ONE eee ES IN HISTORY HU | ti ‘EUROPE, 1598 — 1661 Quen Deakin Expansion, war and rebellion Europe, 1598-1661 Quentin Deakin 5] CAMBRIDGE G7) UNIVERSITY PRESS For my wife, Liz PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK http://www.cup.cam.ac.uk 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA _http://www.cup.org 10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia Ruiz de Alarcén 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain © Cambridge University Press 2000 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of rele- vant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place with- out the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2000 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge Text design by Newton Harris Design Partnership Typeface 10/2pt Minion System QuarkXPress* A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0521 58616X paperback 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