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The 16th century in many ways can be seen as the beginning of the modern era. The Renaissance which had begun in Italy during the 14th century had reached most of Europe by the 16th century meaning that the new humanist outlook was now percolating throughout Europe. This neat the end of Feudalism and the Medieval era. This change was amplified by the Protestant Reformation launched by Martin Luther (1519). The Reformation emphasized the individual responsibility and thus amplified the humanist outlook of the Renaissance. The European voyages of discovery begun in the 15th century result in major discoveries throught the 16th century. The Protestant Refornation and Catholic Counter Reformation would usher in a series of bloody religious wars that wouls conginue into the 17th century. Spanish Conquistadores wept through Mexico and Peru. The Spanish carved out a colonial Empire in the Americas and vast uantities of gold and silvr flowed into Spain. The bullion was what caught popular attention, but in the long run it was humble crops like potatos and corn that had an even greter long term impact. This helped make Spain the most powerful country in Europe. The Spanish use thos power to break Ottomon naval power. The Austrians stoped the advance of the Ottomons and Islm in Europe. The Spanish also attempted to use their power to supress the Reformation and Protestant states. The Spanish Inquisition successfully supressed questioining minds in Spain itself, but the Dutch Protestants held out in the Low Lands and the English defeated the Great Armada (1588). The Spanish defeat not only preserved the independence of England, but made possible the English settlment of North America.
The great European voyages of discovery of the 15th and 16th centuries were fundamentally economic enterprises. They were conducted by the European countries of the Atlantic coasts to establish direct trade contacts with China and the Spice Islands (Indonesia) that was being blocked by Byzantium/Venice and the Arabs. At the time, trade in silk, porcelin, and spices from the East carried over the Silk Road had to pass through Turkish, Arab, Byzantine, and Italian middleman, making them enormously expensive. The crusaders failed to break the Islamic wall separating still primitive Europe from the riches of the East. Circumventing the land Silk Road and the sea Spice Route would have profound economic consequences for Europe and the world. The ballance of power would shift from Eastern to Western Europe and eventualkly to northern Europe. Two nations led the early explorarions in the 15th century--Spain and Portugal. These two countries pioneered the sea routes that would lead Europeans to Asia and the Americas, but the Dutch, English, and French were to follow in the 16th century.
The voyages of Columbus and the other European Voyages of Discovery had profound consequences for both Europe and the world. Following on Columbus' voyages, Spain rapidly beagan estalishing colonies. At first Columbus and the Spanish did not realize that they had chanced upon an entirely new continent--the Americas. They thought it ws India and thus called it the Indies and the Caribbean Islands have become known to us as the West Indies. Spanish colonization was at first in the Caribbean and extrodinarily brutal. The native Americans on the islands were for the most part exterminated. Next the Spanish looked to the mainland where rumors described natin American civilizations of vast wealth. This led to Diego Cortez's Conquest of Mexico. Balboa had earlier found the Pacific across the Istmus of Panama. This led to Hernando Pizarro's Conquest of Peru. The gold and silver flowing from the Americas made Spain a European super-power and financed the Great Armada. The most significantimpact of the conquests, however, may well have been the introduction of the humble potato to Europe fom Peru.
The Protestan Revolution was the religious struggle during the 16th and 17th century which began as an effort to reform the Catholic Church and ended with the splintering of the Western Christendom into the Catholic and Protestant churches. Combined with the Renaissance which preceeded it, the reformatuin marked the end of the Medieval world and the beginning of a modern world view. The French Revolution which followed the Reformation in the 18th century marked the beginning of our modern age. Conditions developing in Medieval Europe laid the groundwork for the Reformation. The Reformation began when a German monk, Martin Luthur nailed his 95 Thesis on the church door in ??? (1517). Luthur was offended by the papal sale of indulgences by which the Renaissance popes were fiancing the splendid new church of St. Peters in Rome. Luthur's concern with indulgences were soon mixed with a complex mix of doctrinal, political, economic, and cultural issues that would take Ruropean Church anfd temporal leaders nearly two centuries to partially resolve and several devestating wars, especially the 30 Years War in Germany. Western Christendom would be left permanently split and even the Cathloic Church profoundly changed. Changes in man's view of himself and the Church were to also affect his view relative to the state and many in Europe began to question royal absolutism and divinr right monarchy, a process keading to the French Revolution.
Philip II of Spain proclaimed himself as the leader of the Counter Reformation. Philip was determined not only to rule their inherited territories, but to use the the power he inherited to turn back the Reformation. Philip used the powers of the Spanish state to enforce political absolutism and persue the Counter-Reformation. The gold and silvr from the America'salong with the income from his realm gave Philip the wealth to ggressively persue the Counter Reformation. Although Philip began his reign without a major European power oposing Spain, his policies involved Spain in wars throughout Europe in the Netherlands, Portugal, England, Italy, and France. In assessing these cnflicts its difficult to determine towhat extent tgey were affected by the religious zeal of the Counter Reformation and that of Spanish national expansionism.
The Ottomans were one of the great European empires. Like the Russians their empire straddled Europe and Asia. Christianity tied the Russians to Europe and the West. Islam tied the Ottomans to the East and Asia. It also insulated the Ottomans from both the effects if the Renaissance and Reformatiin which played such an important role in the making of the Western mind abd modern Europe. Byzantium had been the major bulwark between the Ottomans and Europe. The Ottonans has penetrated into the Balkans (14th cenntury). It was not until they took Constantinople, however, that they could direct the full force of their armies north (1458). Soon Serbia and other Christian kingdoms in the Balkans fell and finally so did Hungary. The Austrians with the help of a Polish army held out in Vienna. The Ottomon failure to support scientific inquiry, however, meant that could not contunue to compete with the rising European states. The Spanish smashed Ottomon naval power in both the Indian Ocean and Medirranean Sea, the beginning of a long period of decline.
English audacity and technology at sea laid the groundwork for the Royal Navy and command of the seas. Sir Francis Drake, Sir John Hawkins ,
and the other "Sea Dogs" bedelved the Spanish treasure fleet with Queen Elizabeth as a secret partner. The English then formed overseas trading companies and very modest colonization attempts were made in the Caribbean and North America by Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh. The long conflict with Spain was rooted in an English hunger for Spanish treasure and a commercial and maritime rivalry, but Philip II's desire to destroy the Reformation in the Netherlands and England was also a very important factor. This struggle culminated in Philip's decession to build a Great Armada. Spain in the 16th century was the preminent international power. The Spain as a result of the Reconquista had buily a powerful military capability. Spain and Portugal at the time had colonized or claimed of the known world and huge quantities of gold and silver flowed into Spain from its American colonies. This enabled Spain to build a hugenavy to maintain its colonial dominions. Phillip was a devout Catholic and determined to destroy the Protestant Revolution in his domanins in the Netherlands and to do the same in England. The depredations of the Sea Dogs had convinced him that he must act against England. He built at great cost an "Invincible Armada" of 125 ships which would link up with the Duke of Parma's army already deployed in the Spanish Netherlands to destroy Protestantism. The Armada would then be used to ferry the Duke's army across the Channel to England where it would march on London and seize the Queen. England would then be brought back to the True Faith at the point of Spanish swords. The Armada was placed under the command of the Duke of Medina Sedonia, a nobelman of limited naval experience. The Armada sailed in late May 1588 and reached the Southwest coast of England on July 19. Limited engagements were fought by Lord Howard and Francis Drake who commanded the English fleet. The more manueverable English vessels harassed the Spanish, using superior cannonery tomdamage several vessels and actually capturing one vessel. The Armada anchored at Calais, but found that the Duke of Parma and his army was not yet there. The English set fire-ships at the Spanish (July 28). Little actual damage was done, but the Spanish scattered to avoid the preceived danger. The principal engagement occurred at Gravelines and in an 8-hour running engagement, many Spanish ships destroyed or damaged (July 29). The Commander of the Armada, the Duke of Medina Sedonia, fearing defeat decided not to invade and return to Spain. The prevailing winds forced him to take a northerly route into the North Sea anfd around Scotland and Ireland. The English pursued the Spanish for 3 days, but returned to port when they exhausted their ammunition. Much more damage, however, was done by storms in the North Sea andd floundered in the coasts of Scotland and Ireland. Only a small number of Spanish ships managed to reach Spanish ports. The destruction of Philip's Grreat Armada was a pivital turning point in history. Spanish naval power was ebbing despite the flow if gold and silver from the America. Britain was beginning its rise as a great naval power.
Spain and the northern provinces of the Netherlands negotiated a 12-year truce (1609-21). Spain was preparinfg a new offensive against the Dutch when the truce ended. The problem for Spain was how to support military operations in the low countries. The rise of a Dutch navy made it difficult to send troops and provisions by sea. Reach the Dutch by land was also difficult. France stood between Spain and the Netherlands. And the French were not about to permit Spanish troops to pass through their country. It suited French purposes at the time to have an independent Netherlands even though they were Protestant. Thus the Spanish would have to send their forces along a circuitous route from Spain to Italy by sea and then through the Alpine passes to the the Rhine River Valley. The Rhine than led to the Dutch. This was a very difficult march for any body of troops and needed equipment and supplies, especially given the nature of roads at the time. The key to the route was the Rhineland. This was a contested area. The Spanish hoped to acquire Alsace which Ferdinand had promissed for supporting his imperial candidacy.
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