HISTORY OF EUROPE 1453-1789

B.A.(History) – Second Year

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Paper Code : BAHS1925

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PONDICHERRY UNIVERSITY
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(A Central University)
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DIRECTORATE OF DISTANCE EDUCATION

R.V. Nagar, Kalapet, Puducherry – 605 014
Advisory Committee Academic Support Committee
1. Prof. Gurmeet Singh 1. Dr. A. Punitha
Vice-Chancellor, Asst. Professor, DDE
Pondicherry University Pondicherry University

2. Prof. Rajeev Jain 2. Dr V. Umasri

OSD, C&CR, Asst. Professor, DDE
Pondicherry University Pondicherry University

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3. Dr. Arvind Gupta 3. Dr. Sk. Md. Nizamuddin

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Director, Asst. Professor, DDE

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Directorate of Distance Education Pondicherry University
Pondicherry University

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Review Committee Administrative Support

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1. Dr. N. Chandramouli 1. Dr. A. Saravanan
Professor, Deputy Registrar,

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Dept. of History Directorate of Distance Education
Pondicherry University Pondicherry University
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2. Dr V. Umasri
Asst. Professor, DDE
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Pondicherry University

Course Writer
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Dr. Paokholal Haokip

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Assistant Professor,
Dept. of History
Pondicherry University
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Copyright
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This book may not be duplicated in any way without the written consent of the Pondicherry
University except in the form of brief excerpts or quotations for the purpose of review.
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The information contained herein is for the personal use of the DDE students, Pondicherry
University and may not be incorporated in any commercial programs, other books, databases
or any kind of software without the written consent of the author. Making copies of this book or
any portion, for any purpose other than your own is a violation of copyright laws. The author
has used their best efforts in preparing this book and believes that the content is reliable and
correct to the best of their knowledge.
BA II Year Paper Code: BAHS 1925

HISTORY OF EUROPE 1453 –1789 C.E

Unit - I

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Fall of Constantinople; Reneassiance

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Unit - II

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Reformation–Counter Reformation- Ignatius Loyola

Unit - III

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Geographical Discoveries, Europe and the Wider World

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Unit - IV

Rise of Nation States, Enlightened Despotism, Revolutions: Glorious

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Revolution 1688, Industrial Revolution and Factory System

Unit - V
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Louis XVI and Europe on the Eve of French Revolution

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 References:

B.K. Gokhale, Introduction to Western Civilization.

B.V. Rao,World History.
Brendan Simms, Europe: The Struggle for Supremacy from 1453 to the
Present
David Maland, Europe in the 17th Century.

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Durant, Will, The Story of Civilization, Vol.5,The Renaissance. New York:
Simon and Schuster, 1953.

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Durant, Will, The Story of Civilization, Vol.6,The Reformation. New York:

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Simon and Schuster, 1957.
Hasen Charles Downer, History of World Civilzation.

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Hayaes C.H, Modern Europe to 1870.

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Kagan, Donald, Steven E. Ozment , Frank M. [Link] Heritage
since 1300, New York, 2007.

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Ketelbey, C. D. M., A Sort History of Modern Europe, Delhi: Surjeet,
2000.
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[Link], A Study of European History 1453-1815
Southgate, A Text book of Modern European History
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[Link] org [Link] interactives/

renaissance/ [Link]
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http:// [Link]/ tserve/nattrans/ntecoindian/ essays/

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[Link]
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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

UNIT TITLE PAGE NO.

Lesson 1.1 - Fall of Constantinople 1

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Lesson 1.2 - Renaissance 20

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2 Lesson 2.1 - Reformation 53

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Lesson 3.1 - Geographical Discoveries, 75
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Lesson 3.2 - Europe and the Wider World 106

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4 Lesson 4.1 - Rise of Nation States, 121
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5 Lesson 5.1 - Louis XVI And Europe 175
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 Notes
UNIT - I

Lesson 1.1 - Fall Of Constantinople

Structure

1.1.1 Objectives

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1.1.2 Introduction

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1.1.3 Brief Overview of the Fall of Constantinople
[Link] The Strategic Location of Constantinople

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[Link] The Theodosian Wall

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1.1.4 Genesis of Ottoman and Byzantine Conflict

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[Link] Genesis of the Conflict
1.1.5 The Ascension of Mehmed ii
1.1.6 Role of Constantine snd Giustiniani

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1.1.7 Let Us Sum Up
1.1.8 Self Assessment Question
1.1.9 Reference
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1.1.1 Objectives
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The main objectives of the present module on “Fall of Constantinople;

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Renaissance” are as follows

1) To understand the nature of conflict in Middle Age Europe and

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Asia Minor

2) To bring out the demarcation line for the middle ages and the
beginning of the modern era in Europe
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3) The assessed importance of Constantinople, the last stronghold of

the Christendom
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4) To analyse how far does the fall of Constantinople propelled the

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wave of new Learning

5) To help understand the learner’s impact of the Renaissance

6) Finally, it will assess the connection between the fall of

Constantinople and the Renaissance in Europe.

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Notes
1.1.2 Introduction

Throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the Ottoman

Empire first conquered the Anatolian territory that had once made up
the core of the Byzantine Empire and then expanded into the Balkans. In
Muslim traditions, the conquest of Constantinople had long been charged
up religiously. Its fall to a Muslim army was foretold several times in the
Hadith, the collection of sayings traditionally attributed to the Prophet

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Mohammed. Due to this, some believed Constantinople’s conquest to be

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Islam’s ultimate objective. Many Ottoman leaders tried overtime, including
Murad II, Mehmed II’s father. After a failed siege in 1422, he diverted his

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energy to consolidating the Turkish conquests. By the time of his death in
1451, there was little left of the once-prosperous Byzantine Empire, some

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towns, few islands, the distant Morea and Constantinople itself.

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1.1.3 Brief Overview of the Fall of Constantinople

On Easter Monday, 1453, an ambitious and young Ottoman Emperor,

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Mehmed II, arrived at the gate of the Byzantine capital Constantinople. The
seized was perhaps the best example of a determined leader, as we have
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already discussed the robustness of the fort. The fall of Constantinople

was a true watershed in history. It cemented the position of the Ottoman
Empire as the major power in the Balkans and the eastern Mediterranean,
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ending the long chapter of Roman history. In some ways, the Roman Empire
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outlasted the so-called fall of Rome in 476 AD, almost a thousand years ago,
as it continues to exist as what we call the Byzantine Empire.
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When Mehmed II ascended the throne, many doubted his ability

to lead the empires of the Ottomans. He had already sat on the throne
when his father wanted to retire in 1444. Since he was just 12 years of age,
he was not capable enough to lead the empire on his own, so his father
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had to return in1446. In 1451 he became the Sultan, which worried the
Ottomans while there were celebrations in Europe. Mehmed was seen as
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an inexperienced youngster and, thus, not a real threat.

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The Sultan needed great success to establish his authority; the

price he reached was the widely praised red apple, as Constantinople was
called. Not everyone was fond of this plan such as the Ottoman people who
peacefully lived alongside the Byzantines as well as many of Mehmed’s
soldiers ranking highest among his critic was the Ottoman grand Vizier
Çandarli Halil Pasha, Once Mehmed’s teacher and the one who urged

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Mehmmed’s father to return in1446. This experience advisor is now the
greatest stumbling block for Mehmed and was too powerful to be disposed
of quickly. His voice for caution and peace scored him the reputation of
being a friend of the Greeks and a traitor, and he was indeed well connected
to the people of Constantinople, as really many Ottomans were at the time.
Now the time has come for them to decide on duty and personal interest
in less than a year after he had ascended the throne, Mehmed began to

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prepare for War.

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In the spring of 1452, he ordered to build a fortress on the
European shore of Bosporus, opposite a similar construction of his father.

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This fortress Rumeli Hisari is called Bogazkesen, meaning strait blocker or
throat cutter. This was like pushing a thorn into Byzantine flesh because

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it violated the empire’s territory and gave the Ottomans complete control

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over the strait. The Sultan also sent substantial raiding forces to Morea,
where the Byzantine emperor ruled to prevent them from sending help. So

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Mehmed was reaching for the Red Apple.
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Mehmed’s opponent was the last emperor called, Constantine XI
Palaiologos, a very judicious ruler and very much aware of his standing and
who realized Mehmed’s real intentions early on. He sent a letter and an offer
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for a tribute to the Sultan to convince him of a peaceful solution. When

this didn’t work, he tried his luck for political pressure. He incarcerated
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all Ottomans in Constantinople and threatened to release Prince Orhan,

the rival claimant to the Sultan who was held captive in the city and might
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have stirred up a civil war in the Ottoman Empire. However, this didn’t
work out either.
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To make matters worse, in June, Mehmed returned to the emperors

the heads of the two emissaries. The message was stunningly clear that this
was a declaration of War. Prudent as usual, Constantine had asked for help
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from his allies; however, the Greek Orthodox and the Roman Catholic
church had already been divided since the so-called great schism of 1054,
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so Pope Nicholas V insisted he could only authorize a crusade when the

controversial church union they had negotiated in 1439 was implemented
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the hard-pressed Byzantine had no choice but to allow the papal legate
cardinal Isidore of Kyiv to proclaim the union in Hagia Sophia despite
widespread resistance.

Now that these obstacles have been put aside, Constantinople could
hope for help from Western Europe. Isidore brought 200 mercenaries, and

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the appeals of the Pope, combined with Constantine’s promises, prompted
the city-states of northern Italy states to support Constantinople as well.
Genoa and Venice were preparing for further reinforcement. The small
band of Isidore were seen only as the vanguard of an army on its way to
rescue Constantinople. Probably, the most valuable to the garrison was a
well-seasoned soldier of fortune from Genoa who sailed to Constantinople
in January of 1453 named Giovanni Giustiani Longo. He brought 700

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experienced, well-armed mercenaries along with him, who would play a
decisive role in the siege. He was well-versed in defending walled cities.

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This qualitative of Giustaniani made him head the landward defence.

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The last significant reinforcement came from the ship’s crew
present in the Golden Horn, Bay of Constantinople’s northeastern side.

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They added up about 1000 men to the defending army. George Sphrantzes,

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a Byzantine politician and eyewitness, reported the number of Greek
defenders. He counted 4973 able-bodied inhabitants well equipped but

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largely lacking military training. Additionally, about 2000 foreigners
provided help all in all; recent scholars estimate that no more than 7000 to
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9000 defended the stretch-out walled fortress of Constantinople.
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[Link] The Strategic Location of Constantinople

Constantinople used to be the hub of the medieval world. It connected

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Europe, Asia and the Levant and all trade between the Mediterranean
and the black sea had to pass along its gates. However, the wars and the
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catastrophes’ of the last centuries had marked the once shining city. In the
1340s, the plagues had ravaged inside the walls and killed almost half of its
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inhabitants, and the economic crisis caused by the general political decline
of the Byzantine Empire led to further depopulation. Historian Klaus-
Peter Todt said, “No more than 50,000 -75,000 inhabitants were left in the
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themed-15th century”. Still, Constantinople was a crumbling old town.

On the contrary, its wall was repaired and reinforced in the

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winter of 1453. They were perfectly Complementing the garden water 11

meters high wall with 220 towers stretched along the sea and a vast Iron
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chain barred access to the golden horn. This meant the city could only
be attacked from the landward side to the west. The chain stretched over
the Golden Horn to the Genoese colony of Pera, which according to the
historians Jonathan Harris, pledged to the Ottoman to stay neutral but send
soldiers to help defend Constantinople. While some also claim they also
supplied vital intelligence at the same time. Overall, Pera’s role in the siege

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is ambivalent since rumors’ are difficult to separate from facts. However,
we can assume that the Genoese may have conducted themselves in detail;
the Ottomans neither attacked them nor gave away the chain protecting
the golden horn. While a single horn was sufficient on the seaside, the
land side needed something more solid due to the strategic location of
Constantinople. It was the only possible approach for a besieger.

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[Link] The Theodosian Wall

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The 5.5 kilometers of Theodosian wall stretched from the Sea
of Marmara to the Golden Horn. This rampart was built in the 5th C E

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and repaired and strengthened several times. It was considered the most
elaborate piece of fortification for much of the middle ages. It featured 7

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meters deep an 18-meter-wide moat with a low wall right at the inner edge.

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Behind this tower, there are two lines of seemingly impenetrable walls. The
outer one is 8 meters high and features 90 towers, and the inner one is 11

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meters high and 4.8 meters thick, featuring 96 towers. On top of the walls,
several stone throws and canons were waiting to welcome any attackers.
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Upon his arrival, Giustiniani ordered to optimize this wall even
further. Under his vigil, the defender deepened the moat, repaired the
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wall, and sued long, cautious filed with straw to hang outside the walls.
Like fenders on the boat, they should dampen the impact of Ottoman
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cannonballs. Giustiniani knew he didn’t have enough men to garrison

both walls and wanted to pursue an active defence based on sorties;
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because of this, he decided to handle the outer wall primarily and only
let some archers shoot from the secured heights of the second wall. The
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Byzantines and the Ottomans understood well that this siege would be all
about time. Mehmed had no time to lose because the relief army from the
west could arrive at any moment. It was not easy to supply his vast army,
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and he desperately needed success to prove his leadership ability. It could

mean his end if he didn’t overcome Constantinople well o time.
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Therefore Mehmed wanted to finish things quickly. The defenders,

on the other hand, were running down the clock. They were outnumbered
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but well-supplied and hoped to stand firm until help arrived. Almost
everyone in the cities collected food or gathered all valuable goods to pay
for the mercenaries. The catastrophes of the last centuries now improved
the city’s supply situations. It was not overcrowded, and the sparse space
was converted to farmland which now provided additional resources.
When the siege began, the town was well-supplied. Constantinople was

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not the sort of an empire doom to fall to an overwhelming enemy as has
been suggested.

On the contrary, it seems that Mehmed had chosen the wrong apple
to pick. The Sultan spent the entire winter recruiting a formidable army
with an emphasis on both quality and numbers. Christian eyewitnesses
gave an enormous number of up to 400,000 modern men, while most
suggested that somewhere between 60-150,000 men.

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According to these numbers, the defenders were outnumbered

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broadly by 10:1. However, not this military giant’s attention that attracted

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the onlookers but the extensive artillery it brought along. Mehmed had
commissioned huge bombards to shoot the Theodosian walls to pieces.

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According to Marios Philippides, and Walter K. Hanak, one of the most

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significant masterpieces of a Canon was called “BASILIKOS”; it could shoot
more than 500 kilograms with a range of over one kilometer. Although

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cumbersome and took only a few shots in a day, combined with other
guns, which the Ottoman had all about 70, it made a deadly orchestra.
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The winter before 1452-53 could be considered the calm before
the storm. The Ottoman ships were visible only in February 1453 in the
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water around Constantinople to close the city off from the sea. Soon after,
a gentle breeze soared around the Bosporus, whisperingly announcing the
storm to come. The whispering was the distant cries of War of man by the
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governor of Rumelia, who were preparing the ground for the Ottoman
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advance. They cut down vines and orchards outside Constantinople and
captured the remaining Byzantine towns along the Marmarra and black
sea coast. Then Constantine struck back. He sent his ship to rage Turkish
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villages along the shores of the Sea of Marmara. But the preparations of his
enemies couldn’t be stopped easily. Soon, the Ottoman soldiers finished
their march boat after the boat arrived at the Asian shores of the Bosporus
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and Rumeliam troops flocked towards the Golden Horn. On the 5th of
April, which happens to be Easter Monday 1453, the Sultan himself arrived
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with the main army; by then, the heavy artillery was already in place.
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When Mehmed arrived, he pitched his camp on a hill opposite

the walls between the Saint Romanus and the Charisius gate, the so-called
Mesoteichion or the middle of the wall where most of the action would be
directed at. This spot favoured an attacker because the walls were at the end
of the valley of the river Lycus/lykos, meaning they were below the Ottoman
guns they could fire down on them from a more advantageous position. The

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palace guards, including the janissaries, surround the Medmed’s tents. The
Anatolian army formed the right wing extending all the way to the sea of
Marmara, while the Rumelia army had its camp on the left of the Sultan up
to the golden horn. On the other shore of the golden horn, Zaganos Pasha
and a few thousand men secured the height behind Galata.

Zaganos Pasha was the second Vizier and close ally of the Sultan.
He was absolutely loyal and notoriously belligerent. In the early morning

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of 5 April, the Ottoman army marched to the siege works (Trenches and

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ditches), which stretched over 4 kilometres along the land wall. Before
the ottoman batteries opened the fire, Mehmed sent the last appeal

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to Constantine, asking him to surrender. He should hand over the city
and submit to Ottoman rule in return for the security of their lives and

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property. The emperor denied it.

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Emperor Constantine and Giustiniani, with 3000 men, were to

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defend Mesodeichion. In contrast, the Venetian sailor under Girolamo
Minoto defended the second critical point, the Blackhernae; the remaining
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men were spread along the wall, and a small reserve was kept ready under
Loukas notaras. Notaras was, in fact, the counterpart of Zandali Halil
Pasha. He was the chief minister of Byzantine for Byzantine empire and
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spoke out for a peaceful solution which scoured to the reputation of a

traitor. Among the defenders on the southern sea wall was also Prince
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Orhan, who decided to side with the defenders because he felt the threat
to his life was imminent if the Sultan got hold of him.
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1.1.4 Genesis of Ottoman and Byzantine Conflict

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We have a brief overview of Constantine’s fall and a short

discussion on Constantinople’s strategic location and Sultan’s Mehmed
strategy. However, to understand the battle and the respective war strategy,
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let us now consider each emperor’s plans individually. This section will
also have visual support using maps and pictures of eminent personalities.
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Then things we have not touched on above will be more precise and
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understandable.

[Link] Genesis of the Conflict

The year 1444 saw Sultan Murat II defeat the European Crusaders
at the Battle of Varna. The King of Poland and Hungary, Vladislav, was
killed during the battle, which plunged the most essential power and

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Notes
significant power in central Europe into a crisis, and the apparent result
was to follow.

However, the Ottoman was still resisted by another formidable

force called Skanderbeg, the mighty Albanian King and the voivode of
Transylvania called John Hunyadi. Voivodes denote semi or autonomous
governors, predominantly found in Transylvania, Wallachia, or Moldova
region before 1700 AD. Sometimes it also denotes a title for the military

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leader and warlord in Central, South eastern and Eastern Europe that

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has been in vogue since the early Middle Ages. The latter sent numerous
appeals and SOS to the Pope and kings of Europe urging them to fall in

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line with another round of crusades; However, his call received not much
positive response from his European rulers, so he instead resorted to

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raiding into Ottoman territory only. As Skanderbeg was earlier a vassal of

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the Ottoman, Murad sent three punitive expeditions against him, but the
Albanian forces ambushed and outnumbered all three expeditions.

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Meanwhile, Sultan, preoccupied with the internal Rebellion, found
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it was impossible for him to deal with the Albanian forces immediately as
the circumstances would have demanded, and also a campaign against the
despoatate of Morea in 1446. The Despotate of the Morea was more or less an
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independent or semi-autonomous state with some form of tributary paying

states to the later Byzantine Empire. In 1226 When Byzantines reconquered
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part of the Greeks Peloponnese, the Despotate of Morea remained the

only legally governed by some semi-autonomous despots of the imperial
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Kantakouzenos and Palaiologos families starting in 1349 CE. However, this

semi-autonomous had outlasted the Byzantine Empire itself, only to fall to
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the Ottomans in 1461 CE. During the campaign, Murad forces the ruler of
Morea future ruler of Byzantine Constantine XI, to accept his vassalship
and pay tribute. An attack on Skanderbeg followed this, and Murad had a
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little edge in the battle of Svetigrad in 1448. However, Skanderberg being an

expert in Guerilla warfare, Murad could not pursue him further.
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 Notes

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Image Credit: World History Encyclopedia (WHE), Map Showing
battle of Varna 1444
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Image Credit: WHE, SULTAN Murad II

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Notes
But what he could do was to build a few garrisons along the
frontiers and return to Edirne, formerly known as Adrianople or
Hadrianopolis. Meanwhile, Hunyadi was still trying to mobilize another
round of crusades. By September 1448, he was said to have raised a force of
30,000 strong army and began his campaign. He was also banking on the
despot of Serbia, Mr Durad Brankovic, to give him a helping hand during
his campaign. Unfortunately, since the latter was an Ottoman vassal, he

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instead raided the land of the Serbians.

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Now Murad desperately needed to stem the tide of Skanderberg
and Hunyadi joining hands against him. In October, Hunyadi moved to

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the field of Kosovo, anticipating the arrival of Skanderbeg. Some historians
claim that Durad Brankovic blocked the latter, while some believed that the

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Ottoman garrison in the frontier region slowed down the movement of the

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Albanian forces. But whatever the reason, it could be that on October 17,
1448, the sultan and his forces, with a strength of 50,000 soldiers, reached

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where the first battle of Kosovo between Lazar and Murad II took place. In
this battle, the Polish, Wallachian and Moldovan forces unitedly attacked
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the Ottoman forces but were pushed back despite early success. Hunyadi
attempted to use his cavalry to attack the Ottoman flanks at night, but
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the Ottoman light equestrians intercepted Hunyadi’s tactics and gave him
a befitting reply to the crusading forces. This was followed by the trick
of retreating by Murad on the second day. Then Hunyadi and his troops
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pushed head-on the Ottoman light infantry troops.

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However, the janissaries or the loyal soldiers made a concerted

effort to stop the Hunyadi advances. At this critical juncture, the sultan’s
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flanks encircled the Hunyadi forces; although the leaders of the crusading
army managed to escape, half of the troops were smashed in the battle
with around 5000 casualties on the Ottoman side. So this battle of Kosovo
E,

was a turning point for the Ottomans and seemingly sealed the fate of the
Balkan forces for a few centuries.
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1.1.5 The Ascension of Mehmed II

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Although Skanderbeg’s continuous efforts did not yield much

result, the Ottoman’s focus on Constantinople was clear. When Murad II
passed away and was succeeded by his son Mehmed II in 1451, he made his
goal clear that his sole aim was to take the Byzantine capital Constantinople.
This was when the Glory of Constantinople was also declining, with a

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 Notes
population between 50,000 and 100,000. Emperor Constantine XI was
said to have controlled only along the coast and alleged to pay tribute
to the Ottoman sultan. Meanwhile, MemedII signed a treaty of a non-
aggression pact with Venice, Genoa and Hungary. Then a new rebellion in
Karamanids gave him a golden opportunity to cross over to Anatolia and
consolidate his power.

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Image credit: WHE, Map of eastern Mediterranean in 1450

Although Constantine always attempted to free himself from

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the yoke of paying tribute to the Ottoman sultan by threatening support

to Prince Orhan, Memed’s cousin to the throne. Memed converted this
D

adversity into opportunity by declaring all treaties with the Byzantine null
and void. This gave the Ottomans the chance to prepare for war. So in
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April 1452, the sultan ordered to build of a fortress called Rumelihisari

on the northern end of the Bosporus to prevent any form of assistance to
Constantinople from across the Black Sea.

This gave Constantine a heart-wrenching attitude. He had no

choice but to store more supplies, bring his citizens into the City, and send

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Notes
SOS to the European kings and rulers for help. But a few mercenaries and
Venetian ships had turned up led by Giovani Giustiniani, a very popular
Genoese captain and soldier, while most Christian monarchs ignored the
pleas.

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Image credit: Alpha History, Fortress: Rumelihisari

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Image credit: [Link] Mehmed, The conqueror

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While on the other hand, some historians believed that the

Ottoman possessed somewhere around 100,000 soldiers, 69 canons and
126 ships under the unified command of Memed II, which confronted the
Byzantine troops of 7000 soldiers, out of which 500 were supposedly from
the Ottoman forces loyal to Prince Orhan and few canons and 26 ships

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 Notes
and more than 30,000 local were forcibly recruited for the showdown.
Although the Byzantine and Italian ships were state-of-the-art, their guns
were outdated.

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Image credit::WHE, GIOVANI GIUSTINIANI

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1.1.6 Role of Constantine and Giustiniani

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One of the Ottoman canons was so big that it played a decisive

role in the war. While on the other side, an Italian commander was
assigned the job of taking care of each wall under the overall command
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of Giustiniani. At the same time, Constantine and his guards remain in

reserve in the Blachernae palace. The defenders repaired the wall, and a
D

chain was set across the golden horn designed to prevent the Ottoman
from attacking from the seaside. When the vanguard of the Ottoman army
D

arrived at Constantinople Wall on April 1 1453, setting up camps nearby

the following days. Followed by the sultan’s arrival on April 5 and began to
devise a strategy for besieging the City. The first strategy was to place the
Giant Canon against Theodosian Wall no 6 of Constantinople and began
blasting the walls accordingly. When the canons were so huge, which took

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Notes
the Ottomans three hours to reload, that perhaps was ample time for the
Byzantines to rebuild the damaged walls.

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Image credit: the Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, BLACHERNAE
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PALACE
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Then on the 7th Theodosian wall, the sultan commanded his light
infantry and other escorting troops to take on the walls but without much
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success. While the Byzantine attempted on the 8 and 9 walls, they too could
not do much. This resulted in the Ottomans changing their strategy and
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concentrating only on the 11 walls with all the canons they had directed
toward this wall and continued the bombardment until they managed to
barge into the fortress.
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Meanwhile, during the night, the Ottomans attempted a night

assault on the 17 and 18 walls, but the defenders were so intact that they
D

could easily repel the invading troops. On the waterfront, the Ottomans
were also unsuccessful in penetrating towards the golden horn.
D

Additionally, some supporting troops from Venetia arrived on

April 20 to join the Byzantine forces. This led the sultan to devise a new
strategy and order the ships to be moved across some of the Genoese
colonies in Pera. Then the ships were asked to move in the water near the
Golden Horn behind the chain on April 28.

14
 Notes

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Image credit: WHE, Emperor CONSTANTINE XI

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Constantine confronted this strategy by sending his Fire ships,

but unfortunately, they lost this battle. This made Constantine move some
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of his troops towards the northern wall, which weakened his defence
elsewhere. Some Byzantine canons were subsequently transferred into the
bay area but failed to defend the allied ship, which had to return to the
E,

harbours—on May 6th Ottoman troops managed to destroy the gate of St.
Romanus, and during the night, they attacked all the walls as fiercest as
D

they could and sometimes managed to breach some of the areas of the
most vigorous defence that the Byzantine projected. But Giustaniani was
D

courageous enough to fend off the attacker as he arrived.

On May 11, the Ottoman could manage to break open the

Caligarian gate and move towards the Blachernae Palace, but the Emperor
was able to push them back. The Ottoman sultan ordered and commanded
an all-out assault on the 29th with a massive bombardment followed by

15
Notes
a light infantry attack. Despite their numerical advantage, they failed to
attack the wall and sieged it from Giustaniani’s defence. Memeds artillery
could manage to destroy some parts near the St. Romanus Gate, and 3000
Janissaries were pumped into attack these positions. But the Byzantines
could establish a brave defence line again, although the Janissaries took
one of the towers and hoisted the Ottoman flag.

Meanwhile, the wound inflicted on the Byzantines was so deep

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that most could not stand against the invading force to defend the

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frontlines. This was a massive blow to the morale of the defenders. When
jew janissaries entered the City near the gate of the St. Romanus, the

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Byzantine defence began to collapse like the house of cards. While there
was chaos when citizens and most surviving defenders boarded the ship in

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an attempt to leave the City, some historians said that the Emperor made

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concerted efforts to save the City by putting up a brave counterattack at
the gate of St. Rumanus but died defending his city.

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1.1.7 Let Us Sum Up

It was a theatrical event of revel and loud clamour at the end of

he

November 1452 when the Ottoman made several attempts to dislodge the
empire. However, the Ottoman Empire attempts to besiege Constantinople
and end the Byzantine Empire takes on half a dozen occasions. While
ic

at the same time. These seizes were interrupted by several factors, such
nd

as crusades, civil war, Rebellion, and, most importantly, the invasion of

Timur. Nevertheless, by the middle of the 15th century, the Ottomans
consolidated their territory and finally entered a period of internal stability.
Po

This indicates that the subsequent seizure was inevitable.

When the Ottomans eventually conquered, they sacked, maimed,

raped and enslaved people, whatever they could. The spoils were enormous.
E,

A common saying goes that one who has been in Constantinople among
the Ottomans synonymous with a rich man. Only after three days, the
D

Sultan called the sacking to a halt. According to current estimates, about

D

4000 people were killed in the attack, and 30,000 were enslaved.

Finally, when the emperor died defending the empire, Prince

Orhan flung himself over the wall, Chandali Halil Pasha and Loukas
Notaras were both executed. Giovanni Giustianni was the only leader
among the defenders who succumbed to his wound on the way home
to Genoa. Thus the fall of Constantine marked the end of the Byzantine

16
 Notes
Empire. Although it took Mehmed another eight years to reduce the last
remnants, with Constantinople’s fall, the 1,100 years of existence of the
Byzantine Empire ended. Then Mehmed made the city the capital of
the Ottoman Empire. It became his foothold on the European shore of
Bosporus, the hub of his expansionist plan, and this was precisely what
the central and western European states and Christendom feared. Then,
after all the arrangements, Mehmed moved to Hagia Sophia to proclaim

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the Muslim faith. Thus Mehmed achieved the victory he so direly needed
to show that he was a capable ruler because he had succeeded where many

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Muslim rulers had failed, and henceforth he was known as Mehmed the

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Conqueror.

Although it marked the end of the medieval era, it eventually led

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to the next phase of the Renaissance, perhaps starting the age of Discovery

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and colonization process, and an incessant war between a European power
and the Ottoman was to follow.

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Courtesy: WHE, Theodosian wall of Constantinople.

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17
Notes

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Map: Showing the Golden Horn of Constantinople
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1.1.8 Self Assessment Question

1) Discuss the role of Emperor Constantine XI in defending his empire

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2) Why was Sultan Mehmed called the “Conqueror”?

nd

3) What was the part of Murad and Mehmed, the conqueror, in

establishing the ottoman empire?
Po

4) Discuss the importance of the Battle of Varna.

5) Discuss the importance of the Crusade in the fight between the
Ottoman and the Byzantine Empire.
E,

6) Briefly explain the role of Sultan Murad and Mehmed in their

attempt to conquest the Byzantine Empire.
D

7) Describe the Theodosian walls

D

8) Discuss briefly the impact of the fall of Constantinople.

9) Discuss the importance of the battle of Kosovo

18
 Notes
1.1.9 Reference

1) Dan Jones, Powers and Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages,
London, Head of Zeus, 2021.
2) Marios Philippides, Walter K. Hanak, The Siege and the Fall of
Constantinople in 1453
3) ------------------Historiography, Topography, and Military Studies,

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2017, Routledge London.

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Notes

Lesson 1.2 - Renaissance

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Image credit: Steve Hersey -FLORENCE, THE BIRTH PLACE OF
RENAISSANCE
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Structure
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1.2.1 Introduction
[Link] Santa Croce
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1.2.2 The Medicis Family

[Link] Role of Giovanni De Medici
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[Link] The Beginning of Renaissance in Florence

1.2.3 Sculpture
E,

1.2.4 Perfume
1.2.5 Painting
D

1.2.6 Renaissance Literature

1.2.7 Renaissance and Italy
D

[Link] Benedictine Monks and Dante

[Link] Francesco Petrarca
[Link] Giovanni Boccaccio
[Link] Role of Printing Press
[Link] Renaissance Art

20
 Notes

[Link] Renaissance’s Musical Instrument

1.2.8 Impact of Renaissance
1.2.9 Let Us Sump Up
1.2.10 Self Assessement Question
1.2.11 References

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1.2.1 Introduction

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The French word for Renaissance means rebirth or revival. It
is often conveniently applied to all the changes in the realm of society,

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law, government, science, philosophy, and religion, and perhaps most

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importantly, it is often focused on literature and art that transformed the
medieval world into modern civilization. However, in the real sense, the

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term was applied during the 14th and 15th centuries, covering the later

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period of the middle ages, and is referred to as the period of Renaissance.

Since it characterized a transitional period, it was not easy to set a

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water-tight compartment period where some are said to have begun much
earlier than the rest of Europe. The most plausible reason often cited for
he

this reason is the beginning of the study of Roman law that replaced the
Germanic custom and cultures dated towards the end of the eleventh
century.
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Secondly, the rise of cities in Europe, with its characteristic

nd

features of accommodating trade and commerce, began simultaneously,

while some other distinguishing features of the Renaissance started much
Po

beyond the fifteenth century. For Instance, the widening horizon of

geographical knowledge and the subsequent discovery of the new world,
the resistance to dogmatism in terms of revolting against papal authority
that led to Reformation where reason and nationalism preceded the rest
E,

and the end of the Middle Ages in different parts of the world.
D

As stated above, the word renaissance initially applied to the

revival or rebirth of men’s interest in the art of classical antiquity, and
D

literature began in Europe, so Italy was considered the home of the

Renaissance. These revival activities spread to Western parts of Europe
from the Alps gradually. The conducive atmosphere for such revival was in
the cities of Milan, Pisa, Florence, Genoa, and Venice had become one of
the most advanced self-governing cities hospitable for the growth of trade
and commerce along the lines of the Greek city-states. In these cities, the

21
Notes
feudal lineage of a person took a back seat, and the person’s ability and
capability were the main driving forces. Their unique characteristics made
them prosperous and wealthy.

Thus, the democratic spirit and the idea of ability and ambition
brought considerable wealth that eventually propelled a very comfortable,
perhaps luxurious and refined life and gave means to crave for unending
possession of knowledge—the desire to possess new things, pictures and

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the freedom to do so. The reward for such ability and liberty comes from the

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artist who started painting. Thus, activities with a conducive atmosphere
were noticeable from the early period in none other than Florence, a

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wealthy democratic, industrial-friendly city. There are other uniqueness of
Florence where we have seen the emergence of the Medicis family, perhaps

v
under whose patronage the Renaissance flourished. To understand a brief

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discussion on the role of the Medicis family’s history and their love for art
would help us better understand the Renaissance.

[Link] Santa Croce

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Florence, in the heart of Tuscany, seldom in the History of
humanity, such a city had an impact on the History of art. This is the city
he

where the Renaissance began in the 15th century. Florence was a wealthy
and influential city. To show their power, the princes were prepared to
ic

spend vast amounts of money erecting monuments and surrounding

and hosting the best artists in the world at that time. Some such notable
nd

buildings are palaces, squares, and religious edifices are a living testimony
to their genius.
Po

Florence became one of the most beautiful cities in the world, a

city made sublime by the spirit of the Renaissance. Now let us look at
Santa Croce city, where one of the city’s most famous basilicas stands,
E,

symbolizing the epicenter of Florentine art. Over time, the Santa Croce
Basilica represents the pantheon of Florence’s outstanding figures in art and
D

science. Amid the large tombstone sits an altarpiece created by Donatello.

Buried here, we also have Galileo, the composer Rossini and Machiavelli,
D

but the Jewel in Santa Croce town is the tomb of Michelangelo, designed
by Giorgio Vasari.

22
 Notes

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Image credit: Public domain, BASILICA DI SANTA CROCE

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Image credit: Giovanni Dall’Orto, Tomb of Michelangelo by Giorgio

Vasari (1511-1574

23
Notes

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Image Credit: Jacopo Zucchi, Portraits of Giorgio Vasari
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Image credit: WHE, Portraits of DONATELLO

24
 Notes
1.2.2 The Medicis Family

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Image credit: WHE, PALAZZO MEDICI RICCARDI

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Florence owes its standing as the ultimate expression of its artistic

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genius to one family, the Medici. The city owes its extraordinary journey
to them. The Medicis are still regarded as the most significant patron of
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arts in the History of the world. A brief description of the Palazzo Medici
Ricardi would be imperative to understand the reason for their patronage
and exceptional professionalism in the arts field. A fresco dating to this
he

period was found in the Magi chapel, the Magus Caspar’s procession, one
of the three biblical wise men (Melchior and Balthazar).
ic

The Fresco depicts Medici’s domination of the city for more

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than 300 years. Various historians also interpreted the Fresco as the best
representation of political propaganda by the Medici. A close look at the
Fresco (below) shows that Lorenzo the Magnificent is shown as a child
Po

on a white horse; behind him is Pierre on the other white horse and his
grandfather Cosme de l’ancien; they were represented in the frescos as a
wealthy merchant and influential family in the hearts of the village.
E,
D
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25
Notes

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FRESCO DEPICTION OF THE MEDICIS FAMILY

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The Medici families were the first to grasp the importance of art

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in the quest for power. For the Medici, the importance of art squarely lies
in two factors.

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1) The Medici’s innate qualities and traditional choice of beautiful and
exotic things
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2) They believed this support for art would provide them with a space
to build a reputation, become popular among other European
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countries, and gradually attract professional artists worldwide.

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Image credit: Benozzo Gozzoli, THE PROCESSION OF THE MAGI

26
 Notes
[Link] Role of Giovanni De Medici

One of the most famous figures in the Medici family is Giovanni

De Medici, a leading banker in the city. He is responsible for building
a considerable amount of fortune for the family. His marriage added
this fortune to another banker Julie who became her Princess. Their son
Cosimo, the elder, had an heir named Lorenzo the Magnificent, who
became the true prince of the Renaissance, the lavish and extravagance

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patron of the art. He sponsored most artists of the day, including Leonardo

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da Vinci and Michelangelo, an outstanding figure. This made them occupy
almost all the strategic places in Italian society for over 300 years, such as

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statesmen, people in business and popes, dealing in power and intrigues
and placing their wealth in the services of arts and sciences. They started

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one of the most significant cultural and artistic movements in Europe –

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The Renaissance-

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Image credit: Bradley Weber, FLORENCE BAPTISTERY

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[Link] The Beginning of Renaissance in Florence

The creation of the gate of San Giovanni Baptistery is considered

to have laid the foundation stone for Renaissance in Florence. In 1401 a
competition was organized to decide whom to entrust for the construction,

27
Notes
perhaps the first public artistic competition of modern times. The winner
was an unknown sculptor named Lorenzo Ghiberti. He worked for over 25
years to complete this masterpiece of Bronze. Astounded by their beauty
Michelangelo dubbed the door the gate of paradise.

Ghiberti had to beat a candidate called Filippo Brunelleschi, a

sculptor and an accomplished architect, to win the competition. Following
his failure, he set off for Rome and discovered the magic of ancient ruins,

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but on his return, he was the first to reorganize the city. He was credited

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for establishing Piazza della Santissima Annunziata Square, where he built
Ospedale degli Innocenti (the hospital of the innocent), the first Europe

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orphanage. Brunelleschi’s idea of integrating the hospital in the middle of
the square was considered highly innovative then.

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Piazza Della Santissima Annunziata Square

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Image credit: UNICEF, Ospedale Degli Innocenti

(The Hospital Of The Innocent)

28
 Notes
Many historians thought such a creative idea was more like a
revolution; perhaps suddenly, in the middle of the street, you come across a
place full of pure light and life. The innovation was new and softer, perhaps
significant to him, almost an obsession to stand out from the Romanesque
and Gothic styles because this style belonged to the people from the
north, so he needed to find something new and unique to Florence. So
it was a kind of new synthesis. He argued and put forward the idea that

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architecture is not just about interiors and walls, it can also be about an
open-air space, and that was considered a real revolution in this realm of

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art and architecture.

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Image credit: Public domain, CATHEDRAL OF SAINT MARY OF

THE FLOWER
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Image Credit: public domain, Filippo Brunelleschi’s unfinished

DUOMO/DOME

29
Notes
Being the first to imagine a square in the middle of the city,
Brunelleschi was also the creator of the Duomo. The Duomo is the dome
of Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, one of the largest cathedrals in the
world, which dominates the Florentine skyline. The cathedral’s dimension
reflects the ambition of the city. Brunelleschi held and won a competition,
and Santa Maria took 100 years to build in the open air.

Brunelleschi had to solve the technological conundrum of how to

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cover a hole 45 meters in diameter. He opted to give the dome a slightly

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pointed shape for better weight distribution. His theory was based on
the load-bearing properties of eggshells, which he refused to yield when

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confronted and being pressured to put down his approach. The work
lasted for 16 years, and the project remained uncompleted at the time of

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Brunelleschi’s death in 1446. The steeple, usually a tall tower on a building,

ni
topped by a superstructure and often comprising or integrating a belfry and
other related items, was still missing. However, the work was successfully

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completed thanks to his engineering feat that he left behind the detailed
plan. While the baptistery doors and Duomo gave fame to Ghiberti and
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Brunelleschi, Florence also nurtured the genius of Botticelli, Leonardo Da
Vinci and Donatello.
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With the commission being handed down by the wealthy family,

Craftsmen evolved into fully-fledged artists. The work of Donatello can
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be found in many of the large construction around his native city. For
instance, the statue of the Bell Tower, completed in 1433, was not accorded
nd

such prominent positions, but only when Donatello achieved recognition

were they taken out of the alcoves located on the façade hidden from the
Po

bell tower. Donatello was almost 80 when people realized the importance
of his works. Since then, his statues have been moved to the Bell Tower’s
main façade. This remarkable homage to the master Donatello is the most
E,

crucial concrete demonstration of their artists and art in general by the

people of Florence.
D

1.2.3 Sculpture
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In the realm of sculpture, artists embraced the ancient form of the

nude male form, busts and equestrian statues—the most significant that
of Michelangelo’s David. Michelangelo’s artistic skill was noticed when he
was just 15 years old. He was in the service of Lorenzo the Magnificent.
There he discovered the sublime Medici collection of ancient statues. His
in-depth study of them and his special interest makes him produce this

30
 Notes
monumental statue. It is 4.8 meters high. He was 30 years old when he
completed the work. He spent three years of his life sculpting a single block
of marble. David versus Goliath has long been an emblem of Florence city.
Despite its sensuality radiating from the figure, Michelangelo imbued him
with considerable strength. Although some historians critiqued the art
by looking at David’s sculpture in terms of the disproportionate finger in
comparison to the rest of the body and argued that the art instead looks

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like Michelangelo’s hand, the hand of the creative genius who symbolize
the strength and power of the city of Florence was compared with the rest

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of the world.

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DAVID versus GOLIATH in FLORENCE

Leonardo Da Vinci, a painter, sculptor and architect, perhaps a

Po

visionary genius and an inventor who was so far ahead of his time that
many of his projects remained unfulfilled. His passion for knowledge
also expressed itself in the field of science. Ignoring the admonishment
E,

of the church, he dissected a human body to understand how human

bodies functioned. He left more than 200 anatomical charts, which were
D

considered highly detailed for the time. He was credited for drawing the
first correct curves of the spinal column and ribs, showing the precise
D

position of the pelvis.

1.2.4 Perfume

The Medicis’ legacy in Florence undoubtedly affected every

artistic field. They allowed even the Renaissance to herald a revolution in

31
Notes
lifestyle too. Perhaps the History of the perfumer was also traced to this
period. A Dominican Friar set up the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di
Santa Maria Novella. The reputation of the products soon spread beyond
the convent’s perimeter walls, and in 1612 the pharmacy opened its doors
to the public under the patronage of the Medici family. It is one of the
oldest perfumeries in the world. But today, the fragrances bought here
have evolved dramatically from the Medici era.

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DEPICTION OF LEONARDO DA VINCI’S MONALISA PAINTING

This perfume also became one medium of communicating with

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others, perhaps linked to one’s own and other personalities. In other words,
perfume determines one status and etiquette. Perfuming gloves were quite
ic

fashionable during Renaissance. Because the hand is the point of contact

when two people meet and greet each other. There was a feverish desire,
nd

fascination for the perfume, and perhaps a sensual gesture.

Po

During the 16th century Cosimo I de’ Medici, aka Cosimo the first
Duke of Florence and Grand Duke of Tuscany, moved into the palazzo
to show off his authority and prestige. Cosimo wanted to restructure
the interiors and first thought of entrusting the work to Michelangelo
E,

or Leonardo Da Vinci, but Giorgio Vasari was ultimately chosen. Since

then, the name of Vasari has been inextricably linked to Medici’s house
D

and their desire to conquer. Giorgio Vasari is known for creating one of
D

the most astonishing buildings in Florence –the Vasari corridor-that links

two palaces, the Palazzo Vecchio located in the middle of the city and the
Palazzo Pitti situated on the other side of the river Arno.

32
 Notes

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PALAZZO VECCHIO
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PALAZZO PITTI
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Imagine a richly adorned palace that is more than a kilometer

long running alongside and then spanning the Arno River, making its way
above the alleyways of Florence cutting a sway through a city’s palaces. This
corridor was commissioned by Cosimo the first in 1565; it starts from the
green room of his wife, Elianora di Toledo. In an era when assassinations
were not uncommon, he wanted to cross Florence incognito and safely

33
Notes
access the new Medici residence, the Palazzo Pitti. Elianora 1549 bought
this palace and garden, built in the previous century, by a Florentine banker.
The Boboli garden was such a fantastic beauty of the time. Spanning over a
vast space, this vast Italian-style park with hundreds of sculptural art was
being implemented. This part also hosted most of the magnificent festivals
promoted and celebrated by the Medicis. All the splendours of the cities
can be appreciated and viewed from the Boboli Gardens.

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1.2.5 Painting

The last supper by Leonardo da Vinci was first shown in 1499.

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Although he was not the first to paint this, he was unique in his approach.

v
During the Renaissance, art was used as a medium of teaching, calculated
in its composition and intentionally. Leonardo da Vinci’s subtle symbolism

ni
in his various paintings. Some historians argued that Monalisa’s painting

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was Leonardo himself, imagining himself as a woman.
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BOBOLI GARDEN
E,

1.2.6 Renaissance Literature

D

The Renaissance movement is said to cover roughly 300 years in

Europe, where architects, poets and philosophers reconnected with the
D

styles and ambitions of ancient Greeks and Roman civilization. However,

it might be vague for us to study the History of Western civilization in the
era when the idea of Western exceptionalism was successfully challenged.
The main objective we undertook is perhaps to unearth specific inspiring
and provocative ideas.

34
 Notes
As discovered earlier, Lorenzo de Medici of Florence takes over the
family business of the Medici bank that has been operational since 1397.
One of Europe’s most successful financial institutions with flourishing
branches in Florence, Venice, Rome and Geneva. As soon as he took over, he
expanded the banking branches to Basel Bruges, Avignon, and Pisa and lent
significant sums of money to royal courts, aristocrats and entrepreneurs.

It was not only in the realm of art and architecture; the Medici

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success story lies in the fact that they believed the primary purpose of

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spending money, in today’s parlance philanthropy, is to promote beauty,
truth and wisdom in the world. They started collecting books that came to

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be known as the Medici Library. He expanded his research to gather more
scholarly books, scouring Europe’s monasteries, courts and libraries for lost

v
or overlooked text from antiquity. He also patronized many philosophers

ni
such as Marsilio Ficino, Poliziano and Giovani Pico Della Mirandola. Under
his guidance, these philosophers undertook research into Greek Philosophy.

U
They absorbed the ideas of Epicurus, Cicero and Aristotle’s ideas and tried
to harmonize Plato’s theory with Christianity. Under his patronage, artists
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were asked to illustrate fundamental philosophical truths.

For instance, the importance of kindness and compassion, promoting

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serenity and glorifying the state’s best qualities and good leadership. The
authentic sources for the glorification were the imagination and intelligence
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with which its great bankers and finances set about spending their money.
Monastery of Fulda Germany January 1417, An Italian scholar and humanist,
nd

Pogio Braciolini, is on tour in Germany and Switzerland looking for lost

Greek and Roman manuscripts. He spends a few weeks in a Benedictine
Po

Monastery, hunting around the dusty shelves of its excellent library. When
in a forgotten nook, he makes one of the most significant discoveries in
the Renaissance. He comes across the only surviving manuscript Lucretius,
“De Rerum Natura, on the nature of things”, which gives us the complete
E,

account of the philosophy and worldview of the philosopher Epicurus.

Braciollini and his circle are taken aback, if not astonished.
D

Epicurus has hugely valuable ideas about the human, passion,

D

happiness, religion, communal life and science. Meanwhile, Braciollini also

discovers key text by Cicero, Quintillion and Vitruvius. When he couldn’t
buy the textbook, he was not averse to skullduggery to what he wanted. He
also allegedly bribed a monk to abstract a copy of Livy, the historian, from
the library of Herzfeld Abbey in GermanyBraciollini’s interest was not
entirely in tune with the Renaissance spirit. In contrast, the Renaissance

35
Notes
approaches and focus on History and philosophy differed significantly;
its intellectual leaders took a relentlessly realistic view of things. They
prefer to run their society by keeping abreast with truth, making people
intelligent and building magnificent cities.

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POGGIO BRACIOLINI
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RUINS OF HERSFELD ABBEY, MONASTERY

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 Notes

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POLITICAL MAP OF ITALY IN 1494

Check Your Progress

E,

1) Describe the role of the Medici family in the rise and growth of new
D

Learning.
D

2) Who was Poggio Braciolini?

1.2.7 Renaissance and Italy

The section intends to explain why Renaissance began in Italy

but not in other European countries. What strategic points does Italy

37
Notes
possess in relation to other European countries? Needless to say, Italy has
been the centre for a confluence of all ideas brought about by trade and
commerce, and the Norman and the Arabs’ invasion of Sicily seems to
have brought the concepts of Science and geometry that were successfully
cultivated. They also relish the Roman civilization, which was expressed
both in art and literature. While at the same time, the admiration for Arab
Science and Roman art and literature does not mean shedding the Greek

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inheritance. This is exemplified by the fact that the Greek traders and their
descendants living in one of these Italian cities used the Greek language,

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and throughout the medieval period, the Italians studied Greek languages.

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[Link] Benedictine Monks and Dante

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One uniqueness of the Renaissance is that the Benedictine monks

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acted as a preserver of all antiquity of pieces of knowledge. With the rise of
the learning centre’s and universities, Aristotle’s writing began to be studied

U
in Latin translations. One of the great reverences for classical knowledge
was found in the report of the Italian poet Dante Alieghieri-1265-1321.
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D
D

Image Credit: WHE, Lorenzo Ghiberti, a Renaissance Sculptor from

Florence

38
 Notes
In Florence’s local language, Dante Alighieri’s most celebrated
work, the Divine Comedy, describes an imaginary visit to the other world.
Vergila Roman’s poet guides him through Hell and Purgatory until he meets
his lady Beatrice, the personification of love and purity, who conducts him
through Paradise.

The Divine Comedy gives an artistic verse of an epitome of all that

medieval people knew, hoped and felt, perhaps considered a mirror of the

ty
Middle Ages. At the same time, it drew much of its inspiration from Graeco-

si
Roman sources. Dante considers Athens the epicentre of all knowledge.
While Homer as ‘’loftiest of poets”; and Aristotle, the “master of those who

er
know”. Therefore, his reverence for all classical antiquity qualifies him for
the title of prophet of the Renaissance. His work also propelled the status of

v
a Florentine dialect to a new height and was considered a literary language

ni
of Italy.

U
rry
he
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nd
Po
E,
D

Courtesy: BBC, Dante Alighieri, a native of Florence

D

Check your progress

1) What was Aristotle called the Prophet of the Renaissance?

2) What are the factors responsible for the birth of Renaissance Italy?

39
Notes
[Link] Francesco Petrarca

Dante was followed by Francesco Petrarca, aka Petrarch-1304-1374,

popularly known as the first modern scholar and man of letters. His interest
in classical studies is fascinating. He is said to have gone through the works
of Vergil, Horace, Livy, and Cicero” several times, perhaps according to
his admission thousand times that too not cursorily but studiously and
intently, to inculcate with the powers of his mind successfully. He said, “I

ty
tasted in the morning and digested at night. I quaffed as a boy to ruminate

si
as an older man. These works have become so familiar to me that they
cling not to my memory merely but to the very marrow of my bones”. He

er
is often called the Latin revivalist since he also wrote extensively in Latin
and travelled widely in several European countries in search of ancient

v
manuscripts.

ni
U
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D
D

IMAGE CREDIT: Alpha History, Francesco Petrarca aka

Petrarch-1304-1374

40
 Notes
2.7.3 Giovanni Boccaccio

Another outstanding figure was Giovanni Boccaccio, 1313-1375,

who was credited with translating the Italy manuscripts version of the
Iliad and the Odyssey but, most importantly, remembered for his work
Decameron. It is a collection of one hundred stories written in Italian.
They are supposed to be narrated by a merry company of men and women
who have retired to a villa in the country during a plague at Florence.

ty
The Decameron is the first significant work in Italian prose. As a

si
result of the concerted of all the above scholars in the revival of classical

er
Learning in 1396, a scholar named Chrysoloras, from Constantinople,
began to lecture on Greek at the University of Florence. Even after the fall

v
of Constantinople, numerous scholars came to Italy and produced Greek

ni
Grammar. This confluence of culture made Italian cities the melting pot of
civilization and eventually saw the birth of Humanism.

U
Thus, the Greek and Latin languages and their works of literature
were henceforth the humanities, as distinguished from the old scholastic
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philosophy and theology.
he
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nd
Po
E,
D
D

Image credit: WHE, Giovanni Boccaccio, 1313-1375

41
Notes
[Link] Role of Printing Press

One of the earliest living testimony to the art of papermaking has

consistently been credited to the Chinese people, who made paper from
some fibrous material and the Arabs are credited to have made paper out
of flax and rags and in Europe, the credit goes to the Moors in al-Andalus.
Consequently, the Arab conquest of Sicily was said to have brought art to
Italy.

ty
However, the first step in the development of printing was using

si
engraved blocks. They were followed by casting the letters in separate

er
pieces of metal, the same in height and thickness. But it was only in 1450
CE that Johann Guttenberg of Mainz in Germany set up the first movable

v
printing press. Followed by the English printer of William Caxton in 1476.

ni
Thus Roman characters, resembling the letters employed for
ancient Roman inscriptions, came into use in southern Europe and

U
England, and the invention of Printing was considered one of the most
revolutionary achievements in Human history.
rry
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Po
E,
D
D

Image credit: WHE, Manuel Chrysoloras

42
 Notes
Check your Progress

1) Describe the role of Giovanni Boccaccio

2) Who was Johann Guttenberg?

ty
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v er
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U
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Image credit: WHE, JOHANN GUTTENBERG
he
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E,
D
D

Image credit: Painting by Daniel Maclise, Caxton showing the first

specimen of his Printing to King Edward IV and Queen Elizabeth at
the Almonry, Westminster

43
Notes
[Link] Renaissance Art

This section was briefly touched upon while discussing the role
of the Medici family and the importance of Florence in Italy during the
Renaissance. But some of the issues we have left will be dealt with. For
Instance, the Gothic architecture never made a profound impact in Italy.
Yet, the genesis of Art revival in Italy can be traced back to the olden days
in Greeks Temple and Roman domed buildings such as Long rows of Ionic

ty
or Corinthian columns spanned by round arches began to take its roots in

si
Italy, and the adoption of the dome, instead of the vault, for the roofs of
churches in St. Peters cupola are one of the finest examples.

er
These developments in art and architecture gradually influenced

v
other art forms such as Sculptor. One of the most prominent among them

ni
is Michelangelo1475-1564; although born in Florence, he lives in Rome.
Some fantastic art Michelangelo sculpted are colossal statues of David and

U
Moses. His notable works in paintings consist of the dome of [Link]. The
ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, the Biblical story from the
rry
Creation to the Flood. His fresco of the “Last Judgment “thus far is one of
the most outstanding paintings in the world.
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Image Credit: WHE, Michelangelo’s self-portrait

44
 Notes

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U
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Image Credit: WHE, Michelangelo’s David
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D

Michelangelo’s Moses

45
Notes

ty
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v er
ni
Image Credit: WHE, LEONARDO DA VINCI

U
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was another outstanding figure
rry
who combined himself as an architect, Sculptor, musician, engineer, and
painter. His notable works are “Last Supper,” a fresco painting of Milan,
the ‘’Mona Lisa.”
he

Then we have Raphael (1483-1520), ‘Sistine Madonna, “now at

Dresden and the “Transfiguration,” in the Vatican Gallery in Rome, some
ic

of his outstanding works, although he died before he could not finish the
nd

former. The Renaissance painting in Italy reached its zenith during his
time.
Po

Check your progress

1) Discuss Michelangelo’s contribution during the Renaissance period

E,

2) Briefly explain the importance of Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings.

3) Explain the importance of the Printing press during Renaissance.

D

4) Give some vital contributions of Dante Alighieri during Renaissance.

D

46
 Notes

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si
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Image Credit: WHE, RAPHAEL’S SISTINE MADONA
he

[Link] Renaissance’s Musical Instrument

ic

In the realm of Music, we have the three-string Rebec that

eventually became the violin after the fourth string was added, and the
nd

harpsichord also began to appear, which is said to have been the forerunner
of Piano and an instrumentalist and choir-Master named Palestrina (1526-
Po

1594A.D).
E,
D
D

THREE STRINGED REBEC

47
Notes

HARPSICHORD

ty
Who was regarded as the first great composer of melodious hymns.

si
Still sung in churches are all products of the Renaissance.

v er
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Po

Palestrina (1526-1594A.D)
E,
D

1.2.8 Impact of Renaissance

D

During the middle of the fifteenth century, Scholars from Germany,

France, and England, with the impact of the printing press, continued the
intellectual movement in their areas. One eminent Humanist during this
period was Desiderius Erasmus, born in Rotterdam, who travelled widely
in Germany, France, England and Italy and lived in all these places briefly
but died in Basel in Switzerland.

48
 Notes
He wrote mainly in Greek and is recorded as saying, “When I have
money, I will first buy Greek books, then clothes”. Such was his dedication
to learning the classical language. However, his most outstanding work
was published in 1516 AD New Testament in Original Greek with Latin
translation and a commitment to the Pope. Until then, the only New
Testament was by St. Jerome during the fourth century. This means the
Vulgate contains many errors that the Christian community has followed

ty
thus far.

si
Thus the seed of Humanism propelled in Erasmus’s translation of
the New Testament was destined to have a profound effect in the years to

er
come for our discussion in the following chapter.

v
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Image credit: Alpha History, Portrait of ERASMUS

E,

1.2.9 Let Us Sump Up

D

Thus in retrospection, we can conclude that Renaissance has

D

resulted in social and cultural awakenings inspired by the Enlightenment

philosophers during the age of reason. The Renaissance, which means
resurrection, revival or rebirth, was a tremendous European transition
from a seemingly barbaric period that transcended dogma and tradition
for individual merit, material progress, a much more sound economic
system, and self-expression.

49
Notes
The Renaissance represented the first efforts to redeem the world
from its state of overall degradation and to spread this spirit of revival and
recreation from sphere to sphere of human life.

This cultural awakening movement created a social climate

conducive to reform. This was an attempt to revitalize the socio-cultural
system by transforming the existing social milieu.

ty
The following points can be further discussed for self-interest as
to what extent the Renaissance movement achieved the following points.

si
1) They served as a cultural awakening against the assault on medieval

er
orthodoxy, Tradition and dogma. Or do they represent crucial in
the quest and struggle for a new cultural identity and autonomy and

v
subsequent state formation in Europe?

ni
2) What was the impact it had on all over the globe?

1.2.10 Self Assessement Question

U
rry
1) What do you understand by the term Renaissance?

2) How far did Renaissance usher in the outlook of new Europe and
he

the world?

3) Briefly describe Renaissance art and architecture

ic

4) Discuss the importance of Renaissance painting

nd

5) Discuss some of the Philosopher’s ideas for the beginning of new

learning
Po

6) Does the fall of Constantinople pave the way for new Learning

7) Briefly analyse the impact of the Renaissance

E,
D
D

50
 Notes
1.2.11 References

1) John Mason Neale, The Fall of Constantinople

2) --------------- New Cambridge Modern History

(Cambridge)

3) [Link]: The Foundations of Early Modern Europe 1460±1559.

ty
4) [Link]: The Near East: A Modern History

si
5) [Link] and [Link] (eds): The Middle East Yesterday
and Today, Part III.

er
6) John Harold Plumb eds, The Italian Renaissance, New York:

v
American Heritage; Boston: Distributed by Houghton Mifflin,
1985.

ni
7) Margaret W. Ferguson, Maureen Quilligan &, Nancy Vickers Eds

U
Rewriting the Renaissance: The Discourses of Sexual Difference in
Early Modern Europe (Women in Culture and Society) University
rry
of Chicago Press; 1st edition (September 15, 1986)

8) Hendy, Sir Philip. Piero della Francesca and the early Renaissance.
he

Riverside (N.J.): Macmillan Co.; London: George Weidenfeld and

Nicolson, 1968.
ic

9) Gordon, Sydney. Leonardo da Vinci, 1452 1519: His life, works,

nd

and experiments. IIus. by F. T. W. Cook. Oxford: Basil Blackwell;

Toronto: The Copp Clard Publ. Co., 1966.
Po

10) Berenson, Bernard. The Italian painters of the Renaissance. Vol.

I; The Venetian painters, the North Italian painters. London:
Phaidon, 1968.
E,

11) Anthony Everitt, Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome’s Greatest
Politician.2002.
D

12) ----------------------------- The Rise of Rome: The Making of

D

the World’s Greatest Empire, Random House Trade Paperbacks;

Reprint edition (12 November 2013)

51
 D
D
E,
Po
nd
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he

52
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ver
si
ty
 Notes
UNIT - II

Lesson 2.1 - Reformation

Structure
2.1.1 Objectives

ty
2.1.2 Some Important Reformer Priests

si
2.1.3  Condition of the Church on the Eve of the Reformation
2.1.4 Counter-Reformation

er
2.1.5 The Jesuits

v
2.1.6 First Council 1545-47

ni
2.1.7 Second Council 1551-52
2.1.8 Third Phase of the Council 1562-63

U
2.1.9 Let Us Sum Up
2.1.10 Self Assessement Question
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2.1.11 References
he

2.1.1 Objectives

The present unit titled reformation-counter reformation-Ignatius Loyola

ic

will attempt to achieve the following objectives

nd

1) To assess and analyse the connection between Humanism and

Protestant Reformation.
Po

2) To understand the church’s role during medieval and early modern

Europe.

3) To analyse the fundamental essence of the papal authority

E,

4) To understand the role of Christianity during the medieval period

D

and How far does Humanism purge its history?

D

5) To analyse the Impact of Reformation

6) To understand the underpinning of Counter-Reformation

7) Finally, it will assess the impact of Reformation and Ignatius Loyola’s

role in the spread of education.

53
Notes
2.1.2 Introduction
The protestant Reformation during the 16th century can be said to
have resulted from Renaissance and the Humanism movement in Europe,
which apparently shook Europe’s very cultural ethos and foundation. This
was, in fact, a revolution of religion in Europe, resulting from centuries of
simmering discontent regarding Europe’s socio and political set-up against
the Roman Christian papal autocracy.

ty
Christianity, which grew as a fledging religion in Europe from

si
the First century onwards, institutionalized power centers in Europe by
the thirteenth century in the spiritual and temporal space. They have

er
become so powerful that they rivalled a state government. The most
glaring example is the Pope, whose authority wielded more power than

v
some monarchs. The rising socio and intellectual movement propelled by

ni
Renaissance exacerbated this seemingly rising discontentment.

U
For Instance, the work of Erasmus had an ever arching impact on
the masses that some of the Bible that were in the exclusive domain of the
rry
papal authority was now translated into vernacular and some errors were
rectified. This philosophy of Humanism has also opened the idea that
Man’s fate, once determined by the dogmatism of religious philosophy,
he

was now decided by reason and rationalism.

Additionally, some in the Church also began to raise their voice

ic

against the corruption in the Church. For Instance, priests like John
nd

Wycliffe and Jan Hus began to challenge the Church’s teachings, straying
away from the Bible’s main themes. However, one of the most eminent
Priest to bring about this revolution is the
Po
E,
D
D

54
 Notes

ty
si
er
Image Credit: WHE, JOHN WYCLIFFE, 1328 – 1384

v
ni
2.1.3 Some Important Reformer Priests

U
JAN HUS 1369-1415

German Priest Martin Luther began questioning the Church in

rry
the early 1500s. He believed that some of the practices of the Priest are not
less than abusing power and misusing positions, such as the Church giving
he

more importance to the Pope than the Bible, which according to him, was
the ultimate spiritual authority. He also criticized the Church’s involvement
in selling indulgences, i.e., purchasing forgiveness for one’s sin by giving
ic

money to the Priest. He argued that all these practices are missing in the
nd

Bible, so one has to rerun to Bible’s teachings. That is, salvation can only
be achieved by faith in Christ alone.
Po
E,
D
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Image Credit: Alpha History, JAN HUS

55
Notes

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si
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Courtesy: WHE, MARTIN LUTHER 1483-1546

v
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So it was on October 31, 1517, Luther firmly stood on these stated
doctrines, which marked the birth of the Reformation. He put up the

U
famous 95 theses, which are essentially arguments against the Church’s
unfair practices and put up on the door of the Castle Church in Germany,
rry
which landed him on trial for rebelling against the church authority by the
church officials to defend the so-called 95 theses.
he

The story behind these emerged when Luther was deputed to

Augustinian Monastery in Rome somewhere around 1510 -1511, where
ic

he came to sense that the question of spirituality was completely missing

among the Priests. Perhaps he was disillusioned that one of the Dominican
nd

preachers, Johann Tetzel advocated that sin could only be forgiven by

th purchase of a letter of indulgence with approval from the Pope, that
Po

perhaps allows one soul to skip the time and purgatory before entering
heaven.

However, in January 1521, the Church declared Luther a heretic

E,

and served him an ex-communication notice. This was an epochal event

because his movement against Papal dogmatism gained momentum while
D

he was excommunicated. He was also blessed by the fact that his campaign
came when the printing press was in vogue, unlike his predecessor. Thus,
D

his argument could be copied and soon began to spread like wildfire across
Europe.

The movement gradually influenced some of the Priest who was

not being able to open up earlier and resulted in splitting Christianity into
two significant denominations, i.e. Catholics and Protestants(although

56
 Notes
they called themselves a reformed church yet since they protested against
the dogmatism hence they were known all over the as Protestants).
Luther and other priests began translating the Bible into German,
English and French, which was earlier the prerogatives of the Nobility.
However, one might ask when there are three Reformations in England,
Germany and Switzerland. To what extant these reformations shared the
same ideology and methods? If so, how do we discuss their approaches

ty
to the movement?

si
Yes, there was a parallel movement in Switzerland around
1522 under the leadership of Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (January 1

er
1484 – October 11 1531), William Farel (1489 – September 13 1565),
and John Calvin. Zwingly although they preach the same principle as

v
advocated by Martin Luther, but even more fierce and radical in tone in

ni
Zurich. As a result, it took a strong base and was eventually assisted by
fellow William Farel mainly to the French-speaking people in parts of

U
Switzerland.
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D
D

Image Credit: WHE, WILLIAM FAREL (1489 – September 13 1565)

In 1536 Farell met John Calvin, who authored The Institutes

of the Christian Religious Doctrine, which essentially was shot in the
arms of Farell and co in Switzerland. Now it was not only Martin Luther
who could translate the Bible into Vernacular but also Farelland co

57
Notes
in Switzerland. So this message of Calvin spread across Scotland and
Transylvania.

Zwingli also disagrees with some of Luther’s arguments as well. He

abolished Transubstantiation, consubstantiation, Catholic Mass statues
and painting on the glass. Zwingly movement also led to the rise and
growth of Anabaptism in Zurich, which essentially believed in baptism in
adulthood and rejected the Roman Catholic practices of Infant baptism.

ty
They also refused to pay taxes and serve in the army. They did not have

si
priests and isolated themselves and the rest of the community.

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Po

Image Credit:WHE, ZWINGLI

Since they began to differ from Zwingli, they eventually fled

E,

Zurich but regrouped in Moravia under the leadership of Jakob Hutter.

1500 – 1536. Who advocated communal ownership of goods, perhaps like
D

primitive communism, were later known as Hutterites. At the same time,

D

another group who went to the Netherlands grouped under the leadership
of Melchior Hoffman, a millenarian from 1495 – 1543, who believed that
the second coming of Christ would happen in Strasbourg.

While going to Strasbourg, he was arrested there. He was succeeded

by Jan Mathys 1500 – 1534, who claimed that the second coming would
happen in Munster; this compelled Mathys and his follower to move to

58
 Notes
Munster in 1534 and attempt to take over the city through an audacious
coup popularly known as the Munster rebellion and subsequently expelled
bishops and introduced adult baptism there. They also rejected the idea
of the trinity and insisted that God alone is divine. However, after facing
persecution, they finally fled to Poland and Transylvania.

Shortly after the death of Zwingli, John Calvin carried forward the
movement in Switzerland. Born in 1509 in Piketty, although he studied law,

ty
he came under the influence of Humanism and the protestants of Paris.

si
Although he considered himself a protestant in 1530, in 1534, Francis I
started persecuting the protestants; therefore, in 1535Calvin fled to Basil.

er
Calvin agrees with most Lutherans’ principles but shares Zwingley’s view
on the Lord’s supper. He is also stricter on predestinations, claiming God

v
decides who goes to heaven and hell.

ni
U
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nd
Po

John Calvin 1509 1564

E,

As discussed earlier, after meeting William Farel in Strasbourg,

D

Calvin appears more radical by stressing ethics than theology. He is also a

civic reformer and believes that the Church is inseparable from the state;
D

therefore, they should work hand in hand to bring total reform in society
but strictly based on the Bible. Their principles put the Nobility and the
privileged class in a very uncomfortable situation, and they were then
asked to leave Geneva. At this juncture, Calvin received an invitation from
Strassbourg, a reformer named Martin Bucer (1491 –1551).

59
Notes
Strasbourg was perhaps one of the first cities to adopt Lutheranism.
However, in 1541, the citizens of Geneva decided to call back Calvin, but
Calvin agreed to their request on the condition that they would not restrict
him from doing the necessary reforms. They are Religious education among
youngsters. He established four groups of church officials and assigned
them a role accordingly pastor to Preach, Doctors to instruct believers
in the faith, elders to provide discipline and deacons to administer to

ty
the poor. He introduces a consistory, religious code, church tribunal, or
governing body.

si
Although he forbade most of the catholic practices, he allowed

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usury provided the interested amount was fair. By 1555 his power
remained unchallenged. Additionally, when the Protestants refugees from

v
France arrived, the balance tilted towards him. Such was the popularity of

ni
Calvinism that permeated even the Low Countries and southern France
while, on the other hand, the counter-reformation gear was raised to the

U
highest degree that the road to the conflict could not be averted.
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D
D

Image Credit: WHE, POPE CLEMENT VII

This movement rapidly gained momentum in England too. So

King Henry the Eight started the Reformation for political and religious
reasons. Some historians argued that the Monarch was outraged by Pope

60
 Notes
Clement VII’s denial and annulled his first marriage to Catherine of
Aragon. So it was in 1534 that the English King declared that from then
on, he was the only final authority shredding all papal authority that was
once binding on the English Church.

This led to the establishment of the Anglican Church, which

marked the beginning of a new reformation movement in England. King
Henry also insisted that the Bible should be made. Available to all citizens,

ty
perhaps it should be reached every Parish at the earliest. Additionally,

si
the liturgy was prepared in English alongside Scotland to join the reform
movement under John Knox, who indeed was inspired by John Calvin.

er
Subsequently, John Knox now established Presbyterianism in Scotland.

v
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D
D

Image Credit: Alpha History, KING HENRY VIII

However, until the Peace of Augsburg (1555), which seemingly

secured the legal recognition of the Reformation within the Holy Roman
Empire, and consequently within European polity, the schism in the

61
Notes
Church was not recognized. This Peace treaty declared and allowed the
rulers who adopted the Reformation ethics were now admitted to the
comity of nations, and the Pope was legally and practically debarred from
excommunicating them in terms of placing them under interdict and from
inviting obedient neighbouring potentates to conquer and dispossess their
sovereigns.

Thus in the aftermath of this peace, it was no longer possible for

ty
the Bishop of Rome, the Holy Roman Empire, to launch a Bull (decree)

si
against a Lutheran prince and expect to have its execution enforced as in
earlier days.

er
While Reformation revolutionized the Christian faith, it had

v
ramifications beyond religion. Before Reformation, for all practical

ni
purposes, many Europeans depended on educated upper classes, but now
this period marks the beginning of the empowerment of the common

U
masses. This also led to other technological innovations of new ideas,
giving many Europeans the freedom to choose what they wanted to do
rry
and pursue.
he

2.1.4 C
 ondition of the Church on the Eve of the Reformation

The most significant aspect of the Church in Europe on the eve of

ic

the Reformation was the degeneration of clerical behaviours and morals.

Since the fourteenth century, we have heard of several complaints against
nd

the Priests. Though they preach the virtue of chastity and purity yet, some
of them extensively abuse them; perhaps they do not practice what they
Po

preach.

Papal income was gradually augmented—the Church underwent

a complete moral degeneration. Many monasteries were the most affected.
E,

They have become a centre for corruption. The papacy also reached its
lowest ebb towards the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century.
D

We have discussed the role of Jan Huss’s attempts at reforms were met with
dire consequences.
D

So, in a nutshell, the year 1500 marked the Catholic Church as very
corrupt and worldly, which means religion has become more mechanical
and materialistic, where less emphasis was put on penitence and more
on the sale of indulgence. There was also resentment against the clergy’s

62
 Notes
sacramental and juridical powers, exercised during the Mass, church
courts and the confessional.

The social background of Medieval Europe can best be described

as highly feudal, dominated by the Church and its Clerics. It was essentially
governed by dogma, i.e., an unquestionable coherent theological and
philosophical. The Church remains the primary arbiter of temporal and
spiritual aspects of all life. So we can argue that Reformation was long in

ty
the making.

si
CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

er
1) How far does reformation revolutionize Europe?

v
2) Who was Martin Luther?

ni
3) Discuss the role of Calvin.

U
4) Discuss the power and privileges of the papacy
rry
5) Discuss the condition of the medieval church on the eve of
reformation.

6) Compare and contrast the fundamental difference between Luther

he

and Calvin.
ic

2.1.5 Counter-Reformation
nd

The word counter-reformation can best be described as an attempt

made by Roman catholic churches to repair the damage in terms of the
Po

reputation and ethics caused by the Reformation movement. In short, it

was essentially an internal revival movement of Roman Catholicism.

Some of the unique expressions in this revival movement are such

E,

as the persistence of solid medieval piety strengthened by a new mysticism

and reverence for the tradition of the Church, Christian Humanism, which
D

will essentially remain loyal to Catholicism and a series of institutional

D

reforms, including the administrative changes, doctrinal definitions and

coercive measures, which were inspired by the revival of piety.

The attempts to reform began in Spain and, to a certain extent,

in Italy. Such kind of expression was first manifested in the Council of
Trent. Perhaps many historians would call all the exposition-made and
deliberated in the Council of Trent as Counter-Reformation. In this

63
Notes
Council, all the Roman Catholic bishops will come together and pronounce
several anathemas running to more than 100, i.e. a formal ecclesiastical
curse accompanied by ex-communication.

Some historians grouped the so-called anathema under two

headings, i.e. first to respond to the protestant challenges and second
to respond to challenges within the catholic churches and address them
accordingly. But one must remember that the Council of Trent is not just

ty
one time happening but an intermittent meeting that occurred within 18

si
years, 1545-1563. It was so long that it witnessed the death of two popes,
i.e. Paul III and Julius III, primarily because it was held in three phases

er
First phase 1545-47, second phase1551-52 and third Phase1562-63, which
will be dealt with later in a more elaborate way when we touch upon the

v
reformation from the Catholic or the Counter-Reformation perspective.

ni
To balance the view and nuances of the argument, or in other words, to
understand history from both perspectives, i.e. the Reform church and the

U
counter-reform ideas.
rry
The first measure in this Council addressed the challenges facing
the catholic doctrines. They insisted that salvation involves both faith and
good works. They also hold on to the seven sacraments that need to be
he

followed by all believers, and they still insist that authority in religious
matters comes not only from the Bible but also from the collective writings
ic

of the Catholic Church.

nd

Additionally, concerning abuses within the catholic churches, they

admitted that problems resulted in a series of reforms within the Church.
Po

First, they outlawed simony, the practices of buying church

properties or preferment and re-emphasized the idea of celibacy within the
priesthood, one of the most contentious points raised by Martin Luther.
E,

They also insisted on proper education for priests to perform their

duty efficiently.
D

Finally, to put forth these reforms, they also decided to take action
D

against heresy.

In fact, in 1542, while they were preparing for the Council to get into
action, the papacy was trying to enforce the inquisition already established
in the 13th century to stamp out heresy in southern France and Italy. But
now, the main targets are the Protestants and the conquered people.

64
 Notes
Regarding Transubstantiation, the Council also reaffirmed the
idea of “Transubstantiation”. i.e. the blood and wine of the communion
sacrament become the actual body and blood of Jesus. Additionally
upheld the principles of the Seven Sacraments, i.e. Baptism, Eucharist,
confirmation, Reconciliation, anointing of the Sick, Marriages and Holy
Orders. Unlike the Protestants, They defended the selling of indulgence,
and the clergy remained celibate and chaste. The Church also began to

ty
establish seminaries where the priests were to become more informed by
giving them proper training to perform and handle the task accordingly.

si
The Church also started the catholic index, the list of books that Catholics

er
were forbidden to read. This means the counter-Reformation took
Catholicism from the point of weakness and expanded its power, at least

v
over the catholic followers.

ni
Check Your Progress

U
1) What do you understand by the term Counter-reformation?
rry
2) Briefly explain the steps taken by the pope during the counter
reformation
he

3) How far do you agree that the Jesuits were internally a protestant
movement?
ic

2.1.6 The Jesuits

nd
Po
E,
D
D

Image credit: The [Link]. Portrait of IGNATIUS LOYOLA

65
Notes
Although the contributions of the Jesuits will be discussed in great
detail in the later part, since the role of Loyola was considered a harbinger
of such measure (counter-reformation within the church) appeared in
1540. Perhaps, the genesis was traced to Ignatius Loyola wrestling with
spiritual agonies and physical pain. Unlike Luther, he remained loyal to the
Catholic Church; therefore, the Pope declared Ignatius and his follower as
a religious order and named their group Society of Jesus, which later on

ty
were commonly known as Jesuits.

si
The work of this society was found in the statement of Pope Julius
III’s second bull in July 1550. I quote here, “the Company is founded

er
to employ itself entirely in the defense and spread of the holy Catholic
faith and to help souls in Christian life and doctrine by preaching, public

v
reading of the scriptures and other means of teaching the word of God,

ni
by giving the Spiritual Exercises, teaching Christian doctrine to children
and the ignorant, hearing confessions and administering the sacraments.

U
It is also instituted to appease quarrels, help prisoners in jails and the sick
in hospitals, and all must be done by the Company gratuitously without
rry
expecting any human wages or salary for its labour”.

Loyola’s methods were straightforward and lucid. He did not

he

choose to attack error in the Church but to proclaim the faith, and he
had an unconquerable trust that the sincere ministry of the word and
ic

sacraments, the holy discipline of the Church, would save men from error
and sin. The most astonishing thing about Ignatius Loyola was that he
nd

organized and ran his group like an army that underwent several years of
training with a set of strict disciples to be adhered to because the Church’s
Po

reputation was at its lowest ebb.

Therefore, it was highly essential for Ignatius to keep the faith intact
and strong through these measures. They also founded a school where
E,

humanistic education thrives alongside religious instruction. Additionally,

the professed served as a body of intellectually oriented priests who underwent
D

vigorous training for years in the New Learning of the Renaissance methods,
which the older orders had most bitterly opposed. Ignatius was very
D

pragmatic in receiving novices, and his readiness to dismiss members from

the lower ranks of the society was not only ready but eager to sacrifice, which
according to him, where quality matters more than numbers.

This essentially combines the state-of-the-art intellectualism that

revitalizes and reaffirms catholic theology, which could also challenge the

66
 Notes
protestant emphasis on the connection between the Priest and the masses
concerning the scriptures. Perhaps among the three phases, the third was
directed to one of the most revolutionary approaches, heading towards an
educational push.

The Jesuits also advocated that the Catholics could spread

education; currently, we have numerous Loyola colleges and universities
worldwide. They also perhaps globalized their faith through these

ty
educational institutions by combing the doctrine of justification not only

si
by faith but also by combining religion and good works. Let us now study
in detail the story of Ignatius Loyola.

er
He was from the northern part of Spain and was a soldier. In 1521

v
although he was wounded badly after a battle, perhaps it was the time

ni
when Martin Luther made his stands clear against the Roman Catholic
churches. During this period, he read two books, Life of Christ and the

U
Lives of the Saints, that changed his life and worldview. This conception
shaped his worldview that the world was divided between God and the
rry
devil, who stirred momenta in the soul for good or evil, which he might
resist or foster, marking the beginning of his Christian faith. Later, this
manifested in the opening of his excellent book, “The Spiritual Exercises”,
he

after he left for a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and Barcelona from Mansera.

Pierre Lefévre was the first person he got in touch with when
ic

he became a roommate of Ignatius at the College of Sainte Barbe, then

nd

Francesco Javier later on Francis Xavier. Almost ten of them joined hands
and devoted themselves to charity.
Po

He started devoting his time to prayers, and people like Francis

Xavier became part of his group in 1534. In 1548 the spiritual exercises as
the books encapsulating Ignatius’s understanding of prayer would later be
E,

called. These trends slowly transformed the Catholic Church into a more
acceptable doctrine. They expanded worldwide by combining faith and
good works and perhaps became one of the most advanced and radical
D

missionaries.
D

Loyola’s and his group’s charity work in Rome started with setting
up a Refuge and creating a bread line for the ‘downtrodden. In 1539 winter
was so severe, compounded by the scarcity of bread, plenty of people
who were driven by hunger swarmed into the city, where they slept in
the streets. Since there was no action from the Church and the clergy in
Rome, the ten poor priests Loyola and his group went out every night to

67
Notes
gather the hungry and sick and provide them food, fire and shelter in the
unoccupied dilapidated building.

In order to digest and better understand the two (the reformer and
the catholic) sides of the views, let us also discuss some interesting facts about
the reformation story here. Some historians called Luther as an external
reformer, whereas Ignatius was the true and internal reformer. As such, they
wanted to discard the term counter-reformation. Some historians also called

ty
Ignatius’s paths and methods a Catholic Reformation. At the same time, the

si
Council of Trent was named the corporate side of the catholic reformation
and the Jesuits as the personal side of the catholic reformation.

er
The beginning of the real sense of the church could also be traced

v
to the tremendous Papal schism of 1378-1417. During this period, we

ni
have several Pope claiming to be the real head of the church. This period
saw the emergence of the concept of Conciliarism, which believes that the

U
Council is above the pope, who can keep order in the church. For instance,
“the Council of Constance (1414–18) invoked the doctrine to depose three
rry
claimants to the papal throne; it then elected Pope Martin V as the sole
legitimate successor to St. Peter, thereby effectively healing the Western
(Great) Schism (1378–1417)”.
he
ic
nd
Po
E,
D
D

Image credit: WHE, THE COUNCIL OF TRENT

68
 Notes
So in the Council of Trent 1545-1563, the first Council of Trent
was convened.

2.1.7 First Council 1545-47

1) This Council deals mainly with the issue of Controversy over

Protestantism, there was also a deliberation to adopt a conciliatory

ty
approach toward Protestantism, but in the end, the Protestant
spirits were all rejected. This took place during Charles V, the so-

si
called Holy Roman emperor.

er
The discussion surrounding three main issues was mainly a
decree on the doctrinal about Justification, Vulgate and the role of

v
tradition in catholic theology. The Justification which sparked the

ni
first controversy was agreed upon by “ faith working in love”, which
means justification by faith and work.

U
During medieval periods results of love were synonymous with
rry
work of penance for the sake of accruing merit. Further, even in the
Augustinian traditions, the object of your love draws you towards
it and transforms you to be more like it because Augustine and his
he

followers firmly believe that God is our supreme love. When we are
drawn toward him, that relational draw changes us more like him.
ic

2) Concerning the Vulgate, the Council also reaffirmed a fifth-

nd

century translation of the Bible in Latin by [Link]. They argued

that the only official text doctrinally in the context of the Council
is, of course, the Vulgate only. They perhaps know that Bible was
Po

written in Greek and Hebrew, so they see the complexity of the

interpretation and are well aware that in translation, there are all
kinds of words, choices and reapplications of verses subtly, so once
E,

that is confused.

For instance, when he got the phrase ekklesia in the Tyndale Bible,
D

he did not mean to translate the word to mean the church but
D

congregation. Therefore the Council of Trent holds the vulgate as

official but not inspired.

69
Notes

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si
v er
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Image credit: Schibantiquarian, COPY OF THE VULGATE BIBLE

3) The third one is related to “Tradition”. The basic argument here

U
is that Protestants hold traditions, whereas Catholics firmly hold
traditions. When you have a tradition that arises in the church and
rry
that is embraced or affirmed at the Council and the papal level,
although they did not equate with scripture but believed that they
he

are equal to the belief or grounding on the practice of the Christian

life, such as Lent, Doctrines of Mary Or rosary that are very germane
to the catholic church, so they believed that these are not scriptural
ic

equals but an authoritative interpretation of how we ought to live.

nd

2.1.8 Second Council 1551-52

Po

This Council was the time when there was the Schmalkaldic
League and the Peace of Augsburg that dealt with Lutherans and
Transubstantiation.
E,

1) Concerning the Schmalkaldic leagues, we have several observers in

the second Council, some influential personalities such as Martin
D

Chemnitz, also popularly known as Second Luther. He is famous

D

and known for writing a commentary on the Council of Trent. They

are a league of rulers within the Holy Roman Empire who owe their
allegiance to the emperor, Charles V., Who was disillusioned with the
Catholic Church and had turned to the new doctrines propounded
by the reformer Priests Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon.

70
 Notes
Following the Diet, an assembly of Imperial princes, of Worms in
1521, when the emperor tried to persuade Luther to retract his ‘unorthodox
and differential attitude towards the catholic church, Luther, the former
Augustinian monk, instead took refuge with Frederick III, Duke of Saxony.

His teachings spread that suit the prevailing political atmosphere

and the Enlightenment philosophy as time passed. In 1529, the Landgrave
Philip of Hesse began to influence some of the free cities of the empire and

ty
other evangelical rulers to form and bind together in a ‘Protestation’ as

si
against the traditional church. The term evangelical was an encompassing
terminology used by all rulers and priests who wanted to reform their

er
church. Some of the prominent philosophers and intellectuals are Erasmus.

v
Having rejected the Confession of Augsburg, Charles pursued an

ni
aggressive policy to bring what he considered a rogue state back into line.
The League was formed in February 1531 as a mutual defence pact between

U
those German rulers who had accepted the Confession of Augsburg as the
definition of their faith. The states agreed to a joint defence pact against
rry
Charles, promising each other to provide 20,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry.
Members included Johann Friederich, Elector of Saxony, whose wife was
Sibylle of Cleves, Philip of Hesse, Anhalt, Pomerania and the Imperial free
he

cities of Frankfurt and Strasbourg.

In 1538 and 1539, Denmark and Brandenburg joined, respectively,

ic

and a year later, the Palatinate. The duchy of Jülich-Berg-Cleves did

nd

not join: although its duke had rejected papal authority, he remained
doctrinally Catholic.
Po

However, during the second Council, the main issue remains

regarding the Transubstantiation. Here literally refers to the substance,
the form of who I am, i.e. the holy communion; although you cannot see
E,

the body and the blood, you cannot see them; they have become a part of
the form of the blood and flesh of Christ, or in other words, the essence of
the bread and wine become the body and blood physically. So the council
D

rejects the idea that you can affirm physical according to mystery, and to
D

be catholic and to honestly believe in the mass, you have to confirm the
doctrine of transubstantiation.

2.1.9 Third Phase of the Council 1562-63

These council’s main focuses are as follows

71
Notes
1) Purgatory,

2) Reforms (relics, indulgences &Bishops) and

3) Educational push.

Here the council decided to put its house on its own terms, not
heeding any direction the Protestants gave. This means there will be no
reconciliation with Protestantism, and howsoever it may be. As stated

ty
above regarding Purgatory, the council reaffirmed its stance on the

si
Purgatory. This council also tries to remedy the catholic church problem
that has been happening since the middle ages.

v er
ni
U
rry
he
ic
nd
Po

Image credit: WHE, Martin Chemnitz

E,

To make a more modern outlook or a systematic fine tuning with

the changing world order to galvanise what is meant to be a catholic.
D

Emphasis was given to things such as what can be called relics—such as

Relics from the crucifixion of Christ, a thorn crown, and nails. Although
D

there were no regulations on the relics, the third council put regulations
on indulgences—regulations such as indulgences that can no longer be
sold. How Bishops were to be selected, the protocol to be maintained in
the diocese, and be a good shepherds to the pastors.

72
 Notes
The main emphasis of this council is a call for setting up schools,
institutions, and seminaries to be funded all throughout. The product can
be seen today, such as Catholic universities worldwide, such as [Link],
Loyola, Gonzaga and many other educational institutions worldwide;
perhaps this you can call the incredible impact of the Council of Trent or
the Counter-Reformation.

The issue of Tridentine Catholicism also needs emphasis here in

ty
our discussion. The word Tridentine in Latin is just the word for the city

si
of Trent, where the council met. This essentially means a Vulagate Latin-
Traditional Catholicism. Catholicism that is reformed and reenergized

er
after this council.

v
2.1.10 LET US SUM UP

ni
The discussion above regarding the reformation and counter-reformation

U
gave us a brief idea of the nature of the following issues.
rry
1) The nature of corruption in the church and its role in shaping and
moulding the traditions
he

2) It also helps us understand the impact of the Printing Press, which

tremendously helps to spread literature and proliferate within a
short period all over Europe.
ic

3) The period also led to the era of the beginning of exploration and
nd

discovery of the new world, which we will discuss in the following

module.
Po

4) The role of Humanism in how far it shaped and purged the idea of
Reason and rationalism over dogma and traditions

5) The idea of the rise of capitalism in Europe, when personal ambition

E,

and capability were noticed and appreciated over a person’s family

heritage
D

6) Perhaps the most significant impact of the genesis of German

D

Prosperity could be traced from this period onwards.

2.1.11 Self Assessment Question

1) Discuss briefly the Role of Martin Luther in the Reformation

Movement.

73
Notes
2) Explain why did Ignatius choose to remain within the catholic
church

3) Discuss the role of Jesuits in the education sector

4) Discuss the role of Calvin and Zwingli’s model of Reformation

5) Briefly explain the impact of the Reformation

ty
6) Discuss the various issues deliberated during the council of Trent
1545-1563

si
7) Discuss the concept of Tridentine Catholicism.

er
2.1.12 References

v
1) [Link]: The Story of Civilisation (New York)

ni
2) [Link] (ed.): Protestantism and Capitalism (1959)

3)

U
[Link]: The Origins of the Modern European State
1450±1725 (London, 1974).
rry
4) [Link]: A History of Europe 1494±1610 (London, 1931)
he

5) Cronin, Vincent (1992), The Renaissance

6) Ward, A. The Cambridge Modern History. Vol 1: The Renaissance

ic

(1902)
nd

7) Cameron, Euan (2012) [1991]. The European Reformation

(Second ed.). Oxford University Press.
Po

8) Patrick, James (2007). Renaissance and Reformation. New York:

Marshall Cavendish

9) Appold, Kenneth G. The Reformation: A Brief History (2011

E,

10) Dickens, A. G. The Counter-Reformation (1979) expresses the

older view that it was a movement of reactionary conservatism.
D
D

74
 Notes
UNIT - III

Lesson 3.1 - Geographical Discoveries,

Structure

3.1.1 Objectives

ty
3.1.2 Introduction
3.1.3 Chiplog And Navigation

si
3.1.4 Spain And Its Exploration Mission

er
3.1.5 France And Its Exploration Mission
3.1.6 England And Its Exploration Mission

v
ni
3.1.7 Portuguese And Its Exploration Mission
3.1.8 Spanish Mission To The Indian Ocean Through Western Routes

U
3.1.9 The Dutch And Its Exploration Mission
rry
3.1.1 Objectives

Geographical discoveries, Europe and the wider world” are as follows.

he

1) To discuss and explore, what prompted the Europeans for

geographical exploration?
ic

2) How far do Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Bartholomew Diaz and

nd

John Cabot help us better understand the world around us?

3) To discuss the connection between Renaissance, Reformation and
Po

Geographical Exploration.
4) It will look into the connection between the two units discussed
above and the current Unit
E,

5) Finally, it will assess the impact of the geographical discoveries on

world history and politics and sump up the discussion
D
D

3.1.2 Introduction

While addressing the first question in the introduction, what

prompted the Europeans to explore geographically? The question remains
about the influence of Humanism, Renaissance and Reformation and
the subsequent state formation. One cannot shy away from narrating
the story of Reconquista, the defeat of the Emirates of al-Andalusia, and

75
Notes
the subsequent marriage of Isabella and Ferdinand, who, in 1492, to
commemorate the victory over the Moors in Europe, set out to Columbus
for a voyage to satisfy their appetite for more wealth perhaps since their
marriage was also blessed by the Pope the desire to spread Catholicism in
the newly conquered world.

This means that during the age of exploration, four primary

objectives were inherent in the minds of the European, i.e. God, Glory, Gold

ty
and spices. Spreading religion was one of the most important motivating

si
factors in the minds of Europeans during this period. Perhaps looking back
at the History of Europe during those periods was centre around religion,

er
maybe the most important being the Protestant Reformation, the Kings
of Portuguese and the King and Queen of Spain, and Ignatius, whose six

v
followers reached as far as Brazil.

ni
U
rry
he
ic
nd
Po

Image Credit: AL FIN

E,

The story of Prester John was also one crucial factor that cannot be
D

ignored. It was placed somewhere in 1145, coincidentally when the Pope

called for a Crusade.
D

Secondly, attaining Glory or glorifying one’s nation could

have been the other important factor for geographical discoveries and
exploration. Renaissance and Humanism might have influenced this Glory
that advocated for talent, reason and rationality, encouraging individuals
to translate their ambition and talent into Glory and make their name in

76
 Notes
the annals of History. So enabled them to set out to explore the world to
look for new avenues, new routes, and perhaps look for new opportunities
for trade and commerce.

The third vital thing could have been Gold and Silver. The myth
created around the fabulous wealth in India, China and South America
dared the Europeans to face the threat of death and many hindrances on
their way. The progress in Science and mathematician and astronomer

ty
Eratosthenes’s ideas, which assess the circumference of the earth and

si
the distances to the Moon and sun, have tremendously impacted such
adventures because they have developed their ideas of the globe. During

er
those periods and even now, Gold means wealth. Perhaps economic
historians would term it as driven by Mercantilism philosophy, i.e. a

v
financial system (Europe in the 18th century) to increase a nation’s

ni
wealth by government regulation of its commercial interests. So there is a
concerted effort on the part of each country to look for signs of wealth for

U
their glory and fame and the countries’ economic prosperity.
rry
The fourth important factor could have been the Spice Trade.
During the medieval period, the Europeans often heard that there was
a spice that came from the Orient if added to the meat, making the taste
he

better. Also, consumption in Cold European countries can keep your body
at the required temperature. These spices came to Europe via the Gulf
ic

through the Arab, Genoese and Venetian traders. However, in 1453 after
the defeat of Constantinople at the hand of the Ottoman Turks, the spice
nd

route, compounded by their hostilities with the Genoese and the Venetian
traders, was almost inaccessible for the Europeans. Therefore, the desire to
Po

trade and possess these spices drove the Dutch and the Portuguese in India
and Java-Sumatra region.

The fifth factor could have been the idea of a colony in the overseas
E,

territories. Merriam-Webster defines colonialism as “the domination

of a foreign state or nation by a foreign state or country: extending and
D

maintaining a nation’s political and economic control over another people

or area, perhaps first practised by the Romans”. Acquiring wealth, fame,
D

and Glory was essential because they produced raw materials for the home
countries, and the home countries gave back finished good to the colonies.

For Instance, cotton, sugar and teak are among the finest examples.
They all originate from the colony and make their way to Europe, and
when they are converted into shirts, furniture, refined sugars and alcohol,

77
Notes
they return journey towards the colonies, and when the colonies buy these
products, and their money goes back to the European countries. Hence
they have become a backyard for European countries. So it is imperative to
understand the motivating factors behind explorations and geographical
discoveries.

Portugal was the first to dream of opening new trade routes to the
Indies to control the spice trade. The Development of the caravel became

ty
handy for them, which was more or less state-of-the-art ships to navigate

si
the sea route from West Africa.

v er
ni
U
rry
he
ic
nd
Po
E,

Image credit: National Maritime Museum. THE PORTUGUESE

CARAVEL
D

The Portuguese Prince Henry the Navigator generously funded

D

cartography studies and his subjects’ voyages. For the Portuguese King,
this is one crucial factor in reaching India and China, as the Ottoman has
become an obstacle to finding the spice route. These adventures began
on Africa’s north and western coasts, such as Ceuta, Madeira, Azores,
and Angola. They subsequently discovered the island of Cape Verde and
moved on to Senegal and Gambia.

78
 Notes
While looking for the route to India, Bartholomew Dias rounded
the cape of Good Hope in 1488. This was an epochal event for the Europeans
as he became the first to enter the Indian Ocean from the southern side.
They were also credited with measuring the speed of the ships.

ty
si
v er
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he

Image credit: WHE, PRINCE HENRY, the Navigator

ic
nd

3.1.3 Chiplog and Navigation

Bartolommeo Crescêncio is also credited with designing the Chip

Po

log. A piece of wood attached to a rope with the one we used for flying
kites. Knots were tied along regular intervals of the rope. The chip was
then thrown into the water as the ship sailed. The number of knots that
E,

rolled out on the rope was counted using an hourglass. This number was
used to calculate the ships’ speed, which is still used today.
D

To stay on course and keep track of their progress, sailors used

D

Traverse Board. This works basically like a computer. It has a compass

rose at the top. Eight pegs holes extended out from each of the 32 compass
points. One peg hole represents 30 minutes which were measured by an
hourglass. Usually, the task was assigned to someone to track the direction
for two hours or eight consecutive peg holes. At the bottom of the board
were other holes meant to record the ship’s speed every 30 minutes. After

79
Notes
two hours, the watch would change. Everything was reset after the speed
was recorded in the logbook.

ty
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Image Credit: WHE, THE CHIP LOG

nd

To be precise, in 1451, the Europeans had the information that

somewhere to the east of the Indies, there was a place where the spices
Po

and silk came from. In Europe, spices were controlled by the Genoa and
Venice traders. However, in 1453, the Ottoman seized Constantinople and
brought down the Byzantine Empire. The Mediterranean and the Gulf
E,

somehow came under their control so did the restriction on the movement
of the Genoese and Venetian traders.
D

3.1.4 Spain and its Exploration Mission

D

In 1484 Christopher Columbus, a Genoese navigator, proposed to

the king of Portugal, urging him to fund his travel by sailing west to reach
Asia. Columbus believed that Cathay and Cipango (China and Japan)
were close by to navigate through the western sea routes. But the King
rejected the proposal but immediately proposed to the Queen of Castile in

80
 Notes
1486 that too dismissed. Son, it was in 1492 when the Spanish monarchy
completed the Reconquista by driving away the Moors from the last bastion
of Grenada. Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand now sanctioned Genoese
sailor Christopher Columbus to discover the spice routes to India with the
promise that he would be made the viceroy of all colonies he discovered
and conquered, so it was on August 3 with three ships La Nina, La Pinta
and Santa Maria along with 90 men leaves from Palos.

ty
si
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Image credit: [Link], CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
he
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nd
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E,

Image credit: Public domain, CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS routes

D

However, on October 12, they landed in the Bahamas and then sailed
D

onto Cuba and Hispaniola (now Haiti). While looking for the kingdom of
Great Khan that he heard from the writings of Marco Polo, there he found
an island, quesqueya, which he renamed “ La Hispaniola” and built a fort
of Nativity. Instead of Gold and Silver, they discovered Tobacco and Maize
and took them to Spain along with some natives (Taino). In March 1493,
he returned to Spain, leaving 39 men and 7 Tainos and was accorded a

81
Notes
ceremonial reception. This was followed by the treaty of Tordesillas in 1494,
according to which the Spanish were to possess the territories west to the
meridian of 49 western Hemisphere and the Portuguese the regions to the
east. This means Spain now has the territorial domain in the West to find
India. In contrast, the Portuguese had the prerogatives of finding India in
the east.

During the second voyage, after a few months, this time Columbus

ty
had 17 ships and 2000(some account mention 1500) men under his

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command. This time the mission, as agreed to earlier with the queen
and king, was the colony that he discovered would be under his viceroy/

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governorship. The Spaniards found that the 39 men that he left behind
were dead. He occupied the Antilles, Cuba and Haiti and began to convert

v
the natives.

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However, the Monarch was displeased with Columbus due to a

U
lack of gold and perhaps no spices to be discovered so far. Christopher
Columbus died in 1506 after his fourth round of voyages, Introducing
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maize, cocoa, tapioca, potatoes and tomatoes, which introduced domestic
animals and various diseases that decimated almost the entire native
population in this ne found land.
he

From 1507-08 the word America appeared on the map in honour

of another explorer Amerigo Vespucci. Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian
ic

merchant, explorer, and navigator from the Republic of Florence, from

nd

whose name the term “America” is derived. Between 1497 and 1504,
Vespucci participated in at least two voyages of the Age of Discovery, first
on behalf of Spain (1499–1500) and then for Portugal.
Po

So from these Spanish colonies, a conqueror, the conquistador,

explored almost the entire American continent. To the north, they
E,

discovered a land they named Florida. To the south, they went inside
the lead and went deep further, finding another sea on the other side in
1517. In 1518 an expedition went along the coast to the north, passed to th
D

peninsula and met the envoys of an Emperor. The governor then decided
D

to send a mission there.

82
 Notes

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Image Credit: LE Gallierie Degli UFFIZI, Portrait of AMERIGO

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VESPUCCI
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The conquistador Hernan Cortez left Cuba in 1519 for an

expedition to the Aztecs. On his way, he recovers a Spanish shipwrecked
Po

man who survives 8 Years in Mayan countries and obtains a mistress after
confrontations, who will later act as his interpreter. Then he reached
Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec empire. These people were impressed
E,

by the horses and the firearms they had never seen, so some decided to
change sides. Then Cortes is warmly received in the Capital.
D
D

83
Notes

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Image credit: WHE, Portrait of HERNAN CORTEZ

However, a war broke out in Tenochtitlan and finally broke out

he

between Cortez and the Emperor and Cortez was chased out of the capital.
Then Cortez made an ally with the enemies and rebels of the Aztecs. They
ic

then besieged Tenochtitlan and cut off its drinking water supply. But above
all, the inhabitants suffer from small pox which decimates the city.
nd

Tenochtitlan collapsed after about 75 days of the siege, and Cortez

became new Spain’s governor in 1521. Despite all forms of resistance
Po

from the native peoples, the Spaniards continue to explore the continent
to extend their control in Central America. Spain, who was indebted to
German bankers, now authorized them in return to founding a colony in
E,

an area where houses are built on stilts, named Little Venice or Venezuela.
To the south, the exploration continued to the islands in 1526-7, where
D

certain rumours called the “PIRU” kingdom existed. The navigator

Francisco Pizarro then went on to search for it.
D

In 1531 he learned that an Inca empire was in total war of

succession. After several rounds of negotiation through intermediaries in
1532, Emperor Atahualpa organised a meeting in Cajamara.

84
 Notes

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Image credit: [Link], Image portrait of EMPEROR
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ATAHUALPA

As the discussion went awry, Pizarro arrested the emperor. Nine

he

months later, despite an enormous ransom of Gold and silver received

for his release Pizarro executed the emperor and then siege Cusco the
ic

capital of the empire, in 1533. Since chaos prevailed in the empire after
the execution of the emperor for the control of the wealthy empire, in the
nd

North of the Tomebamba, A resistance movement under a general named

Ruminahui made a good fight.
Po

However, after struggling to continue the resistance movement, he

decided to burn Quito, siege all Inca’s wealth, and hide. Even after being
captured and tortured, he chose not to reveal where he hid the wealth
E,

as if the wealth ever existed. Then Pizarro moved further south in 1535
and founded the capital city called the City of Kings, which would later
D

be called Lima. In 1536 in Cuzco, the Incas rebelled and took the city.
Almagro, Pizarro’s ally who returns from an unsuccessful conquest to
D

the south, takes the city and proclaims himself the governor of Cuzco.
Then a war broke out between Pizarro and Almagro; taking advantage of
the prevailing situation, the Incas founded the Kingdom of Vilcabamba,
which would continue to put up as an intense resistance centre against the
Spanish for another 36 years.

85
Notes

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Image credit: HE, Portrait of FRANCISCO PIZARRO by Amable-Paul
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Coutan, 1835

Further south, in 1538, a group of people called Mapuches also

he

resisted Spanish colonisation.

Now coming towards the North, Spaniards continued exploration

ic

and expansion. The Priest Bartholome de Las Casas denounced the cruel
treatment imposed on the natives. Thus Spain, in 1542, passed a new law
nd

to give back the freedom to the slaves by abolishing the Ecomiendas and
reaffirming the equalities of the rights of the natives. However, in Peru,
Po

this law is poorly received by the colonists. The viceroy tried to make them
apply, and he was revolted against and beheaded. Spain manages to regain
control of the colonies and suspend s the conquest of America.
E,
D
D

86
 Notes

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Image Credit: WHE, FRANCISCO PIZARRO Conquest Route

87
Notes
3.1.5 France and its Exploration Mission

The year 1553 saw many European countries willing to compete

with the Spanish conquistador, which brought loads of wealth and fame to
the mother country. France repudiated the treaty of Tordesillas and thus
ventured out for an expedition party to Brazil. Then France Antartique
is founded there. But the Portuguese were destroyed in 1560. They then
develop colonisation by sending deep inside the land searching for mines

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and slaves.

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Image Credit: WHE, bust of JOHN CABOT

E,

3.1.6 England and its Exploration Mission

D

In 1496, England also began to dream of a trade route to India, and

D

an expedition under John CABOT further north was sent and reached the
unknown land. Now England, irritated by the monopoly of Spain in the
Pacific, secretly funds an expedition team led by Francis Drake.

88
 Notes

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Image credit: WHE, JOHN CABOT’s Route to New Found land

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Image credit: EB, MAGELLAN and DEL CANO First voyages around
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the world
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D

Image Credit: WHE, Portrait of FRANCIS DRAKE

89
Notes

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Image Credit: WHE, FRANCIS DRAKE circumnavigation route

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Drake manages to plunder Spanish wealth on the Pacific coast.

v
Further North, Drake found NEW ALBION in the name of the English

ni
crown before heading west for England. This was when the Spanish
monarchy took over Portugal by the Iberian Union of 1580. During this

U
period, England attempted to seize all the Portuguese colonies overseas.
England also heard for centuries the city of El Dorado, the cities filled with
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gold and silver. So this accelerated the competition between England and
France and the new arrival and the Dutch. England found James Town its
he

first permanent colony.

As early as 1603, France financed the exploration of ACADIA,
ic

Centred in what are now New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward
Island, and set up the first settlement at Port-Royal under Samuel de
nd

Champlain, despite severe resistance from the locals. At the same time,
the French colony accelerated and founded QUEBEC and New France in
Po

1608; the English attacked Acadia.

E,
D
D

Image credit: Encyclopedia Britannica (EB), CHAMPLAIN

EXPLORATION ROUTE

90
 Notes

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Image Credit: Encyclopedia Britannica (EB), SAMUEL DE

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CHAMPLAIN

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3.1.7 Portuguese and its Exploration Mission

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Meanwhile, in July 1497, the Portuguese commissioned four ships
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to find India following the route which Bartholomew let off and this time
by Vasco Da Gama.
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Image Credit: [Link], VASCO DA GAMA’S first voyage to India

91
Notes

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Image Credit: WHE, VASCO DA GAMA
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Once the Portuguese reached Mozambique, they were in contact
with several Arab pirates and pilots who took them first o Zanzibar
and finally by a Gujarati Pilot to India. When they landed in India, the
he

Europeans were amazed by the wealth they encountered in the Market.

The profit earned by the Portuguese in this voyage was 600 per cent when
ic

they returned in August 1499, losing ships to the Arabian Pirates who
controlled the spice trade in the Indian Ocean region.
nd
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D
D

IMAGE CREDIT: WHE, PEDRO ALVARES CABRAL ROUTE TO

INDIA

92
 Notes
In March 1500, Pedro Alvares Cabral led 17 ships to India. While
attempting to bypass the equatorial currents, they landed towards the west
of the meridian line drawn by the treaty of Tordesillas and reached a place
where a variety of exotic plants grows from which a red dye like an ember
called “Brassa” in Portuguese was found, which in turn will give the name
Brazil.

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IMAGE CREDIT: Public domain, PEDRO ALVARES CABRAL,

The luckily lost Navigator who discovered Brazil.
nd

So in April 1500, they marked it as the possession of Portugal and

then sailed back to India. They established trading posts in Calicut and
Po

Kochi. This gave the Portuguese hegemony in the Indian Ocean trade.
Meanwhile, after Columbus alleged failures to discover spices, silver and
gold, Spain did not relinquish their dream and attempted to discover these
E,

in the east through the western route.

D
D

93
Notes

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Image credit: WHE, Portuguese Colonial Empire in the Age of
Exploration

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Image Credit: EB, Portrait of FERDINAND MAGELLAN

D

3.1.8 Spanish Mission to the Indian Ocean Through Western

D

Routes

Ferdinand Magellan was under the service of the Spanish Monarch

Charles of Habsburg due to his professionalism in the art of navigation.
In August 1519, a flotilla of five ships under Magellan began the spice
island through the western route. However, the Portuguese King Dom

94
 Notes
Manuel panicked at Magellan’s activities, fearing losing the monopoly in
maritime trade, and ordered the Portuguese to destroy any Spanish ship in
the spheres of Portuguese influence.

To evade the Portuguese, they could manage to travel safely in the

Atlantic Ocean, but while reaching southern Patagonia, finding no strait
to pass through, some of his companions rebelled, but he could prevail
over the rebellious comrades with the support of most of the Crew. Finally,

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finding the strait to cross through the other side of the ocean, now named

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Magellan Strait. He immediately called the ocean as Pacific and reached
the Philippines in March 1521.

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Image Credit: the famous people, Portraits SEBASTIAN DE EL CANO

While trying to strike a chord with the locals, they were duped
D

into a grand dinner, making them feel they were great guests serving them
D

on Chinese porcelain plates, but eventually, the locals killed Magellan, and
his comrades could only reach Malacca. After wandering for quite some
time trying to evade the Portuguese squadron, the Spanish ship Sebastian
del Cano a Basque by nationality, overcame all sorts of trouble from
hunger, disease, sea sickness and disillusionment, and most importantly,
the Portuguese squadron pursuer finally could now sail for Spain on

95
Notes
September 6, 1522, which marked the beginning of the western route to
Asia. Thus, Sebastian de El Cano was the first Spanish to circumnavigate
the world, as Magellan was killed in the Philippines in 1521.

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Image credit: Mrs Hamilton, Voyage route of Sebastian de EL Cano
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3.1.9 The Dutch and its Exploration Mission
he

The Dutch also followed the Portuguese and the Spanish after
shredding off the Spanish Yoke in the late 16th century. Since then, due
to Renaissance and Humanism, there has been a fast pace of trade and
ic

technological development compounded with a high rate of urbanization

nd

that has begun to possess a large merchant fleet.

On June 5, 1594, the Dutch explorer William Barentsz(1550-1597)

Po

decided to find a northern sea route, fearing the Portuguese and Spanish
squadron as they still possessed a tiny merchant fleet compared to the duo.
Three weeks later, he reached the shore of Novaya Zemlya, an archipelago
E,

in northwestern Russia, lying in the Arctic Ocean and separating the

Barents and Kara sea. However, he could not push further due to a massive
D

iceberg, so the Dutch explorers were forced to return home.

D

96
 Notes

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Image Credit: the famous people, portraits of WILLIAM BARENTZ

In May 1596-1597, Barentsz discovered Spitsbergen, the largest

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and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago
in northern Norway. In such a cold winter, it was almost impossible to
he

move further eastward, and some of them passed away in between, and the
captain himself died of Scurvy in Novaya Zemlya.
ic

In the early seventeenth century taking advantage of the Portuguese

maritime slowly dwindling, the Dutch East India Company(VOC)
nd

established several coastal cities in India, Java-Sumatra and Malacca island.

As a result of its profits in the spice trade, it began further exploring new
Po

land and uncharted waters. The Dutch commissioned Willem Janszoon’s

(1570-1630) expedition. They explored the west coast of New Guinea
and treaded as far as the Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland,
E,

Australia, thereby becoming the first European to land on Australian soil.

In April 1606, another attempt was to explore the northern sea

D

route to Asia. Henry Hudson (1565 – disappeared June 23 1611) was an

energetic and restless traveller. This English navigator began sailing through
D

the Barents Sea and later joined the Dutch East India Company. He now
commanded the Dutch exploration to New Foundland and Labrador, the
northeast Atlantic coast bordering the modern United States-Manhattan
and the Hudson River named after him.

97
Notes

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Image credit: public domain, Portraits of WILLIAM JANSOONZ

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Image credit: National Museum of Australia, Route of Jansoon voyage

1605-06
E,

Check your progress

D

1) Who was William Jansoonz?

D

2) Describe the voyage of Barentsz and his discovery of Spitsbergen.

3) Briefly explain some of the reasons for the exploration

4) Was there a connection between Renaissance, Reformation and

colonial exploration

5) Describe Columbus’s Voyages briefly

98
 Notes
6) Discuss the importance of Pizarro’s mission in the Spanish conquest
of Latin America.

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Image Credit: WHE, MAP OF HUDSON ARTIC VOYAGES

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Image Credit: NGC, MARITIME TRADE ROUTE TO ASIA AND

HUDSON THIRD VOYAGE

This marked the first establishment of the Dutch in North

America. However, in 1610, Hudson joined the English King’s service and
organized an expedition of northern routes to the east. As they reached

99
Notes
North America, they ended in Rebellion, and Henry himself disembarked
in Hudson Bay and disappeared.

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Image Credit: New World Encyclopedia (NWE) portraits of ABEL
TASMAN and below his voyages from 1642-44
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In August 1642, Abel Tasman, a Dutch explorer, set on sail through

the southern seas of Australia and discovered an island named Tasmania
and explored the western coast of New Zealand, Tonga, Fiji and the northern

100
 Notes
side of new guinea. In 1644 during the second voyage, Tasman explored
the coast of West Guinea, the Gulf of Carpentaria, and the coastline of
Northeast Australia. Although he was a successful explorer and discovered
quite a bit of a place, his adventures were not much appreciated because he
found neither gold, silver, nor spices. But these geographical facts laid the
foundation for new and flawless maritime trade routes.

In fact, this period also marked the beginning of the cross-cultural

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trade, exchanges of commodities and ideas, and animal and plant varieties

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of fruits that would influence how we look at and study history in the years
to come. These discoveries also marked the beginning of colonization and

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enslavement of the local people for the profit motives of the Europeans,
and Eric William, in his slavery and capitalism, argued that the slave labour

v
in the tropical colonies propelled England’s Industrial Revolution.

ni
This, in turn, exacerbated the disintegration of Feudal relations

U
and the acceleration of capitalism due to the Discovery of a rich repository
of Silver in the Andes, Gold in Africa and cotton and spice in India. This
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age of Discoveries became one of the finest times for Europeans who
explored and conquered new colonies that were unknown to them earlier.
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3.1.10 European Rivalry In The New World

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While the competition continued after the Portuguese regained

their independence from the Iberian Union, they retook some parts of
nd

Brazil controlled by the Dutch. They (the British) siege Jamaica from the
Spaniards to start the sugar cane plantation. They also obtained permission
Po

to deal in woods on the coast of New Spain. The growing rivalry between
England and the united province of the Dutch turned out to be favourable
for England. The treaty of Breda 1667 after the second Anglo-Dutch
War, by which the united province ceded the North American territories
E,

and recovered Suriname, which the British occupied. New Amsterdam

becomes New York.
D

In the West Indies, mainly the French and the English took over
D

the islands from the Caribs to develop a large sugar plantation economy.
This inevitably involved a large workforce, so the labour reserves were
located on the coast of Africa and hence the Atlantic slave trade. The life of
the slave in plantation firms was so harsh that some historians estimated
that they did not live more than seven years. Those ships carrying slaves
to the Caribbean then return to Europe heavily laden with gold and silver.

101
Notes
This marked the beginning of the Triangular trade. The triangular model
became so profitable that the slave trade exploded and involved almost
all European countries. Although the Jesuits, Puritans and Methodists
opposed these slaves, the profit was so substantial that the planters could
convince all the influential politicians and policymakers. So it thrives till
1833 in the British and 1848 in the French colonies.

In the north of the American continent, in 1682, the British found

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Philadelphia and the French; after an expedition claimed Louisiana, they

si
further expanded along the river to link it with Newfoundland. This
expansion was concluded by France’s Great Peace of Montreal in 1709 with

er
nearly 30 Iroquois (The Haudenosaunee) native tribes. This agreement
was not incensed the British, fearing they would be surrounded again.

v
The British attacked Acadia again and renamed it Nova Scotia. This, along

ni
with Rupert’s land(Terre de Rupert) and newfound land, were officially
annexed at the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Slowly and steadily, Britain

U
became a Great Britain maritime power and founded Savannah to stop
Spanish expansion from Florida.
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In 1735, a Danish captain named Vitus Bering led a mapping
expedition on behalf of the Tsar. After exploring the strait now Bering’s
he

name in 1741, Bering sight the coast of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands,
where he died. The Russians then aggressively moved along this coast and
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developed the otter-fur trade.

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IMAGE CREDIT: National Park Service

The above map explains the Bering land Bridge Theory that the
confirmation of a strait between Asia and North America fuelled an

102
 Notes
interest in the possibility of a broad plain that might have connected the
two continents. Beginning in the early 1800s, American scientists and
naturalists started investigating archaeological sites on the east coast of
the United States, slowly working their way towards the west coast. The
findings of these forbearers to modern archaeology suggested that people
hadn’t originated in North America but had populated the continent from
another place. However, from where and how had yet to be discovered. The

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two voyages of Bering, the first in 1724 and the second in 1741, confirmed
what many people living on the Chukchi Peninsula already knew. Land

si
and even people across the water had been trading and travelling across

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the Bering Strait for thousands of years.

The Englishman, Captain James Cook, was the second explorer to

v
confirm present-day Alaska. On his 1778 expedition, he produced detailed

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maps of the Alaskan coast. The results of his exploration helped enlighten
the outside world about the Bering Strait region. As news about Bering

U
and Cook’s travels reached Russia, Europe, and other parts of the world,
theories of human migration between Asia and North America gained
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strength.
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Image Credit: [Link], portraits of VITUS BERING

D

In 1750, tension arose between the French and the British in

D

the Ohio valley to control this region. A war began somewhere around
1755 called the French-Indian War that initially turned advantageous for
the French. Then Great Britain decided the deport en-mass the French-
speaking Acadian from Nova Scotia. The Seven Years’ War occurred in
Europe at this critical juncture. Great Britain now imposes a Naval blockade
against French colonies, which without any reinforcement from France,

103
Notes
ultimately falls into the hands of the British. In 1763 in a peace treaty,
France gave up most of its American colonies. Spain receives the western
part of Louisiana in exchange for Florida. Although Great Britain became
the maritime trade champion, it cost a lot during this war. To refurbish its
coffers resorted to imposing new taxes.

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Image credit: JIM POWER, Routes of James Cook’s Three Voyages

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Check your progress

Po

1) Please explains the Bering land bridge theory

2) Describe the three Voyages of James cook

3) Draw an outline map of the conquest routes of Francisco Pizarro

E,
D
D

104
 Notes

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Image credit: [Link], portraits of JAMES COOK
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105
Notes

Lesson 3.2 - Europe and the Wider World

One of the most striking features since the birth of the Renaissance
has been the remarkable dominance tested by Europe to the rest of the
world. However, perusing the above discussion reveals that it was neither
planned nor accepted by others without any resistance. The foundation for

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European domination was laid in the fifteenth century and began to bear
fruit in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The pertinent question

si
that needs to be addressed here is the social and technical abilities that
allowed Europe to venture out and explore.

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Up until the 13th century, sailors in Europe used celestial navigation.

v
The practice of measuring the distance between the horizons of particular

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stars such as the sun, the moon and most importantly, the North Star. The
simplest way to clarify the ship’s direction was to closely watch the sun’s

U
movement across the sky. Sailors used to determine the sun’s position as it
moved from east to West, as it was believed earlier, to navigate their route.
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At noon they determine north and south by the shadows the sun cast.
They would then calculate this distance, giving them their latitude and
he

keeping them on track. At night they would use the North Star as a guide.
They could determine their latitude by measuring the angle between the
star and the horizon.
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The first instances of the diversification of such instruments were

nd

seen somewhere in 1500. Devices such as cross-staff or Jacob Staff or

simply surveying were used, followed by quadrant.
Po
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Image Credit: NAUTICAL CROSS-STAFF dated 1776, on display

at Musée National de la Marine, Paris

106
 Notes
3.2.1 Nautical Cross-Staff

The sailor would then hold close to their eyes the longer side of
the cross-staff peeping through the cross-staff at the sun above it and the
horizon below. They would then move the shorter part of the cross-staff to
the other side until the sun and the horizon were lined up. Then they read
the angle from the scale on the staff and converted it to latitude. However,
the cross-staff required the Navigator to look at the sun directly, which

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was often impossible but could be used when the ship was moving and was

si
handy and reasonably inexpensive.

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Image credit: Public domain, Jacob’s staff used in navigation

to obtain the altitude of the sun, which gives the latitude
(17th century)

Now let us discuss some of the explorers’ navigation tools,

including the Compass, astrolabe, quadrants and caravel. The reason is

107
Notes

that knowing which direction you are walking is crucial information to

reach where you are supposed to travel or go. This is especially true when
travelling in uncharted territory because using a proper tool that gives you
accurate information will help you find your way and lead you back for
a safe return. Otherwise, nothing is more fearful than getting hopelessly
lost in the wood or uncharted territory where you have no idea how to
return home. So in such a situation, people started using the following

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instruments. However, the first compass was to point figuratively but not

si
accurately.

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Image Credit: National Maglab, EARLY CHINESE ORIGINAL

COMPASS dated 400 BC
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3.2.2. Compass
E,

The original Compass was said to have been invented in China as

early as 300 B.C. It differs from the modern Compass in both appearance
D

and purpose, perhaps originally used as a spiritual device to determine

auspicious locations for building a house or placing a gravestone. However,
D

as time passed, the Chinese used it as a tool for navigation.

Thus the magnetic Compass was introduced to Europe somewhere

around 1100 AD as a result of trade and commerce between China and
Europe. This was successfully employed by Europeans not only in trade
but also explorations. Earlier, the explorers usually depended on the sun

108
 Notes
and the star to determine the direction, so there was a problem when the
sun and star were not visible. Here the Compass becomes handy. They
were made with a magnetic pointer indicating the directions of the earth’s
magnetic north. Or in other words, “A compass is an instrument containing
a freely suspended magnetic element which displays the direction of
the horizontal component of the Earth’s magnetic field at the point of
observation”.

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Image credit: marine gyaan. MODERN MAGNETIC COMPASS
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However, as the magnetic and geographical north was slightly

different, Navigator learned to adjust accordingly. Now trade routes from
ic

Europe, Africa and Asia were mapped out by Cartographers. We may be

nd

reminded that the Columbus team also comprises men like Juan De La
Cosa, a professional cartographer credited with compiling some of the
Po

earliest maps of Europe, Africa and Eurasia. He was the one who created in
the early sixteenth century the earliest world map known as the European
map of North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa.
E,

In ancient Greece, another tool called the astrolabe was developed,

which means to take a star or star taker because it was originally used to
D

look at the star and calculate times. But it was later on used for navigation.
This magnetic Compass was essential for ship to document their speed and
D

directions. In modern parlance, we can say that these tools act as the ship’s
computers or black boxes because it was essential for sailors in uncharted
waters. An astrolabe can be described as a bronzed round disc with four holes.

109
Notes

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Image Credit: Public Domain, Portraits of JUAN DE LA COSA, The
cartographer who accompany Christopher Columbus

v
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Check your progress

1) Draw a picture of the cross-staff

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2) Name the Cartographer who accompany Christopher Columbus
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3) What is the fundamental difference between the early Chinese and
Mariner compass?
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E,

Image credit: BBC Sky at Night magazine. A BRASS ASTROLABE

D
D

3.2.3 Astrolabe

An astrolabe is an astronomical tool that assists sailors in calculating

their latitudes. It measures the altitude of the sun and the star as they
relate to the horizon, allowing calculations to be made. Astrolabe is a circle
made of wood or brass and requires many circular plates to find specific

110
 Notes
locations, so it’s limited to only locations with a plate made. It measures
the distance between the star and the horizon, which determines one’s line
of latitude; by calculating their line of latitude, the explorers knew which
directions to go. It was also extensively used in the Arabs world before
this technology reached Europe in 1100 AD. Most straightforwardly, an
astrolabe performs the following functions.

1) To tell the time throughout the day and night

ty
2) To predict when the Sun will rise and set

si
3) To measure the altitude of an astronomical object in the sky

er
The Muslim prayer made them face towards Mecca, so it helped

v
them to determine which direction was Mecca from their prayer locations.
So it was largely believed that Muslim Spain introduced the astrolabe to

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other European countries as a navigation tool. Columbus Magellan, also

U
almost all the Navigators, used an astrolabe.
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3.2.4 Ephemeris Table
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nd
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E,
D
D

Image credit: asteroid mission of the week

However, it was the Portuguese who used the astrolabe along

with a chart table called the Ephemeris. The ephemeris work like a
calendar telling certain kinds of stars appears at specific times. This table

111
Notes
revolutionized navigation techniques because when navigators knew the
celestial body could appear at specific times or its position at particular
times, they could work backwards to determine their locations, which is
more or less like a nautical almanac.

The earliest uses of the Ephemeris were traced to India and

introduced through central Asia and Arabia. However, relying on the
celestial bodies for navigation had its shortcomings and limitations in

ty
times of stormy weather, cyclonic storm, and other natural calamities;

si
here, sailors needed more sophisticated or weathered-proof technology
for determining their latitude, and so did Magnetic Compass.

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D
D

Image credit: café astrology, 2019 EPHEMERIS TABLE

112
 Notes
3.2.5 Quadrant

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Image Credit: Giordano Ziletti, PTOLEMY USING A QUADRANT

In 1600, the astrolabe was replaced by a more accurate instrument

ic

called a quadrant. Edmund Gunter, in 1623 was instrumental in writing

on how the cross-staff works and finally invented the quadrant. Sometimes
nd

quadrant is also called Gunter’s quadrant. The quadrant is made of wood,

one-quarter of a circle with degrees marked along its outside edge with a
Po

scale of 0-90 degrees. A weighted rope hung down from the tip of a quadrant.
The Navigator looked at the sun or star through a small hole in the middle of
the quadrant and then checked the degree marked by the weighted rope. It
E,

was also used to find latitude by measuring a star’s altitude from the horizon.
It was handier because it did not require multiple parts to find locations.
D

3.2.6 Sand Timer

D

Time-keeping devices known as sand glass or sand timers were

also employed by the mariners to keep time or to measure the passage of
time. They help maintain proper time for the Crew after spending weeks
and weeks on the sea but also help calculate the ships’ speed. However, it
was eventually replaced by mechanical clocks.

113
Notes

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si
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Image Credit: Gold antique, AN HOUR SAND TIMER

v
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3.2.7 Sextant

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The sextant was also an essential tool in this aspect. This helped look
at the latitude even when the ship moved up and down in the choppy waters.
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E,
D

Image credit: [Link], SEXTANT

D

3.2.8 Changes in Ship Design

The changes in ship design were another factor that helped the
fast pace of exploration and colonization. The caravel (a 16th-century
small vessel with broad bows, high, narrow poop, four masts, and lateen
sails; Columbus commanded three caravels on his great voyage) was a

114
 Notes
ship many explorers relied on initially. Prince Henry the Navigator first
used the caravel for long-distance trade as early as 1300. But none could
determine who first created it, and here was the caravel built, although
some historians attributed it to the Portuguese. The caravel used lateen
sail (A triangular fore-and-aft sail used especially in the Mediterranean)
designed to endure winds. It was believed that the lateen sail was adapted
from Arabic technology. The ship’s rounded bottom also made sailing in

ty
narrow water passages easier and faster.

si
The second technology in shipbuilding was Galleon, a multi-deck
ship suitable for commercial purposes during peacetime and a floating

er
fortress during the war. It was developed during the sixteenth century as
Ribbons and bracing of the hulls were made to withstand attacks from

v
enemy ships.

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IMAGE CREDIT: WHE, A picture of VASA GALLEON

D

Thus the above four tools were instrumental in furthering the

D

ambitions of the Europeans in the post-Renaissance and Reformation

eras. But the fact remains that without long-distance and cross-cultural
exchanges, it would be impossible for the Europeans to make that fast and
rapid stride in exploration and Discovery. Perhaps you may also ask what
about Marco Polo’s exploration of China.

115
Notes
Check your progress

1) Describe the importance of an astrolabe

2) What is a sextant?

3) Brief explain the functions of the sand hour

4) What are the factors that led to changes in ship design?

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5) Explain the basics difference between an astrolabe and a quadrant

si
6) Define Ephemeris

er
3.2.9 Colonialism and Imperialism

v
Having discussed the tool for the exploration that gave them an

ni
advantage over the rest of the world, let us look at how they implemented
these tools to further their exploration, hence the beginning of colonialism.

U
This brings us to one of the most exciting books by Jared Diamond
that argue for the theory of geographic determinism, the idea that the
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differences between societies and societal development arise primarily
from geographical causes, which he primarily developed from a Question
to YALI, a New Guinean popular leader. This might be applicable in
he

explaining how Europe, such a small continent embroiled in war, disease

and violence, could move quickly and control almost all over the world
ic

and dominate until the Second World War.

nd

In the process, they shaped it and made us believe that it was their
exceptionalism and superiority and one of the ballads of the East and
Po

West by Rudyard Kipling- East is East, West is West, and never the twain
shall meet. Now it is pretty easy to assume that as a result of technological
invention and colonial exploration, they were able to control the world.
E,

However, we could instead put it this way the timing of technology,

Renaissance reformation, and Humanism occurred in Europe in that
D

very century. The formation of the Company, perhaps resulting from the
mercantilism spirit, was also one important factor. The Companhia do
D

commércio da Índia or Companhia da Índia Oriental or The Portuguese

East India Company, the English [Link] Company (EIC). Compagnie
française pour le commerce des Indes orientates OR The French East India
Company and The French West India Company for the Caribbean island,
Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) or the Dutch East India
Company and Royal African Company.

116
 Notes
These companies marked the beginning of a Private Empire
that laid the foundation of the European empire. They were fast and
transparent; therefore, people trusted and invested in these companies,
perhaps protected by the government of the respective countries, which
gave them a respectable amount of dividends. In 1606 in North America,
the Virginia Company engaged especially in the Tobacco trade and the
Plymouth Company. Additionally, they were interested in settling into this

ty
new world and setting up profitable business centres.

si
In India, Several battles were fought between these companies,
most notably between the French and the British. However, with a small

er
pocket by the Portuguese and the French in India, the British (EIC)
became the paramount ruler after the Battle of Plessey in 1757 and Buxar

v
in 1764 with the local rulers after successfully employing the tactics of

ni
divide and rule. These private companies that laid the foundation for an
empire actually accelerated imperialism’s forces. Their modus operandi

U
was the first to set up a railway in the sub-continent under the pretext of
development for profit motives.
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The railway transported and collected all the raw materials in the
sub-continent, swiftly transporting them overseas, and the finished product
he

was brought back for local consumption. This led to de-industrialization

in India, and some of the Nationalist and economic historians, Dadabhai
ic

Naoroji, in his Poverty and un-British rule, lamented vehemently, followed

by the introduction of the Telegraph to relay messages faster and swifter.
nd

Additionally, the anthropologist started surveying the colonies, measuring

the skull, and naming peoples, tribes and ethnicity to explain that Races in
Po

Europe are different from the rest of the world. In contrast, not everyone
is born to rule; some need to be civilized and educated, like the Europeans.
E,

3.2.10 Let Us Sum Up

Thus a retrospective analysis of the aforementioned issues about

D

colonial explorations, we have conclusively proved that the ugliest form

D

of imperialism was practised in all the countries that the Europeans

explored. In fact, the worst of its kind was practised in Africa in the form
of a system called the Atlantic slave trade, kidnapping millions of lives
across the oceans and making them work in the scorching heat after a
long and torturous journey of the so-called Middle Passage. Although one
might argue that Islamic Africa had already engaged in human trade with

117
Notes
the kingdom of Songhai, Senegambia and Bokongo, the Portuguese began
the practice on a large scale mainly for profit motives.

Scramble for Africa was based on the idea that Africa’s immense
and arid sands intersected with a complete collection of the most ferocious
beasts and uncivilized men. One of the earliest European monarchs to
throw his head on in Africa is King Leopold II of Belgium. In 1875, he
started exploring the natural beauties and minerals of the continent and

ty
decided to put his mark wherever the earlier colonial master had not

si
trodden. Then he sent his explorers to the central parts of Africa in 1880
along with Quinine to protect them from Malaria. This alerted other

er
colonial powers in Europe, such as French, British and Germany too.

v
So all European powers vying for territories in Africa gathered in

ni
1884 in Berlin, perhaps without the knowledge of any monarch or kings
of Africa. The demarcation was over the French in West Africa, today

U
popularly known as Francophone Africa, British in Sudan and southern
Africa, Italy at the horn of Africa, Germany some parts of east and sections
rry
of south-west whereas Belgium large part of Congo. Then the Dutch in
Java-Sumatra region, The French Indo china, the British in the Pacific
and Australia Hongkong, Singapore. The Portuguese Goa, Canton and
he

Lusophone Africa etc. Thus the colonization was completed by 1915.

ic
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D
D

EUROPEAN COLONIAL EMPIRE RED (BRITISH) GREY(SPAIN)

BLUE (FRANCE) BY 1900

118
 Notes

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Image credit: Abraham Ortelius - The Library of Congress,

U
ORTELIUS’S 1570 WORLD MAP, THE WORLD’S FIRST MODERN
ATLAS
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3.2.11 Self Assessment Question
he

1) Describe some influential personalities associated with geographical

exploration.
ic

2) Describe the role of Spanish conquistadors in Latin American

nd

colonisation

3) Why was Cabral called the navigator, who luckily got lost?
Po

4) Discuss the role of Spices and Portuguese in discovering the

maritime route to India.

5) Briefly discuss the circumnavigation by Del Cano

E,
D
D

119
Notes
3.2.12 References

1) Bernard Waites, (2005) Europe and the wider world, Routledge.

2) John Keay Eds The Royal Geographical Society History of World

Exploration (Hamlyn, 1991).

3) Sanjay Subramanian, The Career and Legend of Vasco Da Gama by

(Cambridge University Press, 1998).

ty
4) Anthony Disney and Emily Booth eds Vasco da Gama and the

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Linking of Europe and Asia edited by (Oxford University Press,
200)

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5) Chaudhuri, K. N. (1991). The Times Atlas of World Exploration:

v
3,000 Years of Exploring, Explorers, and Mapmaking. HarperCollins

ni
Publishers

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6) Buiisseret, David, ed. (2007). The Oxford Companion to World
Exploration. Oxford University Press
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7) National Geographic Explorer Programme
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D
D

120
 Notes
UNIT - IV

Lesson 4.1 - Rise of Nation States Structure

4.1.1 Objectives

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4.1.2 Introduction

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4.1.3 Emergence of the State in Europe
4.1.4 Nature of State Post-Reformation Europe

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[Link] England

v
[Link] Low Countries

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4.1.5 State Formation During 1500-1648
[Link] Treaty of Westphalia and the Birth of the Modern Nation-

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State
[Link] Luther and his Idea of State
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4.1.6 Enlightened Despotism
4.1.7 Glorious Revolution of 1688
he

4.1.8 Industrial Revolution

4.1.9 Alexander Graham Bell
ic

4.1.10 Flying Shuttle

nd

4.1.11 Water Frame

4.1.12 Steam Engine
4.1.13 Impact of Steam Engine
Po

4.1.14 Industrial Revolution and Factory System

4.1.15 Transition from Domestic to Factory
E,

4.1.16 Let Us Sum Up

4.1.17 Self Assessment Question
D

4.1.18 References
D

4.1.1 Objectives

Rise of the Nation States, Enlightened Despotism, Revolution 1688,

Industrial Revolution and Factory System, the objectives are as follows

1) To make aware the learners of the concept of a nation-state in

Europe

121
Notes
2) To discuss the rise and growth of Enlightenment ideas and their
impact on Europe and the world

3) To understand why did Industrial revolution first occur in Western

Europe?

4) To understand the impact of the Industrial Revolution on human

beings and the world

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5) To uncover the reason for the change in Industry and factory system

si
and its impact on human life

6) To discuss the genesis and nature of the Glorious Revolution

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7) Finally, it will also discuss and analyse the connection between all

v
these factors

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U
4.1.2 Introduction

The term nation-state and nationalism is very difficult to separate.

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It is like whether the Egg or the chicken that comes first. But we can say that
without Nationalism, the formation of a Nation-state would be complex.
This means nationalism was a global phenomenon that influenced the
he

entire world and the subsequent birth of nation-states or in a Republican

form after the European colonisation. However, the topic here is the birth
ic

of the Nation-state in Europe. Our discussion will be confined to Europe.

nd

In the simplest form defining a nation-state would involve a

centralised authority controlling and exercising a distinctive territory. This
Po

would also involve a certain amount of linguistic and cultural homogeneity

as the second component, or that can be called the Nation part. Therefore
the concept of nation-states consists of the combination of the duo.
E,

In other words, the state is the one that can be seen on the map
where we have adequately demarcated lines over which the state’s central
D

power, the sovereign, has control. In theory, the sovereign has control
over activities in the state and on the international stage are equal to other
D

sovereigns. Equal abroad with other nations and a master at home.

122
 Notes

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Image credit: Britannica, Portraits of JEAN BODIN

In the 16th Century, Jean Bodin was the first to lay out the
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characteristic of sovereignty in his six monographs of the Commonwealth.
Bodin’s attention to the problem of securing order and authority was
he

conditioned by the bitter experiences of civil war and anarchy in France.

The government consists of the power to command. This power is exercised
subject to the principles of divine and natural law.
ic

Since then, many thinkers have tried to figure out where the
nd

source of sovereignty lies. Almost all believed that the sovereign used by
the king was thought to have come from God’s “Divine theory of King”.
Po

This led the thinker to how the king derives his power from God in the
laws of nature or social contracts. All this confusion was cleared off by the
end of the 18th century, which argued that “the source of sovereignty lay
E,

not in the above but in many men and later women below”, meaning the
source of sovereignty is the people.
D

So this period was marked by the synonymy of people and

D

nations. The state, which finds its justification for its sovereign power, the
monopoly for all affairs within its borders, is happening with the consent
of the people/nation. Hence Nation-state. This leads us to another level of
argument that,

1) When nations and peoples are taken synonymous, how do you

define a people?

123
Notes
2) What makes people a people, how do people or groups can share
language, race or religion?

3) A more encompassing than all the above question is when John

Stuart Mill, the great thinker of the time, posed the question, “Is
identity of political antecedents, the possession of national history,
and consequent community of recollections, collective pride
and humiliation, pleasure and regrets, connected with the same

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incidents in the past”?

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So to answer all these questions, he argues that “a historical

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narrative of a collective memory binds people together more than any
other common trait”. Although there are several theories related to the

v
concept of the Nation-state, the above simple definition can best explain

ni
the concept of the nation-state that satisfy all intellectual and philosophers.

U
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Image Credit: Britannica, JOHN STUART MILL

Po

Secondly, the argument is that when we are confined to the

territorially bounded groups with a common heritage. The same Ethno-
linguistic people within the same territory. This gives us a question of
how these people can become a nation. Some historians argued, “It is an
E,

organic process involving culturally similar people wanting to formalise

their connections”. While at the same time, others argue that governments
D

construct Nationalism by imbibing a sense of patriotism through

D

compulsory military training and indoctrination with ideologically loaded

statues of national heroes. Then all these are enforced through a systematic
design of syllabus for public education that built a strong narrative for the
birth of a nation-state.

124
 Notes
However, others held a slightly moderate view and believed that
nationalism was an outgrowth of urbanisation and industrialization,
which means the actual business of building nationalism, is creating
bureaucracies and a new education system, building a large military for
national security and defence purposes to fight other nation-states since
nation-states are often constructed on the idea of otherness. For instance,
the Napoleonic war which helps become the French more of a refined and

ty
stronger nation.
However, the other contrasting factor for why a nation-state can

si
also destabilise the multi-ethnic empire was the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

er
That began to crumble apart in the nineteenth century. First, the Greeks,
followed by Serbs, Romanian, and Bulgarian, perhaps predominantly

v
Christians by faith, started clamouring for Independence. Egypt, for

ni
instance, is also a living testimony to serving nationalism to create both
states and to weaken an empire. Muhammad Ali, an Albanian, spoke

U
Turkish but not Egyptian or Arabic, and his ruling family encouraged the
Egyptians to imagine themselves as a separate national identity.
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So, in a nutshell, a nation-state is one we use to define on the map
which territories form this nation and that nation, where sovereignty lies
he

with the people having a centralized authority that exercises control over
its demarcated territory and is protected by a strong standing army.
ic

4.1.3 Emergence of the State In Europe

nd
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D
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Image Credit: Britannica, PORTRAIT OF CHARLEMAGNE by

Albrecht Dürer

125
Notes
Although the emperor Charlemagne story falls outside the purview
of the syllabus, it is imperative to discuss the genesis and nature of the
Nation state’s birth. The name, time and period might overlap, but since
it is a matter of Nation-state, we need to begin from Charlemagne but not
elaborately. The Empire of Charlemagne was not in any sense a nation-
state. This great man had welded many small tribes and peoples with the
power of his personality and administrative Capability. The centrifugal

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process began after he passed away in the Treaty of Verdun 843 A.D. It was
divided into three significant territories,

si
1) Frankish,

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2) German, and

v
3) A mixture of Franco-German.

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Here the rights and privileges held initially by the monarch

U
were given away as the price of support to the vassals, which led to the
weakening of the King’s power. The pressures of powerful and dreaded
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Vikings from the north and West and from the Slavic hordes of the east
were responsible in many ways for this loss of power. This is true of all the
areas in which nation-states were to develop, Germany, Italy, France, and
he

England. Spain presents an exception as it was under the domination of

the Umayyad Caliphate.
ic

Before the unique developments which gave England and France

nd

nation-states, the Empire of the Germans and Italians (known as the

Holy Roman Empire) occupied an important position in the political
growth of medieval Europe. Although political unity was not achieved,
Po

many state-church relationships that later affected the other states were
worked out in the Empire. In Germany, the fate of a nation under an
elected monarchy was demonstrated; the possibilities of building a
E,

German nation-state were gone by the middle of the thirteenth century.

All that was left was a titular head who ruled one of the many smaller
D

states within the Empire.

D

The decay of Charlemagne’s empire has been noted and explained

by the diverse elements over which he ruled. One of the leading causes of
the decentralizing leniency was the struggle between the Emperors and
Pope. The attempt made by the duo was to control the lives of the people
under their rule. While the Pope emphasized that divine power is the
source of his power, in the hierarchy, he considered himself to be right

126
 Notes
after the apostle Peter. However, for centuries no proper demarcation was
made between their spheres of influence, i.e. secular and sacred.

The development of the French Nation-state during this period

was toward the rule of an absolute monarchy. These tendencies toward
absolutism, begun by Cardinal Richelieu under Louis XIII, were carried
forward by his successor Cardinal Mazarin until most of Louis XIV. This
royal effort resulted in gathering the lines of power into the king’s hands. It

ty
also meant that all government business was channeled through the king’s

si
court. Institutions which might have been aiding the king in governing the
land were passed by to become useless vestiges of the past. Under an able

er
king such as Louis XIV, the more significant problems were dealt with in
some measure of efficiency.

v
ni
However, the successive French emperor under Louis XV and
Louis XVI, the centrality and absolutist tendencies caused the nation to

U
flounder more and more until it collapsed into the French Revolution.
The end of the absolutism of Louis XIV has several reasons. The following
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factors would be important.

1) First was the state’s power, which rested on the finances. Through
he

the labours of Colbert, a reorganization of the state’s finances took

place. Graft was reduced, and strict accounting was imposed to cut
the losses from the system.
ic

2) Secondly, the country’s trade and commerce were given top priority.
nd

3) This finally resulted in France to relatively tide over the financial

crisis for the time being, and a surplus of funds was recorded.
Po

As the French treasury was in a comfortable position, Louis could

produce an army under the direction of “Louvois”, French Secretary of
State for War and the military remained at 100,000 men. Herein lay the
E,

new power of the French State. Thus internally and externally, the crown
was consolidated as the supreme leader of the people.
D

A different process produced the same results in England and

D

gave deeper roots for a stable society. Owing to the foresight of William
of Orange upon the invitation of the “seven immortals”, there were few
fiefs in England whose population was not directly subject to him. A new
outlook toward the nation and one of the most characteristic features
of the nation-state also came into being. For instance, the emergence of
Domestic and Foreign policy. The parliamentary right of taxation and

127
Notes
giving assent to laws made by the crown made it possible for the King and
the nation to be associated with the kingdom’s government.

So the powers and rights wrested from John Lackland (in

French Jean sans Terre) in the Magna Carta (1215) were confirmed and
complemented by other national claims. In 1297 the right of Parliament
to grant monies and collect taxes was obtained; in 1551, the Statute of
Provisory was passed to counter external interference. There was to be

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no papal interference in the election of Bishops. Praemunire, a statute of

si
1553, forbade appeal beyond the borders of England.

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E,

Image Credit: Britannica, JOHN OF ENGLAND, from an early

D

14th-century illumination
D

So here, an analysis of William of Ockham and Marsilius of

Padua will be imperative. In opposition to the supremacy of the Popes,
William of Ockham. He clearly sees the demarcation between two spheres
of influence, i.e. the Pope supreme in the spiritual and the Emperor in
the temporal. Although he considered the dignity of the Church could
be undoubtedly authoritative, both institutions were designed to co-exist

128
 Notes
harmoniously. In other words, for the existence of a strong state, their
services were complimentary rather than antagonistic unless they needed
to remain within their spheres, not interfering in other domains. There
are extraordinary circumstances when a tyrannical Emperor or a heretical
Pope could conceivably have called for the judgments of one upon the
other. Here William Solemn advised that both institutions were for the
state’s independence from ecclesiastical authority as supreme.

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Image Credit: Britannica, WILLIAM OF OCKHAM AND MARSILIUS

OF PADUA
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Marsilius of Padua, considered to have lived during the period of

an extremist view, also held a similar line of thought. In 1324 Marsilius
nd

brought out a very popular treatise on politics which vehemently attacked

the political power of the Pope as evil. According to Marsilius, since the
Po

state was based on Aristotle’s Politics and existed for the good of the people.
The state’s authority exists in the group of electors, the “legislator”, not in
any individual group.
E,

He also believed in “elected monarchy”, and the Holy Roman

Empire of his time was a classic example. This monarch would rule by
D

the people’s consent and appoint officials, including the higher and lower
clergy. Thus Marsilius opines that the Emperor is a supreme ruler in a
D

caesaropapism state, i.e., the philosophy that puts the state above the
church in matters related to ecclesiastical affairs. The Church should have
no corresponding right to rule over the state. In his treatise, “Defensor
Pacis”, the defender of Peace laid the foundations of modern doctrines of
popular sovereignty. Here Marsllius articulated such a relationship.

129
Notes
Check your progress

1) Define a nation-state

2) Briefly explain Jean Bodin’s concept of Sovereignty.

3) Define JS Mill’s concept of classical liberalism.

4.1.4 Nature of State Post-Reformation Europe

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In Germany, the political development hinged largely upon Luther’s

si
revolt from Rome and the eventual reaction to this revolt. Germany was a
vast collection of large and small autonomous states in the early sixteenth

er
century.

v
The Empire existed with an elected emperor, but an emperor

ni
in name only. As the events of the sixteenth century were to prove, this
titular leadership was ineffective, for each principality went its way. Each

U
little state was ruled by a prince, duke, count, prelate or some other feudal
leader, responsible in theory for supporting the Emperor. Support was
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assured only when it did not conflict with the prince’s interests.

For the people who lived under the rulers of these principalities,
he

as varied a mixture of conditions as states prevailed. In general, the

southern part of Germany was more advanced than the north concerning
ic

the liberation of the masses. In the South, the people were freer, held
land, were reasonably prosperous, and sought political advantages. In the
nd

north, the ordinary people were still at the level of serfdom. This condition
difference was an important factor in German development during the
Po

Reformation. When the Peasants’ Revolt came in 1525, it was essentially

the revolt of the more enlightened South German peasantry.
E,

[Link] England

In the year 1500, England, perhaps more than any other country,
D

had come to a real sense of modern national possessing a national identity.

D

In the next century and a half, this was heightened, giving the state a new
and unique place in the people’s lives.

Under Elizabeth I (1558-1603), the power and prestige of England

rise rapidly. She employed all forms of diplomacy and played one foreign
power against the other. Her role in consolidating the Church-state
relationship at home continued with the solid Calvinist foundation was

130
 Notes
very significant. As the supreme commander over the state that exerted
control over the church, her international diplomacy brought into conflict
with many rising power in Europe and, perhaps most notably, the Roman
Catholic states.

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Image Credit: Britannica (Jt Vintage/Age Fotostock)
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ELIZABETH -I

One glaring example was Philip II of Spain, who was determined

he

to restore the Roman Catholic faith and the trouble caused by the English
Pirates in the Atlantic Ocean. He sent 130 ships to invade England. At
ic

the same time, this was fiercely countered by a strong navy under the
command of Sir Francis Drake, which destroyed the Spanish Armada in
nd

1588. This famous Naval battle saved England and Netherlands from the
clutches of being absorbed by the Spanish empire.
Po

The years following this defeat of the Spanish are marked in

England by new developments worldwide. In 1600 the East India Company
for exploration and trading in India was formed, and in 1620 English
E,

settlers landed at Plymouth Rock in the New World to add to the colonies
already established further South.
D
D

[Link] Low Countries

In the Low Countries, the Netherlands, the sixteenth century

was the era of a religious, political upheaval which eventually produced
independence for the seven northern provinces of this region. When the
revolt began in 1556, it was not a national revolution but a group of
states seeking to maintain their sovereignty against intruders wishing to

131
Notes
impose Spanish rule. It was not until later that a Dutch nationality grew
up to help form a nation-state of the seven provinces of the low northern
countries.

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nd
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E,
D
D

Image Credit: Britannica, ROUTE OF THE SPANISH ARMADA 1588

132
 Notes
Going from the Low Countries to the Alps, we see a similar
group of states growing throughout the Reformation era to form the
country now known as Switzerland. At the beginning of the period, this
territory consisted of numerous semi-Independent cantons. Each had
its government, of the lower feudal nobility, a bishop, or a council. For
instance, Geneva had three tiers or forms of government.

1) The bishop;

ty
2) Bishop’s “vice dominus”, or worldly affairs; and

si
3) The ordinary citizens would meet annually in a General Assembly

er
to elect four syndics and a treasurer.

v
There is also the General Assembly; the citizens were ruled by a
small Council of twenty-five, of which the “syndics” of the year and the

ni
previous year consisted of the members. Bishop of Geneva was driven out

U
through the reforming currents and the activities of Guillaume Farrell
(Ehrel), a French reformer from Dauphine. Geneva thus became a small,
rry
relatively independent community. The canton was henceforth governed
by the General Assembly and had this form of government when Calvin
arrived in 1536.
he
ic
nd
Po
E,
D
D

Image Credit: Britannica, WILLIAM farel

The development of the Spanish kingdom through this period is

of great interest. The reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula had begun in
the thirteenth century from several centres of resistance to Muslim rule.
The critical point for this period comes with the marriage to Ferdinand of
Castile and Isabella of Aragon in 1469.

133
Notes
4.1.5 State Formation During 1500-1648

During 1500-1648 this period was the time when much wealth
was discovered in the new world. We have discussed this relatively in the
previous chapter, but since it is also imperative for the current units side by
side, we will have to take into account some of the topics already touched
upon to substantiate our points. Columbus discovered the Caribbean and
America under Spanish Monarchy patronage in 1492, and within a decade

ty
or so, the wealth of the Spanish monarchy grew leaps and bounds. This

si
wealth began to be coveted in Europe. However, we know that Spain was
almost on the verge of bankruptcy after the expulsion of the Moors from

er
Grenada, their last bastion. This considerable number of explorations
and settlements in new colonies to colonize the new world was a real

v
boon and fillip to the new nation. In Spain, gold and silver from the new

ni
world caused inflation for the commoners, although that beautified the
lifestyle of the nobility with pomp and gaiety. Thus as far as the state was

U
concerned, there was a constant denuding of power and health during the
16th century.
rry
By 1598 and the death of Philip II, a creeping dry rot left the
country in a state of collapse from which it had never recovered, even
he

though the nation’s military strength went on for another half-century.

ic

[Link] Treaty of Westphalia and the Birth of the Modern Nation-State

nd

To put in a general perspective for Europe, it was not until the

end of the thirty years’ War and the concluding Peace treaty that it would
be naïve to call there was a modern concept of a nation-state in Europe.
Po

The Treaty of Westphalia was a peace treaty signed in 1648 following the
end of 30(1618-1648) years of War that fundamentally changed how the
world was organized that led to the introduction of a state in a modern
E,

notion. Because this treaty makes it clear that the concepts of state and
sovereignty, mediation, and diplomacy were clearly traceable to this treaty,
D

it also attempted to codify specific international laws and regulations for

the first time. However, to understand better the Treaty of Westphalia
D

and the origin of the concepts of the birth of the Modern nation-state, it
would be imperative to dig a little into the 30 years war. The Thirty (1618-
48) Years’ War was a religious War fought between the feuding Roman
Catholic and the Protestant estates within the Holy Roman Empire. The
importance of this War lies in the fact that although it began as a religious
conflict, as the War went on, it shifted its paradigm towards the political

134
 Notes
arena as they began to fight for control over a territory. That means the
attempt to dominate one religion over the other changed into a war to
control territory because it essentially involves the rule to determine the
religion over the territory he controlled. Now the three crucial concepts
that are fundamental to the peace of Westphalia are as follows.

1) The treaty established Religious tolerance of other states. Before

this treaty, the state viewed all other foreign nations and policies

ty
as good and evil. The parameters to judge this is their professed

si
religion. In fact, the papacy objected to this for fear that it would
weaken their dominance and influence because the Pope was the

er
spiritual and temporal head of all catholic monarchs. The rule of
the state now replaced the role of Christianity in the state.

v
ni
2) The peace treaty also established the concept of diplomacy and
negotiation. Before 1648 war was the only accepted means of

U
diplomacy. When a country was not acting in the way you disliked,
then War was naturally a means of rectifying or achieving your
rry
aims. However, this treaty changed such a system that even after
the war, states were a means and an agency of negotiation because
parties could agree to or disagree they could compromise. Now
he

diplomacy and negotiation were prioritized against war, and they

became increasingly important.
ic

3) The peace established the idea of state sovereignty; this is one of the
nd

most relevant parts of the topic under discussion for us. The peace
treaty gave provincial princesses substantially increased power
while reducing that of the holy roman emperor. This means the
Po

local rulers get more autonomy and exercised more power as the
central authority of the Holy Roman Empire lessens. Now Princess
could levy taxes, to declare War and to ratify peace treaties. All these
E,

power were once the prerogatives of the Holy Roman Emperor.

So the peace treaty replaced the feudal system with a system of co-
D

equal sovereignty entities. So this sovereignty emerged out of the Westphalia

D

peace treaty, which emphasizes the idea that each nation-state had exclusive
control over its territory, implying that states are not encouraged or
restrained from interfering with each other internal or domestic matters.
Every state has an equal right to sovereignty, whether large or small. The
best way to check his neighbour’s ambitions is to approach the other
neighbour and establish a balance of power. Thus, this peace treaty built the

135
Notes
framework of the history of modern international relations, thus creating
the concept of modern nation-states, and the idea of sovereignty became
the basis of modern international treaties and conventions.

[Link] Luther and his Idea of State

Luther saw the state as the authority ordained by God for the
maintenance of a disciplined society. As the Father rules the household,

ty
the prince must be the final authority in the state. Since the Father will use

si
his fist to maintain order, and the minister will use his power of speech to
demand justice, the state must use the sword to discipline its members.

er
Luther saw no place for a theocracy. There must be a separation of

v
the Church and the state, for when Church and state are joined together, one
must dominate. But in making the temporal power superior to the spiritual,

ni
he left a weakness in the Lutheran cause in the form of caesaropapism, for

U
Luther had taken away the government of the Church, Pope, bishops, and
priests in the technical sense. Since the princes were the highest powers in
rry
the realm, they came to be the chief administrators of the Church. Then,
as the Church’s administrators, they became “emergency bishops”, so to
speak, in the emergency. The position has remained, however, as the norm
he

for the Lutheran states as a department of the state government beyond the
extremity out of which it was created.
ic

The development of the French Nation-state during this period

nd

was toward the rule of an absolute monarchy. These tendencies toward

absolutism, begun by Cardinal Richelieu under Louis XIII, were carried
forward by his successor Cardinal Mazarin. This royal effort gathered the
Po

lines of power into the King’s hands. It also meant all government business
was channelled through the King’s court. Institutions which might have
been aiding the King in governing the land were passed by to become
E,

useless vestiges of the past. Under an able king such as Louis XIV, the
more significant problems were dealt with in some measure of efficiency.
D

But under his successors, Louis XV and Louis XVI, the centrality and
absolutist tendencies caused the nation to flounder more and more until it
D

collapsed into the French Revolution.

Check your progress

1) Compare and contrast the nature of state formation in England and

other European countries.

136
 Notes
2) Discuss the contribution of William Farrel

3) Discuss the importance of the Spanish Armada 1588

4) How far do you agree that Luther gave the state independence from
the papal authority?

5) Describe the importance of the Treaty of Westphalia.

ty
4.1.6 Enlightened Despotism

si
There are three components to understanding the concept of enlightened

er
despotism.

A) The Philosopher: who advocated that enlightenment involves the

v
following elements or points

ni
I) Individual Freedom

II) Freedom of speech

U
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III) Freedom of Religion

IV) Freedom of Press

he

V) Right to own Private property

VI) Freedom to assemble

ic

B) Despots: The Ruler who holds absolute power

nd

C) Enlightened Despots: A ruler who understands and knows his

subjects’ problems and needs and initiates a reform to address
Po

those needs.

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Europe began to

E,

witness a new political structure, i.e. a new Monarch with absolute power
who was worried about the commoner’s rights called enlightened despotism.
D

So the seemingly contradictory concept of enlightened despotism and

enlightened absolutism, we need to understand what is Enlightenment
D

a product of the European intellectual movement? The Enlightenment

philosopher advocated reason and rationalism, which means any discursive
analysis of events is necessarily supported by factual data, not merely
conjecture or simply argued because tradition sanctioned it. They also
endorsed individual rights such as religious freedom and freedom of speech.

137
Notes
Conversely, the European political system was characterized by
enlightened despotism. During this period, most European nations were
absolute monarchies, implying the monarch had absolute power. This may
be slightly different from the constitutional monarchy, where the power
of the Monarch shall be limited and exercised as per the laws enshrined
in the constitution. Therefore enlightened absolutism is a political system
headed by an absolute monarch that believed in enlightenment philosophy.

ty
The French philosopher Voltaire first advocated this idea. Voltaire wanted
France to become a constitutional monarchy, which was very unlikely, so he

si
proposed that an absolute monarch surround himself with a philosopher

er
to help make a rational and reasonable decision. So a monarch who ruled
like this was called an enlightened monarch or enlightened despot. The

v
enlightened monarch tried to institute enlightenment reforms but kept all

ni
the political power without creating a constitution.

U
rry
he
ic
nd

Image Credit: Britannica, François Marie Arouet De VOLTAIRE( aka

Po

VOLTAIRE)

This means that enlightened despots allowed freedom of speech,

freedom of religion, and individuals to own private property. They also
E,

supported art and education and reasons that the overall welfare of the
people benefitted them as monarchs. Although many European monarchs
D

tried a system of enlightened despotism, three stand out as the most

exemplary.
D

1. JOSEPH II (AUSTRIA), the Holy Roman emperor from 1765-

90, was determined to act and deliver the best for all his subjects.
He instituted a reform to make education more accessible, which
revolved around a tolerance policy for religion and promoting the

138
 Notes
German language across his empire designed to promote unity. He
also advocated peasants’ freedom and should not be treated like a
slave of the serfdom system in which the poor worked for the lord,
who derived all the profits of the peasants’ labour.

ty
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Image credit: The Emperor by Anton von Maron, 1774. JOSEPH II

ic
nd
Po
E,
D
D

Image Credit: Staatliche Museen Zu Berlin—PreussischerKulturbesitz

,FREDERICK the great

139
Notes
2. FREDERIC II, popularly known as Frederick the Great, was the
King of Prussia from 1740-86. His main contribution was the
modernization of the Prussian government judicial system, making
it possible for men of non-noble origin to become judges and other
government officials. This means he preferred Merit over privileges
(Nobility). He also abolished torture. Build up the city and revitalize
Berlin, and build canals. Prussia was thus able to operate one of the

ty
most effective and efficient bureaucracies under Frederic the Great,
with a strong military and robust economy.

si
Although Frederic seemingly did not respect freedom of religion

er
and press but allowed Jews and Catholics in a predominantly
Lutheran-dominated country. He was also an ardent supporter of art

v
and philosophy, enabling the flow of enlightenment ideas in Prussia

ni
seamlessly flows. He called himself “The first servant of the state”.
He also freed the serf from the crown land. He also streamlines

U
the law code. Frederick was on Austrian succession (1740-48) by
annexing Selesia as part of the Austrian-Habsburg monarchy.
rry
This problem ended in the treaty of Aix –la –Chapelle, which means
Prussia was a great power now and was predominantly present
he

in and around any happenings in Europe after it got Silesia. This

somehow changed the power of Austria’s enlightenment.
ic

Frederick William I, who made Prussia a European power, could be

nd

an absolute despot or monarch but not an enlightened one. Empress

Maria Theresa, 1740-80 of Austria, too. Although she brought some
reforms, such as secular education and inoculation from smallpox,
Po

she did not embrace the idea of enlightenment. She also censored
many books, including those of Voltaire and Rousseau.
E,

3. CATHERINE II, popularly known as Catherine the Great- Empress

of Russia, 1762-96. As an enlightened ruler, her reign was often
called the Golden Age because of economic prosperity. She has
D

modernized Russian along the European model. He founded several

D

cities filled with marvelous art, architecture and Music.

140
 Notes

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Image Credit: Britannica, CATHERINE the great

ni
The other significant achievement was that Russia grew in size,

U
political and economic stability was at its height, and seemingly was one
of the world’s most incredible powers. She was also an ardent advocate of
rry
education and founded the SMOLNY institutes, the first state-sponsored
institution of Higher education for women in Europe. Russia also hosted
many prominent European artists, economists, scientists and philosophers
he

during her reign, including Voltaire. She also reorganized Russian law and
wrote the NAKAZ.
ic
nd
Po
E,
D
D

Image Credit: Public Domain, SMOLNY INSTITUTE, Saint

Petersburg

141
Notes
Thus, we can conclude that Enlightened Despots were rulers who
made changes based on the Enlightenment Philosophers’ ideas. The serf
was a peasant farmer who was legally tied to the land. In some places, they
were freed, but in some, they were not. Although the nobles and rulers
feared many changes regarding the status quo, the enlightened despots
successfully carried out their objectives broadly, but some enlightened
despots were more pragmatic and successful than others.

ty
The reason for this could be because some leaders are so obsessed

si
while others are obstinate that it backfires on them. This is why some
changes carried out were undone once the despot ruler passed away, and

er
their reform and changes passed by accordingly. In some cases, like Russia,
the depots got so well with Voltaire and enjoyed Discussion Company.

v
ni
Check your progress

U
1) Define the term enlightened despotism

2) Discuss the role of Catherine the great and her reforms in Russia
rry
3) Compare and contrast Joseph II’s and Frederic II’s reforms
he

4.1.7 Glorious Revolution of 1688

ic

Historians and writers used the term glorious revolution for the
events that occurred in 1688, leading to the dethronement of King JAMES
nd

II of England by his daughter and son-in-law William of Orange upon

the invitation by the seven immortals to safeguard the Protestants’ faith
Po

in England. The history of England is very fascinating indeed. Several

political upheavals are traced to the invasion of England by Normans
in 1066; changing from an Anglo-Saxon to a Norman monarch led to a
complete upheaval of every English institution. However, the Glorious
E,

Revolution’s historical background was much more fascinating as it was

an Invasion rather than a political revolution in its intent.
D

The genesis of the said revolution began somewhere in the 1860s,

D

but the accurate picture unfolds in 1865 when James II became the King
of England and had a daughter named Mary, who was married to William,
an important figure in the Dutch Republic from the House of Orange, so
he is commonly referred to as William of Orange. This is very important
because James II, a king, needed an heir, and Mary, his daughter, married

142
 Notes
William of Orange. Since it was the history of the 17th century, religion is
and therefore, constantly influencing all spheres of political life.

ty
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v er
ni
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Image Credit: BBC, JAMES II OF ENGLAND
he
ic
nd
Po
E,
D
D

Image Credit: William III by Jan Wyck, commemorating the landing

at Brixham, Torbay, 5 November 1688

143
Notes

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U
WILLIAM OF ORANGE AND MARY

From the inception of his rule, JAMES II affected many reforms

rry
where he wanted to accommodate Catholics in all critical positions.
However, much to the chagrin of the kings, England and Scotland were
he

Protestants. On 30th June 1688, William received an invitation from the

so-called “seven immortals”, urging him to intervene in England militarily.
The seven immortals that joint sent an invitation to William of Orange as
ic

s follows.
nd

1) Charles Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury- Tory Peer

2) William Cavendish, Earl of Devonshire-Whig Peer.

Po

3) Thomas Osborne, Duke of Leeds –Tory Peer

4) Richard (Lumley), Earl of Scarborough

E,

5) Henry Compton, Bishop of London

D

6) Edward Russell, Earl of Orford- Former Navy CAPTAIN

D

7) Henry Sydney, Earl of Romney, Former MP (who wrote the

Invitation)

The letter Dated 30 June 1688 reads as follows

“… We have great reason to believe that we shall be every day in a

worse condition than we are and less able to defend ourselves, and therefore

144
 Notes
we do earnestly wish we might be so happy as to find a remedy before
it be too late for us to contribute to our own deliverance; but although
these be our wishes yet, we will by no means put your Highness into any
expectations which may misguide your own counsels in this matter, so
that the best advice we can give is to inform your Highness truly both of
the state of things here at this time and of the difficulties which appear to
us. As to the first, the people are so generally dissatisfied with the present

ty
conduct of the Government in relation to their religion, liberties, and
properties (all which have been greatly invaded), and they are in such

si
expectation of their prospects being daily worse that your Highness may

er
be assured there are nineteen parts of twenty of the people throughout the
Kingdom who are desirous of a change”. (Courtesy: National Archive UK)

v
Although they (the seven immortals) do not constitute essential

ni
machinery in the government, some have fallen in the king’s favour.
The reason is that many of them always disagreed with the policies and

U
changes introduced by the king. Most importantly, the intolerant attitude
of Catholics and the push to accommodate many Catholics were not taken
rry
likely by these seven immortals. This is why many historians often cite that
the Glorious Revolution was not an invasion but an invitation. As stated
he

earlier, perusing the history of revolution through invasion, we can infer

from 1169 that during the Norman invasion of the Island, they were invited
by a king in Ireland to come over and help him reclaim his kingdom.
ic

In Oct 1687, it was announced that Mary of Modena James’s wife

nd

was with a child, and it was announced by one of the King’s close aid Mel
Forte that the child was a boy. The story then is if this is true that James
Po

will have a catholic heir to the throne. In April 1688, it was announced
that the French imposed herring taxes and tariffs on the Dutch ships to
shore up a royal navy in the event of a Dutch crossing the English Channel.
E,

Something that is significantly prescient (Perceiving the significance of

events before they occur) because during the second Anglo-Dutch war in
D

1672, the English and French joined hands against the Dutch. That was a
formidable force for the Dutch to reckon with, so the Dutch did not want
D

such to happen again.

In other words, this could be why William wished to avoid

conflict with the French because the monarchy was a hardcore and fanatic
Catholic; if such an alliance happened again, the future of the Netherlands
would be doomed. Or this would mean the formation of two strong,

145
Notes
powerful Catholic countries with mighty armies and navies against the
Dutch. In July 1688, the Dutch deliberated over the issue of whether or
not to increase the size of the troops and the navy, and it went in favour of
increasing where 9000 sailors and 21 warships were added to the existing
military strength.

Meanwhile, it was also believed William met one of the immortal

seven-Edwar Russel in early April. William asked Russell to send a formal

ty
invitation to him urging him to rescue the faith of the English nation from

si
the threat of Catholics posed by King James and his cabinets. Thus, looking
at the chronology of the timeline, it is evident that William was never

er
in a dilemma for an invasion, even before receiving his self-instructed
invitation.

v
ni
1) Oct 1687, James expected a catholic heir

2) April 1688, William request to William Russell for a military

U
intervention
rry
3) In June 1688, William Cousins arrived in England to prepare the
ground to see if the people
he

4) They would support William if he intervened militarily.

5) In June 1688, he received the invitation from the seven immortal,

ic

bolstering Dutch preparations for increasing the military strength.

nd

The Dutch, with a military strength of 15,000 men, several thousand

non-combatants, and 13,000 German mercenaries, shore up the Dutch
borders in fear of French retaliation and 260 transporters. Coincidentally
Po

it was in 1688 that the French were busy in Phillipsburg, and the Dutch
happily sailed through the English Channel without any hindrance. On
19th October 1688, he began to cross the seas. However, due to stormy
E,

weather, he was forced to return and lost one of his battleships on 21

October. After a short lull, careful deliberation, and analysis regarding
D

the weather and sea pattern, they finally decided to begin again on 1st
November 1688.
D

This time as winter sets in, the wind changes its course and direction.
Sensing that something was not right, perhaps James being aware of the
move, William put the navy in charge of the Earl of Dartmouth to closely
monitor the English Channel and instructed him to relay any information
immediately. However, the change in direction, although the Dutch could

146
 Notes
manage to navigate favourably, was not that easy for the Earl of Dartmouth
and finally could not prevent the landing of the Dutch ship Brixham, near
Torbay in Devon, the south-west of England that precisely gave William of
Orange the first victory practically because there was no naval encounter
between the two power.

William’s second advantage after landing his forces was that James
II’s army was enormously large, but most were protestant and primarily

ty
anti-catholic, so loyalty to the King was absent or very scant and being

si
Protestant meant a patriot’s Englishman at that point. So there was, of
course, no major battle but some skirmishes, among which mention may

er
be made of the Battle of Wincanton and Battle of Reading.

v
The most intriguing thing is that when someone invaded a country,

ni
why was no major battle fought during the glorious revolution? Some
historians often suggest that Torbay was carefully chosen by William,

U
which was far from London. This could have given William a strategic
advantage in that the news of his landing far off from the city may frighten
rry
the few soldiers who were loyal to James II.

Additionally, William had an enormous amount of information

he

regarding the unpopularity of James II in England, and he intended that

once the troops landed, the news might force the government to collapse on
its own. Therefore James had only one option left but to flee, and his natural
ic

choice happened to be France; while attempting to escape on 11 December

nd

1688, he was captured by local fisherman and sent back to London. When
William and his troops closed it on London on 18 December 1688William
relocated James to Ham, a strategic place William to lead James escape
Po

through an easy route, and finally, on 23 December, he could make it to

France. This did not back off James II from his plan of coming back, and
there he started preparing.
E,

Meanwhile, a Parliamentary process was going on in England

regarding whether William could be made the King and his wife, Mary,
D

an heir. Since Mary was his wife, she became the queen and ruled as a
D

co-monarch. This also sends a strong message that the Dutch and the
English became natural allies against France (Louis XIV), an Anglo-Dutch
Alliance that reversed the Anglo-French Alliance, which was William’s
real intention, and Dream eventually came true in 1688.

147
Notes

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U
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Image credit: Koninklijke Bibliotheek, national library of the
Netherlands, WILLIAM entering London, 16 September 1688.
he

Although there was no major battle fought in 1688 yet, in 1689,

some rebellion broke out in Scotland and Ireland, which was an indirect
ic

invitation for James II, who was preparing for a fight back to the throne
from France, and he made it to Ireland in 1690, where we have seen a
nd

major battle popularly known as Battle of Boyne. Here the combined

forces of France and English troops who remained loyal to James II and
Po

Irish troops under the command of James II, numbering 40,000 troops
versus the soldiers of William. This victory scored by William made him
the De facto King of England. Hence King William III and Queen Mary II.
E,

Although the coronation ceremony was already performed in 1689.

It is also interesting to discuss the demand made by the people at

D

that coronation ceremony before discussing why William allowed James II

D

to flee? The documents at the coronation ceremony started with complaints

such as religious intolerance like Subverting Protestantism and disarming
them while arming the Catholics. Then issues such as dispensing and
suspending laws without parliamentary debates, maintaining a standing
army without parliament’s consent and putting hindrances to a free and

148
 Notes
fair parliament election. The statement of Grievance or the document of
demands in a short form can be listed as follows.

1) James II was a papist

2) He taxed without people’s consent

3) He possessed a standing army during the time of Peace

ty
4) He allowed the papists to be armed and disarm the protestants

si
5) He also appointed partial, corrupt and unqualified jurors

6) He also imposed excessive fines and bail

er
7) He often interfered in parliamentary elections, i.e., obstacles in the

v
way of free parliamentary elections.

ni
Thus, the situation in England at that very critical juncture can

U
best be described in the words of John Locke, according to whom “the
social contract was broken”. Absolutism was under attack, which was later
rry
codified after the Revolution. The codified laws are passed in the form
of the Bill of Rights, Parliament’s exclusive right to create and terminate.
Which seemingly reaffirmed the Magna Carta of 1215, but it must be made
he

clear here that 1215 gave a foundation of limited government where the
king still was subjected to his own law, but after 500 years, the Glorious
ic

Revolution laid the solid foundation where the parliament but not the
King that had the exclusive right to create and terminate any laws. This
nd

practically means that the crown of the Monarch, the sovereignty, was
shifted from the King’s palace to the Parliament. Perhaps the transfer of
Po

Power is the most significant achievement of the revolution.

Therefore, the concept of Parliamentary sovereignty can be said

to be the product of the Glorious Revolution. According to [Link] in
E,

his “Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution”, He writes

“Parliament thus defined has, under the English constitution, the right to
D

make or unmake any law whatever: and, further, that no person or body is
recognised by the law of England as having a right to override or set aside
D

a legislation of parliament”.

Thus, the Glorious Revolution of 1688-89 set up an institution

with, if not complete sovereignty or expansive power in the United
Kingdom – the legal right to legislate on any topic without question, but
parliamentary sovereignty does not come without criticism. This means

149
Notes
that parliamentary sovereignty also comes with proper checks and balances.
Therefore, the Glorious Revolution created a separation wall between the
monarchy and the Legislature. In a nutshell, it can be put as follows.

1) Free Parliamentary election

2) Parliaments must meet frequently, but not as per the king’s desire
earlier.

ty
3) The protestants should also have arms as per their requirements

si
4) The Right to Petitions

er
5) The appointment of Qualified jurors

v
Above all this, Parliament supremacy and the ceremonial Monarchy
were the most significant achievement. In due course of time, this became

ni
a role model worldwide who wanted a strong people’s representative

U
government.

Not only this, but it also impacts the whole world; perhaps let us
rry
look at the US Bill of Rights.

1) Prohibitions of the Cruel and unusual punishment

he

2) Prohibitions of Excessive Fines and Bails

ic

3) Right to bear arms or guns law

4) Prohibitions quartering troops during peacetime

nd

5) The right to freedom of speech

Po

6) The right to a fair jury trial

Something more exciting in this revolution is the questions such

as why he(William) did not execute James II? knowing very well that he
E,

would stage a comeback to reclaim his throne or at least put him in captivity
and make him sign all his dictates in the Prison. The answer to this is given
D

by some historians that following the vents of 1649 in England, the English
D

civil war, and the execution of English King Charles I, resulting from the
open parliamentary trial of the king but in 1660 when Charles II the son of
the executed King, he relooks to this case, and almost everyone including
those who gave the sentenced were persecuted by Charles II son. Some
began to be hounded by this and fled across several parts of the world,
and some were assassinated, some mercilessly killed. Therefore, historians

150
 Notes
often gave this reason why William’ decided to follow a passive policy in
dealing with JAMES II.

While some argued that William could not be that harsh on his
father-in-law primarily because he intended to ally with the English against
France. Now even from counterfactual historical analysis, we can also pose
a question like what could be the ramification if William had not been
successful? Since it is the Victor, not the vanquished, who writes history,

ty
although we now call it a Glorious Revolution, it could have been called

si
a failed Dutch Invitation, a failed conspiracy by the seven immortals, or
even a failed Protestants conspiracy against the Catholics, or the seven

er
traitors instead of immortals.

v
Now coming to the reason, what actually caused the Glorious

ni
Revolution? Why did the people of England invite Mary’s Husband to
invade England? All these questions can be addressed, if not answered, by

U
looking back at James II’s policies and reforms.

To answer the above question, let us pose a counter question as to

rry
why he consolidated his position by putting all Catholics in a critical role.
First, for James II, whose brother Charles II was just a converted Catholic
he

on his deathbed. However, James II was an ardent and devout Papist from
the beginning. We can safely argue that James II was a catholic monarch in
a majority protestant country.
ic

This led to a second question as to whether the tension between

nd

the two (the catholic monarch and Protestant subject) was the ultimate
result of the revolution or whether a catholic monarchy in the 17th
Po

century effectively ruled England at that critical juncture. The first open
division came between the Tories and the Whigs. While the Tories favour
James’s succession, the Whigs are against it by an act of parliament. During
E,

those periods, the parliament was the King’s prerogative, and he could
call and dissolve at his will. So when such a debate occurred, there was
a Monmouth rebellion in 1685. This rebellion’s main agenda was to keep
D

James from taking over the throne.

D

Secondly, the issue of the hanging Judge Jefferey, who presides over
the bloody Assizes. Over 1000 people were executed, and some say they
were deported to West Indies for treason. Over 200 were either hanged or
drowned. In such kinds of torture, people were usually hanged in public
whose intestines were cut open or pierced where people were made to see
the suffering and cruelty and finally quartered, which means your limbs,

151
Notes
hands and some parts of your bodies were dismembered. In one instance,
one woman was sentenced to be burnt alive for harbouring fugitives but,
in the end, was beheaded.

Third, James’ decision to abolish the Test Act, requiring a person to

be religiously fit, does not go well with the majority of Protestants subjects.
This means that only those who took baptism in the Church of England
were fit to run the Public office. In other words, you must be a disciplined

ty
Church of England member. But James II instead issued a declaration of

si
–indulgence- which means a non-enforcement of the law against Catholics
and non-conformists. So any Christian, even if they are not a member of

er
the Church of England, can be tolerated.

v
James II now urged the Bishop of the Church of England to

ni
announce the Indulgence declaration, which meant a Catholic monarch
dictating terms to the Bishop that I am the head of the state, so if you don’t,

U
you are free to leave. That was the message that the King wanted to convey
to the people of England through the Bishops. Now seven Bishops came
rry
out in the open to request the kings not to enforce such kind of law, and
the King responded to this request with Sedition charges.
he

Unfortunately, when they were put on trial, the King could not get
the desired verdict, and they were found not guilty. So James’ attempt to
annihilate or subdue Protestantism in England was unsuccessful. In utter
ic

disregard for the judgment against the Bishops, James openly declared,
nd

“God hath given me this dispensing power, and I will maintain it”. He is
trying to make the point that he still derives his power from God, not from
the Bishops. “Divine right of Kings” I rule and derive strength from God
Po

and Parliament, and Bishops are not above me; that is essentially what he
wanted to convey to the people of England. This could be the first sign that
paved the way for the Glorious Revolution of 1688.
E,

1) Cruel and unusual punishment inflicted on the peoples

D

2) Suspended the Test Act.

D

3) Intimidating Bishops by urging them to declare the Indulgence Act

in the church

4) Invoking Divine rights of King.

He then dismissed the Lord of the Treasury after he refused to

renounce his faith in the Anglican Church. As mentioned earlier, the

152
 Notes
announcement of JAMES II having a baby Boy in 1688 sparked another raw
of succession that his daughter Mary was married to William III, Prince
of Orange, and a protestant. However, the glorious part of the revolution
can be inferred from the two to three skirmishes (not the actual battle
where there was major bloodshed) may be why it was called a Glorious
Revolution, but it will be imperative for us to discuss some of the ensuing
battles in Scotland and Ireland. The Glencoe Massacre of Scotland in

ty
1692 occurred because they didn’t swear allegiance to William and Mary
primarily because Charles and James were the Scottish royalty.

si
The English Bill of Rights 1689 was the first positive consequence

er
of the Glorious Revolution, which limited the King’s powers over that of
the parliament.

v
ni
Check your progress

U
1) Why did James II decide to abolish the Test Act?

2) What do you understand by the term “the seven immortals”?

rry
3) Why did William of Orange need an invitation to invade England?
he

4) How far do you agree that the term Glorious Revolution was a
misnomer?
ic

5) Briefly explain the reason why William did not execute James II.
nd

6) Explain the leading causes of the glorious revolution.

7) Briefly analyse the impact of the glorious revolution.

Po

4.1.8 Industrial Revolution

The term industrial Revolution can best be explained by Robert

E,

Gordon, an economist, who said, Imagine you live in 1820 in England,

probably you work in simple agriculture tools and travel in a bullock cart
D

…imagine you close your eyes and wake up in 1920; the transformation
D

that you will see probably could be the best explanation of Industrial
Revolution brought to Human life. He further argues, “ When we invented
steam engines, steam ships, locomotives, factories making cotton fabrics,
and then the telegraph. All of those things were invented in the century
between 1770 and 1870. And they set the stage for the inventions that
happened after 1870”.

153
Notes
One of the finest examples to explain how the space and foundation
for the industrial revolution were laid by the invention telegraph, considered
one of the most significant inventions in human history in reducing the
time for communicating a piece of news. Before this invention in 1844,
the fastest means of communication was through a horseman, and if the
message was supposed to be communicated to overseas countries, then
the speed of a sailing ship determined the time. For instance, the famous

ty
example of the Battle of New Orleans, won by Andrew Jackson in January
1815, three weeks after the peace treaty was signed between Britain and

si
the United States.

er
4.1.9 Alexander Graham Bell

v
So after the telegraph, of course, the human mind started

ni
imagining, “Well, what if we could find a way for people to talk over these

U
wires instead of just sending dot-dot-dash-dash Morse codes?” And that
dream was realized promptly in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell and his
rry
competing inventor.
he
ic
nd
Po
E,
D
D

Image credit: circuits today, Portrait of ELISHA GRAY

154
 Notes

ty
si
v er
ni
U
rry
Image credit: Library and Archives Canada / C-017335, PORTRAIT
OF ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL
he

Bell beat the competitor — whose name was Elisha Gray — Bell
beat him to the U.S. Patent Office by about three hours. And if it had not
been for that, we would have had the Gray telephone system instead of the
ic

Bell’s telephone system.

nd

Therefore the fundamental distinction between pre and post-

Industrial revolutions can best be sump up as there was seemingly no
Po

progress in human life between the Roman Empire and the late Middle
Ages. To substantiate this reliable finding in England based on data and
statistics show that over 400 years, between 1300 and 1700, economic
E,

growth was only at a rate of 0.2 per cent a year. And to put that into
concrete terms, something growing that slowly, at 0.2 per cent, requires
D

350 years to double.

D

4.1.10 Flying Shuttle

One of the most remarkable features during this period was

that the European population multiplied after several internecine wars,
plagues and diseases. Meanwhile, during this period, products such as
tea, chocolate, coffee, corn and grains came to be used, which essentially

155
Notes
meant life was longer, as did the population rise. So once you have a
surplus and have nutritious food, people start to have more time to learn,
think and experiment. Many artisans invented minor improvements to
existing mechanical devices. One of the most important and earliest in
this regard can be John Kay’s Flying Shuttle, which increases the pace and
productivity of weaving that requires weavers to use a more significant
and more extensive thread.

ty
si
v er
ni
U
rry
he
ic

Image credit: [Link], FLYING SHUTTLE by JOHN KAY

nd

This necessitated the invention of the spinning jenny by James

Hargreaves in 1764. The spinning jenny was a machine used by working
Po

women at home. It allows a person to spin the thread at a breakneck speed.

In England, we have also come across Ellen Hacking and her husband,
John Hacking were credited with devising carding machines to straighten
fibers’ and woollen fibers for spinning.
E,
D

4.1.11 Water Frame

D

During the same period, Richard Arkwright and his partner

invented the water frame, another spinning engine that used water power.
And when the spinning machine could be linked to a central power such
as water, many could be placed within a single building resulting in the
rise of factories due to such pressure to increase production for domestic
and global markets.

156
 Notes
Check your progress

1) Discuss the important factors that led to Industrial Revolution in

England.

2) What is the significant impact of Alexander Graham Bell on the

Industrial Revolution?

3) How far does John Kay speed up the pace for the Industrial

ty
Revolution

si
v er
ni
U
rry
he
ic

Image credit: [Link], Portrait of JOHN KAY

nd
Po
E,
D
D

Image credit: Terry Littlewood, THE CARDING MACHINE

157
Notes

ty
si
v er
Image credit: who [Link], THE SPINNING JENNY

ni
U
rry
he
ic
nd
Po
E,
D
D

AWKRIGHT’s WATER FRAME C1775

Then we have Johann Friedrich Bottger, who promised the king of

Saxony how to make porcelain as the Europeans suffered from a feverish

158
 Notes
desire to possess Chinese porcelain from the Dutch and Portuguese
merchants.

ty
si
v er
ni
U
Image credit: the famous people, RICHARD AWKRIGHT
rry
he
ic
nd
Po
E,
D
D

Image credit: Saxonia Museum für saechsische Vaterlandskunde, J F

BOTTGER

159
Notes
Such madness in terms of the rush to invent and sharpen was
reflected in two things among the European nobles and elite classes, i.e.
Porcelain, which marks the sin of royalty and affluence and the second
one is Pineapple which was very rare and expensive too because it was
challenging to produce domestically. So Bottger could discover porcelain
technology somewhere around 1708. This brings us to the question of
what the Industrial Revolution revolves around?

ty
It gives the idea that the Industrial Revolution was a combination

si
of multiple factors where people put their brains and times together in
bringing a series of incremental improvements rather than it blew out all

er
of a sudden, as the term revolution suggests. Our discussion also offers that
line primarily because the idea of textiles, heat-resistant cups, and ware

v
were all a product they imitated and made changes and improvements in

ni
other parts of the world, such as India and China. Meanwhile, all these
incremental improvements also necessitated some adverse effects like

U
employing cost-effective orphans under age children from the orphanage
and the subsequent diversification of the slave trade in the Caribbean
rry
island.
he

4.1.12 Steam Engine

The transportation of the raw material and slave labour requires a

ic

heavy machine now relying on the steam engine.

nd
Po
E,
D
D

Image credit: [Link] JAMES WATT

160
 Notes

ty
si
v er
Image credit: [Link], STEAM ENGINE dated 1769

ni
In 1776, English man James Watt launched a steam engine that

U
improved and replaced the earlier model. While looking back at the Greek,
Roman, Ottoman Egypt and Ming China, they were all very familiar with
rry
the steam engine, but then what is the uniqueness of James Watt’s Steam
engine that replaced animal and water power not only in mine but also in
textiles and other manufacturing industries. Humans have relied solely on
he

their muscle power for centuries, followed by animals, wind, and water.

However, the issue remains how great steam power was? They also
ic

revolutionized human life, replacing human labour when transportation

nd

eventually became an automobile replacing manual operations. Now the

application of steam engines in trains demands another kind of demand
since it speeds up the urbanization process to construct a major railway
Po

line and small and mini station hub to house the railway’s primary and
secondary employees such as shopkeepers, pharmacies and construction
workers. This means all aspects of human life were profoundly affected.
E,

Meanwhile, it also led to the proliferation of social structures or

D

classes, such as the aristocracy and the peasants and the bourgeoisie and
the proletariats. The etymological derivation of the bourgeoisie refers to
D

people living in towns and cities burg/Bourg. However, the term came
to refer to the factory and industry, banks owner, including those who
own a large tract of land for raising livestock. At the same time, on the
other hand, the Proletariats comprised many of those factory workers who
lacked all the essential items to support themselves and instead rendered
labour for the factory owner who exploited them at their will.

161
Notes
In between, we have seen the rise of the middle class in Europe,
such as doctors, lawyers, teachers and other professionals who are skilled
in serving society. The transformation also affected Woman’s life. In the
preceding centuries, they worked in farms or workshops alongside their
artisan husbands or as seamstresses, hat makers and weavers. During the
early days of industrialization, women working as weavers or spinners
often now switched to factories.

ty
Industrial Revolution also brought about rapid urbanisation

si
of towns and cities at a breakneck pace. For instance, Manchester saw a
growth of population from 20,000 in 1750 to 400,000 in 1850, although we

er
have seen the emergence of some adverse effects such as slums and spread
of diseases filled with garbage sewage and muddy street forget about the

v
animal excrement which was more or less the same in other cities as well.

ni
Thus industries began in England and eventually spread to low countries
where trade made the capital flow, and because of the flow of the capital,

U
the imitation of several products was redesigned and crafter to a much
higher level of sophistication.
rry
So the question arises was the Industrial Revolution a true
revolution? It spread so unevenly that the eastern part of Europe saw les
he

cities, and people’s living conditions were so poor it could be described as

hand-to-mouth during that period. From a historical perspective, looking
ic

at a revolution would mean a complete change in the socioeconomic and

political structure of the people. Although we might be tempted to draw an
nd

analogy with the French Revolution 1789, The English Revolution (1640-
60) and the American Revolution (1765-83), yes, indeed, the Industrial
Po

Revolution made fundamental changes in the lives of human beings,

although the impact might vary from place to place.

Now let us analyse the reason why Industrial Revolution occurred

E,

in Western Europe? Theories such as

1) European exceptionalism
D

2) The invention of science and technology

D

3) The Age of Reason and the Enlightenment might have facilitated

the freedom to think.

4) The geographical exploration and the search for colonies, gold,

silver and spices

162
 Notes
5) England’s geographical position makes them look out for a backyard

The answer to the previous question is posing another question,

i.e. thus, the above four factors were responsible for the invention and
discovery of scientific technology, perhaps known elsewhere before
European people seemingly invented it. So to discuss these issues, let us
first take up the case of the Steam engine.

ty
4.1.13 Impact of Steam Engine

si
Now a glaring example could be the electricity produced almost

er
all over the world either from coal or nuclear or hydropower, perhaps
be called a product of steam engine because they also nothing less than

v
just water and heat. So a comparative analysis of Europe, China and

ni
India would make some sense to our discussion. Historians like Kenneth
Pomeranz best explain these phenomena through the concept of the great

U
divergence theory. Being an expert on China, he was one of the most well
equip professors for the job. He argued that the two land masses diverged
rry
somewhere around the 19th century, never to meet each other again in
the wake of the industrial revolution. His basic argument was before the
he

industrial revolution. Europe and Asia essentially had the same level of
socioeconomic development. They also had the same economic growth,
market expansion and standard of living.
ic

Additionally, the efficacy of their social institutions and economic

nd

regulating bodies were the same. So he argued that this divergence happened
around 1800 when England skyrocketed its economic development ahead
Po

of the rest of the world. For this, Pomeranz points out two main reasons,
i.e. the abundance of Coal and the plantation colonies. While on the other
hand, Asia, with its feudal polity or oriental despotism, could not venture
out to create a backyard or colonies in other parts of the world. He also
E,

argues that during 1800, Europe was marked by unique development

features such as demography, markets and consumption of luxury goods
D

and labour. This was the latest study regarding the Industrial Revolution
D

and its impact through a new framework.

However, Prasannan Parthasarathi’ in his famous book “Why

Europe Grew Rich and Asia Did Not: Global Economic Divergence, 1600–
1850”. Who revised the Great Divergence thesis and argued, “Early modern
Europe was indeed different from Asia, but not in the way we think”. He
further states that “the difference cannot be found in a scientific spirit,

163
Notes
property rights resulting from the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment
philosophies”. As commonly agreed before, European exceptionalism
lies with the Age of reason, enlightenment and the presence of a modern
nation-state that facilitated the birth of the industrial revolution and hence
European modernity. In contrast, the priority of the Asian states had been
the prevention of famines. This argument has been deconstructed and
was mainly classified under four subheadings. First, “it is shown that the

ty
invention of mechanical devices in British cotton textiles was induced,
more than we realize, by competition from Indian cotton. The inventions

si
were more an outcome of exogenous factors than endogenous ones”.

er
He argues that “India was the world’s workshop in the seventeenth
and eighteenth century. Europeans could enter this advanced trading-

v
manufacturing world thanks to their fortuitous access to American silver”.

ni
Third, he further commented that “the new technologies in cotton

U
and iron in Britain would not have been possible without state aid in the
form of protection afforded to domestic textiles and encouragement given
rry
to the mass use of coal”.

Last but not least, based on well-documented data, he argued

he

that “in the 1700s, levels of living were similar between India and Britain,
markets were integrated and property rights protected in India, and India
had an energetic intellectual life, in particular, science and technology
ic

were of sophisticated where the technologies were later transferred and

nd

reinvented”. This was the main argument put forward by Prasannan

Parthasarathi’s, the fundamental reason for the difference in Europe and
Asia’s economic development.
Po

Then coming to some of the technology effectively used for

furthering colonial exploration that eventually helped them throughout
E,

the industrial revolution, conquest and economic development, items such

as Gun powder, compasses, paper and shipbuilding technology cannot
be ignored. However, a perusal of their place of origin and the invention
D

of the said tool were traced to China and India before Europeans. The
D

question remains whether China’s despotic empire or the idea of freedom

might have restricted the Industrial Revolution from happening, for they
have all the facilities and technical know-how before the Europeans. To
such a question, some historians argued that Song China was one of the
most freedom-loving people, and the question of the despotic Chinese
empire might not have necessarily prevented them. Therefore, considering

164
 Notes
all these factors, we can say that in China, as does Europe, all the basic
necessities for the industrial revolution are not missing; if then, what
prevented China and India?

The answer to the above question lies in the fact that British
had the advantage of Coal, but So did China because coal was supposed
to have improved transportation and communication because one of
the significant factors in the industrial revolution was the successful

ty
utilisation of energy, so does England plenty reserved of coal just nearby.

si
In contrast, the location of coal in China was geographically distant from
its urban centers. This coal immediately replaced wood in Europe but

er
not in China. So coal mining was labour-intensive, so to pump out water
from the mines, there was necessary to invent steam engines. The result

v
is that a steam engine produced coal in large quantities, and there was

ni
an uninterrupted or perennial power supply; hence industrial production
remains uninterrupted. This also sped up the construction of railroads

U
and the steel industry.
rry
The emergence of a diversified Wages system, for instance, in 1725,
wages in London were equivalent to 11 grams of silver per day, whereas,
in the Netherlands, it was nine silver grams per day. Meanwhile, in Beijing
he

and elsewhere, they were below 4 grams of silver and in India, below 2
grams. High wages combined with cheap, abundant fuel or energy created
ic

a conducive atmosphere for the industry that continued to sustain itself in

the long run, hence the industrial revolution. According to Robert Allen,
nd

“high wages relative to capital units was a key force in the industrialization
of Britain, and thus it explains why the Industrial Revolution was British
Po

before if was anything else”. And further argues that “these conditions
enforced industrial revolution by offering firm and strong incentives to
invent technologies that substituted capital and coal for labour”.
E,

The question of Indian cotton imports to Britain was another

factor further speeding up the industrial revolution. The modus operandi
D

is that Indian cotton supplies the industry’s raw material at a meager cost
and creates a large market. The profit earned from these was successfully
D

utilized by the British in Machines to increase production, thus making

India a de-industrialized nation by offering the European market
uninterrupted raw cotton.

165
Notes
Check your progress

1) Define carding machine

2) Discuss the impact of the steam engine and who invented it.

3) Who invented Water Frame?

4) Who invented the spinning Jenny?

ty
5) Who was J.F Bottger?

si
6) What are the factors responsible for England’s industrial revolution?

er
4.1.14 Industrial Revolution and Factory System

v
What is a factory system? According to Charlotte Moy, “The factory
system is an approach to manufacturing that arose during the Industrial

ni
Revolution in England to replace the cottage industry and putting out system.

U
Its primary innovation was to combine machinery and other new technologies
with the division of labour to lower production costs and increase efficiency.
rry
Due to the rise of the factory system, production began leaving households
and artisan shops to be located in plants and factories instead”.
he

The experience of workers changed dramatically as a result of

being in coordinated, disciplined factory settings instead of a household.
Not all early factories took the same approach to managing labour. Distinct
ic

systems, such as the Slater and Lowell Systems, arose in the United States.
nd

After the Industrial Revolution, the factory system continued developing

and innovating features such as interchangeable parts and assembly lines”.
Po

As stated earlier, 1750- 1900 was instrumental in making England

one of the most powerful nations that dominated almost two-thirds of the
world until the WW-II. Let us discuss how much the industrial revolution
created urban cities, slums and residential colonies. To understand this,
E,

we will discuss how the factory system’s growth led to the rise of cities,
towns and slums when people moved from the countryside to urban areas.
D

Therefore the following issues need close perusal.

D

1) To understand how the domestic system is essentially different

from the factory

2) How do machines create factories?

3) The factor behind the emergence of how factories propelled the

growth of the cities.

166
 Notes
4.1.15 Transition from Domestic to Factory

In 1750, almost all the consumption was produced domestically

in England, with women and husbands working at home making shoes,
hats, and gloves; since it was domestically produced, I meant at home, so
the system was commonly referred to as the Domestic system. Since it was
produced domestically, so it caters for the local markets. In short, things
were not made in the factory in large quantities. So the shift from the

ty
cloths spun in the spinning wheel domestically and the George Walker’s

si
costumes of Yorkshire in 1814 marks the beginning of an industrial
revolution through the factory system.

er
The earliest known illustration of John Blenkinsop’s steam

v
locomotive on rails, where a man working at Middleton Colliery in south

ni
Leeds, is as follows:

“One of these workmen is here represented as returning from

U
his labours in his usual costume. This dress is of white cloth bound with
red and may probably be ridiculed as quite inconsistent with his sable
rry
occupation, but when the necessity of frequent washing is considered,
surely none could have been adopted more conducive to cleanliness and
he

health. The West Riding of Yorkshire, it is well known, abounds in coal,

the consumption of which is prodigiously increased by the general use of
steam engines. In the background of the annexed Plate is a delineation
ic

of the steam engine lately invented by Mr Blenkinsop, an agent at the

nd

colliery of Charles Brandling, esquire, near Leeds, which conveys above

twenty waggons loaded with coals from the pits to Leeds. By two of these
machines constantly employed by the labour of at least fourteen horses is
Po

saved”.

This text lucidly explained the transition from domestic to factory

E,

system, i.e., the era of mass-produced goods for domestic consumption to

the age of the global markets. Where things are made quicker, faster and
cheaper in price but of superior quality. The proliferation of cotton mills
D

was another boon to the factory system. The cotton mills gave people a
D

choice as to what kind of clothes they preferred, such as woollen, cotton,

and linen, which suited their comfort and were fashionable.

167
Notes
John Kay invented the flying shuttle invented in 1733 was a boon
in this regard, which enabled weavers to produce faster and helped them
use wider strips of material to produce a wide variety of products.

So, in a nutshell, it was the invention of the following machines

that helped the Industrial Revolution and its factory system that changed
the socio-economic life of the people.

ty
1) 1769, the water frame by Richard Arkwright, It is powered by water
and handy for factory use.

si
2) 1784, The Mule was invented by Samuel Crompton to make the

er
thread qualitatively finer and more robust.

v
3) In 1786, the power loom was invented by Edmund Cartwright. This
machine slowly replaced all weaving activity, powered by water or

ni
steam.

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E,

Image credit: gettyimage, THE SPINNING MULE by Samuel

D

Crompton
D

So all the machines, as mentioned above, led to the emergence of

the so-called factory system. Therefore, the combination of steam with
the new methods of converting Iron into steel made ships, bridges and
textiles much quicker and more effective. They began to use machines
which people would typically do by hand. Now man-operated machines
across the country. This produced goods and led to the proliferation of

168
 Notes
urban centres as medicines, leather goods, clothes, and other goods had to
be produced in each factory. This facilitates the movement of people from
rural areas to urban centers to work in the factory. Cities like Leeds, Belfast,
Manchester and Nottingham had cotton and woollen mills. Manchester
was, in fact, the first industrial city. Cotton mills also grew enormously,
which employed over one million people in 1850. Cotton was one of the
most valuable materials factories produced, which England traded with

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other countries on a broader scale. Cities such as Glasgow, new castle,
Sheffield and Cardiff made steel for building ships and bridges.

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Image credit: [Link], portraits of EDMUND CARTWRIGHT

nd
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E,
D
D

Image credit: textile valuechain, Portraits of Women handling

169
Notes
POWER LOOM

Cities like Sunderland used steam power to improve coal mining.

In Birmingham, they build automotive vehicles. London was famous for
the production of varieties of clothing, also in medicines and engineering.
Thus, the Industrial Revolution transformed the farming nation into an
industrial nation. In hindsight, we cannot forget the adverse impact of
the industrial revolutions, which led to the loss of Jobs by skilled workers

ty
and produced enormous environmental pollution. Perhaps working in

si
a factory also exposes you to several harmful chemicals apart from the
danger of injury caused by mishandling machines.

er
Now let us discuss Richard Arkwright’s impact, the first to build

v
mechanized carding and spinning as a factory system at Cromford in

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Derbyshire. He powered his factory using a water wheel, and the factory
operates round the clock (24x7), so it necessitated and introduced a shift

U
change system. As a result, he could produce many clothes with varied
choices that were cheaper than the domestically produced ones, so he
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became one of the wealthiest men in the city.

The uniqueness of the factory system is that since people work

he

in shifts, the manager or the master needs to regulate and keep time
well informed to the workers. So they introduced a timekeeper called
Knocker –upper or factory system and diversified the employment system.
ic

The knocker-up or knocker-upper was a timekeeper operational in the

nd

Netherlands, Britain, and Ireland. When alarm clocks were neither cheap
nor reliable, their job was to wake people who slept during work or at
home by knocking at the windows to enable them to get to the factory on
Po

time. People often called this system a Victorian alarm clock.

E,
D
D

170
 Notes

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Image credit: [Link], KNOCKER UP ON
MARSH’S ROW TWIST LANE LEIGH – POSSIBLY 1930’S

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D

Image credit: Shutterstock, Samuel Greg’s Quarry Bank Mill

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The said engine interestingly also help improved Samuel Greg’s

Quarry Bank Mill, a cotton Mill in Cheshire to the south of Manchester,
for innovations in machinery and its approach to labour relations.

171
Notes

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MAP OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN 1886
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Image credit: Andrei nacu, European colonial empires at the start of

the Industrial Revolution
E,

4.1.16 Let Us Sum Up

D

There is no doubt that the industrial revolution brought many

D

dramatic changes in the life of human beings. Following are some of the
noteworthy point

1) It changes the style of farming and the subsequent transfer of

knowledge to the outside world.

172
 Notes
2) It revolutionized human life, creating a safe drinking water system,
construction of the railway, a new Iron bridge and a road to speed
up societal welfare.

3) It led to urbanization; new towns and cities emerged, and improved

sanitation by building new canals.

4) It led to the formation of a stratified society, changing the standard

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of living and helping to form trade unions to help address and
mitigate the plight of the working people.

si
5) It also created differences among human beings regarding eating

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habits, food and nutrition, which affect family life and its impact on
women and children.

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6) It eventually propelled England and other European nations to

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dominate the world by converting the colonies into the source of

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raw materials and the customers of the finished products.
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4.1.17 Self Assessment Question
1) Define the term nation-state.
2) Who are the enlightened philosophers, and briefly describe their
he

ideas?
3) Can Glorious Revolution be termed an invasion?
ic

4) Describe the reform carried out by the Enlightened despot

5) Describe the evolution of the Factory system
nd

6) Define industrial revolution

7) Describe briefly the technological invitation and its impact on the
Po

industrial revolution.
8) How far do you agree that the Industrial Revolution help England
dominate the world?
E,

9) What do you understand by the term factory system?

10) What do you understand by the term knocker –up during the
D

Industrial revolution?
11) Describe the role of the Power loom and spinning mule.
D

12) Explain the dark side of the industrial revolution.

4.1.18 References

1) Jack L. Schwartzwald,(2017) The rise of the nation-state in Europe:

absolutism, enlightenment and revolution, 1603-1815, Jefferson,
North Carolina, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers.

173
Notes
2) Gagliardo, John G. (1967). Enlightened Despotism.
3) Gershoy, Leo, 1897, From despotism to revolution, 1763-1789, New
York, and London, Harper & Brothers
4) Ashley, Maurice (1966). The Glorious Revolution of 1688. Hodder
& Stoughton.
5) Cruickshanks, Eveline (2000). The Glorious Revolution (British
History in Perspective). Palgrave Macmillan

ty
6) Ashton, Thomas S. (1948,2017). “The Industrial Revolution (1760–
1830)”. Oxford University Press

si
7) Bernstein, Peter L. (1998). Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story

er
of Risk (Reprint ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons
8) Cipolla, Carlo M. The Fontana Economic History of Europe, vol. 3:

v
The Industrial Revolution (1973)

ni
9) Clapham, J.H. (1930) An Economic History of Modern Britain: The
Early Railway Age, 1820–1850 (2nd ed. 1930

U
10) Jacob, Margaret C. (1997). Scientific Culture and the Making of the
Industrial West. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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E,
D
D

174
 Notes
UNIT - V

Lesson 5.1 - Louis XVI And Europe

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ver
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Image Credit: Joseph-Siffred Duplessis, Portraits of LOUIS XVI

nd

Structure

5.1.1 Objectives
Po

5.1.2 Introduction
5.1.3 Causes of the French Revolution in Brief
[Link]. The Estate General 1789
E,

5.1.4. The National Assembly

D

5.1.5. Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizens

5.1.6. Civil Constitution 1790
D

5.1.7. Role of Women During the French Revolution

[Link]. The Rights of Women: Olympe De Gouges
5.1.8. Emergence of Sans Culottes
[Link] Guillotine
5.1.9 Louis Xvi

175
Notes
[Link] Turgot’s Reform Proposal
[Link] Jacques Necker and his Reform Proposal
[Link] Alexandre De Calonne
[Link]. Assembly of the Notables
[Link]. Assembly of all the Three Estates
5.1.10. Let Us Sump Up

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5.1.11 Self Assessment Question
5.1.12 References

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5.1.1 Objectives

Louis XVI and Europe on the eve of the French Revolution” will

v
attempt to achieve the following Objectives for the learners

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1) To describe and understand the social structure of the old regime in

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France

2) To discuss and analyse the main reason for its economic instability
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3) To look into why Louis XVI had to summon the estate General in
the end?
he

4) To critically evaluate the role of the queen in the Revolution

ic

5) Lastly, a summary and concluding analysis will be given.

nd

5.1.2 Introduction
Po

The atmosphere of Europe on the Eve of the French Revolution

can best be described as Social unrest, economic instability and the desire
for political reform. To understand this issue and perhaps to achieve our
stated objectives. First, let us discuss the Old Regime’s social structure,
E,

divided into the following lines.

D

a) The First Estate consisted of the Clergy, the most privileged and
wealthy class who owned 10 per cent of land without being subject
D

to taxation. The only schism here is that some distinction was made
between the High Priest and the Parish Priest. The only noble thing
that they did was take care of schools, hospitals and orphanages for
the people.

176
 Notes
b) The Second estate consisted of the Nobility. This estate, manned by
army officers, runs the court and perhaps most government jobs.
They also owned land and maybe were against the philosophy of
Absolutism.

c) The Third estates are the Common man who pays taxes or everyone
else

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5.1.3 Causes of the French Revolution in Brief

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So a simple analysis shows us that while the elite classes are
exempted from paying tax with all status and comforts, the common bears

er
the entire burden and constitutes almost 97 per cent of the population,

v
whereas the other two constitute 3 per cent. So the question is, what does
it matter even if 3 per cent of the populations are exempted from taxes?

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This issue will be discussed in threadbare in the following section when we

U
analyze the life of Louis XVI in the following sub-section.

Regarding economic instability, the French government always has

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a deficit spending, which means the revenue collected and the expenditures
were inversely proportionate. The seven years wars also caused them a
he

colossal deficit compounded by a lavish lifestyle at the court and palaces.

As a result, the King had no option but to increase taxes.
ic

The American Revolution (1775-1783) also caused France much

financial burden. France’s military and economic assistance was vital for
nd

American success. The repercussion of the seven years wars where France
lost almost all its colonies in North America was, still haunted the French
Po

miserably. The check and balance system in international politics would

also have come to play here. The American Revolution was the best
opportunity to pay back for France to the British. This military and financial
assistance had practically drained the French exchequer. For instance, the
E,

budgetary crisis of the French national budget during the 1780s was the
Debt constituted 50 per cent; the Military formed at 25 per cent, public
D

work at 19 per cent and the maintenance for Versailles at 6 per cent.
D

Several factors constitute this. King Louis XVI was considered a

weak king, although Louis somehow put down the aristocratic section;
during Louis XVI’s time, there was an aristocratic resurgence. They became
more powerful and began dictating terms and conditions for which the
king was helpless. In 1787 the king called an assembly of Notables, hoping
to get representatives from the nobility and the church to agree to be taxed.

177
Notes

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Image credit: Alpha History. A cartoon depicting the first Assembly of
Notables as geese and other fowl
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Roland Mousnier argues, “An assembly of notables was an
expanded version of the king’s council. Several times each year, whenever
he

the king needed to cast a wider net in search of information… he would

enlarge his council with personalities chosen… for their ‘zeal’ and their
ic

‘devotion’, their ‘fidelity’ to the sovereign… Such an assembly was not an

abbreviated version of the Estates-General”.
nd

The above cartoon explained it all. Where the king/master asked

the Ducks and the geese with what sauce they would like to be cooked? As
Po

the Frenchmen used many sauces for cooking. In return, the Ducks and
geese replied, “We don’t want to be cooked or eaten at all, “ Then the master
said you are departing from the question”. Now the question remains the
E,

Notables argued that if you wanted to be taxed, then better convene the
Estate-General so that it can be an assembly that is more inclusive than the
D

notables. So they urged him to call, which had not been convened since
1614, meaning the Estate general met in 175 years. The estate general was,
D

in fact, not necessary for the absolute monarchy.

[Link] The Estate General 1789

The country also witnessed poor harvest, and the 1780s were
remarkable for soaring essential commodity prices. Jacques Necker

178
 Notes
advised him to tax the rich to solve th financial problem, but Louis XVI
was not a resolute king. In 1789 the estate general convened an advisory
body for th king. They were not a binding parliamentary body but a whole
bunch of people. Although they seem not to have been a source of trouble
under an absolute monarchy, gathering such a whole bunch of people
would undoubtedly be caused heated debates and exchanges. The first and
foremost reason is that after 175 years, the estate general sounds like an

ty
outdated concept in the French political system.

si
So a perusal of French history related to the convening of the
estate general, each estate was supposed to cast one vote as a group, which

er
means the clergy had one vote, The Nobility one vote and the Third estate
one vote accordingly. The issue is that the two upper classes, the clergy and

v
the nobility, which seem to have only 3 per cent of the population, would

ni
have two votes, whereas the third estate, which constitutes 97 per cent of
the population, would have only one vote.

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The conclusion that we can surmise is that the idea of convening itself
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would be a travesty of justice even before the estate general was summoned.
That means the class that formed 3 per cent in France was a majority as
against the class that formed 97 per cent of the population. Meanwhile,
he

the rise of the Bourgeoisie, consisting of the Lawyers and merchants,

manufacturers or the people who had money and were professional class,
ic

contributed very much to the society and economy but did not possess
what the Clergy and the nobility possessed and the tax exemption.
nd

This decision for change was best put forward by one of the Clergy
members, Abbe sieyes, in a famous pamphlet entitled Qu’est ce que le
Po

Tiers-etat? i.e

What is the Third Estate? He answers it - Everything.

E,

What has it been heretofore in the political order? They are - Nothing.

What does it demand? They wanted - To become something.”

D

So he essentially means to argue that the third estate constitutes

D

and forms the country’s lifeblood. Sieyès further argued that “Third Estate
representation must be equal to or larger than the First and Second Estates
combined. He called for voting at the Estates-General to be conducted by
the head (that is, by a tally of individual deputies) rather than by order (the
Estates voting in blocs). This shaped the demands of the Third Estate at

179
Notes
the Estates-General, culminating in their decision to break away to form
the National Assembly”.

So the third estate proposed some reforms such as Doubling the

third, and the second proposed reform is related to “Vote by head”, which
means each delegate votes individually, not by group. The idea is that some
of the nobility and clergy who had their roots in the third estate before
they attained their current status and people like abbe Sieyes could vote

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along with the commoner causes. Since Louis XVI is not a resolute king,

si
so does his indecisiveness. He agreed to double the third, but voting must
go in the old way as a group but not individually. Finally, th estate general

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was convened on May 1789.

v
Immediately when the Estates general was summoned, the hat

ni
fiasco erupted pertaining to the hat sumptuary law. The story goes like
this at the meeting when King Louis XVI takes his hat off, followed by

U
the Clergy and the Nobility and then after a short and uncomfortably
confusing pause, the Third Estate started taking their hats off. So looking
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at all the delegates, Louis put on the Hats again, which he wanted to convey
to the third estate, which does not possess any rank and file, that the King
is not their equal.
he

On June 17, 1789, the third estate left the assembly and declared
themselves the national assembly. This means they represent the French
ic

nations.
nd

5.1.4 The National Assembly

Po

Once, the third estate declared the National assembly without the
approval of the King. Three days later, the King responded by locking,
and then the third estate responded by going out of the assembly to the
E,

nearby Tennis court, where they took an oath not to adjourn the National
assembly until they adopted a Constitution or, in other words, given France
D

a constitution. Since France was an absolute monarchy, the issue became

very interesting and led to a confrontation.
D

180
 Notes

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Image credit: Alpha History, Jacques Louis David, Painting of the
Oath at the Tennis court
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A close look at the Picture in the middle, where three people

dressing indifferent attires actually represent the three estates joining, gave
a powerful message. Finally, Louis XVI had no option but to recognise the
ic

National Assembly as a law-making body and urged the first and second
nd

estates to join the National Assembly. While on the other hand asked for
more soldiers to be stationed around Versailles.
Po

Meanwhile, in Paris, there was a ripple effect of sensing something

strange happening in Versailles when the army was being called in. Now they
look at the Bastille, a symbol of tyranny and oppression since the middle
E,

ages. Only prisoners of outstanding notorious in the eyes of the Monarchy

were put in here. For instance, Marquis de Sade is known for writing a
D

depiction of libertine sexuality and sex crimes. The story also goes like this:
Marquis de Sade screams aloud by shouting at the top of his voice that “they
D

will kill us all”. So it was on 14 July 1789 that the Parisian mob got together
to storm the Bastille. Where the mob went on a rampage, found the leading
officials and cut their heads off and vaulted on the pole of a stick.

181
Notes

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Image credit: Public domain, Portraits of MARQUIS DE SADE

Meanwhile, in the countryside, too, due to grain shortages

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resulting from bad harvests, they were waiting for an opportunity to rally
against the monarchy. Some rumours spread like wildfire that fuelled the
anger against the Monarchy and the aristocrats that the grain shortage
he

was a man made by the aristocrats to starve the peasants. So there was
a massive peasant revolt all over the countryside. However, there was
ic

no such aristocratic conspiracy to starve the peasants. When a problem

occurs, it all happens simultaneously. The peasant revolts were responded
nd

positively by the National Assembly on August 4 by abolishing the Feudal

system, which applies to abolishing feudal dues, Nobles hunting rights and
Po

tax exemption, Popularly known as the Decree of 4th August.

5.1.5 Declaration Of The Rights Of Man And The Citizens

E,

It was passed on August 26, 1789; this document liberated the French
D

from an absolute Monarchy. This was the first time they experimented with a
constitutional form of governance based on the natural rights of man. People
D

were no longer the subjects of man or king but citizens of a nation. Let us
now discuss some factors influencing the declaration of the rights of man
and citizens. Two eminent personalities influenced this declaration of rights.

182
 Notes
1) Thomas Jefferson a classical liberal, a champion of the rights of
man and a crusader for civil liberty and perhaps a U.S. Ambassador
to France.

2) Jean Jacques Rousseau, an Enlightenment Philosopher, “Government

on the interest of general will”.

So the main influencer for the declaration of the rights of man

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and citizens are a Jeffersonian on “individual right and liberalism”, and
Rousseau’s’ “Democracy and the general will” will have to be analysed here.

si
Some intellectuals accused Rousseau’s ideas of being a proto-socialist. But

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to ascertain whether Rousseau’s ideas were proto-socialist and perhaps to
have a fruitful discussion, let us look at the main documents and explore

v
and analyse them step by step.

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Image credit: WHE, Documents of the rights of man and citizens.

183
Notes

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Portraits of JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU
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D

Portrait of THOMAS JEFFERSON by Mather Brown

The preamble goes like this, “The Representatives of the French

people, organized in the National Assembly, considering that ignorance,
forgetfulness, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole causes of public
miseries and the corruption of governments, have resolved to set forth in

184
 Notes
a solemn declaration the natural, inalienable, and sacred rights of man, so
that this declaration, being ever present to all the members of the social
body, may unceasingly remind them of their rights and duties; in order that
the acts of the legislative power, and those of the executive power, may at
each moment be compared with the aim and of every political institution
and thereby may be more respected; and in order that the demands of the
citizens, grounded henceforth upon simple and incontestable principles,

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may always take the direction of maintaining the constitution and welfare
of all”.

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In consequence, the National Assembly recognizes and declares, in

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the presence and under the auspices of the Supreme Being, the following
rights of man and citizen:

v
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Source: Frank Maloy Anderson, ed., The Constitution and Other
Select Documents Illustrative of the History of France, 1789-1907 (New

U
York: Russell and Russell, 1908), pp. 59-61

The documents essentially hint that when you forget the rights
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of man, all sorts of misery start to emerge. In other words, when the
rights of man that constitute a part of the government body where rights
he

and responsibilities go together, then the National Assembly was able to

declare in the presence under the auspices of the supreme being not that of
the holy trinity but the Civic Deism the above 17 articles.
ic
nd

Articles:

The first articles reflected on Rousseau’s ideas of social contract

Po

where he argues, “Men is born free, but everywhere he is in chains”. So

Rousseau’s ideas were quite handy for the framers of the Declaration of
the Rights of Man and Citizen now that “Men are born free and remain
free and equal in rights. Social distinctions can be based only on public
E,

utility”. So the social distinction in terms of addressing Mr President and

Honourable Prime Minister is not basically of his birth and inheritance
D

but because of the office of merit and the constitutional position he or she
D

occupies.

The second article, “The aim of every political association is

the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These
rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression”,. In
these articles, when the ideas of liberty and so on are mentioned, we have
traceable elements of Jeffersonian ideas of individual rights and liberty.

185
Notes
The third article, “The sources of all sovereignty reside essentially
in the nation; nobody, no individual can exercise authority that does
not proceed from it in plain terms”. This article makes an inference to
sovereignty, which is more or less an inference to the idea of a Nation. This
idea of a nation’s sovereignty which can be derived from the people but not
divine rights was essentially the main idea of the French Revolution.

Additionally, this article determines to transform the French from

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dividing their estates or classes into one Nation, No more first estate, Second

si
and third estates, No hereditary nobility and special protection rights for
them are no more or gone. Now sovereignty resides in the nation that

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derives from its people, so it is more of a Rousseau than a Jeffersonian idea.

v
The Fourth article “Liberty consists in the power to do anything that

ni
does not injure others; accordingly, the exercise of the rights of each man
has no limits except those that secure the enjoyment of these same rights to

U
the other members of society. These limits can be determined only by law”,
and The fifth article, “The law has only the right to forbid such actions as are
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injurious to society. Nothing can be forbidden that is not interdicted by the
law, and no one can be constrained to do that which it does not order”. So in
the fourth and fifth articles, the Jeffersonian classical liberalism is reflected.
he

The basic idea of the function of the government is to keep me from hurting
someone else. Suppose I am doing anything else that does not hurt someone
ic

else, then that is none of the government’s business. This means that the
government has the right to intervene if someone is hurting someone else,
nd

which is the classical principle of liberalism. However, when it comes to

the government’s functions concerning politics, economy and society, the
Po

government should not step in unless legitimate harm is being done.

The sixth article, “Law is the expression of the general will. All
citizens have the right to take part personally, or by their representatives,
E,

and its formation. It must be the same for all, whether it protects or
punishes. All citizens, being equal in its eyes, are equally eligible to all
D

public dignities, places, and employments, according to their capacities,

and without other distinction than that of their virtues and talents”.
D

Here in this article, we have seen the resonance of Rousseau’s ideas

“Law is the expression of the general will” which might sound seemingly
contradictory with regard to the above articles which argued for the right
of the government to step in only when legitimate harm is done but here,
for instance, if the general or the majority public say do that don’t do that

186
 Notes
how are we going to enforce the so-called general will here. So the article
is basically a democratic expression that may have no value to the liberal
ideas and values attached to it.

In articles 7.8.9 and 10, “No man can be accused, arrested, or

detained, except in the cases determined by the law and according to
the forms it has prescribed. Those who procure, expedite, execute, or
cause arbitrary orders to be executed, ought to be punished: but every

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citizen summoned was seized in virtue of the law ought to render instant

si
obedience; he makes himself guilty by resistance”.

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“The law ought only to establish penalties that are strict and
obviously necessary, and no one can be punished except in virtue of a law

v
established and promulgated prior to the offense and legally applied”.

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“Every man being presumed innocent until he has been pronounced
guilty if it is thought indispensable to arrest him, all severity that may not

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be necessary to secure his person ought to be strictly suppressed by law”.
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“No one should be disturbed on account of his opinions, even
religious, provided their manifestation does not upset the public order
established by law”. Perhaps sound more or less like the U.S. Bill of Rights.
he

However, here a perusal of the article would mean. You have the right to
a free opinion, even in Religion, as long as it does not subvert the public
ic

order. But the Bill of Rights would mean we have the right to peaceful
assembly, but as long as we are not doing anything violent. These articles
nd

seemingly would have given more arms to the government beyond the
framers of the declarations of the Bill of Rights, and citizens would have
Po

envisioned the government for which some historians would argue that it
foreshadowed the reign of terror in the years to come.

Then article
E,

11 “The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most

precious of the rights of man; every citizen can then freely speak,
D

write, and print, subject to responsibility for the abuse of this

D

freedom in the cases is determined by law”.

12. “ The guarantee of the rights of man and citizen requires a public
force; this force then is instituted for the advantage of all and not
for the personal benefit of those to whom it is entrusted”.

187
Notes
13. “A general tax is indispensable for the maintenance of the public
force and for the expenses of administration; it ought to be equally
apportioned among all citizens according to their means”.

14. “All the citizens have a right to ascertain, by themselves or by their

representatives, the necessity of the public tax, to consent to it
freely, to follow the employment of it, and to determine the quota,
the assessment, the collection, and the duration of it”.

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15. “Society has the right to call for an account of his administration by

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every public agent”.

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16. “Any society in which the guarantee of the rights is not secured, or
the separation of powers not determined, has no constitution at all”.

v
17. “Property being a sacred to and inviolable right, no one can be

ni
deprived of it, unless legally established public necessity evidently

U
demands it, under the condition of a just and prior indemnity”.
So the above articles are all a mixture of Jeffersonian ideas and
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Rousseau’s philosophy of Democratic and almost proto- Socialist
ideas. The other issue that can be made clear from the articles is that
it also paves the way for an identity crisis pertaining to liberalism
he

and foreshadows the Reign of Terror based on the radicalization of

the simplistic reading of Rousseau.
ic
nd

5.1.6 Civil Constitution 1790

Now let us talk about the civil constitution too, although slightly
Po

beyond our syllabus just over a few months. The primary aim of forming
this constitution was to bring the privileged estates into the new French
nation. However, the decree of August 4th had already abolished their
privileges, eliminating their feudal benefits and the Noble’s inheritance
E,

right and tax exemption.

D

Now the attempt is to bring the Clergy on par with the other
citizens. The first instance of bringing the clergy on par with the other
D

citizens began with the confiscation of church property by the national

assembly in 1789 and subsequently abolished religious order in 1790,
such as nuns and monks, which looks more or less similar to what Henry
VIII did during the English reformation. The national assembly abolished
mandatory tithe. Hence people will tithe as they were personally convicted
with the Bible instruction but not necessarily because the Pope or Bishop

188
 Notes
says so or the government will no longer collect the tithe. This means the
church also comes under the state.

The civil constitution also aims to transform the French Catholic

Church into a civil religion. That is a state religion but not a religion that is
a particular class of privileges’ of the state but a religion that function as a
part of the state. There are several key ingredients in this civil constitution.

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nd

Image credit: Alpha History, A depiction of clerics moving their

possessions out of a cathedral
Po

The first reform concerns the election of Bishops and Priests.

Before 1789-90, you must be from the Nobility to become a bishop or priest.
Following are some of the intended reforms of the civil constitutions.
E,

1) They (Bishops and priests) were not accountable to the people, so

from now on, they will be elected democratically.
D

2) Once elected, they must swear an oath of allegiance to the state to

D

ensure they will be loyal to France first, then to Pope.

3) They were to be regulated by a standard pay scale for the Bishops

and the priests depending on the congregation’s size and their duty.

4) They were also placed under a strict attendance policy to be present

for the church and other spiritual services. This means they will

189
Notes
have to obtain prior permission from the state officials when they
are supposed to travel outside their diocese and area of operation.

Overall the above regulations are meant to bring the Bishops and
priests in line with the ordinary people, the oath of allegiance to try and
confirm that they are first French citizens, so does the loyal first to the
state than the spiritual authority of the Pope. The standard pay scale also,
in fact, was to streamline the financial burden that the monarchy usually

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overpaid them, and the Bishops and priests were so powerful that they

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often shunned their duty for personal work, so all these measures brought
the Bishops and the priests on par or equal French citizens. In other words,

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the civil constitution attempted to remedy all the abuses and anomalies
between different estates of the old regime.

v
ni
Now the question remains: Did the civil constitution of the clergy
contribute to creating a freer and less regulated state? Yes, indeed, if we look

U
at the French Revolution, they sought to create a freer and less regulated
state. However, the civil constitution of the clergy in reforming the church
rry
in France to the extent that it is liberal, the fundamental question remains,
When a church is accountable to the state rather than liberals as the idea
of Liberalism and the liberals would have wanted, Does the Idea of less
he

regulated state the central theme of the revolution was defeated here?

The civil constitution’s creation was a bridge between the Revolution

ic

of 1789 and a more radical revolution of 1793 and 1794. Therefore, instead
nd

of trying to liberate the church by separating it from the state, the National
Assembly chose to regulate the church by placing it under state control.
Po

The French clergy were also divided into Swearing Priests and
Refractory priests. The former was on board with the civil constitution
of the clergy. They have no problems swearing an oath of allegiance. In
E,

contrast, the latter does not really appreciate the civil constitution of the
clergy. They are more conservative and are followers of tradition and dogma
who do not believe that the state should not interfere in the church matter.
D

However, when we compute the data, there are areas where the swearing
D

and the refractory have their say unevenly. That means the impact of the
French Revolution was not uniform all over France. Look at the cartoon
for the rally taken out by the Refractory Priests.

190
 Notes

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Image credit: WHE, PROCESSION OF REFRACTORY CLERGY

The procession interestingly depicts the Refractory clergy showing

he

them with long noses, which offers an anti-Semitic gesture making them
look like Jews who were seen as outsiders. The question now arises
ic

concerning this painting, whether it was a freedom or a chaos? The answer

that can be said, slowly and steadily, is that the French Revolution is getting
nd

radicalized.
Po

5.1.7 Role of Women During the French Revolution

The Irony of talking about the role of women in the French

Revolution is that in the old regime, all men are not equal yet. Additionally,
E,

European traditions also gave men and women separate spheres. Where
the public domain was for the man and the household chores for the
D

women were not to be in politics and the decision-making process. Men

D

are supposed to make rational decisions, whereas women are emotional.

Now let us bring in Rousseau, an influential Enlightenment philosopher
who wrote the book Emile, a treatise on the nature of education and the
nature of man. However, Rousseau discusses and talks about Sophie,
perhaps a woman.

191
Notes

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Image Credit: Susan Heep, Nuns and Priest running around
celebrating civil constitutions.

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Here Rousseau says, “Mother, do not make a decent man out of
your daughter. Make a decent woman out of her”. He argues that women’s

U
central role is how to please a man. Now the big question is, although
the Enlightenment philosopher talked about rationality and progress,
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there was no serious attempt to bring political equality for women to the
philosophers.
he
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E,
D
D

Image credit: WHE, WOMEN MARCH ON VERSAILLES

192
 Notes

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Image credit: World history common. An early modern view of

Women
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The above portraits are of an early modern view of a woman, a

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17th-century engraving from France. In the front, a woman is depicted

as very beautiful, but behind her, sorts of demons look like women. The
Po

image shows the women’s true imagination that they might be appealing
in looks but is devils in nature and spirit.

The other characteristic description of women was also hysterical.

E,

Jess Zafarris argues that “Hysteric” and “hysterical” were equally of

common uses when the word surfaced in English in the very early 1600s
D

in medical contexts from the Latin hystericus, or “of the womb,” which
in turn came from the Greek hysterikos, meaning either “of the womb”
D

or “suffering in the womb,” and the base noun hystera, or “womb” (i.e.,
uterus)”. Looking back at the biblical story of human creation, the serpent
first tempted the women and was the driving force behind original sin.

193
Notes
This essentially means women are an agency that possesses the inherent
ability to corrupt and influence on man, so they have to be kept in their
proper spheres.

Now let us also trace the story of Pandora’s Box. In the Greek
version, Prometheus tells Epimetheus to beware of never trusting a gift
from Zeus. This woman may look so beautiful, but all kinds of evil will
surely follow, and sure enough, she got the box and with a note don’t open

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the box. So the woman does what she was told not to do. This motto means

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men follow the rules, whereas women don’t, so they deserve a separate
sphere.

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This kind of historical narrative will give you a glimpse of what
Marie Antoinette was supposed to do. Perhaps she was considered the wrong

v
woman at the wrong time when many things were supposed to happen or

ni
take place there. So the question now is, Does Marie Antoinette as a woman

U
possesses the inherent capability for corrupting influence on man?
Why did we call her the woman at the wrong place and time?
rry
Because a young Princess of Austria married the King of France at a very
turbulent time. She was also embroiled in a wrong scam, the “Diamond
necklace scam”, which she has nothing to do with. Additionally, when the
he

angry people are outside the place demanding bread, she looks at the cake
she ate and says, “If they don’t have bread, let them eat cake. So women
ic

often become a scapegoat for all the wrongdoings or royal extravagant.

They also called her “L’AUTRICHIENNEC” Chienne, in French, means a
nd

dog or a bitch. Perhaps it could also be an Austrian woman, but in presence,

it was derogatively affixed to her. She was, in fact, the main target of the
Po

women’s march on Versailles. After much negotiation, they were willing to

go to Paris and guillotined in 1793.
E,
D
D

Image credit: Tom Richey, MARY ANTOINETTE FACING THE

GUILLOTINE

194
 Notes
[Link] The Rights of Women: Olympe De Gouges

Olympe de Gouges, the Declaration of the Rights of Woman

(September 1791)

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Image credit: WHE, OLYMPE DE GOUGES AND HER

DECLARATION OF RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND FEMALE CITIZENS
nd

Thus the women of France also declared 17 articles related to

women’s rights and citizens.
Po

Check your progress

E,

1) Discuss the role of Rousseau’s Ideas in the French Revolution

2) How far do you agree that the Declaration of the Rights of Man
D

were more of a Jeffersonian idea than Rousseau’s?

D

3) Describe briefly the social structure of the French on the eve of the
Revolution.

4) Who were the swearing and refractory Priests?

195
Notes
5.1.8 Role of Jacobins, Cordeliers and the Girondins

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Seal of the Jacobin Club from 1789 to 1792
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EMBLEM OF THE CORDELIERS

E,

It is amply clear that any revolution cannot happen and succeed

without being ideologically motivated and directives from such an
D

ideological boss. Some politically motivated intellectuals or the political

D

club that guided the French Revolutions were Jacobin, Cordelier and the
Girondins between 1789 and 1799.

When the third estates broke away and rechristened themselves as

the National Assembly, later the National Constituent Assembly, however,
all the members were pro-revolutionary and had a relatively free and less
regulated state vision for the future of the French people. There are always

196
 Notes
differences between them. The leaders often haggle over issues such as
to what extent the movement should take a break, step forward, left and
rightwards.

The first significant clubs that emerged were popularly known

as the Jacobins, whose eminent and radical leader was Maximilien
Robespierre. After the Jacobins came the Cordeliers, although formed in
1790 under the able leadership of George Danton, Desmoulins and Jean-

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Paul Marat, who possessed a very radical militaristic path to revolutions.

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Desmoulins, known for his oratory skill, gave a high voltage politically
motivated speech a day before eth e storming of the Bastille. There was

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also a group called the Girondins.

v
Unlike the Jacobins and the Cordeliers, they believed the best way

ni
to move forward in a revolution was through non-violent and diplomatic
efforts. Jacques Pierre Brissot, also known as Brissot de Warville, was the

U
most influential leader. The fundamental problem is that all of them wanted
a revolution, but their paths and methods were so different that, in the end,
rry
they were a victim of the revolution itself in the quest for a New France.

One of the first things the National Assembly approved was the
he

declaration of the rights of man and the citizens, which we discussed earlier.
There were several expectations in different sections of this document.
One of these groups was the Jews of Northeastern Paris, demanding equal
ic

treatment with other revolutionaries in the country as per Article 10 of the

nd

declarations. The petition was first brought to the constituent assembly on

the 20th of January 1790, and full rights were granted in September of the
following years.
Po

The Jacobins were also pressing for more reforms before the
revolution, and perhaps one of the leading causes was the financial
E,

insolvency of France. The Monarch was said to have replaced the finance
minister and advisors several times but to no avail. The financial problems
in the country got exacerbated by the revolutions. The Jacobin tried to fix
D

this issue by introducing the Law of Maximum, which fixed the price of
D

bread and other necessities, aiming to keep the rising prices under control
and feed the masses during this period. However, Jacobin’s law of the
maximum was largely unsuccessful. The reason was when the merchants
were advised to sell the food prices less than the actual cost price they
spent, resulting in the merchants closing their shops where the common
masses ran helter-skelter to find their own means of livelihood.

197
Notes

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Maximilien De Robespierre by Pierre Roch Vigneron
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E,
D
D

Image credit: Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs division,

GEORGES-JACQUES DANTON

198
 Notes

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PORTRAITS OF CAMILLE DESMOULINS U
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nd
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E,
D
D

Image credit: [Link], Portrait of JEAN-PAUL

MARAT

199
Notes

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Image credit: François Bonneville’s Portrait of Jacques-Pierre Brissot

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de Warville

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E,

Image credit: WHE THE STORMING OF THE BASTILLE,

D

14 JULY 1789
D

On the other hand, Since the Girondins were instrumental in

forming the National Guard during the initial stage of the revolutions, they
now gave back some power to the monarchy in the form of a constitutional
monarchy, which was less radical than the Jacobins wanted; this was one
point where the revolutionaries leaders would get radicalized in the
ensuing periods.

200
 Notes
In contrast, Maximilien Robespierre feels that how can there be
Monarchist, which is basically against the actual call of the revolutions
that aim to get rid of the crown and the first two estates. Now all he needed
was an excuse to purge these counter-revolutionaries. This opportunity
came on 10th August 1792 Legislative Assembly ended because the King
used his power to veto a law against the will of the Jacobins.

Three days later, the Jacobins, the Cordeliers, and the commoners

ty
stormed the palace and sent them to a temple, a fortress in Paris which

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was then used as a Prison. Since the Legislative Assembly was seemingly
a non-entity now, the National Convention was formed, A parliament of

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elected representatives.

v
Thus France was declared a Republic. The Jacobins, Cordeliers

ni
and many independents merged as the Montagnards(the mountains)
under the leadership of Maximilien Robespierre Robespierre, Danton and

U
Desmoulins. Their only commonality is their hatred for the Girondins,
who usually have the majority. However, with the significant presence of
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the independents, the Montagnards now have a hope to regain control of
th political spheres.
he

Additionally, the September massacre, where over 1500 anti-

revolutionaries were executed, gave the Montagnards some sort of
breathing space. Since then, the support for the Montagnard grew lips and
ic

bounds, so King Louis XVI was executed on 21 January 1973 when the
nd

Montagnards outvoted the Girondin. Girondins’ biggest mistake was to

arrest and execute Jean-Paul Marat, known for spewing venoms against
the Girondins and continuing to put troubles their way.
Po

In April, the Girondins had him arraigned before a Revolutionary

tribunal. His acquittal of the political charges brought against him (April
E,

24) was the climax of his career and the beginning of the fall of the
Girondins from power. Soon after this, Montagnards formed a law passed
D

to eliminate anyone opposed to the revolutions. When the revolutionary

was created, then the Reign of Terror began.
D

201
Notes
[Link] Emergence Of Sans Culottes

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PORTRAITS OF (LEFT) SANS-CULOTTES, COMPARE FIGURES

WEARING CULOTTES RIGHT
ic

The word Sans Culottes means without knee breeches”, a label for
nd

the more militant supporters of that movement in the French Revolution,

especially from 1792 to 1795. The Revolution seems to have been over;
A political order was founded not on the Ancien Regime but on the
Po

Constitution. This is when everyone wants to move on and starts a new

beginning posing their faith in the Constitution. After the Tennis courts’
oaths laid down a certain hope for a New France, there was a lot to be
E,

fixed. Open defection, looming economic insolvency, in fact, the National

Assembly was a task upon a daunting one.
D

The Jacobins thought there were miles to go before the revolution

D

came to a successful end. One year after the Storming of the Bastille, the
famous “Fête de la Fédération on 14 July 1790”. This gave them a high
morale boost to their movement to carry on. Those masses who came
for the celebration did not part immediately and hence mingled with the
urban Paris, who were now ideologically motivated; this added to their
growing strength and also a boon that boosted the morale of the Jacobins.

202
 Notes
As stated earlier, for the Girondins, The clergy was reined in.
Feudalism was a thing of the past, equitable laws were enacted, and the
King became a constitutional Monarchy. So it was quite a success for
the Girondins. While on the other hand, the Jacobins still felt the need
for reform based on Enlightenment ideals and theories. So the National
Assembly embarked on modernization, liberalisation and centralization,
in other words, a rationalization of the legacy of the Ancien Regime.

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Image Credit: Joseph Boze, Portraits of THE COUNT OF MIRABEAU

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The Jacobin now proposed that the 83 departments of France

would be reduced to 81 and organised into districts of 9 departments
nd

each that would make up 9 communes; this was how the new France
reorganisation would look like. Followed by administrative, taxes zone,
Po

and various dioceses would have their areas redrawn too.

Comte de Mirabeau was a leading light in this regard, who took into
consideration, ancient geographical divisions and ethno-linguistic groups.
E,

He proposed that 13 districts of France be reorganized into 83 regions

that generally correspond with extant Parishes. Each new department was
D

to have its own elected assembly and commune. They were bound to the
National Assembly in Paris and their regional parliament. Theoretically,
D

this system made law, justice, taxation, administration and voting not only
efficient but also more representatives. The proposal was passed in July with
the existence of 83 departments now established, a complimentary form
of tax reform began. Taxes such as internal custom barrier and Gabelle,
“The gabelle was a duty payable on salt. Used chiefly as a food preservative
and also in manufacturing and industry, salt was an essential commodity

203
Notes
in 18th century France” Were abolished. This really suits the ears of the
peasants and the mercantile classes. They also look forward to reconciling
the Ancien regime and the new constitutional order. Some even suggested
that the nobility’s right of the protected needs to be protected.

This does not augur well for the minds and souls of the common
masses. Since voting was still the prerogative of the bourgeoisie, lawmakers,
bankers, politicians and senior bureaucrats, although it was a path-

ty
breaking achievement from the ancient regime, the real revolutionary

si
spirit of the revolution was still a far cry. Additionally, the revolutionary
became more radical because they felt they were left behind; for instance,

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the Cordeliers commune in Paris spontaneously erupted in protest to the
limited voting Franchise. In such a situation, the enemies of the moderates

v
George Danton was one such agitator. In 1790 Jean Sylvain Bailly, Mayor

ni
of Paris, wanted to arrest George Danton.

U
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nd
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E,

JEAN SYLVAIN BAILLY Portrait by Jean-Laurent Mosnier, 1789

Although he escaped, yet threatened to return by gathering

D

supporters to overthrow the government, forcing the mayor to back down,

D

the Cordeliers, while facing the threat of being banned, finally rallied
around their superbly capable and charismatic leader and formed an
official political club-The Society of the Friend of the Rights of Man- also
known as the Cordelier Club.

204
 Notes
The commune petitioned the Assembly for the redistricting
measures to be scrapped entirely and push forward the active citizenship
status to be conferred upon all the citizens of the entire district. They
demonstrated true civic egalitarianism with members open to any and
all citizens for a small amount of payment-two sous a month- Perhaps
the most potent revolutionary forces in France-the disenfranchised and
now thoroughly disillusioned masses had an example of glaring political

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organisation which could afford them a collective voice and collective
protection from abuses. It was during a politically fraught day that

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the term describing hardline revolutionary Parisian entered common

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parlance –sans culottes- literally without pant. Knee breeches, about their
lack of fashionable and expensive embroidered pants called ‘culottes.

v
They were not interested in compromise, amnesty for the aristocracy, or

ni
incrementalism.

Now the Cordeliers club and the sans-culottes soldiers were

U
determined to see the revolution go through its logical conclusion regarding
annihilating the Ancien Regime’s vestiges. Camille Desmoulin wrote, and
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Danton spoke. In the combination of the duo, a great display of patriotism
and revolutionary zeal gel very well. The perfect combination of the duo
he

was considered to be the most incredible partner in the revolution. Camille

Desmoulin was the one whose invectives had guided the commoners to
storm the Bastille. A day later, Danton arrived with an armed militia and
ic

demanded entry to the still-burning Fort Prison.

nd

As the Paris commune tried to redistrict the city under Bailly to

eliminate the Cordeliers, it was Danton and Desmoulins who directed the
Po

passion of the mob. Through the 1790s, the Cordeliers Club was galvanised,
eventually becoming an unofficial and unrecognized parallel metropolitan
authority. The club leadership formed the Cordelier assembly in mock
E,

imitation of the national assembly, with Danton and Desmoulins manning

the club’s backbone and even accommodated Jean-Paul Marat’s printing
D

press, amplifying an already extremely influential propaganda machine.

So, if the reclusive propagandist’s work boosted the Jacobins, it

D

provided an absolute deluge of popular support for the Cordeliers club.

Based on this wave, Danton could ride all the way into public office,
winning membership in Paris commune in August as a representative
of the Cordeliers. But there was a hitch. Under Bailly’s instruction, the
specific requirements were altered last minute to make it impossible for

205
Notes
someone to assume office without the approval of the other Commune’s
members, and there was no way anyone would approve Danton’s ascension
into ranks; being thwarted, he retreated to the Cordeliers.

Nonetheless, investing in people proved to be a shrewd decision

for him, and the irresistibly popular Cordeliers were a persistent thorn in
the commune’s side, prompting them to issue a slew of decrees aimed at
maiming the club. Now changes in the voting pattern adversely affected

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the cities and the departments too. Throughout the summer, a resurgence

si
of the old nobility as a viable political force occurred. As land-owning
citizens, nobles dropped their noble titles but kept up their avaricious

er
antics. Recasting themselves as experienced public servants, they handily
won the local election with votes from their friends and lackeys.

v
ni
This contrasted with a trend in the cities where the older generation
of the Noble d’Robe.-bureaucrats and civil servants judges, minister-retired

U
in vain protest against the new constitutional order. Replacing them was a
younger generation of liberals who populated the now vacant government
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and judicial positions. Indeed this younger generation would later inherit
the Revolution. Urban areas had long been a hotbed of liberalism and
revolution, but this pattern was now being baked into the cake of the new
he

French administration. As evinced by the emergence of the Cordeliers, the

cities were now the lynchpins of the Enlightenment and revolutions.
ic

On the other hand, the countryside was proving a sanctuary of

nd

ousted monarchist reactionaries and nobility. Therefore, the national

assembly’s decrees and ordinances went largely unheeded in the outlying
provinces. Even with their rationalization reform, it was challenging to
Po

enforce any form of such laws. Regional parliaments stubbornly held to

their ancient rights and resisted any attempts at such rationalization or
centralization. Breaches between the central government in Paris and their
E,

affiliate department of parliament were worsening.

By August, the divide was so deep and unbridgeable. That divide

D

also extended to the peasantry, who were already alarmed at the National
D

Assembly’s anti-clerical streak; vast swathes of their rural peasantry

turned against the assembly almost overnight after the registration of the
civil constitution of the clergy. Even though the law was as yet un-enacted,
never before had the assembly passed the law so profoundly unpopular.
Much of the goodwill they had earned by repealing hate taxes and custom

206
 Notes
barriers evaporated when the peasantry was to choose between support
for apostate in the National Assembly or the Catholic Church.

Further alienation occurred in August when the National

Assembly successfully reinstituted free trade on grain- one of the new areas
it would have been prudent for the assembly to maintain Ancien Regime
style mercantilism. Fixed prices for bread became a thing of the past,
and soon, urban and peasants were feeling their pockets as well as their

ty
stomachs empty. As mentioned earlier, the Rumors of the grain plot re-

si
emerged, fuelling the peasantry’s worst nightmare. The only people who
benefitted from free trade were noble, able to engage in speculation and

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grain merchants who could once again charge whatever price they fancied.
Hungry, angry and dejected to the resurgent nobility and the intransient

v
clergy, these enraged peasants flock. With relations between the people and

ni
the National Assembly all-time low, the stage was set for another upheaval.

[Link] Guillotine
U
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This instrument was devised for merciless killing, where a person
who committed a crime was made to lie on the wooden blocks facing upward
he

towards the sharp tool that would fall on the neck. Almost all the leaders
during the revolutions, including the King and the queen, met the same fate
under this barbaric justice system. The horrendous scène of such merciless
ic

killing was described by one of the British Parliamentarian Edmund Burke,

nd

whose comments on the horrific incidents of Marie Antoinette, lamented

that “Little did I dream I should have lived to see such a disaster fallen upon
her, in a nation of gallant man, in a nation of man of honor, and of cavaliers!
Po

I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to
avenge even a look that threatened her with insult”. That surely man of
honor should have stood up to defend their queen. But Burke goes on to
E,

say that “ the Age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists and
calculators has succeeded, and the glory of Europe is extinguished forever.
D

Check your progress

D

1) Describe the role of Jacobins, Cordeliers and Girondins.

2) Who were the sans culottes’?

3) Describe the role of Danton, Desmoulins and Marat

4) What was the National Assembly all about?

207
Notes
5) What do you understand by the term the “Oath at Tennis Court” on
the eve of the Revolution?

6) Briefly describe the grain-plot theory.

5.1.9 Louis Xvi

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The life and times of Louis XVI

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Portraits of LOUIS & MARIE ANTOINETTE

Louis XVI was crowned at 19 and married the Archduchess of

ic

Austria until she became Maria Antoinette (originally Maria Antonia), the
nd

daughter of Maria Theressa. Indeed inheriting a monarch’s throne as a

teenager some problems are going to happen. The King’s sole mission was
to get the people’s love and affection, although he was a little revolutionary.
Po

The first reform that he pushed forward was an act of religious tolerance
for people to choose from. This religious tolerance was extended to
Protestants and Jews as well.
E,
D
D

208
 Notes

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Portrait of VERSAILLES LAWN

v
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Although an absolutist Monarchist, he always wanted to get the
public’s approval; this implies his most significant challenges. Which

U
certainly would cause humiliation if not insult to the self-conceited and
status-conscious nobility. This was when France was heavily indebted,
rry
and the finances were precarious. The irony of the French system was that
the people with all the privileges and money were exempted from paying
taxes; therefore, the king could not raise more money, and these were the
he

same people behind all policies and decisions in the king’s courts. But the
King had to do something.
ic

By 1775 Louis was extremely busy dousing several riots, which

nd

in one way foreshadowed the 1789 Revolution. The involvement in the

American War of Independence also heavily caused the French exchequer.
Po

During that period, on the advice of the Finance Minister, several reforms
were mooted to raise taxes to boost the economy to pull the country out
of the financial imbroglio. This resulted in the finance minister becoming
so unpopular to the extent that people started protesting and burning the
E,

effigy of the Finance Minister.

D

Loui’s lavish lifestyle and expenditure at the Versailles were also

other factors. The Palace of Versailles, known as the home of Europe’s
D

most potent and popular monarch, utterly lost its charms and popularity
after Louis XVI stepped in. This palace was also known for its artistic
breeds, lavish entertainment, passionate love affairs and perhaps
outrageous scandals. However, some selected Nobility was dancing and
merrymaking in the palace due to its financial insolvency, the state on
the brink of collapse. Now a new queen in this beautiful palace faces the

209
Notes
biggest challenge in the history of France. As stated earlier, she could have
been coming at the wrong time, or she was born ill-luck and accused of all
crimes and scandals she was never associated with.

In 1775, Versailles celebrated the coronation of the New King and

the Queen. Although the king sometimes privately expressed his dislike for
being in the palace, there was full hope on the part of the people for their
new king and Queen. However, once he took over the charge, he wanted

ty
to rule grandly like a typical absolute Monarchist, as did his predecessor

si
Louis XIV. While at the same time, he also wanted to be popular among
the people and obtain their acceptance and approval. So this makes him

er
take a new line of governance that he has to take into the confidence of
all estates in the country. In keeping with the Enlightenment ideas and

v
philosophy, he wanted to be more humane and modern, i.e., more just and

ni
philanthropic, so he called himself Louis the Philanthropic.

U
The first initiative he started with his family. He inoculated all
his family against Smallpox, which had taken aback all his courtiers;
rry
that had never happened with any monarch in France’s history. This was
wildly experimental and perhaps very dangerous; that somehow raised
hairs at that time, so there was a lot of rumours and discussion going on
he

in the country that if the King died. But according to him, it was how a
modern has to lead and moves on with the changing time. Interestingly
ic

there was seemingly another story going on in the palace. Although the
king and queen seemed happy in Public, there was a problem with the
nd

Royal marriage. This some historians would consider a disaster, although

designed to produce an heir from the combination of two Royal families,
Po

the Austrian and the French.

The Kings seem to have not tried to consummate the marriage.

The royal family’s private life was a matter of grave concern as rumours
E,

and gossip surrounded the royal palace that the King failed in his manly
duty in the bed chamber. This story has become a matter to ponder for the
D

historian and sharply divides their opinion. Some historians argued that
during the first seven years, the king’s bedroom story was not manly, or
D

both were not interested in consummating the marriage or were utterly

innocent in producing an heir or sex education.

Some historians argued that looking at the private life of Louis

XIV and XV, it was unimaginable that the XVI would be innocent in the
bedroom affairs. So this led historians to argue that Louis XVI seemed to

210
 Notes
be suffering from a rare medical problem called Phimosis “Phimosis (from
Greek φίμωσις phimōsis ‘muzzling’ ) is a condition in which the foreskin
of the penis cannot stretch to allow it to be pulled back past the glans”. At
the same time, he was internally battling the problems of producing an
heir; he also had to redress some of the issues that had blighted towards
the end of Louis XV’s reign, i.e., the poor financial situation. French during
that period had the memories of famine that killed millions, so most of

ty
the people subsisted on a bare minimum, although the Clergy and the
Nobility had a lavish life. So when we talked about the financial problem

si
that haunts Louis XVI, it actually began at the time of Louis XIV.

v er
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nd

Portrait of TURGOT by Antoine Graincourt, now in Versailles

Po

[Link] Turgot’s Reform Proposal

Anne–Robert–Jacques Turgot, His finance minister, is an

E,

enlightenment product, so he recognised the importance of landed wealth

and the need to tax it. Turgot tried to practically demonstrate to the Kings
D

and his ministers some lessons on life beyond and outside Versailles. For
D

instance, at one of the dining tables, Turgot brought bread; the King was
interested, but the other minister responded by telling him we thought you
were a minister, but we did realise now that you are a baker. The King’s
interest in the Turgot bread demonstration made some historians argue
that Louis was an enlightened king who was really interested in reforming
France and placing France back to its past glory.

211
Notes
Since the palace was filled with many landed aristocrats, many
were unwilling to cooperate with Luois in his endeavour to pull France
to the most powerful nation in Europe. Some were Loui’s relatives, so it
was a gigantic task. So if Turgot reform went through, both upper estates
would have to pay taxes like other estates. This idea, although novel and
pragmatic for the future of France, was opposed tooth and nail by the
landed aristocracy. Perhaps they were outraged by such an idea which

ty
they thought was entirely against France traditions. This eventually made
Versailles an isolated island of fun and frolic in the ocean of poverty

si
because the Nobles were living life as kings, entirely relying on the state

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exchequer and pensions but utterly oblivious to the political affairs of
France. Moreover, since the opposition to Turgot’s reforms came from men

v
within the council who thought and argued that Turgot’s proposal would

ni
break and weaken the traditional social structure in which the Noble and
the Clergy had a privileged position relative to the rest of the society. This

U
reform would stir up the hornet’s nest of vested interest groups.

While on the other hand, Queen Marie Antoinette loved to dance

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and gamble in the most fashionable Parisian salons was another issue
that the commoner disliked. During such socializing incidents, she often
he

heard gossip about Turgot’s reform, which they cleverly told her aimed to
undermine the Monarchy, and she conveyed this to the King. The greatest
critics of these reforms came from none other than the Kings own brother
ic

Count of Province, popularly called Monsieur, who held them from the
nd

belief that France could and should follow all traditional social structures,
i.e. the Three estates under the King must stay and their privileges cannot
be altered if not disturbed.
Po

These rising rumours’ and gossip in France and the strong

opposition within the Versailles courts faced Louis in a critical position,
E,

and he began to lose faith in Turgot’s reform. He was now in a dilemma

about which way to turn because the economy was on the verge of ruin
D

where the expert’s opinions were sharply divided, and the fundamental
issue of if the reforms were not carried out. Then will the French state
D

survive with the present structure to face th ever-changing world? In the

initial stage, it appears he was firmly on the side of Turgot’s reform, comes
what may, but eventually lost his grip on the council and the Versailles
when his own brother opposed it, so his support for Turgot dwindled as
the heated argument went on he finally dismissed the one whom he was
looking for, to save France from anarchy.

212
 Notes
Historian argues that Louis sacking of Turgot was justified by the
king over the allegation that “Turgot wanted to be me, so I don’t want him
to be me” For that reason, the minister was dismissed from his position.
Instead of receiving appreciation and support from the council, the King’s
dismissal of Turgot sends off a message that makes Louis XVI a more
vulnerable and indecisive King. Meanwhile, Louis had at least something
to celebrate now that he had finally become a family man after eight years

ty
of marriage to Mary Antoinette. First, a daughter, then finally a son named
“ Dauphin”. But this does not decrease his burden on the governance front.

si
Day by day, the need filled the National treasury, so it was now Jacques

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Necker who was going to advise Louis XVI.

v
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nd
Po

Portrait of JACQUES NECKER by Joseph Duplessis

[Link] Jacques Necker and his Reform Proposal

E,

Jacques was one of the wealthiest men in Europe, perhaps the most
D

prosperous Geneva banker. France having him, undoubtedly, could benefit

from such kind of rich and professional sound in finance matters. Necker
D

arrived in Versailles when England faced a rebellion in its colony that

Louis wanted to support. As mentioned earlier, France, after its defeat in
the seven years’ War and losing some of its colonies in North America, was
looking for an opportunity to stab England, and this Rebellion seems and
sounds like the best opportunity for France. On the other hand, Louis XVI
was also in a dilemma; if they did that, it would be construed as supporting

213
Notes
insurgents. Perhaps many of these insurgents were Republicans or avowed
Republicans. So they decided to take a middle course by approving the
aid but insisted that it should be done secretly by sending some covert
skullduggery weapons and arms to help the Americans fight against the
colonial master.

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BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, on the United States $100
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All this support caused the fortune of France’s finances, and Louis
now turned to Jacques Necker, his new finance minister, and Necker
immediately arranged a loan from his banker’s friends. This essentially
he

means a European absolutist monarchy financed the world’s first democratic

revolution (America). Louis’s investment in America seems to have paid
ic

off after the decisive victory of the Revolutionary Americans at the Battle
of Saratoga. This gave him confidence, and now he considered going into
nd

an open war with Britain. He threw a grand party at Versailles to welcome

one of the drafting members of the American War of Independence,
Po

Benjamin Franklin.

Although he was a democrat who did not believe in the rules of

Kings and Princes, what appealed to them was the chance to do down the
E,

country they hated so much that they wore the image of the map of Britain
on their backside during the celebration. So when Benjamin Franklin
D

arrived at the celebration, he appeared to have the status of a celebrity.

There was some sort of Franklin mania as everyone present wanted to be
D

seen together with the man. Although the war paid off some of the French
in avenging England for their defeat in the seven years’ War, and the
celebration continues, the financial situation was alarmingly precarious.

Necker had done what he could to borrow almost from all his
banker friends now; the task left to him was to contain the royal spending.

214
 Notes
But the problem remains, and it squarely lies with the question, how do you
tax the rich when the tradition does not permit it? Then Necker advised
Louis XVI that the only way to restore the public finances was to make
taxes mandatory for everyone. Everyone, I mean everyone, he quipped.
But if such reform were done, this would essentially set the clergy and
nobility against the king and Necker, which was very clear and dangerous
for the duo looking at the past experiences. Against this backdrop, he held

ty
hostage the introduction of the reform law in the Parliament because the
three estates voted as a group where the first two estates constituted only

si
3 per cent, had two votes, one each for each estate, and the third estate

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constituted 97 per cent had only one vote.

Nevertheless, it was necessary to tax the affluent sections of the

v
society. Necker diplomatically pursued this plan by publishing a paper

ni
to eliminate the unnecessary but lucrative jobs enjoyed by courtiers at
Versailles. This began to set a familiar argument during the time of Turgot.

U
But this time, Louis decided not to back off like Turgot’s time; instead
chose to stand firmly on Necker’s reforms. He states, “If anyone finds
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faults with it, I shall break him like glass”. Fortunately, this time Necker
got a shot in the arms, and the support also came from the Queen, Marie
he

Antoinette urging her husband to stay strong and remains solid behind
Necker’s reform. But the biggest problem is that Louis XVI was always in
a dilemma, never a decisive man to look up to by his people. This time
ic

again, Louis fired Necker like Turgot.

nd

As the American War of Independence ended, Louis was hoping

for some economic boon to the country, if not at least from favourable
Po

trade relations with them, but America preferred to trade with England;
this embarrassed Louis XVI when he said that “77 ships we supplied
but nothing comes back”. Turgot once said that the first Gunshot France
E,

provided to America would drive France to bankruptcy, but he was proved

wrong only by a few years because the impact of that war was terrible.
D

Check your progress

D

1) Who was Louis XVI?

2) What was the original name of Marie Antoinette?

3) Discuss the role of Turgot, Necker and Calonne and their attempt to
reform France’s financial imbroglio.

215
Notes
4) Explain the term Franklin’s mania.

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CHARLES ALEXANDRE DE CALONNE, Portrait of Calonne by

ic

Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun

nd

[Link] Alexandre De Calonne

Po

As Necker was fired, Charles Alexandre de Calonne succeeded

him; his ideas, instead of taxing the rich, as his two predecessors advised
Louis, were utterly different. He suggested that Louis, to boost the
E,

economy, should spend more. But Louis replied when my country and
people need saving, why did you advise me to spend more? Then Calonne
D

tries to convince the king, saying money is stashed away in chests and
drawers. It must be lured out, but bees do not make honey from vinegar.
D

So the first step in this direction, according to the new minister, is “to
restore the public confidence. Only when the financiers and savers have
the feelings that money is flowing freely will they be ready to entrust us
with their own”. Unfortunately, instead of mitigating the problem, Calonne
seriously aggravates the financial burden that the state exchequer to a
breaking point.

216
 Notes
While Marie Antoinette gave the monarchy an heir, she was still
very unpopular with the commoners. They saw her as a symbol of selfish
aristocrats. People blamed her luxurious lifestyle for the French financial
crisis too. People started calling her “L’AUTRICHIENNE”, which means
Austrian, but chienne in French means dog, so pejoratively, it also means
a bitch. So when people find no pieces of bread to eat, why should we
keep partying and living a luxurious life? Some even bring out salacious

ty
pamphlets about the queen from the 1780s, which depict the queen having
a wild sexual relationship and being frustrated with the king’s unmanly

si
behaviour in the bedroom. They even goes on to say that she had an affair

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with her brother-in-law, although they cannot prove it.

By and large, the King was a gentleman. Although some pamphlets

v
painted him as stupid and lousy interested only in hunting, but he never

ni
gave up the idea of bringing his country out of the financial problems.
Sometimes he assumed that the whole country despised him. However,

U
he was surprised when he visited Normandy to visit the port site. This
completely changed his imagination that his subjects disliked him, but he
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realised that it was only in and around Paris that the pamphleteers were
defaming him. In the other parts of the country, he was quite a very popular
he

King beyond his imagination. But as soon as he returned to the court, he

encountered another problem as his new Finance minister advised him
to spend more and more formula proved very costly for the country. He
ic

now finally calls for cuts and new taxes for the nobility, the same advice
nd

his two predecessors gave him. And this was met with the same degree of
opposition by the Nobility all over again.
Po

Some Historians called the period between 1787-1788 a period

of desperation for France to escape the financial imbroglio that France
encountered. He now confronted the new finance minister by asking, “You
E,

ask me to spend more and more only to adopt Turgot’s and Necker’s policy”.
The Finance minter’s only answer was, “Sir, this reform was driven only by
D

commonsense and is essential to your realm”. The only issue that bothered
and confronted the Monarch was that although Calonne’s medicine could
D

be a panacea for France, how willing would the patient be to absorb this
medicine? The only significant decision for Louis XVI was to firmly
stand behind his finance minister so that all these plans were accepted
and pushed through so that the financial problem could tide over soon.
The reason is there is no other way out, looking at the history of Turgots’

217
Notes
followed by Necker, and although Calonne seems to have come out with a
new solution, he had to go through the plan envisaged by his predecessor.

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Image Credit: Archives nationales, AE/II/3015, Engraving showing the
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Assembly of Notables of 1787 in Versailles

ic

[Link] Assembly of the Notables

nd

Finally, the King decided to convene the Assembly of the Notables.

As mentioned above, the Assembly of Notables included all the mighty
Po

men in Louis’s realm. They have the authority to see through Calonne’s
reform while at the same, they have the power to put it under the carpet. So
Calonne’s reforms were to be presented before them, and they will approve
it, and it will be the law of the land, but unexpectedly it goes the other way;
E,

the debates and discussion go awry to such an extent like a dog’s fight. So
basically, what Calonne reform asked from the privileged group was to
D

vote away their privileges, so some historians described the situation “ as

D

if turkeys were asking to advance the Christmas”. So the inevitable result

was that the assembly of Notables rejected the proposal. Now the king feels
that Calonne failed to convince the Notables to vote in favour or agree to
conform to his proposal, resulting in no option but to sack him again.

The end result is that the unmitigated and looming disaster would
have to continue unabated. But Calonne became the only minister Louis

218
 Notes
XVI wholeheartedly backed to see through his reform till the end but only to
sack. So the king was trapped between the seemingly economic catastrophe
and the prominent opponents who resisted reforms; he became insane.
Now like his grandfather Louis XV, he started suffering from Melancholia
and depression; he began to isolate himself from socialisation and went
through a deep depression. The reason is that the failure of the Assembly
of Notables profoundly impacted his life.

ty
Running the daily routine of the court, the country’s affairs were

si
no more possible for a king should because the pinnacle of the system in
the crisis reached its zenith. Now the kings seem to have lost the power to

er
think, concentrate and put the daily routine affairs of the country seriously
under question. This was compounded by his critics slowly moving

v
portraits of Charles I of England’s fate to his private room, which began

ni
to hound him. In his delirium, sometimes, he said, “ If I avoided Charles’s
mistakes, I wouldn’t be executed; Charles was executed because he levied

U
war on his subjects, and I am not going to do that”. Louis recovered his
composure and tried one last time to change how his kingdom was taxed
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and governed, which he still thinks was the only solution for France.
he
ic
nd
Po
E,
D
D

Image credit: Gallica Digital Library FÊTE DE LA FÉDÉRATION ON

14 JULY 1790

219
Notes

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MEETING OF THE ESTATES GENERAL ON 5 MAY 1789 AT

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VERSAILLES
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[Link] Assembly of all the Three Estates

In August 1788, the treasury was bare; the government was forced
he

to convene an estate general; perhaps it was the last throw on the dice. So it
was more or less a forgone conclusion, as the voting pattern suggests. The
ic

voice of the privileged minority was designed and determined to prevail

over the majority’s vote. So there was bound to be a political deadlock as
nd

and when the estate general met, and getting out of that very deadlock was
the beginning of the French Revolution. This situation was aggravated by
Po

the death of their son Dauphin, which brought psychological and mental
shock to the king and the queen.

During this period, the Nobility kept pouring their support for
E,

the Monarch, substantially strengthening and leaning towards the Nobility

after this emotional breakdown. This situation and the change of loyalty to
D

the nobility by the king seemed to change France’s political climate, where
D

the third estates increasingly believed that the king would never change
the status quo; therefore, they were doomed to despair. This is Versailles
indeed, where the king was surrounded by all nobles nowhere near the
third estates were to be seen. He only met them while visiting the port
site at Normandy. With negotiations turning hopelessly bleak for the third
estates, they sent a group to Versailles to ask for Louis’s help, but the King

220
 Notes
refused to meet them; it turned out to be the final straw in the run-up to
the Revolution.

Now the third estate decided to take the matter into its own
hands and declared itself as the National Assembly. This was indeed a
revolutionary momentum for the first time in modern European history
that a representative body has claimed power in the state based on a
democratic principle. Indeed, they were genuinely revolutionary because

ty
they refused to disperse until France was given a constitution. Now the

si
assembly declared the debate of June 17 as illegal and null and void because
the third estate, without the king’s approval, faced multi-faceted problems

er
in the country; the king decided to use force now and urged the council to
call in troops and also assemble them around Paris.

v
ni
The Parisians panicked at the rapidly rising food price, and the
call for the army now decided to defend themselves, so they decided to

U
storm Bastille. Now Louis was wakened up in the middle of the night
that his very own people had finally taken up against the authority. As an
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indecisive king, he decided not to face the people with arms but used force
against the third estate; that was indeed an irony. But many of his friends
wanted to go to war with him against his people.
he

Barely three months after Bastille was stormed, a mob of angry

Parisian march to Versailles with the slogan “Death to the Austrian”. The
ic

Mob also decided to kill one person they blamed for all their trouble, the
nd

symbol of the hated rich in the time of abject poverty in the country “ Marie
Antoinette”. L’AUTRICHIENNE. One reason that still sharply divided
historians is how far Mary Antoinette was responsible for ill-advising the
Po

King for all the country’s problems. This is one reason why the Parisians
had a particular dislike for him.
E,

The other reason which could be the reason why the Parisians hated
her so much was when the mob asked for the bread, she asks said to have
replied from her palace that “ If they don’t have bread, let them eat Cake or
D

Qu’ils mangent de la brioche”. Even this was doubted by several historians

D

that Marie Antoinette was brought up in a philanthropic environment

under Maria Theressa. So the chance of her carelessly uttering that might
not have been the case.

221
Notes
The Parisian mob broke into the palace gate early in the morning
and tried to climb into the room of Marie Antoinette, one of her bodyguards
was killed in defence of the queen. The queen managed to escape only by
rapidly exiting the King’s chamber. The royal family had no option but to
walk calmly to the balcony to show themselves to the angry crowd that they
were prisoners and didn’t intend to flee. The king shouted from the balcony,
“He will go to Paris with his family”. This one the art of true statesmanship

ty
on the part of the king because when such a terrifying situation arose, and
the crowds were after the royal blood, this could be the first time the royal

si
family would have come in contact with an angry mob like this. So what

er
the king did this time was an extraordinary, like statesmanship. Now the
entire royal family surrendered to the Revolutionaries none of them would

v
ever see Versailles again. Although they were taken as a baker’s wife and

ni
baker’s son in reference to the bread crisis that triggered such an outburst.
To be fair enough, in post-6 October, they were prisoners in the hands of

U
the revolution.
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5.1.10 Let Us Sump Up

As stated above, the French Revolution was the culmination

he

of several factors that began to foment from the time of Louis XVI’s
predecessor Louis XIV itself, as the ideas of enlightenment, Renaissance
ic

and Reformation had laid many options before the Europeans were quite
impossible for the King to hold on to the idea of Absolute Monarchy.
nd

Regarding the causes, we have laid threadbare on several factors and

argued that it was the culmination of multiple factors with the sparks given
Po

by Louis’s indecisiveness in backing all his finance ministers till the end.

On the positive side, it had given France a new constitution,

perhaps a revolutionary feat. Perhaps a mixture of Jeffersonian and
E,

Rousseau’s ideas and the misreading of Rousseau’s ideas led to the Reign
of Terror.
D
D

222
 Notes

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PARLIAMENTS AND SOVEREIGN COUNCILS OF THE KINGDOM

ic

OF FRANCE IN 1789
nd

5.1.11 Self Assessment Question

1) How far do you agree that Louis XVI’s indecisiveness was the main
Po

cause of the French Revolution?

2) Queen Maria Antoinette married Louis XVI at the wrong time; she
E,

was blamed for a crime she had not committed. Give a reason to
support your answer.
D

3) Describe the storming of the Bastille.

D

4) What was FÊTE DE LA FÉDÉRATION?

5) Explain the term “L’AUTRICHIENNE”?

223
Notes
5.1.12 References

1) Andress, David, ed. The Oxford Handbook of the French Revolution

(Oxford University Press, 2015

2) Davies, Peter. The French Revolution: A Beginner’s Guide,2009.

3) Doyle, William. Origins of the French Revolution,3rd ed. 1999.

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4) Hardman, John. Louis XVI: The Silent King (2nd ed. 2016)

si
5) Kelly, Linda. Women of the French Revolution (1987)

6) Andress, David. “Interpreting the French Revolution,” Teaching

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History (2013)

v
7) Legg, L.G. Wickham, ed. Select Documents Illustrative of the

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History of the French Revolution (2 Volumes, 1905)

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nd
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E,
D
D

224