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‘EUROPE, 1598 — 1661
Quen Deakin
Expansion, war
and rebellion
Europe, 1598-1661
Quentin Deakin
5] CAMBRIDGE
G7) UNIVERSITY PRESS
For my wife, Liz
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© Cambridge University Press 2000
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The cover shows a painting of the Officials of the Company of Bowyers of St Sebastian
at Amsterdam, 1653 (oil on panel) by Bartolomeus van der Helst (1613-70), Louvre,
Paris, France / Peter Willi / Bridgeman Art Library.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Wien: p.122br; p.38; Philip IV of Spain (1605-65) c.1628, by Diego Rodriguez de
theartarchive/Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna: p.5, Silva y Velasquez (1599-1660), Prado, Madrid, Spain/BAL: p.78;
theartarchive/Prado Museum, Madrid: p.75, theartarchive/The by permission of the British Library: pp.11 r, 166 1 & r; Mary
British Library: p.135; Portrait of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), by Evans Picture Library: pp.118, 145 tl & bl, 161; by kind permission
Ottavio Mario Leoni (c.1578—1630), Biblioteca Marucelliana, of the Earl of Leicester and the Trustees of Holkham Estate: p.9 b;
Florence, Italy/Bridgeman Art Library: p.160; Aurora, 1613-14 Hulton Getty Picture Collection: pp.56, 144; National Gallery,
(fresco), by Guido Reni (1575-1642), Casino Pallavicini- London: pp.122 tr & bl; Roger-Viollet Agency Photographique:
Rospigliosi, Rome, Italy/BAL: p.121; Madonna of Loreto (1604-05), pp.9 t, 40, 55 t& b, 59, 145 1.
by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610), Chiesa di San
Agostino, Rome, Italy/BAL: p.122 tl, Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von We have been unable to trace the copyright holders of the
Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland and Mecklenburg, Prince of Sagan material on pages 11 J, 137,138, and would be grateful for any
(1583-1634), by Ludwig von Carolsfeld Scnorr (1764-1841), by information that would enable us to do so.
Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641)(after), Heeresgeschichtliches
Museum, Vienna, Austria/BAL: p.126; Portrait of Armand-Jean du
Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642), by Philippe de
Champaigne (1602-74), Louvre, Paris, France/Peter Willi/BAL: Picture Research by Sandie Huskinson-Rolfe of PHOTOSEEKERS
Contents
Introduction: was it all doom and gloom?
—_
I
The people divided
Overview
In what ways was their environment different from ours?
How far did ethnic differences create divisions?
How did social class, gender and age affect your chances?
WWNwW uh
What was the quality of life?
Powers and faiths
Overview
Which were the most powerful states?
Apart from emerging nation-states, what else commanded loyalty?
When and why did Christianity start to be divided?
France: Richelieu 33
Overview 34
Why did monarchs often rule through powerful favourites in this period? 38
What were Richelieu’s aims? 39
How far did Richelieu achieve his aims? 44
Historical sources 47
4 France: Mazarin 51
Overview 52
Why was Mazarin faced by rebellion? 52
Why were Mazarin and monarchy in France able to survive? 58
How far did the foreign policy of Richelieu and Mazarin extend the power
of France? 64
Historical sources 65
5 Revolt and decline in Spain: Lerma and Olivares 68
Overview 69
What were the problems of governing Spain? 69
How effective were Spain's kings and their ministers? 74
Historical sources 8]
Contents
6 The extent of decline in Spain 83
Overview 84
What were the problems of governing Spain in its period of deepest crisis? 84
Why were there economic problems? 86
How far did Spain remain a major power? 92
Historical sources Ob)
7 The economic and social foundation of the United Provinces 97
Overview 98
How did the Dutch take advantage of the decline of the Mediterranean economy? 100
What were the secrets of Holland’s success? 103
What was the impact of war on the Dutch economy? 106
Historical sources 107
8 Causes of the Thirty Years’ War 109
Overview 109
What were the effects of the Catholic revival in France, Spain, Austria and Bavaria? 111
How was the Holy Roman Empire caught up in the ambitions of the Bourbons
and Habsburgs? 114
Why did the Thirty Years’ War break out in 1618? 116
Historical sources 119
Picture case study 12]
9 The war and its consequences 124
Overview 124
What were the effects of foreign intervention? 125
Why could the Habsburgs not maintain their early successes? 130
What was the outcome of the Thirty Years’ War? 133
Historical sources 137
10 The European witch-hunt 142
Overview
142
Why was there a European witch-hunt in the first half of the seventeenth century? 143
Who were the accused and who the persecutors? 149
What are the different views taken by historians on this topic? 154
Historical sources
156
i
The scientific revolution — fact or fiction?
159
Overview
159
How did science change as a result of both the contribution of individuals and
broader developments in society?
160
What was the balance of continuity and change in biology and chemistry?
Why was less progress made than in physics? 164
Was there a ‘scientific revolution’ in this century?
168
Why have some historians preferred to describe developments as a scientific
movement rather than a ‘revolution’?
169
Historical sources
17]
Further reading
173
Index
175
iv. Contents
Introduction: was it all
doom and gloom?
Seventeenth-century Europe was a very different world from our own. The
landscape was emptier and greener. People and places smelt more pungent.
The climate was cooler; winters were more frequently long and hard. The
seventeenth-century English philosopher Hobbes said that for most people Thomas Hobbes
life was ‘nasty, brutish and short. For many, life was indeed hard and lacked (1588-1679) was an
English political
the comforts that most people take for granted three centuries later. Life
philosopher. He is best
became even harder for most Europeans during the period in question, and known for Leviathan
that was the cause of numerous revolts in the middle of the century. Making a (1651), a defence of
absolute sovereignty.
living, surviving even, was a difficult business. Caught up in wars, revolutions
and witch-hunts and living in an age of constant discovery, seventeenth-
century people lived in a hazardous but stimulating environment.
There were many wars in this period. The largest of them was the Thirty
Years’ War. This devastating conflict was fought out in central Europe but
involved almost all the great powers — France, Spain, Sweden, Denmark and
the United Provinces (see Map 1 on page 4). For this reason and because of The United Provinces
the complexity of some of the issues, the Thirty Years’ War is considered late in (1581-1795) were the
northern provinces of the
the book. War and witch-hunting were two of the darker sides of life in this
Netherlands; sometimes
period. inaccurately known as
Not all was doom and gloom. Holland was prospering. Dutch merchants Holland, the dominant
province.
and engineers helped to develop the rest of Europe. Progress was achieved
through economic development and overseas trade — a blueprint for Europe
in later centuries. For the Dutch war was often-involved too, but most of the
leading people in the United Provinces looked to conditions of peace to
achieve their goals. In most other states for most of the time the majority of
the leading politicians and heads of state saw war as the best way to advance
their interests. To think in the Dutch way was a refreshing novelty.
Science as we would recognise it today was also developing, not just in
Holland. Though the process was slow, superstitious beliefs were declining as
modern science developed. Between the limited scientific knowledge of the
Middle Ages and the boom in research of a more modern kind in the eight-
eenth century came the invention of the superstitious quasi-science of
demonology, which reached its climax in the first half of the seventeenth
Introduction: was it all doom and gloom? 1
century. Most scientists lived in cities and frequented universities. Most
Europeans lived in the countryside, where the pace of change was hardly
noticeable. It is to life as it was experienced by the rural masses that we shall
first turn.
2. Introduction: was it all doom and gloom?
The people divided
-Focus questions
@ In what ways was their environment different from ours?
@ How far did ethnic differences create divisions?
@ How did social class, gender and age affect your chances?
@ What was the quality of life?
Overview
Seventeenth-century Europe was sparsely populated; large towns and cities
were few and far apart. Life was hard for most people, linked to the seasons
and confined to the countryside. They survived in a climate that was colder
than today’s and were without modern comforts.
People were sharply divided in several ways. There were many ethnic
groups. Minorities were more often persecuted than appreciated for their
different qualities, though people from different ethnic backgrounds rubbed
shoulders with each other in many fields of activity, especially commerce and
the armed forces. The divides between rich and poor, and men and women,
were also very great. Life for many children, though, was not much different
from adult life. This was because poor families — most of the population —
needed the contribution of the whole family to survive. The poor became
poorer and more numerous in many parts of Europe in the first half of the
seventeenth century. Even some of the rich struggled to retain their position,
especially those who relied on rents paid to them by the poor. In between, the
middle classes were growing in importance.
Whether rich, poor or in between, ill-health, appalling medical care and an
inadequate diet affected everyone, though in different ways. There were
opportunities for fun and light relief from an arduous life, but for many
people low and declining standards of living ruled out any chance of lasting
improvement.
The people divided 3
In what ways was their environment different from ours?
It is easy to imagine that we know a great deal about seventeenth-century
Europe already. In reality, almost everything about the way people lived — even
the climate — was different.
Population distribution
Today, Europe’s population is over 500 million. At the end of the sixteenth
century it was a little over 70 million. Most Europeans lived in villages or
isolated farms. The most densely populated regions were the coastal areas of
France, north and west Italy, the west and south of Germany, Austria, the
southern Netherlands, south-east England and central Ireland. Scandinavia,
Spain and eastern Europe were very sparsely populated. The largest cities —
mainly outside the most populous regions — were Paris, London, Naples and
Which were the most Constantinople, each with about 200,000 inhabitants. People moved around
densely populated Europe more than might be imagined, though doing so was difficult because
regions of Europe? land communications were extremely poor. A galloping horse provided the
Which cities were the
fastest means of transport. Huge tracts of Europe were still densely forested
largest?
and ice cover in the high mountain passes added to the problems.
DAA
Land over 2000 metres
° Church and papal lands
major states
soon----- minor states
100 200 300 400 500 miles
POLAND
0 200 400 600 800km
BRANDENBURG-
PRUSSIA
RUSSIA
¢ SPANISH
NETHERLANDS
FRANCE
Map 1: The major states in the early seventeenth century.
4 — The people divided
