Age of Doubt In Europe in the 16th Century

In Europe, cultural movement throughout 1450-1750 brought many developments and shifts that were long lasting. Throughout this time period, many thoughts and ideas were questioned (including the church’s beliefs), and it ultimately led to radical changes that overall increased Europe’s foundation about the earth, religion, and science.

The plague had a lot of effects on society. One example is the Nobles, before the plague they were the rulers and they were rich. After the plague they had less power because there was less Nobles. Another example was the Peasants, before the plague they were poor and worked for the Nobles. After the plague they had gained a little bit of power because there weren’t as many Nobles. It also affected the population by 25 million people. The cities were crowded before the plague and after there weren’t many people some cities were even abandon. The food was even a problem before the plague because there wasn’t enough so the prices were high and the only people that could afford it was the Nobles. After words the prices went down because there was plenty of food but not enough people.

Prior to the 14th century, the Crusades were dominating the political system of Europe. However, the new era paved the way for a new political conflict, the Hundred Year War (1337-1453). At the center of every war is always the dispute over territories, and it was no different in the Hundred Years War. The conflict over territories was based on who held the legitimate rights to the French throne. Unfortunately solving the conflict was difficult because of medieval legality which stated that one king could be the vassal of another king if the first inherited land outside his own kingdom.

When the plague was on its way into Europe, the society’s response was not good, and that directly affected the economy.

Fear of the plague stunted the European economies growth. However, it did eventually bring a rise in the middle class due to a higher

A major impact for this period of time was the “Black Plague” or also called Black Death. This Phenomena was a bubonic plague that wiped out 1/3 of Europe’s population. The plague was considered one of the deadliest pandemics in the history of humankind. 75 million people around the world lost their lives to this plague noting the biggest number of people being located in Europe. The “Black Plague” played a major role in the economic history of the Western Civilization due to so many people dying, Europe was declining rapidly. There were shortages of labor providing a fertile ground for economic diversification and innovation in technology. There was famine and pestilence, which would eventually lead to the capital accumulation intensification in the urban areas, stimulating the growth of trade and industry.

When the plague was consuming most of the European population, priests, monks, and nuns cared for any who had the plague. They also took the responsibility to bury the dead. This caused the population of the clergy to suffer, showing that all of society was affected by the plague, whether it was caring for others, or suffering themselves. The economy was also affected. Before the plague started to spread, most of Europe was experiencing the affect of overpopulation. With overpopulation came the need for food, land, and anything else needed for survival. When the plague hit Europe, the population naturally decreased meaning labor did as well. This caused the price of most all foods went up, yet also caused wages to go up as well, bringing in

This also caused a slash in costs of livestock, crops, caused inflation. The amount of people that died due to the plague took away our economic workforce. Some wages increased because the workers can take advantage of the low workforce. It was bad for the economy.

Before the Black Death, Europe was already facing difficulties with the growing population. Due to the

By the end of the 18th century it became the most important part of a peasant's diet in several countries. It is also the main reason European farmers were able to feed the increase in population that began in the late 1700s. Another huge impact during this time was the growth of capitalism. Capitalism is an economic system based on private ownership and the investment of resources for profit. This made it so governments were no longer the only owners of great wealth. Due to colonization and trade overseas many merchants obtained great wealth. Merchants continued to invest money in more overseas exploration. As a result businesses across Europe flourished. This increase in economic activity led to the increase in many nation’s money supply. This in turn caused inflation. Inflation occurs when people have more money to spend, which increases the demands for goods and services. Once goods become more scarce their prices rise. Many countries during the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries

The leading minds of science and literature were playing right into the hands of the common man at the most opportune time in history. The blind trust in religion was beginning to fade and the papal order was beginning to be shrouded in skepticism. Unquestioningly taking someone else’s word for what was true and acceptable was a thing of the past. The average individual was beginning to doubt the existence of an all-powerful God and turn his or her attention inward. The landscape of Europe and the world would forever be changed by these new revolutionary ideas and go on to influence the crusaders of the American and French Revolution.

To gain perspective on the level of economic change in England, it is important to note and understand the population trends, as it had a directly impacted all aspects of change in regards to the economic effects of the Black Plague. In simple terms, the number of people had a direct impact on the most basic categories of the economy: production and consumption. An expanding population is only possible if it has the economic resources to support it. It seems the Black Death’s impact on population levels actually created a silver lining based on the “Malthusian Theory” where English scholar Thomas Malthus claims, “[t]hat the superior power of population is repressed, and the actual population kept equal to the means of subsistence, by misery and vice.” As England was experiencing overpopulation, there was not enough agricultural production to support the masses, but as the force of the Black Death swept in and decimated the population, it left England with abundance of land and less people to support, resulting in a balance between agricultural productivity and consumption. Although the Black Plague created shock, panic and fear for a few years, this alteration in population left survivors with an optimistic outlook

Religion in the Middle Ages takes on a character all of its own as it is lived out differently in the lives of medieval men and women spanning from ordinary laity to vehement devotees. Though it is difficult to identify what the average faith consists of in the Middle Ages, the life told of a radical devotee in The Book of Margery Kempe provides insight to the highly intense version of medieval paths of approaching Christ. Another medieval religious text, The Cloud of Unknowing, provides a record of approaching the same Christ. I will explore the consistencies and inconsistencies of both ways to approach Christ and religious fulfillment during the Middle Ages combined with the motivations to do so on the basis of both texts.

Daniel Rogers’s discourse on the political, commercial and religious environment of Denmark-Norway, Jean Hotman’s musings on the ideal diplomat and Francois Dubois’s representation of the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre appear disparate and unrelated; however, their wider significance as a vignette of the evolving diplomatic and religious landscape of Western Europe in the latter half of the sixteenth century is extremely noteworthy.

The “Age of Anxiety” is a brief description of what life was like in the years 1450-1750, an age of overflowing anxieties that lead to a violent release through widespread witch hunts. As a result of the anxiety in Europe, the persecution and torture of men and women accused of witchcraft occurred over this 300-year span. It all started with building anxieties in Europe over events such as the 1525 Peasants War and the 1618 Thirty Years War over religion, which caused unease and worry. This anxiety also appeared in the form of religious change between protestant and catholic along with the emergence of the inquisition which created the fear and paranoia of the devil who preyed on the weak and wanton, who were often seen to be the women in society.