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Summary History of Early Modern Societies
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Summary of History of Early Modern Societies (CH1103) 1st year course IBH Erasmus University Rotterdam
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History of Early modern Societies Exam SummaryWEEK 1
TUTORIAL 1:
Goldstone and the two models of modernization
1. Functionalists framework of modernization
2. Marxist framework of modernization
Functionalist theory of modernization
- What is it? What is premodern according to this theory, and what is modern?
- Why does goldstone criticize this view of modernization? Or rather, why does he think that
this view of modernization is difficult to apply to the ‘early modern world’? Goldstone’s
major critique:
o Almost no society in the rough period 1450-1750 has all three of these elements, and
most societies do not have any of them
Religion – most societies still religious by 1750
Mass production – only takes off from 1750, and then only England
Government – most political systems exert arbitrary power well into the 18 th
and 19th centuries
Max Weber – ‘rationalist’ theory of progress/development
Market economies democratization
Bureaucratization science
State formation technology
Religious disenchantment secularization
early modern developments individualism
modernity
Pre-modern
1) Religion is an inescapable and uniform discipline, people actively believe in spirits and
miracles
2) Consumer goods are produced by craft production in households powered and lit by muscle,
water, wood, dung, or tallow and transportation is powered by wind or animal power
3) Government is accepted as sanctified by immemorial tradition
Modern
1) Religion is a lifestyle choice and science has supplanted believe in active spirits and miracles
2) Consumer goods are produced by mass production facilities powered and lit by fossil fuels
and/or electricity and transport is powered by engines
3) Government is designed by men to meet their perceived needs.
Marxist theory of modernization
Questions to address:
- Marx has a particular definition of what he thinks we should study if we want to understand
societal change. What do we need to study according to Marx? class struggles and some
form of economic component (production related), how people relate to the modes of
production.
- What should we consider the start and end point of the early modern period of we follow the
line of thinking of Marx? The end/changing feudalism is the start, and the end of the early
modern period is considered in relation with capitalism.
, - What are some of the problems of using a strictly Marxist analysis for defining the early
modern period?
Feudalism: hierarchal system based on land power and coercion.
Places changes in ‘modes of production’ at the heart of modernization theory (transition from
feudalism to capitalist industrialization)
1. Move from medieval period to early modern period defined disappearance of
serfdom/feudalism, emergence of merchant capitalism, emergence of market economy
2. Move from early modern period
Critique goldstone:
1. Almost every society had forms of market exchange
a. Lists a number of examples: from 18 th century japan to 13th century song China, and
even cites Assyrian merchants in Anatolia
2. Not all societies and the same tradition of feudalism – and its meaning is very different across
societies.
a. For example, the lord of the manor with his serf is very different from the concept of
serfdom seen in 19th century Russia.
Goldstone in a nutshell
Disagrees with the Functionalist Model = situation where no society can be called early modern
Disagrees with the Marxist model = situation where too many societies can be called early modern –
including societies going back into ancient history and beyond
“In other words, “early modern” can mean almost nothing, or almost everything, and as such, is a
wholly meaningless term”. P. 261.
Questions:
1. If we can’t call the early modern period the early modern period, then what can we call it?
Does Goldstone give us an example? The age of AOS (advanced organic societies), a
period where most countries were led by advanced societies except for parts of Africa. These
are societies that have some advancements like governmental institutions but still get their
energy from animals and organic resources.
2. When does the transition to ‘real modernity’ happen according to Goldstone?
a. The example of the Dutch Republic
b. The notion that places such as early Qing China and Tokugawa Japan were as
developed – if not more developed – than Western Europe before English
industrialization
Definitions (based on key terms taken from Goldstone article)
1. Industrial revolution
2. Teleological
3. Proletarianization
4. Feudalism
5. Mode of production
6. Advanced organic society
7. Marxist
8. Eurocentric
9. Rationalist
Take away points from last tutorial:
1. Goldstone suggests that our view of early modern defined by two models: functionalist and
Marxist
2. Goldstone suggests that if we apply these models, the term early modern becomes unfit for
purpose
, 3. Goldstone believes that Western Europe was not necessarily ‘more advanced’ than other parts
of the world in 16th, 17th, and early 18th centuries
4. Goldstone believes that modernity happened late and suddenly – and that the Industrial
revolution has little connection with the early modern period
TUTORIAL 2:
McKay, A History of Western Society, Chapter 11 (The Later Middle Ages, 1300-1450) 322-352
1) How did climate change shape the late Middle Ages? What social
consequences did it have in Europe?
The climate turned colder and wetter, leading to poor harvests and famine. People were more
susceptible to disease and the Black Death. Price wages went up on grain, livestock and dairy products
leading to fewer people able to afford food. Workers had less energy, which meant lower productivity,
lower output and higher grain prices.
The social consequences were the abandonment of homesteads. The population declined because of
the deaths caused by famine and disease. The poor and starving people focused their anger on the rich,
speculators, and the Jews. The international character of trade and commerce meant that a disaster in
one country had serious implications elsewhere.
Great Famine = 1315-1322
Black Death = 1347
2) How did the plague reshape European society? Why has it been
argued that the immediate economic impact of the Black Death on
Europe was less disastrous than previously thought?
European merchants, due to the improvements in ship design, were able to ship continually at sea.
They also carried vermin of all types.
Economic effects: the dramatic drop in population allowed less fertile land to be abandoned more
specialized types of agriculture.
General European inflation: high mortality produced a fall in production, shortages of goods, and a
general rise in prices continued to the end of the 14 th century. Labor shortages resulting from the
high mortality caused by the plague meant that workers could demand better wages, and the broad
mass of people who survived enjoyed a higher standard of living. greater demand for labor also
meant greater mobility for peasants in rural areas and for artisans in towns and cities.
Religious effects: people were saddened by the loss of their loved ones people sought release. They
interpreted it as the result of an evil within themselves. Best remedies were religious ones.
(flagellants: people who believed that the plague was God’s punishment for sin and sought to do
penance by whipping themselves)
Murder of thousands of Jews Christians thought that killing Jews would prevent the plague from
spreading to their town as many people believed that the Jews had poisoned the wells of Christian
communities and thereby infected the drinking water).
Social effects: the foundation of new colleges and universities. The shortage of priests and the decay
of learning as the reasons for their establishment, weakened the international character of medieval
culture, paving the way for schism.
3) What were the causes, course, and consequences of the Hundred
Years’ War?
Causes:
- disagreements over rights to land
- a dispute over the succession to the French throne
- Economic conflicts
, Political cause: the disagreement over who would inherit the French throne after Charles IV of France,
the last surviving son of Philip the Fair.
One reason the war lasted so long was that it became a French civil war, with some French nobles,
most importantly the dukes of Burgundy, supporting English monarchs in order to thwart the
centralizing goals of the French kings.
The governments of both England and France manipulated public opinion to support the war.
Economic cause: the wool trade between England and Flanders served as the cornerstone of both
countries’ economies; they were closely interdependent.
Course:
Edward III took over the throne and was determined that England and his royal court would be a
shining example of culture to all Christendom. He led his nobility to war and crashed the Scots in
battle.
For centuries the French and English royal dynasties had fought over land in France.
Eleanor of Aquitaine, who married Henry II brought more French land to the crown.
Confiscation (in 1337 Edward the III was confiscated of his land of Gascony by Philip) was a threat to
English merchants. They had 2 great sources of wealth
1. The wine trade with Gascony (Gascon merchants and English hated the idea of losing wine
trade with England)
2. Wool trade with the country of Flanders in modern-day Belgium textile industry was by far
the biggest industry in medieval Europe other than agriculture.
the Count of Flanders was a subject of the French King and now King Philip told Flanders they
could no longer trade with the English. Without English wool, their industry would die, and people
would starve.
People gathered and a young powerful man stepped forward King Edward the Third (wrongfully
banned from his lands in France and he would reclaim his rights and was claiming the throne of
France)
War:
English side: trade, the English role in Christendom, King’s lands in France (held by right for a 150
years), and the reputation and honor of the King.
French side: a unified country, national prestige, and the right of their monarch to his throne
Consequences:
The war made England virtually bankrupt and left the victorious French Crown in total control
of all of France except Calais.
Divisions were created within the nobilities of both countries which had repercussions for who
became the next ruling monarch.
Trade was badly affected, and peasants were incessantly taxed, which caused several major
rebellions
Positive effect: the creation of more competent and regularized tax offices and the trend
towards more professional diplomacy in international relations.
Forging a much greater sense of nationhood
- Defeat in battle and heavy taxation contributed to widespread dissatisfaction and aggravated
peasant grievances.
- The government in England attempted to finance the war by raising taxes on the wool crop,
which priced wool out of the export market.
- Social order was disrupted as the knights who ordinarily served as sheriffs, justices etc. were
abroad.
- War stimulated technological experimentation, especially with artillery.
- Stimulated the development of English Parliament representative assemblies (deliberative
meetings of lords and wealthy urban residents that flourished in many European countries
between 1250-1450). This system did not work in France as linguistic, geographical,
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