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Throughout the early modern period, Europe's growing involve­ment in world trade had important impacts on internal developments­on the economy, obviously, but also on government policy and even per­sonal taste. A case in point involved the implications of brightly colored cotton cloth. Cotton manufa...

Throughout the early modern period, Europe's growing involve­ment in world trade had important impacts on internal developments­on the economy, obviously, but also on government policy and even per­sonal taste. A case in point involved the implications of brightly colored cotton cloth. Cotton manufacturing had long been a specialty in India. Cheaper than silks, cotton fabrics could sport vivid dyes and designs. Indian cotton products had sold extensively in world trade during the postclassical period, reaching East Asia, the Middle East and, more tentatively, Europe. With Europe's new connections to India after 1498, availability of cottons, and con­sumer passion, both increased rapidly. The contrast with conventional linen and woolen fabrics, with characteristically dull colors, was marked. One European traveler to India wrote ecstatically of"cloths of the whiteness of snow, and very delicate and fine"with other fabrics "bespangled and painted with various figures:' Europeans were particularly taken with floral designs, and Indian manufacturers began to target part of their production specifically for the European market. Here was one of several examples where rising levels of global trade spurred new consumer tastes, allowing new levels of personal expression through clothing. By the 17th century another observer noted that"in some things the artists of India out-do all the ingenuity of Europe" as in cotton textiles, which Europeans could not match "in their brightness and life of colour:' Portuguese traders were the first to bring cottons directly to Europe, with peddlers taking them to more northern markets. By the 17th century Danish merchants and others were traveling direct to India to seek decorative textiles for homes as well as clothing. Royal officials in several countries worried about the impact of Indian imports on domestic production and domestic profits. There was also some chiding by moral conservatives about this kind of showy display. By the later 17th century many governments passed rules against wearing brightly colored clothing, while even more laws tried to protect European industry by banning Indian textile imports. By this point also, however, European manufacturers themselves were beginning to wonder if they could take advantage of consumer tastes directly. In southern France, several Armenian workmen brought in new techniques in partnership with local businessmen around 1650, and Armenians also helped set up production in Amsterdam. By 1750 a factory in Switzerland, although using manual operations, employed over 1300 workers. Only by this point were European methods adequate to match the best Indian colors and designs. By the later 18th century, dramatic new printing processes, including use of a rotary press, moved European cottons directly into the industrial revolution. By this time as well, European consumers, now seeing access to colorful cottons as a routine need, became ever more demanding of dramatic new styles each year, indulging a taste for novelty that was built into modern consumerism. What began as a deferential contact with Asia turned into an engine for European change. ■ This chapter deals with a series of big changes in western Europe between 1450 and 1750. The specific new movements were diverse, but over the three centuries' span they added up to a novel cultural framework for intellectuals but also many ordinary people, some key political innovations, and a more commercially based social structure. In considering particular developments, it is vital to keep the larger ultimate directions of change in mind: What were the main ways western Europe in 1750 differed from western Europe in 1450? It's also important to remember that the developments occurred in a context of growing interaction with other parts of the world-even in areas as prosaic as new preferences for clothing. the Early period major changes occurred Europe's economy and along withDuring significant shiftsModern in politics. Some innovations-like theinidea of a nation-state orculture, the scientific revolution-would later have global impacts.At the same time, it is important not to overdo European dynamism. There were no fundamental changes, for example, in agriculture, at least until the final decades of the period, and agriculture remained basic. Furthermore, some changes saw Europe mainly catching up to achievements that many other societies had already established; not everything was really new or different, from a global perspective. 485 The Italian writer Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374) once climbed Ventoux, a mountain in southern France. He wrote of his ascent, proud of his own skill and using the climb as a symbol of what he could achieve. There was a new spirit of individual pride expressed in this work, intended to be published, compared to the more humble and religious sentiments of the Middle Ages when individual artisans did not even put their names on the magnificent cathedrals they built. But Petrarch did not abandon religion, and in later life he talked about how he had given up poetry in favor of reading Christian texts, finding "hidden sweetness which I had once esteemed but lightly:' The move away from earlier European patterns began with the Renaissance, which first developed in Italy during the 14th and 15th centuries. Largely an artistic movement, the Renaissance challenged medieval intellectual values and styles. It also sketched a new, brasher spirit that may have encouraged a new Western interest in exploring strange waters or urging that old truths be re-examined. Italy was already well launched in the development of Renaissance culture by the 15th century, based on its unusually extensive urban, commercial economy and its competitive city-state politics. Writers such as Petrarch and Boccaccio had promoted classical literary canons against medieval logic and theology, writing in Italian as well as the traditional Latin and emphasizing secular subjects such as love and pride. Painting turned to new realism and classical and human-centered themes. Religion declined as a central focus. The Italian Renaissance blossomed further in the 15th and early 16th centuries. This was a great age of Western art, as Leonardo da Vinci advanced the realistic portrayal of the human body and Michelangelo applied classical styles in painting and sculpture. In political theory, Niccolo Machiavelli emphasized realistic discussions of how to seize and maintain power. Like the artists, Machiavelli bolstered his realism with Greek and Roman examples. Overall, Italian Renaissance culture stressed themes of humanism: a focus on humankind as the center of intellectual and artistic endeavor, as Francesco Petrarch's interests suggested. Religion was not attacked, but its principles were no longer predominant. Historians have debated the reasons for this change. Italy's more urban, commercial environment was one factor, but so was the new imitation of classical Greek and Roman literature and art. These Renaissance themes had some bearing on politics and commerce. Renaissance merchants improved their banking techniques and became more openly profit-seeking than their medieval counterparts had been. City-state leaders experimented with new political forms and functions. They justified their rule not on the basis of heredity or divine guidance but more on the basis of what they could do to advance general well-being and their city's glory. Thus, they sponsored cultural activities, as states began to use art to gain greater popular support. They also tried to improve the administra­ tion of the economy. Resistance leaders developed more professional armies, for wars among the city-states were common, and gave new attention to military tactics and training. They also rethought the practice of diplomacy, introducing the regular exchange of ambassadors for the first time in the West. Clearly, the Renaissance encouraged innovation, although it also produced some dependence on classical models. The Renaissance Moves Northward Italy began to decline as a Renaissance center by about 1500. French and Spanish monarchs invaded the peninsula, reducing political independence. At the same time, new Atlantic trade routes reduced the importance of Mediterranean ports, a huge blow to the Italian economy. As Renaissance creativity faded in its Italian birthplace, it passed northward. The Northern Renaissance-focused in France, the Low Countries, Germany, and England-began after 1450. Renaissance styles also affected Hungary and Poland in east central Europe. Classical styles in art and architecture became the rage. Knowledge of Greek and Latin literature gained ground, although many northern humanists wrote in their own languages (English, French, and so on). Northern humanists were more religious than their Italian counterparts, trying to blend secular interests with continued Christian devotion. Renaissance writers such as Shakespeare in England and Rabelais in France mixed classical themes with an earthiness-a joy in bodily functions and human passions-that maintained elements of medieval popular culture. Renaissance literature established a new set of classics for literary traditions in the major Western languages, such as the writings of Shakespeare in England and Cervantes in Spain. The Northern Renaissance produced some political change, providing another move toward greater state powers. As their revenues and operations expanded, Renaissance kings increased their pomp and ceremony. Kings such as Francis I in France became patrons of the arts, importing Italian sculptors and architects to create their classical-style palaces. By the late 16th century, many monarchs were sponsoring trading companies and colonial enterprises. Interest in military conquest was greater than in the Middle Ages. Francis I was even willing to ally with the Ottoman sultan, the key Muslim leader. His goal was to distract his main enemy, the Habsburg ruler of Austria and Spain. In fact, it was an alliance in name only, but it illustrated how power politics was beginning to abandon the feudal or religious justifications that had previously clothed it in the West. Yet the impact of the Renaissance should not be overstated, particularly outside Italy. Renaissance kings were still confined by the political powers of feudal landlords. Ordinary people were little touched by Renaissance values; the life of most peasants and artisans went on much as before. Economic life also changed little, particularly outside the Italian commercial centers. Even in the upper classes, women sometimes encountered new limits as Renaissance leaders touted men's public bravado over women's domestic roles. Changes in Technology and Family More fundamental changes were brewing in Western society by 1500, beneath the glittering surface of the Renaissance. Spurred by trading contacts with Asia, workers in the West improved the quality of pulleys and pumps in mines and learned how to forge stronger iron products. Printing was introduced in the 15th century when the German Johannes Gutenberg and other inventors introduced movable type, building on Chinese printing technology. Soon books were distributed in greater quantities in the West, which helped expand the audience for Renaissance writers and disseminated religious ideas. Literacy began to gain ground and became a fertile source of new kinds of thinking. Family structure was also changing. A European-style family pattern came into being by the 15th century in the western part of the continent. This pattern involved a late marriage age and a primary emphasis on nuclear families of parents and children rather than the extended families characteristic of most agricultural civilizations. The goal was to limit family birth rates. By the 16th century, ordinary people usually did not marry until their late 20s-a marked contrast to most agricultural societies. These changes emphasized the importance of husband-wife relations. They also closely linked the family to individual property holdings, for most people could not marry until they had access to property. The Protestant and Catholic Reformations In the 16th century, religious upheaval and a new commercial surge began to define the directions of change more fully. In 1517, a German monk named Martin Luther issued a document containing 9 5 theses, or propositions. He was publicly protesting claims made by a papal representative in selling indulgences, or grants of salvation, for money, but in fact his protest went deeper. Luther's reading of the Bible convinced him that only faith could gain salvation. Church sacraments were not the path, for God could not be manipulated. Luther's protest, which was rebuffed by the papacy, soon led him to challenge many Catholic beliefs, including the authority of the pope. Luther would soon argue that monasticism was wrong, that priests should marry (as he did), and that the Bible should be translated from Latin so ordinary people could have direct access to its teachings. Luther did not want to break Christian unity, but the church he wanted should be on his terms (or, as he would have argued, the terms of the true faith). Luther picked up wide support for his views during the mid-16th century and beyond. Many Germans, in a somewhat nationalist reaction, resented the authority and taxes of the Roman pope. German princes saw an opportunity to gain more power. Their nominal leader, the Holy Roman emperor, remained Catholic. Thus, princes who turned Protestant could increase their independence and seize church lands. The Lutheran version of Protestantism (as the general wave of religious dis­ sent was called) urged state control of the church as an alternative to papal authority, and this had obvious political appeal. There were reasons for ordinary people to shift their allegiance as well. Some German peasants saw Luther's attack on authority as a sanction for their own social rebellion against landlords, although Luther specifically renounced this reading. Some townspeople were drawn to Luther's approval of work in the world. Because faith alone gained salvation, Lutheranism could sanction moneymaking and other earthly pursuits more wholeheartedly than did traditional Catholicism. Unlike Catholicism, Lutherans did not see special vocations as particularly holy; monasteries were abolished, along with some of the Christian bias against moneymaking. Once Christian unity was breached, other Protestant groups sprang forward (see Map 22.1). In England, Henry VIII began to set up an Anglican church, initially to challenge papal attempts to enforce his fust marriage, which had failed to produce a male heir. (Henry ultimately had six wives in sequence, executing two of them, a particularly graphic example of the treatment of women in power politics.) Henry was also attracted to some of the new doctrines, and his most durable successor, his daughter Elizabeth I, was Protestant outright. Still more important were the churches inspired by Jean Calvin, a French theologian who established his base in the Swiss city of Geneva. Calvinism insisted on God's predestination, or prior determination, of those who would be saved. Calvinist ministers became moral guardians and preachers of God's word. Calvinists sought the participation of all believers in local church administration, which promoted the idea of a wider access to government. They also promoted broader popular education so that more people could read the Bible. Calvinism was accepted not only in part of Switzerland but also in portions of Germany, in France (where it produced strong Different Protestant denominations made inroads in much of northwestern Europe with the Reformation, but Catholicism maintained its hold on significant portions of the continent. minority groups), in the Netherlands, in Hungary, and in England and Scotland. By the early 17th century, Puritan exiles brought it to North America. Catholicsouthern church did not sit still under Protestant It could unity, but itThe defended Europe, Austria, Poland, much ofattack. Hungary, and not keyrestore parts ofreligious Germany for the Catholic faith. Under a Catholic Reformation, a major church council revived Catholic doctrine and refuted key Protestant tenets such as the idea that priests had no special sacramental power and could marry. They also attacked popular superstitions and remnants of magical belief, which meant that Catholics and Protestants alike were trying to find new ways to shape the outlook of ordinary folk. A new religious order, the Jesuits, became active in politics, education, and missionary work, regaining some parts of Europe for the church. Jesuit fervor also sponsored Catholic missionary activity in Asia and the Americas. The End of Christian Unity in the West The Protestant and Catholic Reformations had several results in Europe during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Most obvious was an important series of bloody religious wars. France was a scene of bitter battles between Calvinist and Catholic forces. These disputes ended only with the grant­ ing of tolerance to Protestants through the Edict of Nantes in 1598, although in the next century French kings progressively cut back on Protestant rights. In Germany, the Thirty Years War broke out in 1618, pitting German Protestants and allies such as Lutheran Sweden against the Holy Roman emperor, backed by Spain. The war was so devastating that it reduced German power and prosperity for a full century, cutting population by as much as 60 percent in some regions. It was ended only by the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, which agreed to the territorial tolerance concept: Some princely states and cities chose one religion, some another. This treaty also finally settled a rebellion of the Protestant Netherlands against Spain, giving the former its full independence. Religious fighting punctuated British history, first before the reign of Elizabeth in the 16th century, then in the English Civil War in the 1640s. Calvinists, Anglicans, and some remaining Catholics locked in combat. There was also growing tension between the claims of parliament and some strong assertions of authority by a new line of English kings. The civil war ended in 1660 (well after King Charles I had been beheaded; Figure 22.2), but full resolution came only in 1688- 1689, when limited religious toleration was granted to most Protestants, although not to Catholics. Religious issues thus dominated European politics for almost a century. The religious wars led to a grudging and limited acceptance of the idea of religious pluralism. Christian unity could not be restored, although in most individual countries the idea of full religious liberty was still in the future. The religious wars persuaded some people that religion itself was suspect; if there was no dominant single truth, why all the cruelty and carnage? Finally, the wars affected the political balance of Europe, as Map 22.2 shows. After a period of weakness during its internal strife, France was on the upswing. The Netherlands and Britain were galvanized toward a growing international role. Spain, briefly ascendant, fell back. Internally, some kings and princes benefited from the decline of papal authority by taking a stronger role in reli­ gious affairs. This was true in many Catholic and Protestant domains. In some cases, however, Protestant dissent encouraged popular political movements and enhanced parliamentary power. The impact of religious change went well beyond politics. Popular beliefs changed most in Protestant areas, but Catholic reform produced new impulses as well. Western people gradually became less likely to see an intimate connection between God and nature. Protestants resisted the idea of miracles or other interventions in nature's course. Religious change also promoted greater concentration on family life. Religious writers encouraged love between husband and wife. As one English Protestant put it, "When love is absent between husband and wife, it is like a bone out of joint: there is no ease, no order:' This promotion of the family had ambiguous implications for women. Protestantism, abolishing religious convents, made marriage more necessary for women than before; The rise of absolute monarchies led to consolidation of national borders as states asserted full control of areas within their boundaries. For example, a recent study shows that villages that straddled the French-Spanish border were undifferentiated before 1600, but by 1700 they showed marked national differences because of different state policies and the greater impact of belonging to one state or another. there were fewer alternatives for women who could not marry. Fathers were also responsible for the religious training of the children. On the other hand, women's emotional role in the family improved with the new emphasis on affection. printing press.change In the town of Durham, around 1570, only 20 percent peopleofwere accompanied andEngland, promoted growing literacy along withoftheallspread the Religious literate, but by 1630 the figure had climbed to 47 percent. Growing literacy opened people to additional new ideas and ways of thinking. where long-runchange. consequences not Overall, the European Reformation wasleaders, a fascinating coincide entirely with the intentions of early or withcase initial, short-term This wasdid a very different development from the Renaissance, but ultimately, by the 17th century, the two movements could combine to an extent in their effects on politics or culture. TH E COM M E RCIAL REVO LUTI O N Along with religious upheaval during the 16th century, the economic structure of the West was fundamentally redefined. The level of European trade rose sharply, and many Europeans had new goods available to them. Involvement with markets and merchants increased. Here was the clearest impact of the new world economy in western Europe. The I m pact of the World Economy A basic spur to greater commercialization was the price inflation that occurred throughout western Europe during the 16th century. The massive import of gold and silver from Spain's new colonies in Latin America forced prices up. The availability of more money, based on silver supply, generated this price rise. New wealth heightened demand for products to sell, both in the colonies and in Europe, but western production could not keep pace, hence the price inflation. Inflation encour­ aged merchants to take new risks, for borrowing was cheap when money was losing value. A sum borrowed one year would be worth less, in real terms, five years later, so it made sense to take loans for new investments. Inflation and the new colonial opportunities led to the formation of the great trading companies, often with government backing, in Spain, England, the Netherlands, and France. Governments granted regional monopolies to these giant concerns; thus, the Dutch East India Company long dominated trade with the islands of Indonesia. European merchants brought new profits back to Europe and developed new managerial skills and banking arrangements. Colonial markets stimulated manufacturing. Most peasants continued to produce mainly for their own needs, but agricultural specialty areas developed in the production of wines, cheeses, wool, and the like. Some of these industries favored commercial farming and the use of paid laborers on the land. Shoemaking, pottery, metalworking, and other manufacturing specializations arose in both rural villages and the cities. Technical improvements followed in many branches of manufacture, particularly in metals and mining. Prosperity increased for many ordinary people as well as for the great merchants. One historian has estimated that by about 1600 the average Western peasant or artisan owned five times as many "things" as his or her counterpart in southeastern Europe. A 16th-century Englishman noted that whereas in the past a peasant and his family slept on the floor and had only a pan or two as kitchenware, by the final decades of the century a farmer might have "a fair garnish of pewter in his cupboard, three or four feather beds, so many coverlets and carpets of tapestry, a silver salt, a bowl for wine . . . and a dozen spoons:' It was about this time that French peasants began to enj oy wine fairly regularly rather than simply at special occasions-the result of higher productivity and better trade and transport facilities. Socia l Protest There were victims of change as well. Growing commercialization created the beginnings of a new proletariat in the West-people without access to wealth-producing property. Population growth and rising food prices hit hard at the poor, and many people had to sell their small plots of land. Some proletarians became manufacturing workers, depending on orders from merchant capitalists to keep their tools busy in their cottages. Others became paid laborers on agricultural estates, where landlords were eager for a more manipulable workforce to take advantage of business opportunities in the cities. Others pressed into the cities, and a growing problem of beggars and wandering poor began to affect Western society (Map 22.3). By blaming the poor for moral failings, a new, tough attitude toward poverty took shape that has lasted to some extent to the present day. Not surprisingly, the shifts in popular economic and cultural traditions provoked important outcries.A huge wave of popular protest in western Europe developed at the end of the 16th century and extended until about 1650. Peasants and townspeople alike rose for greater protection from poverty and loss of property. The uprisings did not deflect the basic currents of change, but they revealed the massive insecurity of many workers. The popular rebellions of the 17th century revealed social tension and new ideas of equality. Peasant songs voiced such sentiments as this: "The whole country must be overturned, for we peasants are now to be the lords, it is we who will sit in the shade:' Uprisings in 1648 produced demands for a popular political voice; an English group called the Levelers gained 100,000 signatures on a petition for political rights. Elsewhere, common people praised the kings while attacking their "bad advisors" and high taxes. One English agitator said that "we should cut off all the gentlemen's heads. . . . We MAP 22.3 European Population Density, c. 1 600 Europe experienced new levels of population concentration in some urban areas by 1 600, although by Asian standards, city size remained fairly modest. shall have a merrier world shortly:' In France, Protestant and Catholic peasants rose together against landlords and truces: "They seek only the ruin of the poor people for our ruin is their wealth:' An unprecedented outburst against suspected witches arose in the same decades in various parts of western Europe and also in New England. Although attacks on witches had developed before, the new scale reflected intense social and cultural upheaval. Between 60,000 and 100,000 suspected witches were accused and killed. The witchcraft persecution reflected new resentments against the poor, who were often accused of witchcraft by communities unwilling to accept responsibility for their poverty. The hysteria also revealed new tensions about family life and the role of women, who were the most common targets of persecution. A few of the accused witches actually believed they had magical powers, but far more were accused by fearful or self-serving neighbors. The whole witchcraft experience revealed a society faced with forces of unusual complexity. A Balance Sheet Changes in Europe between 1450 and 1650 were untidy. Renaissance secular interests clashed with Reformation spiritual emphases. The confusion of change helped explain sharp reactions, like the witchcraft trials. Still, there were some basic directions to change. Europe was becom­ ing more commercial; even some of the implications of the Reformation pushed toward higher valuation of commercial success. The role of families was shifting. Religion remained strong, but its expressions and its political roles became more contested. All of this finally set the stage for further change. TH E SCI E NTI F I C REVOLUTI O N : TH E N EXT PHASE O F C H AN G E The revolution in science, culminating in the 17th century, set the seal on the cultural reorientation of the West. Although the Scientific Revolution most obviously affected formal intellectual life, it also promoted changes in popular outlook. At the same time, after the political upheavals of the Reformation, a more decisive set of new government forms arose in the West, centering on the emergence of the nation-state. The functions of the state expanded. The Western nation-state was not a single form, because key variants such as absolute monarchies and parliamentary regimes emerged, but there were some common patterns beneath the surface. Did Copernicus Copy? This is a chapter about big changes in western Europe during the early modern period. Big changes are always complex. One key development was the rise of science in intellectual life. A key first step here was the discovery by the Polish monk Nicolaus Copernicus, in the 16th century, that the planets moved around the sun rather than the earth, as the Greeks had thought. This discovery other scientific advances in motion, and more generally showed that new thinking could improve on tradition. Copernicus is usually taken as a quiet hero of western science and rationalism. Copernicus based his findings on mathematics, understanding that the Greek view of earth as central raised key problems in calculating planetary motion. Historians have recently uncovered similar geometrical findings by two Arabs, al-Urdi and al-Tusi, from the 13th and 14th centuries. Did Copernicus copy, as Westerners had previously done from the Arabs, while keeping quiet because learning from Muslims was now unpopular? Or did he discover independently? It's also worth noting that scientists in other traditions, such as Chinese, Indian, and Mayan, had already realized the central position of the sun. W hat is certain is that based on discoveries like that of Copernicus, science began to take on more importance in Western intellectual life than had ever been the case in the intellectual history of other societies, including classical Greece. Change may be complicated but it does occur. Science: The New Authority During the 16th century, scientific research quietly built on the traditions of the later Middle Ages. After Copernicus, Johannes Kepler (157 1- 1630; Figure 22.3) was another important early figure in the study of planetary motion. Unusual for a major researcher, Kepler was from a poor family; his father abandoned the family outright, and his mother was once tried for witchcraft. But Kepler made his way to university on scholarship, aiming for the Lutheran ministry, but he was drawn to astronomy and mathematics. Using the work of Copernicus and his own observations, he resolved basic issues of planetary motion. He also worked on optics and, with the mixed interests so common in real intellectual life, also practiced astrology, casting horoscopes for wealthy patrons. Also around 1600, anatomical work by the Belgian Vesalius gained greater precision. These key discoveries not only advanced knowledge of the human body but also implied a new power for scientific research in its ability to test and often overrule accepted ideas. A series of empirical advances and wider theoretical generalizations extended the possibilities of science from the 1600s onward. New instruments such as the microscope and improved telescopes allowed gains in biology and astronomy. The Italian Galileo Galilei publicized Copernicus's discover­ ies while adding his own basic findings about the laws of gravity and planetary motion. Condemned by the Catholic Church for his innovations, Galileo proved the inadequacy of traditional ideas about the universe. He also showed the new pride in scientific achievement, writing modestly how he, "by marvelous discoveries and clear demonstrations, had enlarged a thousand times" the knowledge pro­ duced by "the wise men of bygone ages:' Chemical research advanced understanding of the behavior of gasses. English physician William Harvey demonstrated the circular movement of the blood in animals, with the heart as the "central pumping station:' These advances in knowledge were accompanied by important statements about science and its impact. Francis Bacon urged the value of careful empirical research and predicted that scientific knowledge could advance steadily, producing improvements in technology as well. Rene Descartes established the importance of a skeptical review of all received wisdom, arguing that human reason could develop laws that would explain the fundamental workings of nature. The capstone to the 17th-century Scientific Revolution came in 1687, when Isaac Newton published his Principia Mathematica. This work drew the various astronomical and physical observations and wider theories together in a neat framework of natural laws. Newton set forth the basic principles of all motion (for example, that a body in motion maintains uniform momentum unless affected by outside forces such as friction). Newton defined the forces of gravity in great mathematical detail and showed that the whole universe responded to these forces, which among other things explained the planetary orbits described by Kepler. Finally, Newton stated the basic scientific method in terms of a mixture of rational hypothesis and generalization and careful empirical observation and experiment. Here was a vision of a natural universe that could be captured in simple laws (although increasingly complex mathematics accompanied the findings). Here was a vision of a method of knowing that might do away with blind reliance on tradition or religious faith. The Scientific Revolution was quickly popularized among educated westerners. Here was a key step in the cultural transformation of western Europe in the early modern period. New scientific institutes were set up, often with government aid, to advance research and disseminate the findings. Lectures and easy-to-read manuals publicized the latest advances and communicated the excitement that researchers shared in almost all parts of Europe. Beliefs in witchcraft began to decline and magistrates grew increasingly reluctant to entertain witchcraft accusations in court after about 1670. There were growing signs of a new belief that people could control and calculate their environment. Insurance companies sprang up to help guard against risk. Doctors increased their attacks on popular healers, promoting a more scientific diagnosis of illness. Newsletters, an innovation by the late 17th century, began to advertise "lost and found" items, for there was no point leaving this kind of problem to customary magicians, called "cunning men;' who had poked around with presumably enchanted sticks. By the 1680s writers affected by the new science, although not themselves scientists, began to attack traditional religious ideas such as miracles, for in the universe of the Scientific Revolution there was no room for disruption of nature's laws. Some intellectuals held out a new conception of God, called Deism, arguing that although there might be a divinity, its role was simply to set natural laws in motion. In England, John Locke argued that people could learn everything they needed to know through their senses and reason; faith was irrelevant. Christian beliefs in human sinfulness crumbled in the view of these intellectuals, for they saw human nature as basically good. Finally, scientific advances created wider assumptions about the possibility of human progress. If knowledge could advance through concerted human effort, why not progress in other domains? Even literary authorities joined this parade, and the idea that past styles set timeless standards of perfection came under growing criticism. Science had never before been central to intellectual life. Science had played important roles in other civilizations, as in China, classical Greece, Central America, and Islam. Europe's science built in fact on continuing contacts with work in the Middle East. But while the West was not alone in developing crucial scientific ideas, it now became the leading center for scientific advance. Its key thinkers stood alone for some time in seeing science as the key to gaining and defining knowledge. Political change from 1600 to 1750 was complicated, even as religious strife gradually calmed. A tradition of strong monarchy developed in France and elsewhere, greatly adding to the functions of the central government. But in Britain and Holland a different emphasis emerged, providing a strong parliamentary check on royal power. Both traditions proved significant in shaping Europe's political future. More effective central governments and better-trained bureaucrats helped Europe catch up to political forms that had been developed earlier in countries like China. At the same time, growing suggestions of what would come to be called the nation-state provided a new element in politics that would later spread to other parts of the world. Absolute Monarchies New political currents took shape along with the rise of science, and at times the two trends connected. The feudal monarchy-the balance between king and nobles-that had defined Western politics since the late postclassical period finally came undone in the 17th century. In most countries, after the pas­ sions of religious wars finally cooled, monarchs gained new powers, curtailing the tradition of noble pressure or revolt.At the same time, more ambitious military organization, in states that defined war as a central purpose, required more careful administration and improved tax collection. French steadily built new uppattern their power was France, in the 17th nowcentury. the West's They largest stopped andconvening most powerful the medieval nation. Thekings model for this parliament and passed laws as they saw fit, although some provincial councils remained strong. They blew up the castles of dissident nobles, another sign that gunpowder was undercutting the military basis of feudalism. They appointed a growing bureaucracy drawn from the merchants and lawyers. They sent standardize the French language.A sumptuous palace at Versailles was used to keep nobles busy with social functions so that they could not interfere with affairs of state. UsingThey the new bureaucratic Louisacted and his ministers onalnew, functions for the state. reduced internalstructure, tariffs, which as barri ers todeveloped trade, andadditi created state-run manufacturing. The reigning economic theory, mercantilism, held that governments should promote the internal economy to improve tax revenues and to limit imports from other nations, lest money be lost to enemy states. Therefore, absolute monarchs such as Louis XIV set tariffs on imported goods, tried to encourage their merchant fleets, and sought colonies to provide raw materials and a guaran­ teed market for manufactured goods produced at home. SpainThe tried to imitate French principles in the 1 8th century,in which in efforts to tighten basic structure of absolute monarchy developed otherresulted states besides France (Mapcontrol 22.2). over its Latin American colonies. However, the most important spread of absolute monarchy occurred in the central European states that were gaining in importance. A series of kings in Prussia, in eastern Germany, built a strong army and bureaucracy. They promoted economic activity and began to develop a state-sponsored school system. Habsburg kings in Austria-Hungary, although still officially rulers of the Holy Roman empire, concentrated increasingly on developing a stronger monarchy in the lands under their direct control. The power of these Habsburg rulers increased after they pushed back the last Turk­ ish invasion threat late in the 17th century and then added the kingdom of Hungary to their domains. Most absolute monarchs saw a strong military as a key political goal, and many hoped for territo­ rial expansion. Louis XIV used his strong state as the basis for a series of wars from the 1 680s onward. The wars yielded some new territory for France but finally attracted an opposing alliance system that blocked further advance. Prussian kings, although long cautious in exposing their proud military to the risk of major war, turned in the 18th century to a series of conflicts that won new territory. Pa rliamenta ry Monarchies Britain and the Netherlands, both growing commercial and colonial powers, stood apart from the trend toward absolute monarchy in the 17th century. They emphasized the role of the central state, but they also built parliamentary regimes in which the kings shared power with representatives selected by the nobility and upper urban classes. The English civil wars produced a final political settlement in 1 688 and 1 689 (the so-called Glorious Revolution) in which parliament won basic sovereignty over the king. The English parliament no longer depended on the king to convene, because regular sessions were scheduled. Its rights to approve taxation allowed it to monitor or initiate most major policies. Furthermore, a growing bodyand of political theorythat arose inerthe 17thfrom century built these parliamentary ideas. John Locke others argued pow came the pthat eople, notonfrom a divine right to royal rule. Monarchs should therefore be restrained by institutions that protected the public interest, including certain general rights to freedom and property.A right of revolution could legitimately oppose unjust rule. verall, western developed iymportant diversity in political forms, between absolute on­ archyOand a new kindEurope of parliamentar monarchy. It maintained a characteristic tension betm ween government growth and the idea that there should be some limits to state authority. This tension was expressed in new forms, but it recalled some principles that had originated in the Middle Ages. The Nation-State The absolute monarchies and the parliamentary monarchies shared important characteristics as nation-states. Unlike the great empires of many other civilizations, they ruled peoples who shared a common culture and language, some important minorities apart. They could appeal to a certain loyalty that linked cultural and political bonds. This was as true of England, where the idea of special rights of Englishmen helped feed the parliamentary movement, as it was of France. Not surpris­ ingly, ordinary people in many nation-states, even though not directly represented in government, increasingly believed that government should act for their interests. Thus, Louis XIV faced recurrent popular riots based on the assumption that when bad harvests drove up food prices, the government was obligated to help people out. banner of In sum, nation-states developed a growby ingmonarchists list of functions, thealike. They mercantilism, whose principles were shared and pparticularly arliamentaryunder leaders also promoted new political values and loyalties that were very different from the political traditions of other civilizations. They kept the West politically divided and often at war. During the first half of the 18th century, several basic changes continued in western Europe. The impact of absolutism and the parliamentary monarchies persisted, although outright political inno­ vation slowed. Commercial changes, however, began to have even wider results, with an important expansion of manufacturing; new agricultural developments added an important element. Europe's cultural transformation, at both elite and popular levels, continued as well, with growing implications for political and social life. The Enlightenment, building on the earlier scientific revolution, had par­ ticularly important results on Europe and, ultimately, other parts of the world. Political Patterns During much of the 18th century, English politics settled into a parliamentary routine in which key political groups competed for influence without major policy differences. Absolute monarchy in France changed little institutionally, but it became less effective. It could not force changes in the tax structure that would give it more solid financial footing because aristocrats refused to surrender their traditional exemptions. Political developments were far livelier in central Europe. In Prussia, Frederick the Great, build­ ing on the military and bureaucratic organization of his predecessors, introduced greater freedom of religion while expanding the economic functions of the state. His government actively encouraged better agricultural methods; for example, it promoted use of the American potato as a staple crop. It also enacted laws promoting greater commercial coordination and greater equity; harsh traditional punishments were cut back. Rulers of this sort claimed to be enlightened despots, wielding great authority but for the good of society at large. Enlightened or not, the policies of the major Western nation-states produced recurrent warfare. France and Britain squared off in the 1740s and again in the Seven Years War (1756-1763); their conflicts focused on battles for colonial empire.Austria and Prussia also fought, with Prussia gaining new land. Wars in the 18th century were not devastating, but they demonstrated the continued linkage between statecraft and war that was characteristic of the West. Enlightenment Thought and Popular Culture In culture, the aftermath of the Scientific Revolution spilled over into a new movement known as the Enlightenment, centered particularly in France but with adherents throughout the Western world. Enlightenment thinkers continued to support scientific advance.Although there were no Newton-like breakthroughs, chemists gained new understanding of major elements, and biologists developed a vital new classification system for the natural species. The Enlightenment also pioneered in applying scientific methods to the study of human society, sketching the modern social sciences. The basic idea was that rational laws could describe social as well as physical behavior and that knowledge could be used to improve policy. Thus, criminolo­ gists wrote that brutal punishments failed to deter crime, whereas a decent society would be able to rehabilitate criminals through education. Political theorists wrote about the importance of carefully planned constitutions and controls over privilege, although they disagreed about what political form was best. A new school of economists developed. In his classic book Wealth of Nations, Scottish phi­ losopher Adam Smith set forth a number of principles of economic behavior. He argued that people act according to their self-interest but, through competition, promote general economic advance. Government should avoid regulation in favor of the operation of individual initiative and market forces. This was an important statement of economic policy and an illustration of the growing belief that general models of human behavior could be derived from rational thought. Single individuals could sum up part of the Enlightenment's impressive range. Denis Diderot (1713-1784) was a multifaceted leader of the French Enlightenment, best known for his editorial work on the Encyclopedie that compiled scientific and social scientific knowledge. Trained initially by the Jesuits, Diderot also wrote widely on philosophy, mathematics, and the psychology of deaf-mutes and also tried his hand at literature.An active friend of other philosophers, Diderot also traveled to foreign courts as advisor and visiting intellectual. He visited Catherine the Great of Russia in 1773-1774, for example, to thank her for generous patronage. More generally still, the Enlightenment produced a set of basic principles about human affairs: Human beings are good, at least improvable, and they can be educated to be better; reason is the key to truth, and religions that rely on blind faith or refuse to tolerate diversity are wrong. Enlightenment thinkers attacked the Catholic Church with particular vigor, because it seemed to support older super­ stitions while wielding political power. Progress was possible, even inevitable, if people could be set free. Society's goals should center on improving material and social life. Although it was not typical of the Enlightenment's main thrust, a few thinkers applied these gen­ eral principles to other areas.A handful of socialists argued that economic equality and the abolition of private property must become important goals. A few feminist thinkers, such as Mary Wollstonecraft (Figure 22.4) in England, argued-against the general male-centered views of most Enlightenment think­ ers-that new political rights and freedoms should extend to women. Several journals written by women for women made their first appearance during this extraordinary cultural period. Madame de Beau­ mere took over the direction of the French Journal des Dames from a man, and in Germany, Marianne Ehrmann used her journal to suggest that men might be partly to blame for women's lowly position. The popularization of new ideas encouraged further changes in the habits and beliefs of many ordinary people. Reading clubs and coffeehouses allowed many urban artisans and businessmen to discuss the latest reform ideas. Leading writers and compilations of scientific and philosophical find­ ings, such as the Encyclopaedia Britannica, won a wide audience and, for a few people, a substantial fortune from the sale of books. Other changes in popular outlook paralleled the new intellectual currents, although they had deeper sources than philosophy alone.Attitudes toward children began to shift in many social groups. Older methods of physical discipline were criticized in favor of more restrained behavior that would respect the goodness and innocence of children. Swaddling-wrapping infants in cloth so they could not move or harm themselves-began to decline as parents became interested in freer movement and greater interaction for young children. Among wealthy families, educational toys and books for children reflected the idea that childhood should be a stage for learning and growth. Family life generally was changed by a growing sense that old hierarchies should be rethought and revised toward greater equality in the treatment of women and children in the home. Love between family members gained new respect, and an emotional bond in marriage became more widely sought. Change affected older children as well: Parents grew more reluctant to force a match on a son or daughter if the emotional vibrations were not right. Here was a link not only with Enlightenment ideas of proper family relations but with novels such as Richardson's Pamela that poured out a sentimental view of life. Cultural changes during the 18th century were complex. They included continued religious vitality, as new groups like Methodists helped stimulate piety. Three points, however, stand out. First, mainly through the Enlightenment, many popular attitudes, as well as purely intellectual interests, were changing. Beliefs in magic, for example, began to decline. Second, in establishing a culture favor­ able to material progress, the Enlightenment helped set up a climate for further change in the West. And third, some Enlightenment ideas, like that notion that all people shared a fundamental rationality and human worth, had implications that spilled beyond Europe. Already in 1750, for example, new agitation began to develop against the institution of slavery, in the name of basic rights. Ongoing Change in Commerce and Manufacturing Ongoing economic change paralleled changes in popular culture and intellectual life. Commerce continued to spread. Ordinary Westerners began to buy processed products, such as refined sugar and coffee or tea obtained from Indonesia and the West Indies, for daily use. This was a sign of the growing importance of Europe's new colonies for ordinary life and of the beginnings of mass consumerism in Western society. The growing popularity of cotton textiles spread more widely, giving even relatively poor people the chance to express a sense of style. Theft of clothing increased in the 18th century, a clear indication of new consumer priorities. Another sign of change was the growing use of paid professional entertainment as part of popular leisure, even in rural festivals. Circuses, first introduced in France in the 1670s, began to redefine leisure to include spectatorship and a taste for the bizarre. Agriculture began to change. Until the late 17th century, western Europe had continued to rely largely on the methods and techniques characteristic of the Middle Ages-a severe economic con­ straint in an agricultural society. The three-field system still meant that a full third of all farmland was left unplanted each year to restore fertility. First in the Netherlands and then elsewhere, new procedures for draining swamps added available land. Reformers touted nitrogen-fixing crops to reduce the need to leave land idle. Stockbreeding improved, and new techniques such as seed-drills and the use of scythes instead of sickles for harvesting increased productivity. Some changes spread particularly fast on large estates, but other changes affected ordinary peasants as well. Particularly vital in this category was the spread of the potato from the late 17th century onward. A New World crop, the potato had long been shunned because it was not mentioned in the Bible and was held to be the cause of plagues. Enlightened government leaders, and the peasants' desire to win greater economic security and better nutrition, led to widespread use of this crop. In sum, the West improved its food supply and agricultural efficiency, leaving more labor available for other pursuits. These changes, along with the steady growth of colonial trade and internal commerce, spurred increased manufacturing. Capitalism-the investment of funds in hopes of larger profits-also spread from big trading ventures to the production of goods. The 18th century witnessed a rapid spread of household production of textiles and metal products, mostly by rural workers who alternated manufac­ turing with some agriculture. Here was a key use of labor that was no longer needed for food. Hundreds of thousands of people were drawn into this domestic system, in which capitalist merchants distributed supplies and orders and workers ran the production process for pay. Although manufacturing tools were still operated by hand, the spread of domestic manufacturing spurred important technological innovations designed to improve efficiency. In 1733, John Kay in England introduced the flying shuttle, which permitted automatic crossing of threads on looms; with this, an individual weaver could do the work of two. Improvements in spinning and the mechanized printing of cotton cloth soon followed as the Western economy began to move toward a full-fledged Industrial Revolution (see Chapter 28). Human changes accompanied and sometimes preceded technology. Around 1700, most manufac­ turers who made wool cloth in northern England were artisans, doing part of the work themselves. By 1720, a number of loom owners were becoming outright manufacturers with new ideas and behaviors. How were manufacturers different? They spent their time organizing production and sales rather than doing their own work. They moved work out of their homes. They stopped drinking beer with their workers. And they saw their workers as market commodities, to be treated as the conditions of trade demanded. In 1736, one such manufacturer coolly wrote that because of slumping sales, "I have turned off [dismissed] a great many of my makers, and keep turning more off weekly:' Finally, agricultural changes, commercialism, and manufacturing combined, particularly after about 1730, to produce a rapidly growing population in the West. With better food supplies, more people survived, particularly with the aid of the potato. Furthermore, new manufacturing jobs helped landless people support themselves, promoting earlier marriage and sexual relationships. Population growth, in turn, promoted further economic change, heightening competition and producing a more manipulable labor force. The West's great population revolution, which continued into the 19th century, both caused and reflected the civilization's dynamism, although it also produced great strain and confusion. I n novation a n d I nsta b i l ity By the 18th century, the various strands of change were increasingly intertwined in Western civi­ lization. Stronger governments promoted agricultural improvements, which helped prod popula­ tion growth. Changes in popular beliefs were fed by new economic structures; both encouraged a reevaluation of the family and the roles of children. New beliefs also raised new political challenges. Enlightenment ideas about liberty and fundamental human equality could be directed against existing regimes. New family practices might have political implications as well. Children, raised with less adult restraint and encouraged to value their individual worth through parental love and careful education, might see traditional political limitations in new ways. There was no perfect fit, no inevitable match, in the three strands of change that had been trans­ forming the West for two centuries or more: the commercial, the cultural, and the political. However, by 1750 all were in place. The combination had already produced an unusual version of an agricultural civilization, and it promised more upheaval in the future. G loba l Con nections a nd Critica l Themes E U ROPE A N D T H E WO RLD In 1450, Europeans were convinced that their Christianity made them superior to other people. But they also understood that many societies were impressive in terms of cities and wealth and the strength of their governments. As Europe changed and prospered, participating strongly in the process of proto­ globalization, its outlook toward the world changed as well. We saw in the previous chapter how Europeans began to use tech­ nology as a measure of society, arguing that other societies that were less interested in technological change were inferior. By the 18th century, criticisms of the superstitions of other people began to surface among Europeans proud of their science and rationalism. The wider stillonprovide of wonder, ut ingly thiw s orld was could foc used naturala sense phenomena and bthe increas strange animals being imported to European zoos. The Enlighten­ ment generated the idea of a "noble savage"-a person uncorrupted by advanced civilization and urban ways. But this was largely a fic­ tion designed to comment on Europe itself, not a source of real admiration for other peoples. Increasingly, European power and the rapid changes within Western civilization led to a sense that many other societies were backward, perhaps not even civilized. The idea had powerful impact not only on European attitudes but also on the ways other societies perceived themselves and reacted. i