Old Stuff

Old Stuff

1450 to 1750
Many merchants and bankers came to be in Europe when the black death went away
Every one stopped caring just about the after life and began to live their life instead of wait till they will die
Painters started to created paintings with a technique called realism, instead of having stiff flat faces for paintings
When people printed books it took a very long time, and they could do it in only latin, so most people didn't read it or couldn't
After the printing press was invented books poured out of them, their was such a high demand people started to make their own
Most of the first books were about politics and were focused on the lives of normal people
Many thought in the renaissance period if the pope blessed your kingdom and reign then you gained more power
The church sold little pieces of paper that people thought would get to heaven faster when they died
People started to resent the church after that because they were taking all of the money in the towns to make churches
A man named Martin Luther was very frustrated with the church because they were selling salvation for profit
He told people that they didn't need the church to get right with god and get salvation
They could ask him their self, instead of being dependent on the church
People who listened to Luther started to call themselves Lutherans
There is a time period called the catholic reformation which was a time when the catholic church gained some of it's power back and some of it's supporters
By the 17th century almost all of Southern Europe was Catholic again and some of Germany and France
As universities grew people started look at the world around and started to ask questions
Galileo was one of the first, and began to prove that the Earth was not the center of the universe
The catholic put him on trial and put him under house arrest
Copernicus, Galileo, Bacon, Newton, all proved through many years of work and patience the scientific method
They also made many scientific inquires
This eventually led to the industrial revolution
A time called the Enlightenment was when people started to work more on government and people in relation to the government
In the renaissance period Monarchs told people told them that God given them power on purpose so that the peasants had to obey them
People wrote books on how the government should be, and how it could help the people instead of going against them
Portugal began to discover other parts of the world because it had good relations with the Muslim countries in Africa
The royal family supported exploration which helped fund the exploration teams
Portugal and Spain made a treaty for how much land of North america they would each have
Many started to travel because of the inventions of the time helped them build better ships so that the could sail farther
When the Spaniards came they almost completely destroyed the Aztecs, they went form 20 million people to 2 million in only 50 years
They still had African American slaves back then who worked for the people of the “New Spain” and they were at the bottom of the social ladder
The slaves, when they had children, would be put into slavery when they were old enough and so were their children
The trade routes expanded because all the supplies needed to get to the America's
Since Europe was sending over so many resources they needed money to counter-act it so they started to put a tax on the supplies they brought over to the America's
Asia had not been colonized like the rest of the Europe was until the 18th century
The Dutch, envious of Portugal's trade with Asia and all of the spices that it was gaining from it, attacked their ships getting much from it
China and Japan kept away from the rest of the world for quite some time, deciding to keep to themselves
Men/Women with power guarded the scientific discovery that they made so that no one would take the credit of their discovery
Peasants did not do anything to help the scientific research because they did not have enough money to get any supplies
Spain at the time was the world's largest and most powerful nation
Portugal gained much of Africa, Indian ocean, and the Spice islands. but England and dutch nay ships took them with their stronger ships
The Spanish King could not control the great Empire that he had so he gave it to the two of his son's
Spain made much wealth but spent it on wars, and missionary activities, and it navy fleet, so in the end they did not have a lot of wealth
England did not have a male Heir to get the throne after the King died but they had a daughter instead who's name was Elizabeth
Colonization began in the New world after she took over
Charles I signed a document that said he would lower taxes and such but when he got the funds he didn't have another meeting for parliament
England signed another paper later that said that the next monarchs would have limited power and that they would be Anglican
France started to unify after the hundred year's war but then civil unrest caused fighting but then was stopped by the signing of the Edict of Nantes
The French King started to criticize the Catholic Roman Empire so that France would gain more power and they would not be so weak
Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes which made people leave to the New world
England and the German tribes united against France and Spain so they would not gain any more power and wipe them off the face of the earth
The Holy Roman Empire was very weak so the other ruling countries started to think of getting rid of it
Fighting erupted in the Germany areas and millions of people lost their lives in the fighting between the European countries
France, after the fighting became a super power once more after it got out of it's weakened state
Russia gained back their country from Mongols and their country became much larger
The Russian emperors killed each other for who would get the throne and finally a Romanov man came to the throne and the stayed their for 300 years
European came to Russia so that it would be more Westernized, scientists, engineers, architects, and artists came to Russia
The Ottoman Empire came up after the Mongols were destroyed, and they came to challenge the Byzantine Empire for power
In the Ottoman Empire Christians were persecuted and their children were put into their army at a young age and made into warriors
But the Ottoman empire never got farther than Austria, then they were held by the Byzantine Empire, but they stayed until 1922
India changed how women were treated so that they were not meant to jump onto their husband's body when it was burned when he died
Hindus and Muslims lived together but it was unsettling and soon Muslims destroyed Hindu temples and and the Hindus started to organize against the Muslims
Many strong states sprung up because of Africa's amazing wealth and they became strong very quickly
Portugal invaded part's of Africa but they could not stop it for very long because of their great power
China got rid of the Mongols and made a strong navy and went to Africa but they didn't go farther, if they had they would have gained much power
China made silver coins instead of paper money they got from Portugal but with so much silver it led to inflation in Chinese markets
They held off the Europeans but there was civil unrest and the ruling emperor brought in warriors to stop it, but they booted him out and they took over instead
In Japan Christian missionaries had come from America, so most of Japan became Christians and it began to become Westernized
But then 50 years later it all changed
Japan did not want anything to do with the rest of the world, so when Portuguese people came to negotiate they were executed immediately
Japanese people though stayed Buddhist and Shinto even though there was Western influence nearby in China
Martin Luther was one of the most important people of his age, he showed everybody in Europe that the Catholic church was not what everyone thought it was. Because of what he did he founded an entirely new set of people called Lutherans. But he could still not keep people from becoming Catholic so he did not entirely stop them. Another was Galileo who gave the world information about the galaxy that no one knew about, he showed that the world was not flat like every one thought it was and had 100 years before. He was tried by the Catholic church who sought to tell everyone that he was wrong instead of fueling more ideas for the universe and as they said more “crazies” would do what he did. A significant event in history was when the printing press was invented, it helped so that books did not take as long to make and the church was not the only place that had books. When the spanish destroyed the Aztecs it began a time when the Aztecs, the Maya, and the inca no longer controlled Mexico. Men with guns and greed for gold would take over their land and call their own and destroy anyone in their way. Japan had the idea if they stayed away from the outside world then the ideas would not get to them and corrupt the ways they had been doing things for hundreds of years. A them of the time was that if people bought little pieces of paper form the church then they would be able to get into heaven easier. It relates to the period before it because they still thought the church as the greatest thing that had happened in the history of man, the catholic church anyway. What did they do for fun? What were the schools like? What did the soldiers at the time do for training?