Figure 1.--
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Figure 1.-- |
Most historians defines the modern era as beginning in the 16th century. It was a time of unprecedented change compared to the glacial rate of change during the Medieval era. The 16th century followed on the Renaissance which had opened the eyes of Medieval Europeans. The Italian Renaissance w\had passed its prime and was now spreading north, reaching realatively isolated kingdoms like England. Columbus had completed his voyages opening the New World and the era of discoveries. These and other developments were to lead to a European intellectual, economic, and military expansion that was to create our modern world. There were changes in vurtually every aspect of life. Europeans begin to look and think like modern peoople, however, different the fashions may appeara at first glance. At the time the gold and silver that flowed into Spain from its American colonies were seen as the basis of national power. In the long run, the most significant item obtained by the Spanish in the Americas may have been the humble potato. Life was still hard, but along with cultural change came economic growth. Europe was more prosperous in the 16th century than at any time since the fall of Rome. This economic growth was apparent in the evolution from Medieval Feudalism to a nascent capitalist economy. The modern mechanisms of international commerce are forming including banks and other financial institutions, maritime trading fleets, and most importantly an entrepreneurial bourgeois class. Some of the great minds which launched Western science appaered in the 16th century. Their work was not only of enormous economic and cultural importance, but also trans formed warfare. The invention of gunpowder was not only of military impotance, but had a huge cultural and political impact. The Feudal system had divided Europe into a number of small principalities. Many were dominated by castles which enabled them in some cases to amass power to resist the king and national government. (It is no acciddent that two of the most important European royal families were founded by Feudal lords with string castles: the Hapsburgs and the Hollenzollerns.) Gunpowder along with the Renaissance and other factors meant the demise of the Feudal system in Europe, althoghh it continued to play a major role in Eastern Europe, especially Russia. The invention of the printing press and moveable type in the 15th century had by the 16th century fueld the intelectual ferment set in motion by the Renaissance. The books that appeared were often printed in the vernaular giving rise to modern versions of European languages and launching the nationalism that would eventually transform the face of Europe. Another outcome of that ferment was the Reformation begun when Martin Luthur posted his 95 Thesis on the Church door in Wittenberg. The Reformation along with the Renaisance transformed man's concept of himself and the universe. It also weakened the Catholic Church which had been the one unifying force much of Europe.
Most historians defines the modern era as beginning in the 16th century. It was a time of unprecedented change compared to the glacial rate of change during the Medieval era.
The 16th century followed on the Renaissance which had opened the eyes of Medieval Europeans. The Italian Renaissance had passed its prime and was now spreading north, reaching realatively isolated kingdoms like England. Columbus had completed his voyages opening the New World and the era of discoveries. These and other developments were to lead to a European intellectual, economic, and military expansion that was to create our modern world. There were changes in vurtually every aspect of life. Europeans begin to look and think like modern people, however, different the fashions may appeara at first glance.
Spain and Portugal with their famed Conquistadores carved out vast empires in the America. The Pope helped divude the world between the two countries to prevent war between the two Catholic nations. It was the Spanish with Cortez's defeat of the Aztecs (1519) and Pizarro's defeat of the Inca that created an empire of fabulous wealth and shipped back unprecedent amounts of gold and siver back to Spain. France began its imperial outreach with the voyages to North America of Jacques Cartier (1491-1557). English efforts to found colonies in North America failed. The English were more successful in preying on Spanish trasure fleets in the Caribbean
At the time the gold and silver that flowed into Spain from its American colonies were seen as the basis of national power. In the long run, the most significant item obtained by the Spanish in the Americas may have been the humble potato. Life was still hard, but along with cultural change came economic growth. Europe was more prosperous in the 16th century than at any time since the fall of Rome. This economic growth was apparent in the evolution from Medieval Feudalism to a nascent capitalist economy. The modern mechanisms of international commerce are forming including banks and other financial institutions, maritime trading fleets, and most importantly an entrepreneurial bourgeois class.
Some of the great minds which launched Western science appaered in the 16th century. Copernicus disputed the Church's view that the earth was the center of the universe. The Renaissance had sprung from Europe, but the Church's attack on men like Galileo shifted the advances in Science to the north which had hiterto been the backward area of Europe. Their work was not only of enormous economic and cultural importance, but also trans formed warfare. The invention of gunpowder was not only of military impotance, but had a huge cultural and political impact. The Feudal system had divided Europe into a number of small principalities. Many were dominated by castles which enabled them in some cases to amass power to resist the king and national government. (It is no accident that two of the most important European royal families were founded by Feudal lords with string castles: the Hapsburgs and the Hollenzollerns.) Gunpowder along with the Renaissance and other factors meant the demise of the Feudal system in Europe, althoghh it continued to play a major role in Eastern Europe, especially Russia. The invention of the printing press and moveable type in the 15th century had by the 16th century fueld the intelectual ferment set in motion by the Renaissance. The books that appeared were often printed in the vernaular giving rise to modern versions of European languages and launching the nationalism that would eventually transform the face of Europe.
Another outcome of that ferment was the Reformation begun when Martin Luthur (1483-1546) posted his 95 Thesis on the Church door in Wittenberg (1517). Luthur had no intention at the time in chhallenging the Church, he was a monk. His action, however, was in fact the launching of the Reformation. The Reformation along with the Renaisance transformed man's concept of himself and the universe. It also weakened the Catholic Church which had been the one unifying force much of Europe. It also set in motion some of the most destructive wars in European history. It was a Defender of the Faith, Henry VIII that set the Reformation in motion in England. His lesser known son Edward VI played a major role in the success of the Revolution.
English envy of the fabulous wealth produced by Spain's colonies caused Elizabeth I to secretly authorize English priveteers like Drake (the feared "El Drago"), Hawkins, and Raleigh to attack the Spanish treasure ships. This and the Reformation launched by Elizabeth's father Henry VIII caused Philip II to unleash the vast Great Armada on England. The resulting miracilous vistory of the small but better prepared English fleet was one of the great turming points of European history. With the destruction of the Armada began the decline of Spain as a great power and the beginning of the rise of England as the world's preeminent naval power.
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