The Age of Crisis

The Age of Crisis 1550-1650

Social Issues  Rising

and then declining population  Rise of new classes (e.g., gentry and nobles of robe)  Rising crime rate  Witchcraft Scare (100,000 killed)

Economic Changes Enclosure movement  Commercial Revolution and Commercial Agriculture  Serfdom in E. Europe increases  Nobles revive feudal obligations— leads to widespread peasant revolts  Price Revolution 

Intellectual Changes  Scientific

Revolution  Belief in supernatural still strong  Rise of national cultures (Shakespeare, Cervantes, etc.)  Decline of Church’s influence over education

“X” Factor--Nature  Sunspots

cease—coincidence?  “Little Ice Age”—rainy and cooler  Famine and plague  Lack of scientific explanations for these phenomena—attributed to devils, witches, the “enemy”

Political Factors Religious Wars  Rebellions over centralization, taxes, war (Catalonia/Portugal—1640s, Fronde, etc.)  First theories justifying rebellion against monarchs and justifying absolute rule 

Results  Desire

for order  Justification for absolutism  Needs of warfare and international competition  Drive for resources, trade, colonies