Presentations The Foundations of

Early Modern Europe

on 1460 – 1559.
 • Review – Middle Ages
• (assignm. 1-4)
• Main characteristics and why…?
• The structure of Medieval society:
• Clergy who prayed and cared for souls (landowners)
What we • Nobles who governed and fought (landowners)
• Peasants who labored in the fields – about 85% of
have done so Europe´s population in 1500.
• What class is missing here that will
far… emerge/strengthen later ???
• Feudalism developed during the 9th century in response
to collapse of central authority
• The power structure: king-vassal/noble-peasant,
that emerged in feudal times was a reaction against
anarchy and instability of the earlier years.
 • Difference between Early and Late Middle Ages… in part
consequences of the Crusades that brought new opportunities
– thus desintegrated the power of the Church and the system
of feudalism:
• Ideas + technologies
• (focus on man/individual – classical and secular

What we learning – science - printing press – new warfare –

explorations overseas…)

have done so
• Trade + growth of the merchant class
• (banking – richness – more goods – towns/cities
revive…)
far… • Secular power/leaders strengthening at the cost of the
Church
• (Church loosing credibility and power because of
corruption and internal struggle/conflict - „crude“
sense of nationalism developing or national
consciousness – vernacular literature…)
• These changes and opportunities is what you presented to us…
 The invention of the
printing press

• No one person was responsible

• E.g. paper, metallurgy, and oil paints

• Its inventors could not fathom its potential

 Effects • Accessibility of books

of the • Threatened nobles, the clergy, and

scribes

printing • Transformed teaching

press • Rise of censorship

The new
warfare
 • The use of gunpowder as a way to propel missiles changed war

• It was invented in China but eventually transmited to the

Europeans

• By the end of the 14th century it was being manufactured in

New
most of Europe

technologies • New weapons made seiges much faster, but they weren’t the
only ones used

• At first stone was used for projectiles, but this was later fased
out by iron

• The implementation of new mining tecniques increased

production
 • Many people criticized the pistols because it meant
that strength and training was not as needed

• This also meant warfare became royalised, meaning

the crown gained power and reduced that of the
Reaction to nobles

new • Infantrymen begun to be trained

weapons
• The use of firearms changed how people viewed
war

• Pacifist thinkers quoting the bible appeared

 Exploration: the world and the text
T-O maps Portolan Charts
-Symbolic -Used by sailors and merchants
to navigate the seas.
-Heavily based on religion
- Detailed renderings of
-Showed the moral and
physical order of the coastlines
universe to scholars. -Contain webs of neatly drawn
lines representing the normal
routes of trade and navigation

Evolution Of These Maps In The Late Middle Ages

-Later on in the 15th century the differences between the two prominent types of maps began to blur and eventually broke.
-Ptolemy's Geography was used to make the newer versions of maps
-Overall, people began to realize that the world was a scatter of continents surrounded by navigable oceans.

9
 Portuguese voyages of
exploration
The Portugese descent into the Hostility towards Islam was a
african coast began in 1945 with big motive for Portugese
the capture of Ceuta a muslim expansion into afria escpicailly
city in the northen tip of in the early satges.
morrocoo.
Portugal began producing goods Portugal continued their
such as sugar cane which acted exploration into India causing
as a catalyst for the slave the spice trade to go directly
market. from India to Portugal.
10
The motivation started to
become gold as Prince Henry of
Portugal wanted to take control
over the gold trade between
Europe and Africa.
Portugese exploration marked
the european expansion over
the world.
 :chuckles:

You are
very
Lets go to kind :]
India!!!!!!!!

Small
box
We are in
India!!!! But who
are these

Natives became
slaves
A century of
prosperity +
Merchants
By Patrekur
 • Drastic increase in population during the
years of 1470-1620, places like Roman
doubled in size from 1526-1600, throughout
Europe. This paralleled the rapid expansion
of industry, commodity production rose form
2-5 times what it had been before. Though
Summary of trade with other civilizations had begun, it
pages 45-49 was very limited, with most commodities
being traded between European states.
Banking became more prominent, the
Medici Bank of Florence in 1460 was
dethroned by Fugger company of Augsburg
in 1545 as the biggest Financial
establishment in Europe.
 • The merchant class had a lot of power, though
disproportionally to their size compared to the
general population of Europe at the time.
Merchant class was diverse in trade,
representing a change in the economic focuses
of many European nations at that time. The
Summary of merchant class made up the greatest consumer
 
Pages 50-53 of commodities, effecting many sectors of
European society as a result of that. Merchants
often acted as investors, brokers and bankers,
financing many monarchs and cities, leading to
greater development. Land, resources, political
power and wealth were all greatly effected and
controlled by this group of society.
Development of Industrial Capitalism
• What is Capitalism? • Commerce, trade, artisan, crafts
• And why is what developed in people, marketplaces,
this time period different from capitalists, etc.
what existed before? • The big difference is the shift in
the Means of production
Developing forms of industrial capitalists and capitalist industries

• The hereditary hold on the

means of production of the
masters of guilds
• The focusing of the means and
dependent Artisans in the hands
of specific merchants or bankers.
• And state capitalism made
possible by state capital and
power
 Landlords and tenants Tenants
● The so called owners:
controlled who could be on the lands but
often just sat and earned money whilst
others did the work
● Money: Landlords often just made their
money by renting out their estates and then
charging people for working and using them
to make money.
● Changes: Changes quickly did occur
though, as renting prices became lower
making them lose their high profits.
● Manager: tenants were looked at the
bosses of the farms where they worked.
● Payment and Debt: When the tenants
worked on the lands they would often pay a
specific amount of yearly income to their
landlords.
● Tenants and peasants: Often
the peasnts would be the ones working
whillets the Tenants chose what they should
do and who should work there often taking
peasants for hire.