Who was powerful in 1600's society?

Answer 1

It depends which society you are talking about.

In Europe, most definitely church and nobility.

"The 17th century was torn by witch-hunts and wars of religion and imperial conquest. Protestants and Catholics denounced each other as followers of Satan, and people could be imprisoned for attending the wrong church, or for not attending any. All publications, whether pamphlets or scholarly volumes, were subject to prior censorship by both church and state, often working hand in hand. Slavery was widely practiced, especially in the colonial plantations of the Western Hemisphere, and its cruelties frequently defended by leading religious figures. The despotism of monarchs exercising far greater powers than any medieval king was supported by the doctrine of the "divine right of kings," and scripture quoted to show that revolution was detested by God. Speakers of sedition or blasphemy quickly found themselves imprisoned, or even executed. Organizations which tried to challenge the twin authorities of church and state were banned. There had been plenty of intolerance and dogma to go around in the Middle Ages, but the emergence of the modern state made its tyranny much more efficient and powerful."

In the American colonies, it wasn't far off - even though they were so far removed from King and country. Replacing the nobility was the colonies' leadership, replacing the ecclesiastical splendor of Europe was the same hard-fisted parsons.

In the 1600s, China was a feudal state led by an Emperor. First under the Ming Dynasty, then the Qing Dynasty. Under feudalism, landowners or feudal lords, ruled over the terroritory.

In Japan, the Emperor, then shoguns, and warriors. Japan was also feudal, and local people looked to the daimyo - who would be the most powerful landowner in their region.

In Russia, power was ruled by the Czar and the aristrocracy. For most of the 1600s - that was the Romanov family. The Romanov family brought church and state even closer together.

In Africa, two of the main kingdoms were the Kalonga and Butua. The Portuguese and French were consistently trying to annex and dominate the area. Portugal in particular developed colonies in Africa, most likely dominated by whoever was in charge of the business venture on hand (captain of the ship, merchants, etc..). The Dutch founded Cape Town in South Africa, and the Dutch at home had quite different views on the extremism of upper class - lower class. At the time, they had a booming professional class.