Tradition and Change in Europe- 1500-1800

General trend: Enormous change in Europe while in the rest of the world traditional values, institutions, technologies remained largely intact.

Europe in the 14^th century

· Traditional limited monarchies, feudal vestiges

· traditional agriculture and land usage patterns

· traditional social structure, though some increase in trade, mercantile classes, and towns.

· Warfare- armored cavalry still dominant, though beginning to fade. Private armies, etc.

· Catholic church universal.

· Catholic religious learning, and classical science unquestioned.

· Religion and politics, church and state often meshed

· Ignorant of the rest of the world.

· Very low literacy rates.

· Printing just invented.

· largely traditional technologies.

· Waiting for the end

· Nature uncontrollable, and to a large extent unknowable.

Europe, 1500-1800

· Renaissance

· Exploration/Colonialism

· Trade

· Reformation

· New Monarchies/ reorganization of Eastern Europe

· Scientific Revolution/Enlightenment

· Agricultural advance

· Development of capitalism

Europe circa 1800

· Religion largely removed from political life.

· Catholic universalism ended. Great variety of Christian groups. Atheists and Deists, too.

· Some new technologies- ship building, roads, drainage, military. Early industrial, clocks.

· Traditional authorities challenged- discredited or relegated to narrow spheres of applicability.

· Massive increase in knowledge- faith in new knowledge

· Concept of human progress

· Confidence in human capabilities- esp. control over nature. – Modern science

· Much more literate society

· Immense increase in wealth.

· New economic practices and institutions- agricultural and commercial

· New style monarchies and states- nation states. More centralized, far greater ability to mobilize resources.