the costs and responsibilities. that the Stock Exchange became particularly pepper, nutmeg, cloves, Private trading companies were set very busy indeed, fueling the and cinnamon. They established up, each investing a small amount growth of capitalism in this part colonies in the region and founded in a larger whole, and all being of Europe; increased investment the city of Batavia, later renamed well they would then receive a resulted in more industry, which Jakarta. With this permanent base, commensurate share of the profits. then led to further investment and the generation of greater wealth. Batavia was the headquarters of Birth of the Exchange the Dutch East India Company in Asia. In 1602, these trading companies The port city was founded by the Dutch merged to form the Dutch East in 1619, after razing the existing city India Company, and shares in the of Jayakarta to the ground. A history of trading The Amsterdam Stock Exchange did not develop in a vacuum. Buying and selling securities— tradable financial assets such as shares—already had a long history in Europe. By the 14th century, possibly earlier, merchants in rich Italian trading cities, such as Venice and Genoa, had traded in securities. However, the prevailing conditions in the Netherlands in the 17th century meant that the market was especially buoyant. Since the 16th century, there had

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 183 been a strong financial market in Dutch explorers discover new sea routes Amsterdam, where there was a and the Dutch merchant fleet expands. tradition of trading in commodities Trading voyages to the spice-producing countries and speculation in everything from of Asia yield high profits but pose a high risk. whale oil to tulips. The idea of buying and selling shares therefore The Dutch East India Company is set up to share appealed in this entrepreneurial the financial risk of voyages between multiple investors. society, especially as there was a good prospect of healthy profits The Amsterdam Stock Exchange is from the Asian trade. In addition, formed to allow shares in the East India the unique way in which the exchange traded—opening for Company to be traded. limited hours only—encouraged rapid buying and selling and Rapid buying and selling creates a fluid financial market, produced a very fluid market. encouraging speculators to take more risk. Boosts to the economy A flourishing culture lifes, although great artists like The opening of the Amsterdam The very buoyant financial activity Rembrandt excelled in all genres Stock Exchange was followed in prevalent in Amsterdam in the 17th and art forms, including painting, 1609 by the foundation of the Bank century encouraged the expanding drawing, and printmaking. of Amsterdam—the forerunner of middle classes to buy consumer modern national banks. The bank goods, including fine furniture and The increasing wealth also led provided a secure place to keep oil paintings, further fueling the to the expansion of towns, with money and bullion, and it assured economy of this already successful new town halls, warehouses, and that local currency kept its value. region. A particularly strong art merchants’ homes springing up. It thus helped to make the Dutch market developed, allowing major Numerous brick houses, owned by Republic more financially secure, painters—such as Vermeer and the middle classes, survive in cities underpinning the vigorous and Rembrandt, as well as numerous such as Amsterdam and Delft, often risky trading activity that lesser followers—to flourish. Many many of them set on the banks of went on in this burgeoning market. artists were specialists, satisfying the canals that were built during a growing demand for portraits, this period—a time of economic In 1623, the market had a further landscapes, seascapes, and still boom that combined elegance and boost when the Dutch East India artistic flair with success in trade. ■ Company negotiated a new charter, paying investors a regular dividend and permitting those who wanted to leave the company to sell their shares on the Stock Exchange. This action further increased trade on the Stock Market, which was also pioneering other lucrative activities such as futures trading. The insurance business was also thriving in Amsterdam during this time—particularly marine insurance, which had been created in the 16th century to protect ship owners and investors against the risks of long-distance voyages. When the Stock Exchange opened, a special area was set aside for the buying and selling of insurance.

184 OTAIFFGTYHEOTRUEVRNICHTTHEOLEMRCYEOTRDS THE BATTLE OF SEKIGAHARA (1600) IN CONTEXT Unrest is Powerful Ieyasu widespread warlords emerges as FOCUS throughout establish a a formidable The Edo Period feudal military Japan. society. BEFORE leader. 1467 The Warring States Period begins, with the Ieyasu emerges triumphant, defeating his rival emperor losing power to Ishida Mitsunari at the Battle of Sekigahara. conflicting factions led by daimyos and shoguns. Ieyasu becomes shogun and political power is unified under the Tokugawa shogunate. 1585 Toyotomi Hideyoshi is given the title of Imperial O n October 21, 1600 there Ieyasu brought stability and peace Regent by the emperor. was a momentous battle in to Japan and transferred the nation’s Sekigahara, central Japan, capital to Edo (now Tokyo), creating AFTER between two warring factions—the a new focus for Japanese culture as 1603 Tokugawa Ieyasu is Eastern and Western armies—who well as a central power base. appointed shogun. were both fighting for control of the country. The Eastern Army, under Factional struggles 1610–1614 Missionaries are the leadership of the lord Tokugawa Since 1192, the Emperor of Japan expelled from Japan and Ieyasu, won a decisive victory. Three had been little more than a figure- Christian activity is banned. years later, the Emperor of Japan head. He delegated power to the awarded Ieyasu the title of shogun, shogun: a hereditary, high-ranking 1616 Tokugawa Ieyasu dies. granting him the power to rule the military commander who ruled country on the emperor’s behalf. with absolute authority. However, 1854 After years of being closed to the West, Japan opens its ports to American shipping and trade. 1868 The Tokugawa shogunate finally ends with the restoration of imperial power under Emperor Meiji.

EARLY MODERN ERA 185 See also: Minamoto Yoritomo becomes Shogun 98–99 ■ The opening of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange 180–83 ■ The Meiji Restoration 252–53 ■ The Second Opium War 254–55 Tokugawa Ieyasu The samurai leader Tokugawa enabled Hideyoshi to bring a Ieyasu (1542–1616) was the son brief period of unity to Japan. of a minor Japanese warlord from When Hideyoshi died, Ieyasu Mikawa in central Japan. As a rose to the fore. As shogun, young man, he received a military he was able to impose stability training before becoming an ally on his country, but he formally of more powerful warlords, such abdicated after only two years as Oda Nobunaga (1534–82)—one in favor of his son, Hidetada, of the most brutal leaders of the to secure a smooth succession turbulent Warring States Period and establish a pattern of in Japan—and his successor, shoguns passing on their office, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536–98). helping to ensure that the Working with Nobunaga and Tokugawa shogunate was long Hideyoshi, Ieyasu not only built lasting. Although Hidetada had up large personal landholdings, officially become shogun, Ieyasu but he also learned the key values remained the effective ruler of of loyalty and military power that Japan until his death. by the 1460s the local feudal lords Tokugawa shoguns decided to The “floating world” (daimyos) were so powerful that govern in the same way, with the The capital Edo became the center few shoguns had control over them, daimyos keeping order in their local of a thriving urban culture during as they and their armies of samurai areas. As an extra precaution, Ieyasu the Tokugawa shogunate. Japanese warriors fought to win the right to made the daimyos spend alternate literary forms, such as the haiku appoint the shogun’s successor. By years in Edo to ensure they would (a short poem consisting of three the time of the Battle of Sekigahara, not build up local power bases; he lines and 17 syllables) flourished, Japan had endured bitter factional also suppressed rivals ruthlessly. as did the distinctive theatrical struggles between its ruling classes forms of kabuki (which combines for over a century. The shoguns encouraged an theater and dance) and the bunraku ethic of loyalty and developed an puppetry theater. It was also a time Ieyasu’s victory at the battle elite bureaucracy. They improved of major achievements in the visual put an end to this Warring States Japan’s road network, promoted arts, particularly landscape painting Period. His steady rule, followed by education, and standardized the and woodblock printing. that of the Tokugawa shoguns who currency. The shogunate also tried succeeded him, ushered in a 250- to reduce foreign influence in Japan The capital’s elite became year period of stability. by expelling foreigners and limiting increasingly hedonistic, with their contact with the outside world. lifestyle frequently described as the The Tokugawa shoguns Exceptions were made for strictly “floating world” (ukiyo). Originally, In many respects, the Tokugawa controlled trade with the Chinese, Buddhists had used the term ukiyo shoguns modeled themselves on Koreans, and the Dutch East India to mean “sorrowful world,” reflecting earlier rulers—particularly Toyotomi Company; all other Europeans were their opinion that life on earth was Hideyoshi. Although he was not distrusted, as the shoguns believed transitory and expressing a desire sufficiently high-born to become a that they had plans to convert the to reach a more permanent place, shogun, Hideyoshi (who ruled under Japanese to Christianity and gain free from suffering and all earthly the lesser title of imperial regent) political power. Furthermore, the desires. However, in the Edo Period had brought unity to Japan in the Japanese people were forbidden to the homonym ukiyo (“floating”) was 1580s by imposing a military, feudal travel and build ocean-going ships. used to describe the joyful aspect style of rule whereby he wielded This policy of isolation virtually cut of the ephemeral material world, great power through the daimyos off Japan from Western influence reflecting the pleasure-seeking and their samurai warriors. The until the mid-19th century. mood of the day. ■

186 UBTSOARECBBOAANRRTIBRAANORSLIANS THE REVOLT OF THE THREE FEUDATORIES (1673–1681) IN CONTEXT Qianlong employed the Italian Jesuit extended their power across Giuseppe Castiglione as court painter, mainland China. However, their FOCUS and his imperial portraits fused dynasty was still not secure—in China’s Three Emperors elements of Chinese scroll painting 1673, Kangxi, the second emperor, with Western realism and perspective. was forced to confront a major BEFORE uprising, which became known as 1636 The Manchu establish I n 1644, the Manchu—a semi- the Revolt of the Three Feudatories. the Qing dynasty in their nomadic people who had built homeland of Manchuria. a large state to the northeast of The Three Feudatories were China’s Great Wall—seized Beijing vast areas of south China that had 1644 The Qing dynasty from the crumbling Ming regime been granted as semi-independent conquers northern China. and established their own dynasty, fiefdoms to three turncoat Ming the Qing, as the rulers of northern generals who had assisted the AFTER China. Seventeen years later, after Qing in their conquest of China. 1683 The Qing destroy all fierce fighting on an epic scale, the Over time, the fiefdoms became Ming resistance and establish Qing had overcome the determined increasingly autonomous, but when their rule across China. resistance of Ming loyalists, and Kangxi declared that they would not be hereditary, the generals 1689 Emperor Kangxi’s peace rebelled. The ensuing struggle was settlement with Russia, the hugely costly in terms of loss of life Treaty of Nerchinsk, checks and economic disruption, and for a Russia’s eastward expansion. while, it seemed that one general, Wu Sangui, would topple the Qing. 1750 The Summer Palace— However, he was finally defeated a masterpiece of Chinese by Kangxi’s supporters, and in landscape design—is built. 1683, the Qing eliminated the last stronghold of Ming support on 1751 Tibet becomes a Taiwan, which they then occupied. Chinese protectorate. With the Qing now undisputed 1755–60 Emperor Qianlong rulers of China, Kangxi embarked removes Turk and Mongol on military campaigns that added threats to northeastern China. parts of Siberia and Mongolia to the Chinese empire, and extended 1792 Invasion of Nepal by its control over Tibet. Under his the Qing. exceptional leadership, and that

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 187 See also: Marco Polo reaches Shangdu 104–05 ■ Hongwu founds the Ming dynasty 120–27 ■ The Second Opium War 254–55 ■ The Long March 304–05 The Revolt of The first three In the stability Qing society the Three Qing emperors that follows, The era of the Three Emperors China triples was conservative in many ways: Feudatories legitimize in size and Han Chinese men were required fails, marking their foreign the economy to wear the Manchu hairstyle, in which the front and sides of the end of rule by expands the head were shaved, and the resistance to adopting rapidly. remaining hair plaited into a braid; Manchu power. Chinese ways. society was rigidly hierarchical, and there were strict conventions In the 18th century, China becomes the biggest regarding the conduct of women, manufacturing power in the world. laws against homosexuality, and censorship. Yet the country’s By the end of the 19th century, the Qing are a power in name only, economy grew substantially in as the pressures of European imperial expansion and the early part of the Qing period, growing internal dissent fatally weaken the regime. thanks to a strong demand in the West for luxury products such as of his two immediate successors, under whom the empire’s borders silk, porcelain, and tea. China enjoyed a golden age of reached their greatest extent and peace, economic prosperity, and the population boomed. Qianlong However, by the beginning political stability that lasted until was an avid patron of the arts who of the 19th century, the regime’s the late 18th century. wrote poetry and sponsored literary repressive treatment of the Han projects that enhanced his people’s Chinese people, together with A global superpower reputation—although at the same famine and widespread addiction During his 61-year reign, Kangxi time, he banned or destroyed books to opium—which had been brought won the cooperation and loyalty of that were judged to be anti-Qing. into China by European traders— his native Han Chinese subjects— had sent the country into decline. who had once viewed the Manchu The Jesuits in China These factors sowed the seeds of as barbarians—by preserving and rebellions, trading disputes, and honoring China’s cultural heritage. In 1540, Ignatius of Loyola, a wars with European trading He also continued the preceeding Catholic theologian from Spain, partners in the mid-19th century. ■ dynasty’s form of government, and founded the Society of Jesus— allowed Ming officials to retain the Jesuits—with the aim of pumps). He appointed Jesuits to their provincial posts alongside spreading the faith through the the imperial board of astronomy, Manchu appointees, although the teachings of Jesus. The Catholic and it was a Jesuit who made latter supervised most of the work. Church sent Jesuit missionaries the first accurate map of Beijing. to China during the Ming and Qing China became immensely early Qing periods, and initially Kangxi gave Catholics powerful during the reigns of the they were welcomed. Kangxi freedom of worship in China, next two emperors—Yongzheng was curious about the Jesuits’ and the Jesuits allowed Chinese (1722–35), who also kept a tight knowledge of science (especially converts to continue their rites control on government and the mathematics and astronomy) of ancestor worship (they saw bureaucracy and increased state and technology (particularly the these as commemorations of revenues by reforming the tax manufacture of weapons and the dead rather than true acts system, and Qianlong (1735–96), of veneration). However, when a visiting Vatican envoy ruled against the ancestral rites, and the pope followed suit, Kangxi expelled Jesuit missionaries who opposed the practice.

188 IPSCHHUOIALLFVTOAIERVSIAONATPSETHDHIYTIMSRATETRGHEAEARMTDAISSTEICS NEWTON PUBLISHES PRINCIPIA (1687) IN CONTEXT E nglish scientist Isaac [Newton] spread the light Newton published the first of mathematics on a science FOCUS edition of his Mathematical Scientific revolution Principles of Natural Philosophy, which... had remained in or Principia, in 1687. The book the darkness of conjectures BEFORE examines the way objects behave 1543 Copernicus publishes in motion, describes gravity, and and hypotheses. his heliocentric version of explains the movements of planets Alexis Clairaut the universe. and satellites. Although it built on the work of earlier scientists French mathematician and 1609 German Johannes such as Galileo, Huygens, and astronomer (1747) Kepler describes the planets’ Kepler, the work was revolutionary. elliptical orbits and speeds. By illustrating how the same force—gravity—is responsible for 1620 Francis Bacon publishes movements both on Earth and in the Novum Organum. the heavens, it united two scientific realms that had previously been 1638 Italian Galileo Galilei’s thought separate. Discourses lay the foundation of the science of mechanics. A lasting influence the importance of human reason, Newton’s use of mathematics-based such philosophers broke free from 1660 The Royal Society is theory to explain phenomena was the notion that explanations of founded in England. part of a wider scientific revolution. the physical world depended on English essayist Francis Bacon Christian faith and church doctrine. AFTER insisted that scientists test their This paved the way for the 1690 Dutchman Christiaan observations using reasoned intellectual movement called the Huygens publishes his theory argument, and French philosopher Enlightenment, and even for the of the wave motion of light, René Descartes championed the use work of later scientists such as Traité de la lumière. of mathematics and logic to address Albert Einstein, who modified scientific questions. By emphasizing and refined Newton’s theories. ■ 1905 Albert Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity See also: The founding of Baghdad 86–93 ■ Brunelleschi designs the dome of shows that Newton’s Florence Cathedral 152–55 ■ Diderot publishes the Encyclopédie 192–95 ■ Laws of Motion are only Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species 236–37 approximately correct.

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 189 IMATSAPNFOATSROSAIGBSOLIETFHOIRNK THE VOYAGES OF CAPTAIN COOK (1768–1779) IN CONTEXT I n 1768, British navigator James We were regaled with Cook sailed to Tahiti to make the pleasing sight of the FOCUS scientific observations of the Mountains of New Zealand— Pacific and Australasian Transit of Venus across the Sun, a after an absence from Land exploration rare event that could be seen only of 17 weeks and 3 days... from the southern hemisphere. how changed the scene! BEFORE Having recorded the event, Cook Richard Pickersgill, 1642–1644 Dutchman Abel sailed on in search of the rumored Tasman becomes the first “unknown land of the South.” He Third lieutenant on the Resolution European to reach New mapped the New Zealand coast, (1773) Zealand and Tasmania. and then traveled northwest, discovering the eastern coast of 1768–1771 James Cook makes Australia in the process. Claiming his first voyage to Australia the land for Britain, he named it and New Zealand. New South Wales. Working closely with botanists Joseph Banks and 1772–1775 Cook sails close Daniel Solander, he also produced to Antarctica, and around the unique records of the indigenous southern Pacific. peoples, flora, and fauna. 1776–1779 Cook’s third An enduring link of British convicts into exile, and voyage takes him to Hawaii, Cook’s voyages were part of a wider the founding of cities such as where he is killed in a fight tradition of European exploration Sydney and Melbourne. with local people. of the Pacific by navigators such as Dutchman Abel Tasman, after In his later voyages, Cook used AFTER whom Tasmania is named. Cook the chronometer, newly developed 1788 The first convicts forged the enduring connection by Englishman John Harrison. It from Britain arrive at the Port between Australasia and Europe, facilitated accurate timekeeping at Jackson (Sydney Harbour) beginning a process that continued sea, and so the calculation of precise penal colony. with colonization, the transportation longitude, which was invaluable to Cook in charting his discoveries. ■ 1802 British navigator Matthew Flinders See also: Marco Polo reaches Shangdu 104–05 ■ Christopher Columbus circumnavigates Australia. reaches America 142–47 ■ The Treaty of Tordesillas 148–51 ■ The voyage of the Mayflower 172–73

190 ISATAMTTEHE LOUIS XIV BEGINS PERSONAL RULE OF FRANCE (1661) IN CONTEXT O n the death of his chief the country Europe’s leading power, minister Cardinal Mazzarin, increased the efficiency of the FOCUS the 23-year-old Louis XIV revenue system. Absolutist France of France declared that he would now rule alone, as an absolute Expanding France BEFORE monarch. During his 72-year reign Louis’s tax income paid for his court 1624–1642 Cardinal Richelieu, (1643–1715), Louis dominated his at the dazzling Palace of Versailles, Louis XIII’s chief minister, subjects, cultivating the image of an old hunting lodge extended into reforms and strengthens a “Sun King” around whom the a royal palace, and the venue for central administration. country orbited. Louis saw his extravagant entertainments. From power as God-given, and himself 1682 it became the permanent 1643–1661 Louis’s mother, as the embodiment of the state, base of the royal court, and the seat ruling on his behalf, helps with the nobility, the middle of government. Louis also waged to consolidate royal power. classes, and peasants dependent a series of costly dynastic wars to on him for justice and protection. make some territorial gains along 1648–1653 Nobles revolt France’s frontiers, leading the other against royal authority in To maintain this position, European nations to form a conflict called the Fronde. Louis controlled the historically coalitions against him. unruly aristocracy. He compelled AFTER them to attend his court, where he Peace was finally achieved at the 1685 Louis XIV revokes the dispensed privileges and positions Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, but brought Edict of Nantes, which had via a system of etiquette. He filled few gains for France. The country granted Huguenots the right the treasury’s depleted coffers by was plunged into debt and opinion to practice their religion. appointing members of the upper- turned against the Crown. In spite middle classes to collect taxes of this, Louis established a pattern 1701–1714 The War of the in the provinces. Taxation was of absolutism in France that lasted, Spanish Succession severely extensive and the burden fell in a more enlightened form, for most strains French resources. mainly on the peasantry. Louis’s of the 18th century until attempts to finance minister, Jean-Baptiste reform the system resulted in the 1789 The French Revolution Colbert, whose overhaul of France’s overthrow of the monarchy in 1792 removes King Louis XVI and trade and industry helped to make during the French Revolution. ■ ends absolutist royal power in France. See also: The execution of Charles I 174–75 ■ Diderot publishes the Encyclopédie 192–95 ■ The storming of the Bastille 208–13 ■ The Battle of Waterloo 214–15

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 191 OGRDFROESENTPA’HTTEECFGROTUIARGNBGHSLET,ETTSAHYOROEFGUMUKROMINSEGTNSTS THE BATTLE OF QUEBEC (1759) IN CONTEXT O n September 13, 1759, Without supplies 24 British men scaled no army is brave. FOCUS the cliffs below Quebec, Frederick the Great, 1747 Seven Years’ War opening the way for British forces commanded by General James North America where there were BEFORE Wolfe to capture the city. The crucial major successes in Canada. Britain 1754 Fighting between France battle ended French dominance in forced France to cede all of their and Britain in North America, Canada and was a key event in the territory east of the Mississippi the so-called French and Seven Years’ War (1756–1763). River, effectively ending the threat Indian War, begins. France posed to Britain’s North The war involved most of American colonies. 1756 Frederick II of Prussia the chief European nations in a begins the Seven Years struggle for territory and power. It There were similar victories in War by invading Saxony centered on two main clashes: one India. The British general Robert to prevent Russia from maritime and colonial, involving Clive, wrongfooted the French by creating a base there. land battles in North America and defeating the Nawab of Bengal at India between Britain and Bourbon Plassey in 1757 and acquiring his 1757 Prussia inflicts a France; the other a European land territory for Britain, paving the way significant defeat on superior war that chiefly pitted France, for the British domination of India. French and Austrian forces Austria, and Russia against The end of the Seven Years’ War left at Rossbach. Prussia. Overseas colonies also Britain the leading colonial power. ■ became involved, making this the 1759 Russia wipes out first true global conflict. two-thirds of the Prussian army at Kunersdorf. Competing powers Britain achieved notable victories AFTER over France. A French invasion 1760 French forces at Montreal attempt on Britain was thwarted by surrender to the British. Britain’s superior navy, and Britain scored colonial victories over France 1763 The Seven Years’ War in West Africa, the Caribbean, and comes to an end with the treaties of Paris See also: Christopher Columbus reaches America 142–47 ■ The Defenestration and Hubertusburg. of Prague 164–69 ■ The voyage of the Mayflower 172–73 ■ The Battle of Waterloo 214–15 ■ The Battle of Passchendaele 270–75

192 IN CONTEXT STTAHHSCEESATEKETMANEBRORLTWEEHDLAEOLDNLGE FOCUS The Enlightenment DIDEROT PUBLISHES THE ENCYCLOPÉDIE (1751) BEFORE 1517 The Reformation begins, challenging the authority of the Catholic Church. 1610 Galileo Galilei publishes Sidereus Nuncius (Starry Messenger), containing his observations of the heavens. 1687 In Principia, Newton outlines a concept of the universe based on natural, rationally understandable laws. AFTER 1767 American thinker and diplomat Benjamin Franklin visits Paris, and transmits Enlightenment ideas to the US. 1791 English writer Mary Wollstonecraft adds feminism to Enlightenment ideas in the pioneering A Vindication of the Rights of Women. I n the mid 18th century, the French philosopher Denis Diderot invited some of his country’s leading intellectuals— literary men, scientists, scholars, and philosophers to write articles for a huge “Classified Dictionary of Sciences, Arts, and Trades,” for which he was both editor-in-chief and contributor. The first volumes of his Encyclopédie appeared in 1751, and the full work was completed 21 years later, made up of 17 volumes of text and another 11 volumes of illustrations. The Encyclopédie was not the first large encyclopaedia to be published, but it was the first to feature content by named authors,

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 193 See also: Newton publishes Principia 188 ■ The signing of the Declaration of Independence 204–07 ■ The storming of the Bastille 208–13 ■ Stephenson’s Rocket enters service 220–25 ■ The Slave Trade Abolition Act 226–27 Scientists begin Growing belief Questioning centuries: the Encyclopédie, and to make that knowledge, of traditional the Enlightenment itself, denied social, religious, it this key position. systematic freedom, and investigations happiness are and political In spite of repeated efforts by achieved through ideas. the authorities to censor some into natural of its articles, and to intimidate phenomena. the use and threaten its editors, the of reason. Encyclopédie became the most influential and widely consulted The Enlightenment movement begins, spearheaded work of the period. The ideas that it by the publication of the Encyclopédie. transmitted inspired the revolutions that exploded in France and the and to give close attention to numbered around 72,000, distilled US at the end of the 18th century. the trades and crafts. Its most the ideas and theories of France’s striking feature, however, was its key Enlightenment thinkers— Science and reason critical approach to contemporary including the writers and The Enlightenment movement ideas and institutions: its authors philosophers Voltaire, Jean-Jacques was characterized by a focus on were champions of scientific Rousseau, and Montesquieu. the power of human reason and thought and secular values. They skepticism of accepted knowledge. sought to apply reason and logic The articles were extremely This marked a break from earlier to explain the phenomena of the wide-ranging, but centered on generations in which beliefs about natural world, and humankind’s three main areas: the need to base the world derived from religious existence, rather than religious society not on faith and the teachings and the doctrines of the or political dogma. As such, the doctrines of the Catholic Church Church. These governed everything work challenged both the Catholic but on rational thought; the from the laws of marriage to the Church and the French monarchy, importance of observations and way people understood the which derived their authority from experiments in science; and the movement of the planets and the traditional ideas such as a divinely search for a way of organizing creation of the universe. For ordained, unchanging order. states and governments around Enlightenment thinkers, however, natural law and justice. the evidence of a person’s senses A revolution in thought and the use of one’s reason was far The mission of the Encyclopédie Diderot organized the more important than their blind ❯❯ was to catalog the collective Encyclopédie’s articles into three knowledge of the Western world main categories: memory (subjects Dare to know! Have courage in the spirit of the Enlightenment. connected to history); reason to use your own reason! This was a multifaceted intellectual (philosophy); and imagination Immanuel Kant movement that took root around (poetry). Controversially, there was 1715, although its origins lay in work no special category for God or the “What is Enlightenment?” (1784) done by the pioneers of modern divine—religion, like magic and scientific and philosophical thought superstition, was treated as part in the previous century. The work’s of philosophy. This approach was multidisciplinary articles, which groundbreaking, and contentious. Religion had been at the very heart of life and thought in Europe for

194 DIDEROT PUBLISHES THE ENCYCLOPÉDIE Voltaire In all the ages of the James Watt made improvements to world, priests have been the steam engine that increased its François-Marie Arouet, who the enemies of liberty. efficiency, thereby enabling the chose to be known publicly improvement of factories. The by the name Voltaire, was David Hume Encyclopédie helped to publicize one of the greatest writers these, and other, achievements of and social activists of the adherence to a faith. They argued 18th-century scientists, as well as Enlightenment, renowned that “truths” about the tangible those of their precursors. for his wit and intelligence. world, which had been set down in He was born in Paris in 1694, antiquity by Aristotle and others, The work also found an and spent much of his long life and upheld by the Church, should audience in the learned societies, there, although he traveled be tested through experimentation academies, and universities that widely and spoke several and observation, checked, and then flourished in the Enlightenment languages. He was a hugely discussed in a rational way. period. Although many teachers prolific writer, producing and scholars at Europe’s older, works in almost every literary This radical mode of thinking Church-dominated universities genre: novels, plays, poems, had its origins in the scientific remained deaf to the new scientific essays, historical studies, and revolution of the 17th century. way of thought, more progressive philosophical books as well as Scientists and philosophers ones helped to teach and promote it. countless pamphlets. including Francis Bacon, Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton, and Galileo Equality and freedom Voltaire was an outspoken Galilei had transformed the study The scientific revolution and the supporter of social reform, of nature and the physical universe, Enlightenment also encouraged the including the defense of civil making it more observational. They belief that reason could reveal liberties and freedom of conducted careful experiments natural laws in human affairs. religion and speech; he also and subjected their results to Instead of drawing fact from faith, denounced the hypocrisy of mathematical analysis; in the Enlightenment thinkers believed the political and religious process they drastically updated that politics should be separated establishment. This led to the and expanded the fields of physics, from religion, that neither should censorship of some of his chemistry, biology, and astronomy. curtail the rights of the individual, work, and also to short spells and that people should be free to of imprisonment and periods Enlightenment scientists took express their opinions, worship in of exile in England—after this investigation of reality further, their own way, and read what they which he converted his making possible, for example, want to. This political doctrine, experiences into an influential Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus’s which is often labeled liberalism, book, Philosophical Letters on development of a proper, rational had roots in the work of 17th-century the English—and Geneva, biological classification in the early philosophers such as Englishman Switzerland, where he wrote 18th century. The inquiring, his most famous work, the reason-based approach of the Scepticism is the first philosophical novella Candide. Enlightenment also triggered step towards truth. dramatic technological advances. Denis Diderot In the 1760s, the Scottish physician Joseph Black discovered carbon Philosophical Thoughts (1746) dioxide, while in 1769, Scotsman

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 195 To renounce he said, must balance rights with themselves Enlightened Despots. liberty is to renounce duties, and should be able to decide Enlightenment thought also the laws that govern their lives. The provided the intellectual fuel for being a man. contributors to the Encyclopédie the French Revolution of 1787–99— Jean-Jacques Rousseau also promoted liberal values in begun by citizens inspired by economics. They were critical of Enlightenment notions of individual The Social Contract (1762) fairs—where goods were sold by freedom and equality—and the visiting dealers at the expense of campaign to abolish the Atlantic John Locke—the father of liberalism. local traders, who often had to close slave trade in the 19th century. Locke asserted that there are their businesses for the duration— certain intrinsic human rights that and favored markets, which allowed Liberalism and other aspects of are not dependent on law or local traders to meet the needs of Enlightenment political philosophy custom—in other words, they exist the local population. began to influence leaders in many quite separately from what the parts of the world when they came Church or monarch might decree. Ideas such as these spread to draw up legal systems and to These rights could be expressed in across Europe. Conversations and establish rights for their citizens— different ways, but included the debates on philosophical, political, most notably in the fledgling right to life, the right to liberty, and scientific subjects took place in United States, whose Constitution and the freedom to own what one the coffee-houses that had sprung (1789) adopted Montesquieu’s idea has produced. These ideas were up in English, French, German, of the separation of power into central to Enlightenment thinkers, and Dutch cities a century earlier. branches of government. following Locke, who felt that such These coffee-houses now served as natural rights should form the basis information-sharing hubs where More generally, the movement of any system of government. men from all walks of life, including promoted the pursuit of knowledge writers, politicians, philosophers, for its own sake and recognized Liberal ideas also found and scientists, could congregate that one person’s quest for expression in the work of to exchange views. understanding could benefit the Enlightenment writers. For entire human race. ■ example, Voltaire, in books such as the Philosophical Dictionary, Into the light In 1783, France’s Montgolfier brothers highlighted the injustices and In Europe, the Enlightenment gave the first demonstration of their abuses of the Catholic Church, and movement, and the Encyclopédie new invention, the hot-air balloon, espoused values such as tolerance, itself, which helped promote its bringing science to the forefront of freedom of the press, and the ideals, had a profound impact on public attention in a spectacular way. promotion of reason over doctrine social, political, and intellectual and religious revelation. In his life. Its proponents believed that Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu they were sweeping away an advocated the separation of oppressive medieval worldview governmental powers (legislature, and ushering in a new era that they executive, judiciary) and pressed hoped would be characterized by for an end to slavery. In The Social freedom of thought, open- Contract, Jean-Jacques Rousseau mindedness, and tolerance. rejected the power of the monarch in favor of that of the people, who, The Enlightenment’s questioning, rational approach, and urgent demand for liberty, paved the way for the granting of new civil rights. The movement affected the policies of monarchical rulers, such as the freeing of serfs in the Holy Roman Empire in the 1780s. Monarchs who accepted Enlightenment values took on the movement’s name, titling

196 ITABHSUEAILLWITGISHNTTD.OOPWFETETEUORRSLOBEPUTERING THE FOUNDING OF ST. PETERSBURG (1703) IN CONTEXT R ussian ruler Peter the Great St. Petersburg offered a new vision founded St. Petersburg, on for the country. Its strategic location FOCUS the estuary of the River facilitated trade, its ethos encouraged The rise of Russia Neva, on May 27, 1703. This new education, and its architecture provided city, fortress, and port by the Baltic a showcase for Russian achievement. BEFORE gave Russia direct sea access to 1584 The emperor Ivan the Europe, opening new opportunities and Swedish prisoners of war. Terrible dies. The following for both trade and military conquest. The regimen was strict, and living succession of rulers bring In 1712, Peter made his new city conditions stark: more than 100,000 greater unity to Russia. Russia’s capital, stripping the title workers died, but those who from the ancient seat of Moscow. survived could earn their freedom. 1696 Peter the Great assumes sole rule of Russia. An admirer of Western palaces, The lavish design and vast scale Peter employed European architects of Peter’s architecture showed not AFTER to design the government buildings, only his appreciation of European 1709 Russia wins a decisive palaces, university, and houses in culture, but also his determination victory over Sweden at the the fashionable baroque style. He to be an exalted, absolute ruler in Battle of Poltava. also pressed 30,000 peasants each the manner of Western despots such year into construction gangs, along as Louis XIV. Peter used his power 1718 Peter’s son Alexis, with Russian convict laborers to make significant changes in opposed to his father’s reforms, dies under torture. 1721 Russia and Sweden sign the Treaty of Nystad, pledging mutual defence. 1725 Peter the Great dies, ushering in an era of less competent emperors. 1762 Catherine the Great becomes empress and continues Peter’s work of reform and expansion.

THE EARLY MODERN ERA 197 See also: Louis XIV begins personal rule of France 190 ■ Diderot publishes the Encyclopédie 192–95 ■ The storming of the Bastille 208–13 ■ Russia emancipates the serfs 243 ■ The October Revolution 276–79 Russia. He founded the Russian Peter I visits Western Europe, absorbing ideas and influences. navy and reformed the army, which until then had relied on bands of Contemporary theories Baroque western palaces men led by untrained village elders. of rulership provide a model and cities demonstrate He reorganized the army along of enlightened despotism. European lines and developed new their rulers’ power. iron and munitions industries to equip it. By 1725, Russia had a professional army of 130,000 men. A new and modern culture Peter founds St. Petersburg as the capital Peter transformed his court, making of a Westernized Russian empire. his courtiers adopt French-style dress instead of traditional robes, the modernizing trend Peter had the 18th century due to an efficient and ordering them to cut off their begun. Influenced by the ideas of bureaucracy, a powerful army, long beards. He founded colleges, the European Enlightenment, she and strong leadership under kings forced the nobility to educate their promoted education and the arts, such as Frederick II. Between children, and promoted people to sponsored translations of foreign Prussia and Russia lay Poland, high rank according to their merit literary works, and wrote books whose territories these two powers rather than their birth, as had herself. She too increased Russia’s and Austria carved up and took previously been the case. imperial strength, gaining military over in a series of partitions. This victories over the Ottoman Empire. left Russia with influence over The emperor was also known an area stretching from Eastern for his harsh treatment of rebels, The rulers were also influenced Europe to Siberia that it still his aggressive foreign policy, and by the example of Prussia, a north- largely retains today. ■ particularly for his successful war German state that expanded in against Sweden, which gave him control of the Baltic Sea. This style of rule was continued under later monarchs, notably Catherine II, also “the Great,” who extended Peter the Great Peter (1672–1725) became ruler style of rule. The position and of Russia in 1682, at first jointly grand architecture of his new with his half-brother Ivan as city illustrated how his focus co-tsar and their mother as regent, had been directed towards and then as sole monarch. Well- Western European culture educated and constantly curious, and power. Peter travelled to the Netherlands and England to learn about Although Peter forged lasting Western life, government, and diplomatic ties with Western architecture. He also studied Europe, he failed in his attempt disciplines such as shipbuilding to form a European alliance and woodworking, and practised against the Ottomans. He was many with distinction. His rule more successful in his war was greatly influenced by these against Sweden, his reforms, travels and by Western advisers, and in establishing himself as leading him to carry out military emperor of a vast empire and reforms and adopt a dictatorial monarchy that survived until the revolution in 1917.

198 FURTHER EVENTS THE FOUNDING OF THE HENRY VIII BREAKS THE START OF THE SAFAVID DYNASTY, PERSIA WITH ROME DUTCH REVOLT (1501) (1534) (1568) The Safavid dynasty rose to power English king Henry VIII faced a In 1568, the Protestant northern under Shah Ismail I, a leader of the dynastic crisis: he needed a male provinces of the Netherlands Twelver School of Shia Islam, which heir to ensure the succession, rebelled against their Catholic ruler, believes in 12 imams as successors but he and his wife, Catherine of Philip II of Spain, and declared their to the prophet Muhammad. In a Aragon, were unable to produce independence, beginning an series of military campaigns lasting one. Henry wanted to divorce 80-year period of war before their until 1509, Shah Ismail conquered Catherine, but the Pope refused him Republic was recognized. Philip Persia (now Iran) and areas of Iraq, permission to do so. In response, had imposed his Catholic beliefs in the name of Shia Islam. His Henry cut off ties with Rome and uncompromisingly on his Dutch son, Shah Tahmasp (r. 1524–76), declared himself head of the church subjects, so many Protestants defended these lands against the in England. Although under Henry from the southern Netherlands, neighboring Ottoman empire, the English church remained largely which remained loyal to the crown, whose rulers followed the opposing Catholic in doctrine and practice, moved north. This influx helped Sunni School of Islam. The Safavid the king’s move paved the way the Republic, which soon grew dynasty established strong Shia for England’s later acceptance of into a financially and culturally rule in Persia, created an efficient Protestantism. In addition, Henry stable nation thanks to sea trade, government and bureaucracy, and dissolved the monasteries, which scientific progress, and impressive lasted until 1736. brought him a new source of land artistic achievements. and wealth, and removed a key link CHARLES V BECOMES with the Roman Catholic church. THE ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR DAY MASSACRE CARTIER EXPLORES (1519) CANADA (1572) One of the most powerful European (1534–42) In 16th-century France, violent monarchs as Hapsburg king of clashes, and, from 1562, civil Spain and ruler of Burgundy and the French navigator Jacques Cartier war, erupted between Catholics Netherlands, Charles V was elected explored the northern coast of and Protestants. One of the worst Holy Roman Emperor in 1519, Canada and Newfoundland, sailing episodes took place in 1572, when bringing much of central Europe and up the St. Lawrence River as far the Protestant claimant to the northern Italy under his rule. This as what later became Montreal. French throne, Henry of Navarre, gave him unprecedented power but Although he did not establish a was married in Paris and several also brought challenges from the colony there, Cartier sparked the thousand Protestants were empire’s neighbors—France on French interest in Canada, and massacred. After Henry became one flank and the Ottomans on his explorations were crucial when king of France, he issued the the other—and from Protestants French travelers began to found Edict of Nantes in 1598, ordering within his territories. When Charles settlements there and make claims religious tolerance. However, the abdicated, the Spanish crown on the land in the 17th century. edict was revoked in 1685 by Louis passed to his son Philip and the title Canada has had a significant XIV, who ruthlessly oppressed of emperor to his son Ferdinand. French heritage ever since. France’s Protestant population;