Nobility/Upper Class Communities
Throughout Early Modern Europe, nobility and upper class communities made decisions that significantly impacted the peasant communities they controlled. Rulers often attempted to impose religious uniformity in an effort to quell the political disturbance of religious violence after the Protestant Reformation. This imposition of religion provoked a period of ubiquitous violence, culminating in events like the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in 1572 (Wiesner-Hanks 146). While religious motives often were central to Early Modern warfare, kings also went to war, aiming to glorify their images and expand their borders. Louis XIV, for example, was almost always at war, accumulating debt and losing many citizens in battle (Wiesner-Hanks, 353). At the same time as peasants lost their lives in war and suffered negative economic consequences, plagues ravaged Europe, affecting all classes alike. Governments aimed to stop its spread by distributing public health information.
Upper class communities were a major presence in the period’s major intellectual movements. Well-educated scientists like Galileo Galilei were central to the Scientific Revolution, pushing back against the Catholic Church’s purview over science. Wealthy–often noble–patrons also funded scientists (Wiesner-Hanks, 386), similar to noble and church patronage of artists during the Renaissance. While peasant communities began to play a larger role in the Enlightenment, upper class intellectuals like Voltaire and Montesquieu were still a driving force in society. Additionally, the Enlightenment saw many changes within how governments were run. Policies played an increasingly active role in promoting the welfare of the country and often conceived of the state as a well-functioning machine, drawing a sharp contrast with earlier, when rulers rarely involved themselves in their subjects’ welfare and saw themselves as synonymous with the state.
Written by Felix Faust
Enlightenment ideas spread rapidly, particularly through street-corner conversation, and plays also played a major role. The playwright Gotthold Ephraim Lessing used his plays to promulgate Enlightenment ideas. His play Nathan the Wise asserts the similarities between Christianity, Islam, and Judaism (Wiesner-Hanks, 411), demonstrating the religious toleration central to the Enlightenment. Lessing included everyday people in his plays (Wiesner-Hanks, 411), strengthening their role in the intellectual movement. In addition to plays like Nathan the Wise, print media allowed everyday people to access Enlightenment thinking.
Written and revised by Felix Faust
Galileo refuted the widely-held Aristotelian belief that the heavens were perfect and unchanging (Wiesner-Hanks, 395). He was sentenced to life imprisonment for publishing this dialogue, which characterizes Aristotelians as “inept” (Wiesner-Hanks, 396). Galileo’s patron, the Tuscan prince Cosimo de’ Medici, features prominently in the frontispiece, appearing both in the banner above the illustration and the large print “Granduca di Toscana” on the title page. The Scientific Revolution’s historiography remains divided, with some emphasizing the importance of “a small group of independent minds” and others preferring to “investigat[e] the underlying processes from which [science and society] both emerge” (Cook, 405).
Written and revised by Peter Marshall
The Palace of Versailles was originally built in 1631, and King Louis XIV expanded it significantly by 1710. Its massive scale and ornate detailing served to project to the world the king’s power and extravagance (Wiesner-Hanks, 414). The expansion of Versailles was meant to reflect how Louis XIV was known for his absolutist monarchy where he had nearly complete control over the state. Louis XIV’s belief in the divine right of kings underpinned his preference for absolutist monarchy (Wiesner-Hanks 337).
Written by Becca Madsen and revised by Felix Faust
This portrait depicts King Henry VIII who imposed a quarantine order in 1517 due to plague outbreak. The decree called for the isolation of individuals and the minimization of large gatherings, as well as other widely used plague ordinances. This order shows a King’s role in maintaining public health for the greater communities. There were more hospitals constructed and he had many public assemblies, even churches, temporarily closed (Lindemann, 62). With the outbreak of plague came an increased royal control over community behavior. Plague affected everyone, both the nobility and the peasant communities, and King Henry III’s response encapsulated that.
Written by Jack Hommemeyer and revised by Felix Faust