Section Overview |
New legal and political theories, |
Three trends shaped early modern political development: (1) a shift from decentralized power and authority toward centralization; (2) a shift from a political elite consisting primarily of hereditary landed nobility toward one open to men distinguished by their education, skills, and wealth; and (3) a shift from religious toward secular norms of law and justice.
One innovation promoting state centralization and the transformation of the landed nobility was the new dominance of firearms and artillery on the battlefield. The introduction of these new technologies, along with changes in tactics and strategy, amounted to a military revolution that reduced the role of mounted knights and castles, raised the cost of maintaining military power beyond the means of individual lords, and led to professionalization of the military on land and sea under the authority of the sovereign. This military revolution favored rulers who could command the resources required for building increasingly complex fortifications and fielding disciplined infantry and artillery units. Monarchs who could increase taxes and create bureaucracies to collect and spend them on their military outmaneuvered those who could not.
In general, monarchs gained power through the corporate groups and institutions that had thrived during the medieval period, notably the landed nobility and the clergy. Commercial and professional groups, such as merchants, lawyers, and other educated and talented persons, acquired increasing power in the state—often in alliance with the monarchs— alongside or in place of these traditional corporate groups. New legal and political theories, embodied in the codification of law, strengthened state institutions, which increasingly took control of the social and economic order from traditional religious and local bodies.
However, these developments were not universal. Within states, minority language groups retained a more local identity that resisted political centralization. In eastern and southern Europe, the traditional elites maintained their positions in many polities. The centralization of power within polities took place within and facilitated a new diplomatic framework among states. Ideals of a universal Christian empire declined along with the power and prestige of the Holy Roman Empire, which was unable to overcome the challenges of political localism and religious pluralism. By the end of the Thirty Years’ War, a new state system had emerged based on sovereign nation-states and the balance of power.
Source: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap-european-history-course-and-exam-description.pdf
One innovation promoting state centralization and the transformation of the landed nobility was the new dominance of firearms and artillery on the battlefield. The introduction of these new technologies, along with changes in tactics and strategy, amounted to a military revolution that reduced the role of mounted knights and castles, raised the cost of maintaining military power beyond the means of individual lords, and led to professionalization of the military on land and sea under the authority of the sovereign. This military revolution favored rulers who could command the resources required for building increasingly complex fortifications and fielding disciplined infantry and artillery units. Monarchs who could increase taxes and create bureaucracies to collect and spend them on their military outmaneuvered those who could not.
In general, monarchs gained power through the corporate groups and institutions that had thrived during the medieval period, notably the landed nobility and the clergy. Commercial and professional groups, such as merchants, lawyers, and other educated and talented persons, acquired increasing power in the state—often in alliance with the monarchs— alongside or in place of these traditional corporate groups. New legal and political theories, embodied in the codification of law, strengthened state institutions, which increasingly took control of the social and economic order from traditional religious and local bodies.
However, these developments were not universal. Within states, minority language groups retained a more local identity that resisted political centralization. In eastern and southern Europe, the traditional elites maintained their positions in many polities. The centralization of power within polities took place within and facilitated a new diplomatic framework among states. Ideals of a universal Christian empire declined along with the power and prestige of the Holy Roman Empire, which was unable to overcome the challenges of political localism and religious pluralism. By the end of the Thirty Years’ War, a new state system had emerged based on sovereign nation-states and the balance of power.
Source: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap-european-history-course-and-exam-description.pdf
The New Monarchies
symbol of the Spanish Trastámara dynasty
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The Holy Roman Empire
symbol of the Austrian Hapsburg dynasty
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The Italian Wars
The Peace of Cateau-Cambresis (1559). Henry II of France and Philip II of Spain were in reality absent, and the peace was signed by their ambassadors.
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Statecraft and Diplomacy
The Ambassadors (1533) by Hans Holbein the Younger portrays Jean de Dinteville and Georges de Selve, the ambassadors of Francis I of France.
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The Ottoman Empire
Tsardom of Russia
Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania
The Military Revolution
Hapsburg Spain
Hey, girl. Charles II of Spain was "short, lame, epileptic, senile, and completely bald before 35." The physician who performed his autopsy stated that his body "did not contain a single drop of blood; his heart was the size of a peppercorn; his lungs corroded; his intestines rotten and gangrenous; he had a single testicle, black as coal, and his head was full of water." (Morale of the story: don't marry your cousin.)
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The Dutch Golden Age
- Dutch East India Company (VOC)
- spice trade
- Bank of Amsterdam
- central bank
- Dutch religious tolerance
- University of Leiden
- University of Groningen
- Hans Lippershey
- Antonie von Leeuwenhoek
- Christiaan Huygens
- Rembrandt van Rijn (Night Watch)
- Frans Hals (Laughing Cavalier)
- Jan Vermeer (Girl with Pearl Earring, Geographer, View of Delft)
Elizabethan England
Portrait of Elizabeth commemorating the defeat of the Spanish Armada (1588). Elizabeth's hand rests on the globe, symbolizing her international power.
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The English Civil War
Charles I at the Hunt (1635) by Anthony van Dyck depicts Charles resting in a manner described as a "subtle compromise between gentlemanly nonchalance and regal assurance".
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The Development of French Absolutism
Portrait of Louis XIV as Jupiter Conquering the Fronde (1655) by Charles François Poerson. He was just that fabulous. No lie.
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The Swedish Golden Age
The Peace of Westphalia
The Ratification of the Treaty of Münster, 15 May 1648 (1648) by Gerard ter Borch
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