1. 1500-1650

2. Overview Economic Life Social Life Private Life No typical 16th Century European Language, custom, geography, and material conditionsseparated peoples in one place from those in another 3. Economic Life Not since the Black Death had Europe transformed somuch Major transformations in economic and socialorganization Agriculture increased: more land cleared, cropsgrown, better tools More irreplaceable resources lost: more treesfelled, soil eroded, water polluted 4. Economic Life: Rural 90% of the population lived on farms or in farmingcommunities Villages had between 20-100 families Manors, the church and the state gained their wealthfrom peasants Village community had to be self sufficient 1 in 3 harvests bad, 1 in 5 disastrous Save 20-50% for seeding, to eat or not to eat? 5. Farming Life 6. Economic Life: Rural Housing Peasant housing was raw single long hall with a fireplace for heat single window to the outside world housing was shared during bad weather withanimals property was limiteda chest, a table, abedstead, some pots and utensils 7. Farmers Threshing Grain 8. Pig Killing and Baking 9. Economic Life: Town Guilds continued to regulate the conditions oflabour Towns were market-oriented Greater size of town = more variety of jobs Most citizens survived by periodic employment asunskilled labourers Domestic service was a common occupation 10. Trading Port of Antwerp 11. Economic Life: Economic Change Population growth created change 80 mil to 105 mil in Europe France and England doubled In 1500 4 cities had more than 100,000 In 1600 there were 8 15 large cities doubled their popn London grew by 400%! 12. Population Density in Europe: 1600 13. Economic Life: Economic Change Impact of more people: Uncultivated land could now be productive More food = more workers = more goods produced = exchange for food More jobs in towns meant more migrants Large move from rural to urban Easy to find apprenticeships 14. Economic Life: Economic Change By midcentury a limit was reached Guilds raised fees, limited one son per father Increased population in town = poorer wages Purchasing power in England was halved Large inflation (500% in agriculture) Increased population and metals from the New World Commodity prices increased along with State debt 15. Economic Life: Economic Change Inflation disrupted whole societies 99 year leases Lords could buy goods at set prices (even from 300 years ago!) Push to create a surplus to sell, specialize Many who had sold land to go to the city came backwith no land 16. Moneylender and Wife 17. Social Life Sixteenth-century social life was layered Ordered in groups, no individualism Economic change challenged traditional socialorganization Hierarchy everywhere! Based on status not wealth Lords commoners Masters-journeyman-apprentices Officials in government Husband-wife-children-servants All things observe degree, priority and place, Shakesphere 18. GreatChain ofBeing 19. Social Life: Social Structure European society was divided into two status groups:nobles and commoners Nobility implied certain rights eligible for high office in the state paid no taxes In return they were expected to serve as military commanders Expected to raise, equip, and lead troops Professionalism of warfare limited this by 16th century 20. Social Life: Social Structure Between the nobility and the commoners, a new groupwithout clear status was emerging Some of the wealthiest and most powerful townsmenrose into the lower ranks of the nobility In the countryside, landowners separated themselvesfrom the labourers This group is referred to as the gentry 21. Social Life: Social Change The expansion of the state and the creation of new wealth placedstress on the European social system Noble titles increased as the population growth required morepeople eligible to govern Employment in the state offered opportunities for wealth andadvancement Number of poor increased Care of the poor fell on local communities State intervened when the ability of local charities wasexhausted State more concerned with vagrancy than in helping the poor Imprisonment and corporal punishments were imposed onvagrants 22. Feeding the Hungry 23. Social Change: Peasant Revolts Social changes led to conflict between the orders Peasant revolts, although moderate and wellorganized, were brutally suppressed Many were in response to changes in the agriculturalsystem imposed by surges and recessions in the economy Protection of woodlands and enclosure of open fields forcommercial agriculture provoked strong peasant responses Peasant revolts broke out in Hungary in 1514, England in1549, and Germany in 1525. German revolt saw peasants objecting to changes takingplace in villages and demanded freedom from serfdom 24. Twelve Articles of the Peasants ofSwabia The First Article. First, it is our humble petition anddesire, as also our will and resolution, that in the future weshould have power and authority so that each communityshould choose and appoint a pastor, and that we shouldhave the right to depose him should he conduct himselfimproperly. The pastor thus chosen should teach us thegospel pure and simple, without any addition, doctrine, orordinance of man. The Tenth Article. In the tenth place, we are aggrieved bythe appropriation by individuals of meadows and fieldswhich at one time belonged to a community. These we willtake again into our own hands ... 25. Private Life Despite various changes, there wascontinuity in private life Strongest ties remained to family and localcommunity 26. Private Life: Family Family was at the foundation of private life Kinship ties bound the family to other groups within rural communities Also stressed the relationship between past generations and the present Among the nobility this tendency was more pronounced in the forms ofinheritance and coats of arms, but it also existed in the transfer of land fromone peasant generation to the next The individual household was also an economic unit, with all memberscontributing their labour to its welfare The husband was in charge but children and servants were responsible to both husband and wife Size of the typical family remained small Infant mortality and relatively late age of marriage for women depressed thebirth rate Women endured many pregnancies during their lives 27. Private Life: Family The economic role of women within the householdwas varied Prepared food, kept domestic animals, educated children and provided primary child care, made clothing, and cleaned In towns women might add the tasks of selling goods and directing domestics. Men performed more public duties the primary agricultural tasks, the construction of farmequipment, performance of owed labour services, andparticipation in the political life of the village 28. Embroidery Depicting a Motherwith her Thirteen Daughters 29. Private Life: Communities Village church was both a spiritual and social center, a focal point forholidays and celebrations Communities expressed their unity by ceremonial activities in which allmembers of the village participated Weddings were significant ceremonies for the entire community Marriages bound familiesand often wealthtogether They marked the admission of a new household to the community Because property and community approval were involved, weddingswere public affairs Other festivals were associated with the passage of stages of theagricultural cycle Festivals released community members from labour and presentedopportunities to resolve community squabbles Festivals also offered the chance for the social hierarchy of thecommunity to be placed on public display 30. Wedding Feast at Bermondesy 31. Private Life: Popular Beliefs Despite the print revolution, most Europeans remained illiterate The common mans sense of the world around him wasindividual and experiential, not scientific 16th century society was imbued with the magical Magical solutions abounded for medical problems, changes inthe weather, disastrous harvests, and for prediction of futureevents Use of magical powers for evil was considered witchcraft Consultation with the black powers of evil spirits and thedevil, himself, brought the repressive powers of the churchesinto play Prosecutions for witchcraft became common in the sixteenthcentury Women were most often the objects of prosecutions forwitchcraft 32. # of Witchcraft Persecutions 33. Sources Civilization in the West, Kishlansky, Geary, andOBrien, Longman, New York, 1998. http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/files/2008/06/race-history-great-chain-of-being.jpg