COMMUNITIES
Families & Friends
- In communities and honour were glory and harm. Men often fought for community just like gangs. Family was most important. Property was its bedrock- assets held the family together… was male dominated, males getting the inheritances, while women sometimes a dowry for husband.
The Renaissance Social Hierarchy
- idea of hierarchy was a given, and pervaded astronomy, physics, biology, politics, etc… and all the Renaissance arts. Renaissance inherited Feudalism: it was economic, social, political and legal. Lords were powerful- powers were hereditary. Feudalism continued to adapt to changes, maintaining social inequity. The poorest were the dispossessed who were reduced to begging, odd jobs, prostitution… The Renaissance was a movement in the high classes, barely touching outside the elite classes. The Reformation on the other hand touched everyone.
Demography
- Malthusian equilibrium- Simply put: as pop increases, more demand for resources= more degradation of resources= more deaths = pop equalization. Plagues reduced populations, cycle was up and down in the 15 & 1600s…
Political Bodies
- After fall of Roman Empire (ca. 500), there was fragmented power in Europe. Slowly by 1500 European monarchies became powerful, wealthy… but very different in every country. Vague zones were created with local powers claiming ancestral privilege.

EARLY MODERN EUROPEAN SOCIETY & CULTURE
1500-1750: Early Modern Europe: a time of transitions. The Renaissance & Reformation spread through much of Europe during this period. Renaissance: an intellectual and artistic movement. Reformation: intellectual with religion at issue.
The Big Picture
- late medieval society was hierarchic, status often inherited, this would gradually change. A period of localism, agrarian, power in parishes, families… all would change as power became more centralized, and economic advancement changed relationships between & among people.
- info was to spread with the printing press…
- Early modern Europe unable to protect itself from famine, disease, accidents and social violence.
A Dangerous World
- famine, poor diet, poor hygiene, rats, dirt… epidemics flourished. Bubonic Plague was worst… continued to return to kill in Europe. It is a disease of rats and rodents, transmitted by fleas. Up to a ¼ of children died by the age of one, another ¼ by marriage. Family was destabilized by constant death.
- Others- fire, natural disasters, FAMINE… world was dangerous. On top of this was HUMAN causes, wars and violence were common. On top of all these fears, humans feared God, and quick punishment.
3 Shields against above: religion, community & government
Religion
- was at the forefront of life in 1500s… 3 purposes: providence (God’s justice), salvation (grace given by church) & community.
Providence: God was seen as the reason for the bad and the good in everyday life. Salvation: Given by church- made them powerful.
- Religion was a rich web of beliefs & practices draped over much of life. The Reformation would rip out these beliefs. It was sudden, violent & passionate.
The Honour Code
- It said: Be proud, not humble. Be rich, not poor. If thine enemy smite thee, smite him back. A social ethic not rooted in God, religion often went against the code.

UNIT 1: The World Re-Invented Legacy: West & the World
Chapter One: Renaissance & Reformation, 1450-1600