9
9. The early modern age. Humanism and the Renaissance
171
THE EARLY MODERN AGE
1600 A.D.
1700 A.D.
1789 A.D.
Hegemony of Hispania and Protestant Reformation Absolutism, Baroque, scientific revolution
Enlightened Absolutism,
revolution, Neoclassicism
1500 A.D.
16
TH
CENTURY
17
TH
CENTURY
18
TH
CENTURY
Economic growth resulted in the development of
banking
. Bankers started changing
money and looking after the money and precious metals of their clients. With large funds
available, they were able to increase the range of services they offered. For example:
❚
Providing loans
: merchants needed money to begin new commercial activities. The
bankers
lent money in exchange for returning the same amount plus an additional
amount, called interest. Traders in this period made large profits, so they could pay
their loans back and the bankers became rich. The monarchs at the time also asked
the banks for loans to cover the costs of running their states. The
Medici
in Florence
and the
Fugger
family in Germany were among the most important banking families.
Banking played a vital role in the new system, known as
mercantile capitalism
, by
financing the trading companies.
❚
Creating new forms of payment
:
the
bill of exchange
was created. This was
a document which guaranteed that the banker would pay a merchant, or another
authorised person, a quantity of money, on a specified date and at a specified place.
With the bill of exchange it was no longer necessary to travel with cash, which was
unsafe.
TheMoneylender and HisWife,
QuentinMassys
Charles V in Mühlberg,
Tiziano
Luis XIV of France,
Hyacinthe Rigaud
Madame Pompadour,
François Boucher
Analyse
1.
What relationship was there between increased
agricultural production and intensified economic
activity?
2.
Why did the domestic system develop?
3.
What did the three-field system consist of? What was
the advantage of leaving land fallow?
4.
How did the bankers become rich? Do banks operate
in the same way nowadays? Nowadays, who asks for
loans? What do they want then for?
Apply
5.
Look at the timeline. Listen and identify the
centuries in the Early Modern Age.
6.
Watch the video
The fall of Constantinople.
What
significance did this city have for Christian Europe?
What were the political and economic consequences
of its fall?
