145-665: The early modern history of the Old Swiss Confederacy ( Eidgenossenschaft , also known as the "Swiss Republic" or Republica Helvetiorum ) and its constituent Thirteen Cantons encompasses the time of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) until the French invasion of 1798. The early modern period was characterized by an increasingly aristocratic and oligarchic ruling class as well as frequent economic or religious revolts. This period came to be referred to as
290-590: A Swiss by adoption only, produced (1822) a history of Switzerland written for the people, which had a great vogue. The 18th century was the "golden age" for Swiss literature. This was due to the influence of French refugees who came to Switzerland after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Among the refugees was Louis Bourguet (1678–1743) who wrote geological works and founded two periodicals that provided Italian research and works by French Swiss authors to
435-768: A backlash that expanded the Inquisition and sparked the disastrous European wars of religion , which included the especially bloody Thirty Years' War and ended with the establishment of the modern international system in the Peace of Westphalia . Along with the European colonization of the Americas , this period also contained the Commercial Revolution and the Golden Age of Piracy . The globalization of
580-573: A brief, abortive restoration in 1917. During its reign, the Qing dynasty adopted many of the outward features of Chinese culture in establishing its rule, but did not necessarily "assimilate", instead adopting a more universalist style of governance. The Manchus were formerly known as the Jurchens . When Beijing was captured by Li Zicheng 's peasant rebels in 1644, the Chongzhen Emperor ,
725-533: A course of isolationism from the outside world but this policy was not always enforced uniformly or successfully. However, by the end of the Early Modern Period, China, Korea and Japan were mostly closed and uninterested in Europeans, even while trading relationships grew in port cities such as Guangzhou and Dejima . Around the beginning of the ethnically Han Ming dynasty (1368–1644), China
870-399: A detailed history of Switzerland, which, though inspired more by his love of freedom than by any deep research, was very characteristic of his times. JG Ebel was a Swiss by adoption only, but deserves mention as the author of the first detailed guidebook to the country (1793), which held its ground until the days of Murray and Baedeker . A later writer, Heinrich Zschokke (1771–1848), also
1015-631: A golden age and ruled a large extent of Mainland Southeast Asia, with the Nguyen and Trinh lords de facto ruling the south and north of present-day Vietnam respectively, whereas the Mataram Sultanate was the dominant power in Maritime Southeast Asia. The early modern period experienced an influx of European traders and missionaries into the region. In Early Modern times, the major nations of East Asia attempted to pursue
1160-591: A grand council representing the semi feudal landed aristocracy , and became a bureaucracy holding the chief offices of state at the pleasure of the king. The Riksdag also changed its character at the same time. Whilst in every other European country except the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and England the ancient popular representation by estates was about to disappear altogether, in Sweden under Gustavus Adolphus it grew into an integral portion of
1305-576: A key trading post for Britain in its rivalry with the Dutch. However, the rivalry cooled in 1824 when an Anglo-Dutch treaty demarcated their respective interests in Southeast Asia. From the 1850s onwards, the pace of colonization shifted to a significantly higher gear. At the start of the modern era, the Spice Route between India and China crossed Majapahit , an archipelagic empire based on
1450-821: A number of French pretenders to the title, the Protestant cantons of the Swiss Confederation encouraged Neuchâtel to select the Protestant King Frederick I of Prussia . In a victory for the Protestant half of the Confederation, Frederick I, who claimed his entitlement in a rather complicated fashion through the Houses of Orange and Nassau , was selected. In 1715, the Catholic cantons, to regain prestige following their defeat during
1595-521: A period of stagnation or decline. When gunpowder was introduced to Europe, it was immediately used almost exclusively in weapons and explosives for warfare. Though it was invented in China, gunpowder arrived in Europe already formulated for military use; European countries took advantage of this and were the first to create the classic firearms. The advances made in gunpowder and firearms was directly tied to
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#17328008227071740-465: A predominantly military monarchy. This change, which was to give a martial colouring to the whole policy of Sweden for the next hundred and twenty years, dates from a decree of the Riksdag of Linköping establishing, at the urgent suggestion of Charles, a regular army ; each Province in the country being henceforth liable to provide and maintain a fixed number of infantry and cavalry for the service of
1885-671: A result of upheavals of the Napoleonic Wars and their impact on thought and thinking, from concepts from nationalism to organizing armies. The early period ended in a time of political and economic change, as a result of mechanization in society, the American Revolution , and the first French Revolution ; other factors included the redrawing of the map of Europe by the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna and
2030-478: A scientific revolution, which led China to have fewer scientists to break the existing orthodoxies, like Galileo Galilei. Despite inventing gunpowder in the 9th century, it was in Europe that the classic handheld firearms, matchlocks, were invented, with evidence of use around the 1480s. China was using the matchlocks by 1540, after the Portuguese brought their matchlocks to Japan in the early 1500s. China during
2175-567: A spice in India. The main imports were spice, textiles (woolens from Europe, cotton from Gujarat), metals, coffee, and sugar. Despite their demise in 1722, the Safavids left their mark by establishing and spreading Shi'a Islam in major parts of the Caucasus and West Asia. In the 16th to early 18th centuries, Central Asia was under the rule of Uzbeks , and the far eastern portions were ruled by
2320-497: A supporter of the view that the face presents a perfect indication of character and that physiognomy may therefore he treated as a science. Other well-known Zürich names are those of JH Pestalozzi (1746–1827), the educationalist, of Hans Caspar Hirzel (1725–1803), another of the founders of the Helvetic Society, and of Johann Georg Sulzer (1720–1779), whose chief work is one on the laws of art or aesthetics. Outside
2465-528: A wind stronger than a breeze. Due to the low salinity of the Baltic Sea , the wreck suffered little damage from shipworms and was salvaged, in surprisingly good condition, in 1961. Thus Sweden held, for a time, the control of the principal trade routes of the Baltic up to the very confines of the empire; and the increment of revenue resulting from this commanding position was of material assistance during
2610-603: Is credited as the first European to use movable type printing , around 1439, and as the global inventor of the mechanical printing press . Nicolaus Copernicus formulated a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology (1543), which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe. His book, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium ( On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres ) began modern astronomy and sparked
2755-532: Is still used today. Beat Ludwig von Muralt (1656–1749) analysed, in French, the racial characteristics of other nations for the instruction of his fellow-countrymen. Samuel Wyttenbach (1748–1830), Gottlieb Sigmund Gruner and Johann Georg Altmann (1697–1758) all wrote descriptions of the countryside in a combination of literary and scientific styles. In Zürich JJ Scheuchzer wrote in Latin of his travels around
2900-675: Is taken to end with the French Revolution , the Napoleonic Wars , and the Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire at the Congress of Vienna . At the end of the early modern period, the British and Russian empires had emerged as world powers from the multipolar contest of colonial empires , while the three great Asian empires of the early modern period, Ottoman Turkey , Mughal India and Qing China , all entered
3045-520: Is thus closer to what we know today as historical 'reality'. It also allows us to have a better baseline to understand the precipitous decline of the Chinese polity in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries." The Sengoku period that began around 1467 and lasted around a century consisted of several continually "warring states". Following contact with the Portuguese on Tanegashima Isle in 1543,
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#17328008227073190-610: The Ancien Régime retrospectively, in post-Napoleonic Switzerland . The loosely organized Confederation remained generally disorganized and crippled by the religious divisions created by the Swiss Reformation . During this period the Confederation gained formal independence from the Holy Roman Empire with support from France , and had very close relations with France. The early modern period also saw
3335-790: The Anglo-Maratha wars , eventually lost to the British East India Company in 1818 with the Third Anglo-Maratha War . Rule by the Company lasted until 1858, when, after the Indian rebellion of 1857 and following the Government of India Act 1858 , the British government assumed the task of directly administering India in the new British Raj . In 1819, Stamford Raffles established Singapore as
3480-527: The Azuchi–Momoyama period . Although a start date of 1573 is often given, in more broad terms, the period begins with Oda Nobunaga 's entry into Kyoto in 1568, when he led his army to the imperial capital in order to install Ashikaga Yoshiaki as the 15th, and ultimately final, shōgun of the Ashikaga shogunate , and it lasts until the coming to power of Tokugawa Ieyasu after his victory over supporters of
3625-651: The Battle of Lützen on November 6, 1632, he was killed, though, and Sweden lost their warrior-king. The battle itself was a draw, but two years later the tide turned at Nördlingen , where Imperial troops won a convincing victory over the Protestant Army. In order to prevent the Habsburgs from winning the war, France, who had already given subsidies to Sweden following the Treaty of Bärwalde (1631), intervened on
3770-585: The Constitution of Sweden . The Riksdag Ordinance of 1617 first converted a turbulent and haphazard mob of "riksdagsmen" huddling together like a flock of sheep or drunken boors, into a dignified national assembly, meeting and deliberating according to rule and order. One of the nobility (first called the Landmarskalk, or Marshal of the Diet, in the Riksdag ordinance of 1526) was now regularly appointed by
3915-594: The Edict of Nantes , which granted rights to Protestants, the Protestant cantons began to favor military service with the Protestant Dutch who were fighting a series of wars against several European powers including France. In 1707, following the death of Marie de Nemours , Duchess of Nemours and Princess of Neuchâtel , the city, which was on the border of the Swiss Confederation, had to choose her successor from among fifteen claimants. While Louis XIV promoted
4060-596: The First War of Villmergen . The Catholics were victorious and able to maintain their political dominance, and a treaty agreement that each canton would be totally independent with respect to religious matters. Around 1707 unrest erupted in the city of Geneva which continued throughout the early modern period. Additionally in 1707, the Toggenburg valley rebelled against the Prince-Abbot of St. Gall . Attempts by
4205-442: The French Revolution , and sometimes also the American Revolution or Napoleon 's rise to power . Historians in recent decades have argued that, from a worldwide standpoint, the most important feature of the early modern period was its spreading globalizing character. New economies and institutions emerged, becoming more sophisticated and globally articulated over the course of the period. The early modern period also included
4350-443: The Holy Roman Empire , Russia , and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . Its contributions during the Thirty Years' War under Gustavus Adolphus helped determine the political, as well as the religious, balance of power in Europe. On March 6, 1604, when Duke John, son of John III of Sweden and brother of Sigismund III Vasa , formally renounced his hereditary right to the throne, Charles IX of Sweden styled himself king. At
4495-583: The Islamic world , after the fall of the Timurid Renaissance , powers such as the Ottoman, Suri , Safavid , and Mughal empires grew in strength (three of which are known as gunpowder empires for the military technology that enabled them). Particularly in the Indian subcontinent , Mughal architecture , culture , and art reached their zenith, while the empire itself is believed to have had
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4640-539: The Middle Ages and the modern period. The term "early modern" was first proposed by medieval historian Lynn Thorndike in his 1926 work A Short History of Civilization as a broader alternative to the Renaissance . It was first picked up within the field of economic history during the 1940s and 1950s and gradually spread to other historians in the following decades and became widely known among scholars during
4785-641: The Nawab of Bengal surrendered his dominions to the British East India Company, in 1765, when the company was granted the diwani , or the right to collect revenue, in Bengal and Bihar , or in 1772, when the company established a capital in Calcutta , appointed its first Governor-General , Warren Hastings , and became directly involved in governance. The Maratha Confederacy, following
4930-482: The Riksdag of the same year, the estates committed themselves irrevocably to Protestantism by excluding Catholics from the succession to the throne, and prohibiting them from holding any office or dignity in Sweden. Henceforth, every Roman Catholic recusant was to be deprived of his estates and banished from the realm. It was in the reign of Charles IX that Sweden became not only a predominantly Protestant, but also
5075-630: The Scientific Revolution . Another notable individual was Machiavelli , an Italian political philosopher, considered a founder of modern political science . Machiavelli is most famous for a short political treatise, The Prince , a work of realist political theory . The Swiss Paracelsus (1493–1541) is associated with a medical revolution while the Anglo-Irish Robert Boyle was one of the founders of modern chemistry. In visual arts, notable representatives included
5220-492: The Second Battle of Villmergen , renewed the Confederation's treaty with France with several major and unpopular changes. France was placed in the position of the guarantor of their freedom with rights of interfering in case of attack from forces within or without the Confederation. France also promised to procure restitution for the lands lost by the Catholic cantons to the Protestant cantons. This agreement removed much of
5365-678: The Siege of Belgrade (1456) , led by John Hunyadi and Giovanni da Capistrano . The siege culminated in a counterattack that forced Sultan Mehmet II to retreat, with the victory being credited with deciding the fate of Christendom . The noon bell, ordered by Pope Callixtus III, commemorates this victory across the Christian world to this day. History of Sweden (1611-1648) During the 17th century, despite having scarcely more than 1 million inhabitants, Sweden emerged to have greater foreign influence, after winning wars against Denmark–Norway ,
5510-522: The Sultanate of Johor was established by a Malaccan prince to succeed Malacca. During the early modern era, the Ottoman Empire enjoyed an expansion and consolidation of power, leading to a Pax Ottomana . This was perhaps the golden age of the empire. The Ottomans expanded southwest into North Africa while battling with the re-emergent Persian Shi'a Safavid Empire to the east. In
5655-469: The Treaty of Knäred , January 20, 1613 imposed such onerous pecuniary obligations and such intense suffering upon Sweden as to enkindle into a fire of hatred, which was to burn fiercely for the next two centuries, the long smouldering antagonism between the two sister nations of Scandinavia which dated back to the bloody days of Christian Tyrant . The Russian difficulty was more easily and more honourably adjusted. When Novgorod submitted provisionally to
5800-580: The Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, the Swiss Confederacy attained legal independence from the Holy Roman Empire , although it had been de facto independent since the Swabian War in 1499. With the support of the Duke of Orléans , who was also prince of Neuchâtel and the head of the French delegation, Johann Rudolf Wettstein , the mayor of Basel, succeeded in getting a formal exemption from
5945-540: The farmers , artisans , and traders ranking below. The country was strictly closed to foreigners with few exceptions with the Sakoku policy. Literacy among the Japanese people rose in the two centuries of isolation. In some parts of the country, particularly smaller regions, daimyōs and samurai were more or less identical, since daimyōs might be trained as samurai, and samurai might act as local lords. Otherwise,
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6090-451: The spread of Christianity around the world. The rise of sustained contacts between previously isolated parts of the globe, in particular the Columbian Exchange that linked the Old World and the New World , greatly altered the human environment. Notably, the Atlantic slave trade and colonization of Native Americans began during this period. The Ottoman Empire conquered Southeastern Europe, and parts of West Asia and North Africa. In
6235-409: The "Swiss Bull" or (from the later 17th century), the Three Confederates or the Helvetia allegory. The cantonal coats of arms were often accompanied by the coats of arms of the close associates of the confederacy, including Biel , the Imperial Abbey of St. Gallen , Imperial City of St. Gallen , the Sieben Zenden ( Valais ), the Three Leagues ( Grisons ), the Imperial City of Mulhouse ,
6380-454: The "three giants of the High Renaissance", namely Leonardo da Vinci , Michelangelo , and Raphael , Albrecht Dürer (often considered the greatest artist of Northern Renaissance), Titian from the Venetian school , Peter Paul Rubens of the Flemish Baroque traditions. Famous composers included Guillaume Du Fay , Heinrich Isaac , Josquin des Prez , Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina , Claudio Monteverdi , Jean-Baptiste Lully . Among
6525-492: The 14th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historic era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not uniform across Europe, this is a general use of the term. As a cultural movement, it encompassed a rebellion of learning based on classical sources, the development of linear perspective in painting, and gradual but widespread educational reform. Johannes Gutenberg
6670-430: The 1800s. In the early modern period, the Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe under a Holy Roman Emperor the first of which was Otto I . The last was Francis II , who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars . Despite its name, for much of its history the Empire did not include Rome within its borders. The Renaissance was a cultural movement that began in
6815-527: The 18th century was when some of the best known writers of the era established themselves in what would become French Switzerland. In 1754, the famed philosopher Rousseau came back for good to Geneva , and Voltaire established himself at Ferney , while in 1753 the historian Edward Gibbon moved to Lausanne . These three, while their works were not specifically Swiss, lead the golden age of French literature in Switzerland. Also during this time there were other active writers. Madame de Charrière (1740–1805)
6960-418: The 1990s. At the onset of the early modern period, trends in various regions of the world represented a shift away from medieval modes of organization, politically and economically. Feudalism declined in Europe, and Christendom saw the end of the Crusades and of religious unity in Western Europe under the Roman Catholic Church . The old order was destabilized by the Protestant Reformation , which caused
7105-441: The Abbot to suppress the valley led to the Second Battle of Villmergen in 1712 and the sacking of the Abbey of St. Gall by Bernese and Zürich troops. From 1719 to 1722 the Werdenberg region rebelled against the city of Glarus . In 1717, Major Jean Daniel Abraham Davel was appointed the commander of the Lavaux region, which is in modern-day Canton Vaud . He identified with the French-speaking population that felt oppressed by
7250-447: The Confederacy, for instance 1629–36 in Lucerne, 1641 in Bern, or 1645/46 in Zürich. The uprising in 1653 continued this series, but would take the conflict to an unprecedented level. In 1653, the largest uprising occurred as peasants of territories subject to Lucerne , Bern , Solothurn and Basel revolted because of currency devaluation. Although the authorities prevailed in this Swiss peasant war , they did pass some tax reforms and
7395-415: The Confederation agreed to a new treaty with France which granted Swiss mercenaries certain rights and protections as well as promised French neutrality in Swiss religious conflicts. However, as a consequence of this treaty Switzerland could do nothing when Louis XIV took Alsace (in 1648), Franche-Comté (in 1678 during the Franco-Dutch War ) and Strasbourg (in 1681). Following Louis XIV's revocation of
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#17328008227077540-462: The Confederation. During the Thirty Years' War, the Swiss Confederacy had been spared from all belligerent action. This allowed the Swiss economy to flourish as war ravaged neighbors bought food and equipment from the Confederacy. However, following the end of the war the German economy recovered and demand for Swiss exports dropped. Many Swiss peasants, who had raised mortgages during the boom at wartime, suddenly faced financial problems. For cities
7685-432: The Empire ) and France ensued, culminating in the Treaty of Senlis (1493) which gave the majority of Burgundian inheritance to the Habsburg (Mary already died in 1482). The rise of the Habsburg dynasty was a prime factor in the spreading of the Renaissance. In Central Europe, King Matthias Corvinus (1443–1490), a notable nation builder, conqueror (Hungary in his time was the most powerful in Central Europe ) and patron,
7830-416: The German-speaking city of Bern that occupied Vaud. Davel believed that he had been called by God to free the inhabitants of Vaud from Bern. On 31 March 1723 he mobilised 600 men and marched on Lausanne to ask the city leaders to revolt with him. However, they reported him to Bern and arrested him on the next morning. He was judged guilty of treason and beheaded. About a quarter century later, in 1749, there
7975-632: The Imperial City of Geneva and the Imperial City of Rottweil . The Reformation in Switzerland left the Old Swiss Confederacy divided between two hostile factions. But still, Switzerland remained a relative "oasis of peace and prosperity" ( Grimmelshausen ) while Europe was torn by the Thirty Years' War . The cities generally lay low and watched the destruction from afar, the Republic of Zürich investing in building state-of-the-art city ramparts. The cantons had concluded numerous mercenary contracts and defence alliances with partners on all sides. Some of these contracts neutralized each other, which allowed
8120-459: The Japanese adopted several of the technologies and cultural practices of their visitors, whether in the military area (the arquebus , European-style cuirasses, European ships), religion ( Christianity ), decorative art, language (integration to Japanese of a Western vocabulary ) and culinary: the Portuguese introduced tempura and valuable refined sugar. Central government was largely reestablished by Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi during
8265-446: The Leagues). Following the war the League took steps to strengthen itself. The Valtellina , which had broken from the Three Leagues, became a dependency once again after the Treaty and remained so until the founding of the Cisalpine Republic by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1797. Following the Thirty Years' War, as France grew into a great power in Europe, the newly independent Confederation turned to France for trade and protection. In 1663,
8410-511: The Ming Dynasty established a bureau to maintain its calendar. The bureau was necessary because the calendars were linked to celestial phenomena and that needs regular maintenance because twelve lunar months have 344 or 355 days, so occasional leap months have to be added in order to maintain 365 days per year. In the early Ming dynasty, urbanization increased as the population grew and as the division of labor grew more complex. Large urban centers, such as Nanjing and Beijing , also contributed to
8555-399: The Ottoman sphere, the Turks seized Egypt in 1517 and established the regencies of Algeria , Tunisia , and Tripolitania (between 1519 and 1551), Morocco remaining an independent Arabized Berber state under the Sharifan dynasty . The Safavid Empire was a great Shia Persianate empire after the Islamic conquest of Persia and the establishment of Islam, marking an important point in
8700-416: The Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch Empires. The trade brought in a massive amount of silver, which China at the time needed desperately. Prior to China's global trade, its economy ran on paper money. However, in the 14th century, China's paper money system suffered a crisis, and by the mid-15th century, crashed. The silver imports helped fill the void left by the broken paper money system, which helps explain why
8845-403: The Qing Prince Dorgon . The rise of the Mughal Empire is usually dated from 1526, around the end of the Middle Ages. It was an Islamic Persianate imperial power that ruled most of the area as Hindustan by the late 17th and the early 18th centuries. The empire dominated South Asia , becoming the largest global economy and manufacturing power, with a nominal GDP valued at a quarter of
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#17328008227078990-482: The Reformation guaranteed a regular turnover in the city councils. During the early modern era, growing scientific knowledge and relative peace reduced the number of open seats in the cities. At the same time, council members were increasingly able to fill the council with relatives. The population in Europe began to expand again following the Thirty Years' War. This led to population pressure that hadn't been experienced in several generations. For protection and help against
9135-505: The Safavids . What fueled the growth of Safavid economy was its position between the burgeoning civilizations of Europe to its west and Islamic Central Asia to its east and north. The Silk Road , which led from Europe to East Asia, revived in the 16th century. Leaders also supported direct sea trade with Europe, particularly England and The Netherlands, which sought Persian carpet, silk, and textiles. Other exports were horses, goat hair, pearls, and an inedible bitter almond hadam-talka used as
9280-511: The Toyotomi clan at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Tokugawa received the title of shōgun in 1603, establishing the Tokugawa shogunate . The Edo period from 1600 to 1868 characterized early modern Japan. The Tokugawa shogunate was a feudalist regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shōguns of the Tokugawa clan . The period gets its name from the capital city, Edo , now called Tokyo. The Tokugawa shogunate ruled from Edo Castle from 1603 until 1868, when it
9425-418: The Vaud countryside inspired a number of later writers and helped unify the nationalist movement in Vaud. Early modern period The early modern period is a historical period that is part of, or (depending on the historian ) immediately preceded, the modern period , with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity . There is no exact date that marks
9570-460: The beginning of that year Charles had concluded an alliance with Tsar Vasili IV of Russia against their common foe, the Polish king; but when, in 1610, Vasili was deposed by his own subjects and the whole tsardom seemed to be on the verge of dissolution, Sweden's policy towards Russia changed its character. Hitherto Charles had aimed at supporting the weaker Slavonic power against the stronger; but now that Russia seemed about to disappear from among
9715-409: The beginning of the modern period with the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and later by various movements to reform the church (including Lutheran, Zwinglian, and Calvinist), followed by the Counter Reformation . The Hussite Crusades (1419–1434) involved military actions against the followers of Jan Hus in Bohemia , concluding with the Battle of Grotniki . These wars were notable for being among
9860-453: The beginning or end of the period and its extent may vary depending on the area of history being studied. In general, the early modern period is considered to have lasted from around the start of the 16th century to the start of the 19th century (about 1500–1800). In a European context, it is defined as the period following the Middle Ages and preceding the advent of modernity; but the dates of these boundaries are far from universally agreed. In
10005-519: The canton of Grisons ), a country where the family was predominant in the 18th century. They have ever since remained land owners in England and Switzerland, kept both nationalities and continue to commute between both countries to this day. During the Ancien Régime the nobility of Switzerland grew in power becoming nearly absolute rulers. Among the population the loss of power, growing taxes, conflicts between rural and urban populations and religious conflicts all lead to uprisings and conflicts throughout
10150-404: The characteristics of the Alps. The chief of this school was Horace-Bénédict de Saussure one of the founders of the sciences of geology and meteorology , while his Alpine ascents (undertaken in the cause of science) opened a new world even to non-scientific travellers. Jean-André Deluc devoted himself mainly to questions of physics in the Alps, while Jean Sénebier , the biographer of Saussure,
10295-425: The chief literary centres. Basel was distinguished for its mathematicians, such as Leonhard Euler (1707–1783), and three members of the Bernoulli family, the brothers Jakob (1654–1705) and Johann (1667–1748), and the latter's son Daniel (1700–1782). But its chief literary glory was Isaak Iselin (1728–1782), one of the founders of the Helvetic Society (1760) and of the Economical Society (1777). He wrote about
10440-467: The confederation to remain neutral – in the 1647 Defensionale von Wil , signed under the impression of the Swedes advancing as far as Lake Constance in the winter of 1646/47, the confederates declared "permanent armed neutrality", the historical starting point of Swiss neutrality , which would be re-confirmed by the Congress of Vienna and adhered to throughout the 19th and 20th century conflicts . At
10585-502: The confederation was overwhelmingly German with only small pockets of French. During the early modern period German still dominated though French, Italian and Romansh began to develop literary traditions within the boundaries of modern Switzerland. In the 18th century the intellectual movement in Switzerland greatly developed, though it was naturally strongly influenced by local characteristics. Basel, Bern and especially Zürich were
10730-520: The context of global history , the early modern period is often used even in contexts where there is no equivalent "medieval" period. Various events and historical transitions have been proposed as the start of the early modern period, including the fall of Constantinople in 1453 , the start of the Renaissance , the end of the Crusades and the beginning of the Age of Discovery . Its end is often marked by
10875-570: The country, and shared them with the London Royal Society of which he was a Fellow. He associated closely with other Fellows of the Royal Society, including Isaac Newton . JJ Bodmer and his friend Johann Jakob Breitinger (1701–1776) were among the most prominent purely literary writers in the city. Another famous Zürich writer was Solomon Gesner , the pastoral poet, and yet another was JK Lavater , now best remembered as
11020-515: The country. Abraham Ruchat (1678–1750), who was published in Bourguet's periodicals, is best known as the author (under the pen-name of Gottlieb Kypseler) of an excellent guide-book to Switzerland, which was published from 1714 until 1778. Around the same time the historian Charles Guillaume Loys de Bochat (1695–1754) and the philosopher JP de Crousaz (1663–1750), were working the Vaud region, which
11165-426: The decline in the use of plate armor because of the inability of the armor to protect one from bullets. The musket was able to penetrate all forms of armor available at the time, making armor obsolete, and as a consequence the heavy musket as well. Although there is relatively little to no difference in design between arquebus and musket except in size and strength, it was the term musket which remained in use up into
11310-577: The destruction of Denmark and Sweden alike. Hence his alliance with Denmark to defend Stralsund in 1628 . There was much unconscious exaggeration in all this. As a matter of fact the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was no danger whatsoever to Protestantism. Sigismund's obstinate insistence upon his right to the Swedish crown was the one impediment to the conclusion of a war which the Polish Diet heartily detested and very successfully impeded. Apart from
11455-674: The earlier stages of the war in Germany, whither Gustavus transferred his forces in June 1630 . Gustavus, later to be called "the Lion of the North" due to his skills as a commander, intervened on the Protestant side in the German civil war. Using new military techniques such as lighter and more mobile artillery and cavalry shocks, he won an astounding victory at the Battle of Breitenfeld in 1631. In
11600-443: The economy was compounded by the effects on agriculture of the incipient Little Ice Age , natural calamities, crop failure and sudden epidemics. The ensuing breakdown of authority and people's livelihoods allowed rebel leaders, such as Li Zicheng , to challenge Ming authority. The Ming dynasty fell around 1644 to the ethnically Manchu Qing dynasty , which would be the last dynasty of China . The Qing ruled from 1644 to 1912, with
11745-707: The empire for all cantons and associates of the confederacy. During the Thirty Years' War, the Drei Bünde ( Graubünden , an associate state of the Swiss Confederation) had been caught in the middle of internal and external conflict. Because the Leagues were very decentralized, conflicts over religion and foreign policy broke out during the war (known as the Bündner Wirren or Confusion of
11890-564: The end of the 18th century. However, the aristocracy remained generally open, and in some cities new families were accepted if they were successful and rich enough. An unusual example of interstate family relations are the Counts de Salis-Soglio who were naturalized in the UK in 1743, only to be sent back immediately to Chur by King George II as British envoys to the Three Leagues (nowadays
12035-525: The established order until the arrival of foreign powers. In 1392, General Yi Seong-gye established the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910) with a largely bloodless coup. Yi Seong-gye moved the capital of Korea to the location of modern-day Seoul. The dynasty was heavily influenced by Confucianism, which also played a large role to shaping Korea's strong cultural identity. King Sejong the Great (1418–1450), one of
12180-531: The estates were delivered to the king at a subsequent session in congress. Whenever the estates differed amongst themselves, the king chose whatever opinion seemed best to him. The rights of the Riksdag were secured by the Konungaförsäkran, or assurance given by every Swedish king on his accession, guaranteeing the collaboration of the estates in the work of legislation, and they were also to be consulted on all questions of foreign policy. The king possessed
12325-511: The ever-increasing burdens of the Polish and German wars. Gustavus owed much of his success as an empire-builder to the religious and patriotic zeal of the Swedes, and their willingness to sacrifice. The wars with Denmark and Russia had been almost exclusively Scandinavian wars, but the Polish war was of worldwide significance. It was, in the first place, a struggle for the Baltic littoral , and
12470-514: The exhausting and expensive Polish War dragged on. Swedish Livonia was conquered by the beginning of 1626, and the theatre of hostilities was transferred to the Prussian provinces of Poland. The fertile and easily defensible delta of the Vistula was now occupied and Gustavus treated it as a permanent conquest, making his great Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna its first Governor-General . But this
12615-591: The extension of the Swedish Empire abroad, saw also the peaceful development of the Swedish Rule of constitution at home. In this, as in every other Gustavus matter, Gustavus Adolphus himself took the initiative. Nominally the Riksråd still remained the dominant power in the state; but gradually all real authority had been transferred to the crown. The Privy Council speedily lost its ancient character of
12760-527: The faith) invaded and conquered much of northern India during the Lodhi dynasty and Suri dynasty . Pashtun forces also invaded Persia, and the opposing forces were defeated in the Battle of Gulnabad . The Pashtuns later formed the Durrani Empire . The Songhai Empire took control of the trans-Saharan trade at the beginning of the modern era. It seized Timbuktu in 1468 and Jenne in 1473, building
12905-560: The first European conflicts where hand-held gunpowder weapons, like muskets , played a decisive role. The Taborite faction of Hussite warriors, primarily infantry, decisively defeated larger armies with heavily armored knights, contributing to the infantry revolution. However, the Hussite Crusades were ultimately inconclusive. The final crusade, the Crusade of 1456, was organized to counter the advancing Ottoman Empire and lift
13050-626: The global economy, superior than the combined GDP of Europe. The empire, prior to the death of the last prominent emperor Aurangzeb , was marked by a highly centralized administration connecting its different provinces . All the significant monuments of the Mughals, their most visible legacy, date to this period which was characterized by the expansion of Persian cultural influence in the Indian subcontinent, with brilliant literary, artistic, and architectural results. The Maratha Confederacy , founded in
13195-591: The growth of French-Swiss literature, and notable authors of the Age of Enlightenment such as the mathematicians of the Bernoulli family and Leonhard Euler of Basel . The Old Swiss Confederacy between phases of expansion consisted of Eight Cantons ( German : Acht Orte ) during 1352–1481, and of the Thirteen Cantons ( German : Dreizehnörtige Eidgenossenschaft ) from 1513 until its collapse in 1798. The Thirteen Cantons thus correspond to
13340-458: The growth of private industry. In particular, small-scale industries grew up, often specializing in paper, silk, cotton, and porcelain goods. For the most part, however, relatively small urban centers with markets proliferated around the country. Town markets mainly traded food, with some necessary manufactures such as pins or oil. In the 16th century the Ming dynasty flourished over maritime trade with
13485-603: The history of Islam in the east. The Safavid dynasty was founded about 1501. From their base in Ardabil , the Safavids established control over all of Persia and reasserted the Iranian identity of the region, thus becoming the first native dynasty since the Sassanids to establish a unified Iranian state. Problematic for the Safavids was the powerful Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans, a Sunni dynasty, fought several campaigns against
13630-477: The incident in the long term prevented creation of an absolutist state, unlike many of the other states of Europe. The Confederation remained a decentralised and disorganised country during this era, torn by religious and political conflicts. In 1655, an attempt to create a central administration fell apart after the two proposers, Bern and Zürich, couldn't agree with each other. In 1656, a conflict over religious refugees from Schwyz who had fled to Zürich erupted in
13775-409: The independence that the Confederation had enjoyed. In 1777, the unpopular clause was dropped from a renewed agreement between the Confederation and France and the independence of Switzerland was explicitly stated. Political power congealed around the 13 cantons ( Bern , Zürich , Zug , Glarus , Uri , Schwyz , Unterwalden , Fribourg , Solothurn , Basel , Luzern , Schaffhausen , Appenzell ) of
13920-484: The initiative; but the estates had the right of objecting to the measures of the government at the close of each session. It is in Gustavus' reign, too that we first hear of "Hemliga Utskottet", or Secret Committee for the transaction of extraordinary affairs, which was elected by the estates themselves. The eleven Riksdags held by Gustavus Adolphus were almost exclusively occupied in finding ways and means for supporting
14065-705: The island of Java . It was the last of the major Hindu empires of Maritime Southeast Asia and is considered one of the greatest states in Indonesian history. Its influence extended to Sumatra , the Malay Peninsula , Borneo , and eastern Indonesia, though the effectiveness of this influence remains debated. Majapahit struggled to control the rising Sultanate of Malacca , which dominated Muslim Malay settlements in Phuket, Satun, Pattani, and Sumatra. The Portuguese invaded Malacca's capital in 1511, and by 1528,
14210-516: The king as the spokesman of the House of Nobles , or Riddarhus , while the primate generally acted as the talman or president of the three lower estates, the clergy, burgesses and peasants. Eventually, each of the three lower estates elected its own talman, or speaker . At the opening of every session, the king submitted to the estates "royal propositions", or bills, upon which each estate proceeded to deliberate in its own separate chamber. The replies of
14355-507: The largely inflexible nature of this social stratification system unleashed disruptive forces over time. Taxes on the peasantry were set at fixed amounts which did not account for inflation or other changes in monetary value. As a result, the tax revenues collected by the samurai landowners were worth less and less over time. This often led to numerous confrontations between noble but impoverished samurai and well-to-do peasants. None, however, proved compelling enough to seriously challenge
14500-482: The last Ming emperor, committed suicide. The Manchus then allied with former Ming general Wu Sangui and seized control of Beijing , which became the new capital of the Qing dynasty. The Manchus adopted the Confucian norms of traditional Chinese government in their rule of China proper . Schoppa, the editor of The Columbia Guide to Modern Chinese History argues, "A date around 1780 as the beginning of modern China
14645-407: The last medieval epic poet ) was actually a chief modernizing force of the time (whose reform initiatives led to Europe-wide revolutions in the areas of warfare and communications, among others ), who broke the back of the knight class (causing many to become robber barons) and had personal conflicts with the three other men on the matter of the knight's status. Christianity was challenged at
14790-544: The list as the de facto Vorort of the Eight Cantons prior to the Swiss Reformation . The order of precedence, similar but not identical to the modern order (which lists Zug after Glarus, and Basel after Solothurn), was as follows: Symbolic depictions of the Confederacy consisted of arrangements of the thirteen cantonal coats of arms, sometimes with an additional symbol of unity, such as two clasping hands, or
14935-694: The local Pashtuns . Between the 15th and 16th centuries, various nomadic tribes arrived from the steppes, including the Kipchaks , Naimans , Kangly , Khongirad , and Manghuds . These groups were led by Muhammad Shaybani , who was the Khan of the Uzbeks. The lineage of the Afghan Pashtuns stretches back to the Hotaki dynasty. Following Muslim Arab and Turkic conquests, Pashtun ghazis (warriors for
15080-539: The modern period is often dated to the start of the Tudor period with the victory of Henry VII over Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. Early modern European history is usually seen to span from the start of the 15th century, through the Age of Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries, until the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century. The early modern period
15225-482: The nations of Europe, Swedish statesmen naturally sought some compensation for the expenses of the war before Poland had had time to absorb everything. A beginning was made by the siege and capture of County of Kexholm in Russian Finland March 2, 1611; and on July 16, Great Novgorod was occupied and a convention concluded with the magistrates of that wealthy city whereby Charles IX's second son Philip
15370-560: The necessity of buying off the invincible Swedes by some cession of territory. By the Treaty of Stolbovo on February 27, 1617 the tsar surrendered to the Swedish king the provinces of County of Kexholm and Ingria , including the fortress of Nöteborg (later Schlusselburg ), the key to Finland . Russia, furthermore, renounced all claims upon Estonia and Livonia and paid a war indemnity of 20,000 roubles. In return for these concessions, Gustavus restored Novgorod and acknowledged Michael Romanov as tsar of Russia. The same period which saw
15515-649: The notable royalty of the time was Charles the Bold (1433–1477), the last Valois Duke of Burgundy , known as Charles the Bold (or Rash) to his enemies, His early death was a pivotal moment in European history. Charles has often been regarded as the last representative of the feudal spirit, although in administrative affairs, he introduced remarkable modernizing innovations. Upon his death, Charles left an unmarried nineteen-year-old daughter, Mary of Burgundy , as his heir. Her marriage would have enormous implications for
15660-439: The old confederation. During this era, the patrician families decreased in number but increased in power. Some patrician families were drawn from leadership in the guilds or trading groups within the town, while other families grew from successful mercenary captains and soldiers. The trend toward increasing authoritarianism conflicted with the history of public expression that grew out of the Swiss Reformation . In many regions
15805-607: The only two kings in Korea's history to earn the title of great in their posthumous titles, reclaimed Korean territory to the north and created the Korean alphabet . During the end of the 16th century, Korea was invaded twice by Japan, first in 1592 and again in 1597. Japan failed both times due to Admiral Yi Sun-sin , Korea's revered naval genius, who led the Korean Navy using advanced metal clad ships called turtle ships . Because
15950-442: The patrician families were unable to suppress the public assemblies, but they did dominate the assemblies. The tradition of inviting the people to express their opinions died out mostly during this era. During this time, changes to the membership of city councils became increasingly rare. Throughout the Middle Ages a seat on the town council was normally a lifetime appointment. However, plagues, battlefield deaths, and conflicts over
16095-848: The peace established by the Second Treaty of Paris , which ended the Napoleonic Wars. In the Americas, pre-Columbian peoples had built a large and varied civilization, including the Aztec Empire , the Inca civilization , the Maya civilization and its cities, and the Muisca . The European colonization of the Americas began during the early modern period, as did the establishment of European trading hubs in Asia and Africa, which contributed to
16240-703: The period can be seen in the medieval North Italian city-states and maritime republics , particularly Genoa , Venice , and Milan . Russia reached the Pacific coast in 1647 and consolidated its control over the Russian Far East in the 19th century. The Great Divergence took place as Western Europe greatly surpassed China in technology and per capita wealth. As the Age of Revolution dawned, beginning with revolts in America and France, political changes were then pushed forward in other countries partly as
16385-429: The philosophy of history, ideal politics and economics. In Bern both German and French were commonly used in writing, making the separation of Bernese authors into one category difficult. Albrecht von Haller wrote both scientific works as well as poems which praised the beauty of the countryside. His son Gottlieb Emanuel von Haller (1735–1786), compiled a useful bibliography of writings relating to Swiss history, which
16530-537: The political balance of Europe. Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor secured the match for his son, the future Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor , with the aid of Mary's stepmother, Margaret. In 1477, the territory of the Duchy of Burgundy was annexed by France. In the same year, Mary married Maximilian, Archduke of Austria . A conflict between the Burgundian side (Maximilian brought with himself almost no resources from
16675-613: The regime on trade revenues and the cooperation of Muslim merchants. The empire eventually made Islam the official religion, built mosques, and brought Muslim scholars to Gao . Many major events caused Europe to change around the start of the 16th century, starting with the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, the fall of Muslim Spain and the discovery of the Americas in 1492, and Martin Luther 's Protestant Reformation in 1517. In England
16820-456: The right to levy tolls at Pillau, Memel , Danzig , Libau and Windau . From these tolls Gustavus derived, in 1629 alone, 500,000 Riksdalers , a sum equivalent to the whole of the extraordinary subsidies granted to him by the Riksdag . It was for this war that the Swedish warship Vasa , which sank just outside Stockholm, was built. The ship was poorly designed: top-heavy with insufficient ballast , she capsized as soon as she encountered
16965-727: The rise of the Joseon Dynasty to the enthronement of King Gojong . By the 16th century, Asian economies under the Ming dynasty and Mughal Bengal were stimulated by trade with the Portuguese, the Spanish, and the Dutch, while Japan engaged in the Nanban trade after the arrival of the first European Portuguese during the Azuchi–Momoyama period . Meanwhile, in Southeast Asia, the Toungoo Empire along with Ayutthaya experienced
17110-457: The rise of the dominance of mercantilism as an economic theory. Other notable trends of the period include the development of experimental science , increasingly rapid technological progress , secularized civic politics, accelerated travel due to improvements in mapping and ship design, and the emergence of nation states . The early modern period is a subdivision of the most recent of the three major periods of European history : antiquity ,
17255-469: The rising number of immigrants and landless peasants, many villages began to draw closer to neighboring towns, eventually coming under the authority of the larger towns. During the 17th century seats in the councils became increasingly hereditary. There were between 50 and 200 families that controlled all the key political, military, and industrial positions in Switzerland. In Bern out of 360 burgher families only 69 still had any power and could be elected by
17400-407: The same face value as the previously minted silver money. The population began hoarding the silver coins , and the cheap copper money that remained in circulation continually lost its purchasing power . At the end of the war, the population thus faced both a postwar depression and a high inflation, combined with high taxes. This financial crisis led to a series of tax revolts in several cantons of
17545-473: The scholar and physician Johann Jakob Scheuchzer wrote about Swiss history, geology, geography and science. In Basel the Bernoulli family and Leonhard Euler worked on mathematics and physics, coming up with some fundamental concepts in these fields. Albrecht von Haller and Jean-Jacques Rousseau praised the natural beauty and unspoiled state of Switzerland and triggered an early wave of tourism (notably, Goethe 's visit to Switzerland in 1775). Zürich at
17690-610: The semi-impotent Polish court, no responsible Pole dreamed of aggrandisement in Sweden. In fact, during the subsequent reign of Ladislaus IV of Poland (1632–1648), the Poles prevented that martial monarch from interfering in the Thirty Years' War on the Catholic side. Gustavus, whose lively imagination was easily excited by religious ardour, enormously magnified clerical influence in Poland and frequently scented dangers where only difficulties existed. For eight years, (1621–1629),
17835-520: The ships were armed with cannons, Admiral Yi's navy was able to demolish the Japanese invading fleets, destroying hundreds of ships in Japan's second invasion. During the 17th century, Korea was invaded again, this time by Manchurians, who would later take over China as the Qing Dynasty. In 1637, King Injo was forced to surrender to the Qing forces, and was ordered to send princesses as concubines to
17980-463: The southwest of present-day India, surpassed the Mughals as the dominant power in India from 1740 and rapidly expanded until the Third Battle of Panipat halted their expansion in 1761. The development of New Imperialism saw the conquest of nearly all eastern hemisphere territories by colonial powers. The commercial colonization of India commenced in 1757, after the Battle of Plassey , when
18125-495: The sovereign territories of early modern Switzerland. They were listed in a fixed order of precedence, first the eight, old cantons of the "Alliance of the Eight Cantons" ( German : Bund der Acht Orte ) of the 14th century confederacy, then the five cantons which joined after the Burgundian Wars , and within these two groups, the more powerful urban cantons ( Städte , "cities") were listed first, with Zürich heading
18270-607: The state. Their immediate enemy was Poland, now dynastically as well as territorially linked to Sweden. The struggle took the shape of a contest for the possession of the northern Baltic provinces . Estonia was recovered by the Swedes in 1600, but their determined efforts of 1601–1609 to gain a foothold in Livonia were frustrated by the military ability of the Grand Hetman of Lithuania , Jan Karol Chodkiewicz . In 1608 hostilities were transferred to Russian territory. At
18415-655: The struggle was intensified by the knowledge that the Polish Vasas denied the right of Gustavus to the Swedish throne. In the eyes of the Swedish king, moreover, the Polish War was a war of religion. Gustavus regarded the Scandinavian kingdoms as the two chief pillars on which the Evangelical religion reposed. Their disunion, he argued, would open a door in the north to the Catholic league and so bring about
18560-511: The suzerainty of Sweden, Swedish statesmen had believed, for a moment, in the creation of a Trans-Baltic dominion extending northwards to Archangelsk and eastwards to Vologda . The rallying of the Russian nation round the throne of the new tsar , Michael Romanov , dissipated, once and for all, this ambitious dream. By the beginning of 1616, Gustavus had become convinced of the impossibility of partitioning reunited Russia, while Russia recognized
18705-401: The three towns named above there were several significant writers of German-speaking Switzerland. One of the best known is Johann Georg Zimmermann (1728–1795), whose Betrachtungen ueber die Einsamkeit (1756-1784/1785) profoundly impressed his contemporaries. He, like the fabulist AE Erhlich, was born at Brugg. Johannes von Müller of Schaffhausen , was the first who attempted to write (1780)
18850-738: The three writers we have mentioned. In Vaud, at this time part of the Canton of Bern , nationalist feelings among the French-speaking inhabitants and against the German-speaking Bern administration began to grow. Philippe Cyriaque Bridel (1757–1845), began writing poetry in 1782 and is considered the earliest Vaudois poet. His descriptions of his travels around the Vaud region were published in serial form for nearly 50 years, from 1783 until 1831. His paintings and written portraits of
18995-405: The time was home to a number of internationally known scholars, such as Johann Jakob Bodmer , Salomon Gessner , Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi and Johann Caspar Lavater , styling itself as "Republic" (after the great city states of the time, such as the Republic of Venice ). Before the early modern period most of the literature of the Swiss Confederation was either in Latin or German as until 1798
19140-441: The value of silver in China was twice as high as the value of silver in Spain during the end of the 16th century. China under the later Ming dynasty became isolated, prohibiting the construction of ocean going sea vessels. Despite isolationist policies the Ming economy still suffered from an inflation due to an overabundance of Spanish New World silver entering its economy through new European colonies such as Macau . Ming China
19285-445: The war had brought both prosperity and new expenses. The cities required new defenses such as new bastions . During the war France and Spain had paid Pensions , the agreed sums in return for the cantons providing them with mercenary regiments. With the end of the war this money had to be replaced. Taxes were raised and new ones were created. Additionally, less valuable copper coins called Batzen were minted. The Batzen had, however,
19430-402: The world's largest economy, bigger than the entirety of Western Europe and worth 25% of global GDP. By the mid-18th century, India was a major proto-industrializing region. Various Chinese dynasties controlled the East Asian sphere. In Japan, the Edo period from 1600 to 1868 is also referred to as the early modern period. In Korea, the early modern period is considered to have lasted from
19575-436: Was Dutch by birth, but married to a native of Neuchâtel. She wrote of sad results of an unsuitable marriage and set her books in highly detailed small provincial towns. Paul Henri Mallet , a Genevese, who held a chair at Copenhagen , devoted himself to making known to the educated world the history and antiquities of Scandinavia. During the mid and late 18th century Geneva produced a number of scientists who were interested in
19720-401: Was abolished during the Meiji Restoration in the late Edo period (often called the Late Tokugawa shogunate ). Society in the Japanese " Tokugawa period " ( Edo society ), unlike the shogunates before it, was based on the strict class hierarchy originally established by Toyotomi Hideyoshi . The daimyōs (feudal lords) were at the top, followed by the warrior -caste of samurai , with
19865-459: Was another unsuccessful uprising in Bern against the patrician families of the city. A few years later, in 1755, the unsuccessful Liviner Uprising against Uri. Finally in 1781 the Chenaux Uprising occurred against the city of Fribourg . The Age of Enlightenment was well received in Swiss cities, in spite of contemporary tendencies towards political conservatism. The early modern period was a time when Swiss science and literature flowered. In Zürich
20010-417: Was at the time part of the Canton of Bern . A French refugee at Lausanne , Jean Barbeyrac (1674–1744), published in 1712 a translation of Samuel von Pufendorf 's works on natural law . The philosopher Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui (1694–1750) and the celebrated international lawyer Emeric de Vattel (1714 1767) were natives of Neuchâtel , though de Vattle only returned to die in the city. The second half of
20155-434: Was further strained by victorious but costly wars to protect Korea from Japanese Invasion . The European trade depression of the 1620s also hurt the Chinese economy, which sunk to the point where all of China's trading partners cut ties with them: Philip IV restricted shipments of exports from Acapulco , the Japanese cut off all trade with Macau , and the Dutch severed connections between Goa and Macau. The damage to
20300-572: Was leading the world in mathematics as well as science. However, Europe soon caught up to China's scientific and mathematical achievements and surpassed them. Many scholars have speculated about the reason behind China's lag in advancement. A historian named Colin Ronan claims that though there is no one specific answer, there must be a connection between China's urgency for new discoveries being weaker than Europe's and China's inability to capitalize on its early advantages. Ronan believes that China's Confucian bureaucracy and traditions led to China not having
20445-414: Was more known as a physiologist than as a physicist, though he wrote on many branches of natural science, which in those days was not yet highly specialised. On the other hand, Marc Théodore Bourrit , the contemporary of these three men, was rather a curious and inquisitive traveller than a scientific investigator, and charms us even now by his genial simplicity as contrasted with the austerity and gravity of
20590-425: Was the chief theatre of hostilities. Thus the Swedish forces were diverted from their real objective and transferred to another field where even victory would have been comparatively unprofitable. But it was disaster, not victory, which Charles IX of Sweden reaped from this foolhardy enterprise. Still worse, the Kalmar War, prudently concluded by Charles' son, Gustavus Adolphus , in the second year of his reign, by
20735-599: Was the first who introduced the Renaissance outside of Italy. In military area, he introduced the Black Army , one of the first standing armies in Europe and a remarkably modern force. Some noblemen from the generation that lived during this period have been attributed the moniker "the last knight", with the most notable being the above-mentioned Maximilian I (1459–1519), Chevalier de Bayard (1476–1524), Franz von Sickingen (1481–1523) and Götz von Berlichingen (1480–1562). Maximilian (although Claude Michaud opines that he could claim "last knight" status by virtue of being
20880-453: Was the limit of the Swedish advance. All Gustavus's further efforts were frustrated by the superior strategy of the Polish hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski , and in June 1629, the king gladly accepted the lucrative Treaty of Altmark . By this truce Sweden was, for six years, to retain possession of its Livonian conquests, besides holding Elbing , the Vistula delta, and Braunsberg in West Prussia, and Pillau and Memel in East Prussia , with
21025-429: Was to be recognized as tsar, unless in the meantime, relief came to Great Novgorod from Moscow. But now, when everything depended on a concentration of forces, Charles's imprudent assumption of the title of "King of the Lapps of Nordland" which people properly belonged to the Danish Crown, involved him in another war with Denmark, a war known in Scandinavian history as the Kalmar War because the Swedish fortress of Kalmar
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