How did Europe 1400-1750 contrast with medieval Europe?

Answer 1

Europe from 1400-1750 is considered Late Renaissance and Early Modern Europe. Differences to be noted occurred on the political, religious, intellectual, social and technological scales.

Politically, Europe saw a shift from "Christendom" to "Christendoms." Absolutism is the key, the authority in an area was transferred away from feudal lords to a single Monarch. The church lost much of its hold on Europe. This is especially true in Lutheran Germany, where the religion of the state was equivalent to that of the prince who was in power. Sovereignty is also determined to be derived from the people. The works of Thomas Hobbes and others during this period changes the divine right theory of the 14th century to a quasi-popular sovereignty covered in Hobbes' Leviathan.

With respect to religion, the "Great Schism" occurred just before 1400 and is well regarded as one of the causes of decline of the Middle Ages, specifically the Papacy's power over Europe. Martin Luther and John Calvin led the Protestant Reformation movement in Europe that converted many people away from the Catholic Church. The idea of Predestination comes up at this point, specifically with Calvin. Luther's ideas, however, were the true reform in Europe. Sola Fide (faith alone), sola gratia (grace alone), and sola scriptura (scripture alone) were the paths to salvation and did not require the involvement that was being asked by the Catholic Church. This attracted many Europeans and eventually the Bible was translated for all groups of Europe. This made "the word" more accessible and removed the authority of the Papacy. The Church of England was also created by a falling out between Henry VIII of England and the Pope at the time.

Intellectual thought during the Renaissance was centered on "humanism" and later moves towards "reason" during the Enlightenment. The Renaissance was a backward looking movement towards the classical ideas of ancient Greece and Rome. Glorified were depictions of ancients like Plato and Aristotle, such as Raphael's School of Athens, in which Aristotle holds a book and gestures towards the humans viewing the painting in response to Plato's gesture towards the heavens, representing the "Divinity of Man" to quote another Renaissance philosopher Pico della Mirandola. This shift shows a radically optimistic view of man in which man is a dynamic being vice the static predetermined being of Luther and Calvin, redefining the relationship between man and sovereign.

In 1400 Europe was still highly Feudalistic, by 1750 however, the middle class was on the rise and optimism takes over. While the Enlightenment wasn't necessarily "anti-church" it takes much of its philosophy from the disability to prove there is a god. Post-Scientific Revolution thinkers like Immanuel Kant begin to theorize about reason and its effect on mankind. Essentially, the key is that man is unable to reason appropriately or everyday functions would be impossible. After the Renaissance ends and the Enlightenment period takes over there is a visible shift in Europe towards progress. Focus shifts first towards the individual, then to the community and finally to the state as a whole. The reform of the period, centered around its progressive ideology, was focused on government and labor reforms first. The mercantile class dominates the period and its reform agenda, while philosophers like Kant begin to focus on individuals focusing autonomously.

Technologically, advances in the military are extremely noticeable. Clearly, the Middle Ages were dominated by the crossbow, pikeman and special units like the English longbow. Emphasis shifts from the knights of the feudal period to heavy infantry and later to firing lines of the newly discovered musketmen. Muskets are an interesting invention to follow in this period because initially they were ineffective because of their long reload time, however, when the socket bayonet replaces the plugs that were originally invented and the muskets can serve as a pike when not being fired. By phasing out the pikeman, musketmen were becoming more effective, but it was not until the Dutch began using "counter-march" firing (in which lines would retreat to the rear to reload and wait in line to fire again) that muskets became the ideal weapon of the period. When bonds were first conceived in the early period of Consolidation (1660) finance enabled naval expansion. Countries like England and France were better equipped to take up the task because of their large forested areas and amount of manpower. Sea power, specifically power projection from the sea, is the new philosophy of countries such as these. Using large fleets to demonstrate superiority, European nations dominated the foreign policy scene. The Battle of Lepanto, in which a fleet of the Holy League (Spain, the Papacy and Italian City-States) defeated the Ottoman fleet. The Holy fleet was made up of sailing ships, while the Ottomans were still using galleys. This battle is generally regarded as the end of galley warfare.