The Transformation of the West

1. The Transformation of the West 1450-1750

2. The Italian Renaissance • 14th/15th Century artistic movement which challenged medieval intellectual values and styles • Writers such as Petrarch and Boccaccio stress secular subjects such as love and pride

3. Renaissance Art

4. Renaissance Art

5. The Italian Renaissance • Painting: • Realism, classical, and human centered themes • Religion is on the decline! • Machiavelli: Political discourse • Humanism: focus on humankind as the center of intellectual and artistic life

6. The Northern Renaissance • After invasions from France and Spain, the renaissance moved North • Centered in France and England • A more religious renaissance than the Italian • Blended secular interests with Christian devotion

7. The Northern Renaissance • England: Shakespeare • Spain: Cervantes • France: Francis I becomes a patron of the arts • Kings were still confined by the old feudal order

8. The Protestant Reformation • 1517: Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses in Wittenburg • Protestantism pushed for state control of the church, rather than papal authority • Protestantism was attractive to ordinary people as well

9. The Protestant Reformation • Henry VIII sets up the Anglican church(England) • Calvinism: The idea of Predestination, eventually makes its way to the New World • Catholic Reformation is launched to counter Luther’s attacks

10. The Religious Wars • France: Edict of Nantes in 1598 grants religious toleration to Protestants • Thirty Years’ War: 1618, German Protestants against Catholic Holy Roman Emperor • 1648: Treaty of Westphalia grants territorial tolerance

11. English Civil War • Parliament claims right of control over Absolute monarchy • Charles I is beheaded • Oliver Cromwell becomes “Lord Protector” (not King)

12. The Commercial Revolution • Colonial Markets stimulate manufacturing • Proletariat: Growing class of people without access to wealth producing property • Manufacturers and Laborers • Throughout the 1600’s popular protests were waged to help gain political rights for peasants

13. The Scientific Revolution • Copernicus (or whomever) figures out that the earth revolved around the sun • Galileo publishes Copernicus’ works, and adds laws of gravity etc. • Harvey demonstrates movement of blood in animals (heart) • Descartes: skeptical review of all received wisdom

14. Absolutism and Parliamentary Monarchies • The Feudal Monarchy becomes undone in the late 17th Century • French kings slowly built up power throughout the 17th Century, crushing nobles power…

15. France and Louis XIV • Louis XIV • Absolute Monarch • “I am the State” • Patron of the Arts • Palace at Versailles • Tariffs were set high and colonies were sought for raw materials and markets

16. Other Absolute Monarchies • Spain: Philip II • Prussia (Germany) • Strong army and bureaucracy • State sponsored school system • Austria-Hungary: Habsburg Rulers

17. Britain (the different one) and the Netherlands • Emphasized role of central state, but encouraged parliamentary regimes where king shares power with representatives • 1688: Glorious Revolution finally puts Parliament in the driver’s seat!

18. Growing Political Ideologies • John Locke (and others) • Power to rule comes from the people (not from a divine right) • Kings should be restrained to that which operates only towards the public interest • Rights to freedom, property • Revolution could be justified to oppose unjust rule

19. Absolute Monarchies and Parliamentary Monarchies • Nation-States rule people who share a common culture, and language (unlike former Empires). • Nation-States begin to take on additional welfare-like functions (even though those that need it aren’t represented)