Early modern Europe is the centuries between the middle ages and the early modern period. This period commenced roughly between the late 14th century and continued until the late 18th century. Europe before this time, was a culture; the way in which people lived in society to represent the natural world to give it meaning. Early modern Europe is a break down of the coherent civilization, gradually collapsing as a result of the spiritual and social world emerging, the intimate world becoming more of a formal process that the husband’s family would profit from, the beginning of the renaissance, reformation and the scientific revolution but most importantly enlightenment. Europe experienced a period of dramatic and enduring change, out which many features of the modern, western world emerged. This era witnessed the splendour of the Renaissance, religious feuds, the changes of the Social World, the Scientific Revolution, Reformation and the Enlightenment.
The Spiritual World edit
The Spiritual World the understanding of Christianity and their spiritual belief creates an apprehension of the structure of their society in Christian Europe before the reformations of religion in the 16th century. Their attitudes towards the sacred was that encounters of the ‘divine’ could occur at any moment and that god is not confined to heaven or church. The devil is thought to roam and appear in everyday society as well. This is ‘proved’ by diabolical events.
The fifteenth century church was a structured insititution with a power hierarchy. The highest position being the Pope, being the successor of the Apostle peter who was given special authority by Jesus. The cardinals followed the pope, being men chosen by the popes and were in charge of bishopric or diocese. Following the cardinals were the bishops who were in charge of middle management of the church and the administrative unit. The bishops were spilt into two sections, being secular and regular. The secular bishops were called parish priests and would interact with society. The regular bishops, however, were the monks, nuns and friars who were non-interactive and wanted more of a barrier from society's sins. The regular bishops took vows of chastity and obedience to the medieval church. Monks and nuns lived in communities with others, following a long regime of prayer and worship. Friars, however, took a more active part in the spiritual welfare of people in town. Medieval society, although felt that churchman had many advantages that regular society did not, they were still accepted and often honoured. This was because clergymen were essential to win salvation. This was entry into heaven after death.
The influence of the church in society was evident from birth until grave. People were expected to know prayers in latin such as Hail Mary and Our Father. Everyone was to attend church every Sunday and for major occasions. Mass and Penance were embedded into everyday life as the more time you gave to god, the less time you'd spend in purgatory. This was important as societal beliefs were that this life was meant for replenishing your soul and getting rid of your sins. People believed that the more you went to mass, the less time you'd spend in purgatory and you would find heaven faster. Another view that meant this was important was that medieval society were adamant that the world would end and no body wanted to be trapped in purgatory when this happened. Mass, costing money meant that the church made profit on these idea as the wealthy would go to mass everyday. This also meant that peasants and people with less money were going to have to spend more time in purgatory.
The Social World edit
The Social World is the process of people becoming more conscious of their self during Early Modern Europe. John Jeffries Martin, however, argues that during the renaissance the self only existed as a result of relationships. External relationships are the key to finding your self. The way people perceive you is the way in which you perceive your self. Martin states that you are merely a mirror of what others see.
Actions mattered, what you did in your life defined who you were (importance of ritual) and the permeability of the self is very important. If relationships are ruptured then there is a lack of self too. Michel de Montaigne, inventor of the essay', created the idea of the self as something that can be found and that one can go and find. He stated that writing his book allowed him to develop himself while trying to describe his self in his work. The self exists in relationships in the early modern period as circumstances define the self, which means there are multiple selves, each of which is defined by the relationships present within each moment.
Early modern Europeans saw the difference between men and women through the physical inferiority of females which then translated into social status through men’s superior social and cultural status. Honour is a social arbitration and is peer related based on societal expectations. Female honour is overwhelmingly tied to their sexuality. In society there is only one perfect form of the human body and that was the man's body.
Fire, air, water and earth were the ideas of maintenance of balance. Men are supposed to dominate by fire and air whereas women are dominated by water and earth. Age is also an influencing factor. Men are considered more rational, whereas women are more passionate. Men's social superiority is justified through their composition of higher power elements, which then reflected upon how a man and woman should act in early modern society. Women are seen as more sexually veracious than men. Male love is more important than female love (not a sexual relationship but through friendship). I think it is safe to say that, men were thought of as superior to women in every way and women were second class citizens.
The Intimate World edit
Europeans’ attitudes towards love, sexuality and marriage in society was sometimes surprising. In this period, love was alienated from Early Modern Europe and was substituted with money, power and status. Marriage was too important to be decided on something so fickle as emotions. Marriage was settled by a forma process called the ‘dowry’. This was the goods, money, status and estate that the woman would bring to the marriage. A virgin was seen as purity that they could stain and this was preferable. This negotiation was usually between the man and the woman’s father, with the higher status woman not having a say in who she marries. If the man agreed, the two would marry and the only way to get out of the marriage once wed would be to not consummate the marriage. This is where the woman could choose to not go through with the marriage. However, this was not always the case as rape inside wedlock wasn’t a topic during this period and it was quite common to forcibly consummate the marriage. This was not a society where people lived alone. The household was not a term for the nuclear family but contained the servants, and workers as well. Destitute would usually not marry, having nothing for others to gain from.
The Rape of the Sabine Woman (1581-83)started an uproar when Roman men lured Sabine Women and men to a festival and then forcefully assaulted these women. After this historic event,there were horrifyingly high rates of sexual violence leading to the liberal tolerance of sexual activities that don't require sexual intercourse. Brothels and prostitution was legalised not long after this.
The Scientific Revolution edit
The Scientific Revolution was based on new philosophers creating new ideas. New discoveries and ideas were being made every day by some of the best minds in history, including Nicholas Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton. The Scientific Revolution commenced arguably in 1543 with the publication of Nicolaus Copernicus's De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) and is often seen as the beginning of the scientific revolution. The revolution commenced during the end of the renaissance period and stayed through the 18th century. The scientific revolution was the integration of developments such as mathematics, physics, anatomy, biology, anatomy, chemistry into views of society and nature. They used inductive reasoning and rationalism, along with the scientific method.
The beginning of this particular revolution began in phases. The first was the recovery of ancient literature and lectures. This ended in 1632 as a result of Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems. The completion of the establishment of the Scientific Revolution was, however, "grand synthesis" of Isaac Newton's 1687, formulating the different laws of motion and gravity.
During the scientific revolution people also argued ideas on how the human mind thinks and develops. This period was called the Enlightenment. Some of the most important discoveries of early Modern Europe include scientific and enlightenment ideas. Nicholas Copernicus discovered that the universe is Earth-centered, and creating the foundation of today's universe, Galileo was a mathematician who explained in his book, the movement of Earth in the universe and Newton explored the universal law of gravitation and changed how the world was looked at swell. John Locke, during the enlightenment, argued that everyone was born with a blank mind and that experience broadened their mind. Although this couldn't be proven, Locke and Newtown had a huge impact on the seventeenth century. In 1974, war broke out over the Austrian line-up of the throne. The seven year war caused France to fall and Britain to become the world's most powerful colonial force.
Renaissance edit
The renaissance occurred because of a need for political legitimacy. The term Renaissance means "rebirth" and was driven by a creative tension between the real and ideal. This resurrection of innovation began in Italy approximately in the fourteenth century, though some die it back to Frederick II's reign because he was well spoken in languages and science and supported scholars. The renaissance involved the revival of classical literature and art but was the connection of this with "the genius of the Italian people which achieved the conquest of the Western World" (Burckhardt 1960,104).modernity was born in Renaissance Italy. The Renaissance was also a cultural movement in Italy during the medieval ages,spreading to the rest of Europe at the beginning of Early modern Europe. Humanists spread their version of ‘humanism’, deriving from Greek philosophy, with the view that man were able to do everything. The renaissance enabled the innovative blossoming of Latin literatures.
"The Italian Renaissance had placed human beings once more in the center of life's stage and infused thought and art with humanistic values." (History Of The Renaissance In Europe: A Rebirth, Renewal, Rediscovery, 2016). The Renaissance also witnessed the discovery and exploration of new continents, the decline of the feudal system and the growth of trade, and the invention of paper, printing, the mariner's compass, and gunpowder.
Reformation edit
The reformation was a rejection of the ideal of universal religion. The idea that there may be more than one acceptable religion emerges. Protestantism rises out of Martin Luther's rejection of the corruption of the catholic church which he sees as placing a facade over the real teachings of the bible. He talks about how the church became more about making a profit then following god. Luther ridiculed the church by saying people were trusting them to get them to heaven by paying the church and completing their rituals, rather than trusting in god to get them to heaven as the protestants believed. This was schism from the Roman Catholic Church with the support of early protestant advocates. This was the beginning of a new religion which divided European society in some aspects.
See also edit
- Renaissance
- Early Modern English
- Early Modern warfare
- Scientific Revolution
- Age of Discovery
- Protestant Reformation
- Catholic Counter-Reformation
- Thirty Years' War
- Age of Enlightenment
- Periodization
- Tokugawa period - the period of Japanese history often called "early modern".
References edit
"History Of The Renaissance In Europe: A Rebirth, Renewal, Rediscovery". 2016. History-World.Org. http://history-world.org/renaissance.htm.
Kümin, Beat A. The European World 1500-1800.
"Protestant Reformation". 2016. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_Reformation.
"Renaissance | European History". 2016. Encyclopedia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/event/Renaissance.
"Renaissance". 2016. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance.
Robert A., Hatch. 2016. "The Scientific Revolution - Definition - Concept - History". Users.Clas.Ufl.Edu. http://users.clas.ufl.edu/ufhatch/pages/03-Sci-Rev/SCI-REV-Teaching/03sr-definition-concept.htm.
"The Rape Of The Sabine Women". 2016. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rape_of_the_Sabine_Women.
"The Trial And Execution Of Charles I - History Learning Site". 2016. History Learning Site. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/stuart-england/the-trial-and-execution-of-charles-i/.
Translation in Leonard Barkan, Unearthing the Past: Archaeology and Aesthetics in the Making of Renaissance Culture (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999), p. 34.
"Women And Gender". 2010. Blog. Early-Modern Europe. http://early-moderneurope.blogspot.com.au/2008/10/women-and-gender.html.