(NOE) The World in 1450: Change in the Balance of Power, continued Lesson
The World in 1450: Change in the Balance of Power, continued Lesson
Secular Directions in the Italian Renaissance
A final ingredient of the West's surge was internal change. The Renaissance, a cultural and political movement grounded in urban vitality and expanding commerce, began in Italy during the fourteenth century. The earlier phases involved literary and artistic themes more friendly to the secular world than the previous religiously oriented outlook had been. Artists and writers became more concerned with personal reputation and glory. In commerce, merchants sought new markets. City-state governments, eager for increased revenue, supported their expansion.
Human Values and Renaissance Culture
The Renaissance, above all, was a cultural movement. It began in Florence and focused on literature and the arts. The movement stressed stylistic grace and a concern for a code of behavior for urban gentlemen. There was innovation in music and the visual arts. Painters realistically portrayed nature and individuals in religious and secular themes and introduced perspective. The early Renaissance did not represent a full break from medieval tendencies. It had little effect outside of Italy, and in Italy it focused on high culture and was little concerned with science. Still, the Renaissance marked the beginning of important changes in Western development. The developing scope of Italian commerce and shipping; ambitious, revenue-seeking city-states; and sailors with the Renaissance goal of personal glory set the stage for future expansion.
The Iberian Spirit of Religions Mission
The Iberian Peninsula also was a key center for change. Spanish and Portuguese Christian military leaders had for centuries been pushing back the borders of Islam. Castile and Aragon established regional monarchies after 1400; they united through royal marriage in 1469. Iberian rulers developed a religious and military agenda; they believed they had a mission to convert or expel Muslims and Jews and to maintain doctrinal purity. Close links formed between church and state. The changes stimulated the West's surge into wider world contacts.
Western Expansion: The Experimental Phase
European efforts to explore the Atlantic began in the late thirteenth century. After early discoveries, a rapid move was made to a colonial system.
Early Explorations
The Genoese Vivaldi brothers in 1291 had vanished after passing the Strait of Gibraltar in search of a route to the "Indies." Other Genoese explorers reached the Canary Islands, the Madeiras, and perhaps the Azores during the fourteenth century. Vessels from Spain sailed southward along the West African coast as far as Sierra Leone. Technological barriers hindered further exploration until 1430. Europeans solved problems through building better ships and learning from the Arabs the use of the Chinese compass and astrolabe. European mapmaking also steadily improved.
Colonial Patterns
The Portuguese and Spanish began to exploit the discovered island territories of the Azores, Madeiras, and Canaries. Prince Henry of Portugal, motivated by a combination of intellectual curiosity, religious fervor, and financial interest, reflected many of the key factors then stimulating European expansion. Land grants were given to colonists who brought along Western plants, animals, and diseases. They began a laboratory for later European imperialism. Large estates produced cash crops—sugar, cotton, tobacco—for Western markets. Slaves were introduced for crop cultivation. The developments were modest, but their patterns established precedents for the future.
Outside the World Network
The international framework developing during the postclassical period left out many regions and peoples. The Americas and Polynesia were not part of the new international exchange. Some of their societies experienced new problems that placed them at a disadvantage when experiencing outsider intervention.
Political Issues in the Americas
Both the Aztec and Inca empires experienced difficulties after 1400. Aztec exploitation of their subject peoples roused resentment and created opportunities for outside intervention. The Inca system created tensions between central and local leadership, stresses exacerbated by imperial overextension. The complications stemming from European invasion changed all of the developing dynamics of the peoples of the Americas.
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