17th+Century+History

17th Century History By: Kaushik H.

The 17th century was fraught with many social, political, and scientific movements. In terms of science, the Scientific Revolution was in full swing, and just beginning alongside it was the Age of Reason. The Scientific Revolution pursued the ideas of logic and reason following the discovery of new scientific phenomena. In the same vein, the Age of Reason was all about logic and reason, and was the philosophers' time to shine. These two movements contributed to a general historical theme of the era; one of logic and discovery.

The politics of the 17th century were incredibly complicated. England had gone through its Glorious Revolution, solidifying England's place as constitutional monarchy, while most other nations were still in a phase of absolute monarchy. This led to a more unified feeling within England, at was the source of stability for years to come. In terms of mainland Europe, many nations were in an absolute monarcy. France, for example, was under the titular absolute monarchy of the Sun King, Louis XIV. Prussia began its great rise as the future Germany with its own absolutist policies. In contrast, however, Spain began a decline that saw it leave the stage of world powers. In addition, Austria never could achieve a strong centralized monarchy, due to the many different cultures living there at the time.

In addition to complicated internal politics, the 30 Years' War that took place during this time period shook the foundation of every nation in Europe. The primary fuel for this war was the religious tension between the newly-founded Protestants and the new militant Catholics. The war devastated the Holy Roman Empire (modern day Germany and surrounding nations), thus leading to its later internal politics (a need to centralize for stability). Sweden had its heyday during this time period as well. The war was ended by the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, though France and Spain continued until the Peace of the Pyrenees in 1659. These treaties allowed for the former states of the Holy Roman Empire to choose their own religion, which led to many more religions in a smaller area, but less strife due to their localized nature.

The great social movement during the time was the witchcraft craze. While it was always part of European society, it had reached its peak during the 17th century. There were many more trials and executions during this time period, which led to abuses of the idea of witchcraft. It was one thing for the Europeans to truly believe others were witches, but a new trend was the accusation of witchcraft to a neighbor who had slighted you, or a business rival, much like the //Crucible.// However, the destruction caused during the religious wars of the period put a stop to the witchcraft craze, and forced people to have a grudging tolerance for people of other religions.

[|Scientific Revolution] [|Witchcraft] [|30 Years' War]
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1. What was the primary cause of the 30 Years' war? 2. What was the general trend of the politics of nations during this time period? 3. How was the increased fervor of witch-hunts abused by locals? 4. How and why did the witchcraft craze die down? 5. What general themes were stressed in the Scientific Revolution?
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