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;