The Emergence of Modern Europe - c. 1500 to 1788

At the end of the Renaissance, the Western world was beginning to change. Explorers brought back treasures from other lands. Merchants helped develop the rudiments of a modern economy. The new Protestant religion swept across Europe, sparking the brutal Thirty Year's War with Roman Catholics. By the time of the French Revolution, the world had been introduced to the distinct entities that still largely make up present-day Europe, and to the revolutionary social, cultural, and political philosophies of the enlightenment. Within these pages, readers will encounter the developments that altered the course of Europe's early modern era. The volume contains a wealth of thoroughly researched information complemented by beautiful photographs to draw readers into the remarkable history of the development of this powerful continent. TITLE 4 COPYRIGHT 5 CONTENTS 6 INTRODUCTION 9 CHAPTER 1 EUROPEAN ECONOMY AND SOCIETY, C. 1500–1648 20 THE ECONOMIC BACKGROUND 21 DEMOGRAPHICS 24 TRADE AND THE “ATLANTIC REVOLUTION” 27 PRICES AND INFLATION 29 LANDLORDS AND PEASANTS 31 PROTOINDUSTRIALIZATION 37 GROWTH OF BANKING AND FINANCE 40 POLITICAL AND CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON THE ECONOMY 41 ASPECTS OF EARLY MODERN SOCIETY 43 CHAPTER 2 EUROPEAN POLITICS AND DIPLOMACY, C. 1500–1648 51 THE STATE OF EUROPEAN POLITICS 51 DISCOVERY OF THE NEW WORLD 52 NATION-STATES AND DYNASTIC RIVALRIES 54 TURKEY AND EASTERN EUROPE 57 REFORMATION AND COUNTER-REFORMATION 62 DIPLOMACY IN THE AGE OF THE REFORMATION 68 THE WARS OF RELIGION 73 CHAPTER 3 THE THIRTY YEARS’ WAR, 1618–48 77 THE CRISIS IN GERMANY 78 THE CRISIS IN THE HABSBURG LANDS 84 THE TRIUMPH OF THE CATHOLICS, 1619–29 89 THE CRISIS OF THE WAR, 1629–35 94 THE EUROPEAN WAR IN GERMANY, 1635–45 98 MAKING PEACE, 1645–48 102 PROBLEMS NOT SOLVED BY THE WAR 105 PROBLEMS SOLVED BY THE WAR 107 CHAPTER 4 EUROPEAN SOCIETY AND ECONOMY, C. 1648–1788 111 THE HUMAN CONDITION 118 CLIMATE 120 WAR 122 HEALTH AND SICKNESS 124 POVERTY 128 THE ORGANIZATION OF SOCIETY 135 NOBLES AND GENTLEMEN 139 THE BOURGEOISIE 146 THE PEASANTRY 153 THE ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT 159 EARLY CAPITALISM 163 THE OLD INDUSTRIAL ORDER 166 CHAPTER 5 THE RISE OF ABSOLUTISM 171 MAJOR FORMS OF ABSOLUTISM 176 FRANCE 176 THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE 181 PRUSSIA 186 VARIATIONS ON THE ABSOLUTIST THEME 189 SWEDEN 189 DENMARK 191 SPAIN 192 PORTUGAL 193 GREAT BRITAIN 193 NETHERLANDS 196 RUSSIA 198 CHAPTER 6 THE ENLIGHTENMENT 207 SOURCES OF ENLIGHTENMENT THOUGHT 209 THE ROLE OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS 210 THE INFLUENCE OF LOCKE 218 THE PROTO-ENLIGHTENMENT 220 HISTORY AND SOCIAL THOUGHT 223 THE LANGUAGE OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT 224 THE INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY 230 THE ENCYCLOPÉDIE 234 ROUSSEAU AND HIS FOLLOWERS 236 THE ENLIGHTENMENT IN GERMANY 240 THE ENLIGHTENMENT THROUGHOUT EUROPE 243 CONCLUSION 247 GLOSSARY 250 BIBLIOGRAPHY 253 INDEX 255 9781615303939 Britannica Educational