Little Ice Age: Devastating Europe from 1303 to 19th Century - Essay Sample

Introduction

In 1303 to 1307, the Baltic Sea froze something that had never occurred in Europe. This was the start of Little Ice Age that could last up to the 19th century, mid. Advancement in the Alpine glaciers destroyed farming villages. There were snowstorm sin Portugal, Greenland Norse settlements cut off and abandoned. Europeans were less assured of warm summers for agriculture, and colder and rainy summers led to famine, which spread between 1315 and 1317, this weakened the dense population in some areas. There was chronic undernourishment in Europe since they had less resistance to illnesses. The 1346 Black Death came to Europe through the Black Sea on rat-infested ships that carried fleas that had viruses. It rapidly swept along those trade routes that earlier existed, and as an airborne disease, could be spread by coughing or sneezing. The plague wiped out almost half of the European population.

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Artisans and farm laborers who survived had their wages and value increased, and could force the employers to pay better, hence higher work and goods prices. Productivity in agriculture and prices went down, but craft products’ prices shot. Nobles and landowners were hurt and attempted reversing their bad luck by forcing the peasants to live on their farms as they froze their wages.

Those artisans emerged stronger and more powerful and sought consolidation of their enhanced societal position. The field of medicine saw an emergence in a revolution, as new ranks of surgeons and physicians replaced the victims of the plague. There was a demand for better services, and the emergence of quasi-modern hospitals was experienced during this time. Upper-class merchants' and nobles' widows majorly benefitted to an extend: the crisis forced a revision of laws regarding women's property inheritance upon their husbands’ deaths in England, where women were allowed to maintain estates, inherit property, join guilds and manage commerce.

Causes of the Renaissance

The Renaissance was a significant event in the history of Europe, which stretched between the 14th and 17th centuries. It somewhat was preceded by Europe's middle ages, and eventually, it led to events of the enlightenment age. The Renaissance historical terms are critical because it caused a major shift in worldview and European thought. While the period is thought to have started in Italian city-states and the peninsula in the 14th century, its main movement ideas eventually spread across Europe in the 16th century. The most radical changes which emerged as a consequence of the Renaissance are still evident in European architecture, literature, art, philosophy, science, religion, and music.

According to historians, there are several causes of the Renaissance, like different cultures increased interaction, the discovery of ancient Roman and Greek texts, humanism emergence, different technological and artistic innovations, and impacts of death and conflict. The very first main cause was enhanced interaction between different societies and cultures before and after the beginning of the Renaissance. It is crucial because this was when Europe was in the Middle Ages. The medieval period had critical features like devout religious faith and feudalism in terms of Christianity. The features combined to create a society that was rigid religiously, socially, and politically. It means that the European society, then, was not ready for change. On the contrary, the core of the Renaissance was that Europe felt a worldview shift and perspective budge.

This shift was a result of new views, ideas, and beliefs that Europe introduced in centuries before the onset of the Renaissance that started in the 14th century. Vast networks of trade in Asia, Europe, and Africa caused an increase in interaction between different societies that led to an exchange of goods and people, ideas, beliefs, and values. The most common of the networks is the Silk Road. It is one of the largest and earliest trade networks in the history of humans, which played a fundamental role in many diversified civilizations in Eurasia from around 120 BCE to 1450 CE. At the peak of this, the Silk Road overly stretched between Japan and China East of the Mediterranean, including Italy.

Furthermore, philosophical and religious beliefs from the spread time easily along the routes and a profound impact on later events like the Renaissance. The other major interaction which occurred before the beginning of the Renaissance was the crusades. There were several religious wars that Christian crusaders carried out during the Middle Ages timeframe. From 1095 CE, they saw European noblemen and knights travel to the Middle East, attempting to incarcerate the Holy Land from the Muslims who had controlled it for long. In reality, historians disagree on the exact number of crusades that existed. However, generally, there were nine major ones and other minute ones that occurred over 200 years. The next major cause of the European Renaissance was the diversified time innovations, especially in art and publishing. In publishing, the printing press was a major significant innovation in the entire world history.

How it Changed Europe

The Renaissance coincided with the boom in trade, exploration, diplomatic and marriage excursions, and war. As with the Romans and the Greeks- who very much inspired the renaissance-, a conquering army could bring a cultural overhaul and regime change. It changed the entire world in almost every way that people could think of. Its effect was more of a snowball one: since each intellectual advance created was for more advancement. In the 14th century, Italy was fertile for the Cultural Revolution. Black Death, in the 14th century, wiped out millions in Europe, by estimate, killing one in every three individuals between 1346 and 1353.

During the Renaissance, advances in chemistry led to intensified use of gunpowder, while the new mathematics model stimulated new systems of financial trading and eased navigation across the globe. New cultures in Europe discovered their own understandings and beliefs and were added to the massive firestorm that raged across Europe. This is positivity in the technological world and a shift in the applicability of sciences.

The scientific advances that the Renaissance developed immensely contributed to one of its crucial legacies: the printing press. Through Gutenberg, in 1440, the printing press was introduced to the world, introducing the first time there would be a mass publication of books. Consequently, a single press churned out 3,600 pages daily, leading to an explosion of ideas and literature unprecedented in European history.

By around 1500, Western European printing presses had more than 20 million volumes in production, which by 1600 had escalated to 200 million. The period saw seeds of modernity sown and grown. It ranges from world circumnavigating to the solar system discovery, Michelangelo’s David to Leonardo’s Mona Lisa, from The Shakespeare genius to the daring of Erasmus and Luther, and via breathtaking mathematics and science advances. Man achieved new heights in the tumultuous Renaissance period that changed not only Europe but the entire world.

Is it Political or Religious?

Deciding on whether the Renaissance was political or religious is s hard nut to crack. It all depends on the angle in which one looks at the impacts and shifts that came with the same. For instance, the Renaissance can be analyzed as both religious and political, and the themes and arguments developed during this era reflect a swift change in the monarchies which saw the end of feudalism. There were a radical change and reformation in both the religious and political sphere of Europe in entirety. The crusaders impacted religion, while the economy of Europe was duly affected by the advancement in technology, governance, and agriculture. It was a platform for a European round shift in totality. This restoration during the Renaissance will positively affect the European continent and its future in medicine, technology, artistry and labor, economic growth, and political shift. Moreover, the treatment of laborers by their employers will change, seeing better services and wages in return.

During the Renaissance, people started viewing the world from a human-centered perspective. This had a radical impact on religion. Moreover, governance and the political climate in Europe changed because of the Renaissance. From one perspective, it is political, and in another realm, the Renaissance was also political.

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