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Cambridge Studies in Early Modern History monographs and studies illuminate the character of the period as a whole. In particular they focus attention on a dominant theme within it, the interplay of continuity and change as they are presented by the continuity of medieval ideas, political and social organization, and by the impact of new ideas, new methods and new demands on the traditional structures.

  • General Editors: John Elliott, University of Oxford, Olwen Hufton, University of Oxford, H. G. Koenigsberger, University of London, H. M. Scott, University of St Andrews

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31 results in Cambridge Studies in Early Modern History

Page 1 of 2

The State, War and Peace
  • Spanish Political Thought in the Renaissance 1516–1559
  • J. A. Fernández-Santamaria
  • Published online:
    07 October 2011
    Print publication:
    08 September 1977
  • This is a comprehensive study in English of political thought in Spain during the Renaissance. In the early sixteenth century Castile experienced two major constitutional crises caused by the accession of a Habsburg ruler (shortly to become Holy Roman Emperor) to her throne, and by the discovery and conquest of America. Politically, these circumstances created a bizarre situation in which the venerable idea of medieval empire was forced to co-exist with a novel, imperial vision made inevitable by expansion in the new world. The strain imposed on Castile's constitutional fabric stimulated the most significant developments of Spanish political thought in the Renaissance. Against this background, Professor Fernández-Santamaria surverys the contribution of a number of eminent writers from diverse intellectual traditions who endeavoured to apply established political assumptions to these unprecedented circumstances.

The Emperor and His Chancellor
  • A Study of the Imperial Chancellery under Gattinara
  • John M. Headley
  • Published online:
    07 October 2011
    Print publication:
    24 February 1983
  • This study examines a significant development within late medieval and early modern European government, set in the context of the tense relations between the young Emperor Charles V and his ageing chancellor Mercurino de Gattrina. It focuses upon an important transformation in the administrative reorganisation of European monarchies: the shift in the political centre of gravity from the medieval institution of the chancellery as the secretariat for all government business and authentication to a small group of secretaries, the minister of a later age, acting directly in collaboration with the prince. In the collision between the traditional judicial and administrative pre-eminence of the late medieval chancellor and the new secretaries as expediters of the Renaissance prince's will. Charles gave his support to the latter, thus associating himself with the previous work of Ferdinand the Catholic. Against the background of this struggle with the state secretaries the imperial chancellery is analysing in its relations to the individual chancelleries of Charles V's disparate lands.

Filippo Strozzi and the Medici
  • Favor and Finance in Sixteenth-Century Florence and Rome
  • Melissa Meriam Bullard
  • Published online:
    07 October 2011
    Print publication:
    17 July 1980
  • Filippo Strozzi (1489–1538), the Florentine aristocrat and banker, is usually remembered for the dramatic exploits at the end of his life. Forced into exile, he became an outspoken defender of the last Florentine Republic against the tyranny of the city's new dukes. His place in Florentine history, however, changes drastically when we focus not on his final years but on his extensive career as a Medici favourite and loyal financier. At the courts of the Medici popes he furthered the grandiose schemes of Leo X and Clement VII and accumulated a personal fortune of legendary size. Dr Bullard's study reassesses Strozzi's place in Renaissance history and considers the more general problems of paper economy and war finance, and Florentine political life, in the early sixteenth century. It documents the intricate financial ties between Florence and the papal court, and Strozzi's key role as a manipulator of the city's public funds to pay for papal wars.

Absolutism and Society in Seventeenth-Century France
  • State Power and Provincial Aristocracy in Languedoc
  • William Beik
  • Published online:
    05 July 2011
    Print publication:
    09 May 1985
  • Why was Louis XIV successful in pacifying the same aristocrats who had caused so much trouble for Richelieu and Mazarin? What role did absolutism play in reinforming or changing the traditional social system in seventeenth-century France? In this analysis of the provincial reality of absolutism, Professor Beik argues that the answers to these questions lie in the relationship between the regional aristocracy and the crown. Starting with a critical examination of current approaches to state and society by institutional, social , 'Annales', and Marxist historians, he calls for a new class analysis based on the findings of all these schools. This is the first appearance as a paperback of Professor Beik's book, which won the 1986 Herbert Baxter Adams Prize awarded by the American historical Association for the year's outstanding work in European history.

The Princes of Orange
  • The Stadholders in the Dutch Republic
  • Herbert H. Rowen
  • Published online:
    01 June 2011
    Print publication:
    26 May 1988
  • This major study provides the first comprehensive assessment of an important European institution, the Stadholderate of the Dutch Republic. Professor Rowen looks at the career of each Prince of Orange in turn, from William I ('The Silent'), to the last and saddest, William V, examining their roles as Stadholder and interweaving their personal lives and characters with the development of the institution. Without engaging in psycho-history, Rowen treats the individual personality of each Stadholder as a significant factor, and shows how the Stadholderate contributed to a distinctive political and constitutional coloration that rendered the United Provinces unique in Europe. The work assesses the contribution of the Stadholderate to the rise and subsequent fall of the Dutch Republic as one of the great powers of early modern Europe, and analyses each prince within his contemporary context, avoiding the highly present-minded approach of many of the Republic's subsequent historians. The Princes of Orange is thus neither a work of hagiography, glorifying the Dutch royal house, nor a piece of destructive iconoclasm, but an authoritative account of a most unusual political, dynastic and diplomatic institution.

The Dynastic State and the Army under Louis XIV
  • Royal Service and Private Interest 1661–1701
  • Guy Rowlands
  • Published online:
    20 May 2010
    Print publication:
    29 August 2002
  • The 'personal rule' of Louis XIV witnessed a massive increase in the size of the French army and an apparent improvement in the quality of its officers, its men and the War Ministry. However, this is the first book to treat the French army under Louis XIV as a living political, social and economic organism, an institution which reflected the dynastic interests and personal concerns of the king and his privileged subjects. The book explains the development of the army between the end of Cardinal Mazarin's ministry and the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession, emphasising the awareness of Louis XIV and his ministers of the need to pay careful attention to the condition of the king's officers, and to take account of their military, political, social and cultural aspirations.

Neostoicism and the Early Modern State
  • Gerhard Oestreich
  • Published online:
    04 May 2010
    Print publication:
    05 August 1982
  • Neostoicism was one of the most important intellectual movements of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It started in the Protestant Netherlands during the revolt against Catholic Spain. Very quickly it began to influence both the theory and practice of politics in many parts of Europe. It proved to be particularly useful and appropriate to the early modern militaristic states; for, on the basis of the still generally accepted humanistic values of classical antiquity, it promoted a strong central power in the state, raised above the conflicting doctrines of the theologians. Characteristically, a great part of Neostoic writing was concerned with the nationally organized military institutions of the state. Its aim was the general improvement of social discipline and the education of the citizen to both the exercise and acceptance of bureaucracy, controlled economic life and a large army.

The Kingdom of Valencia in the Seventeenth Century
  • James Casey
  • Published online:
    03 May 2010
    Print publication:
    12 April 1979
  • Drawing on hitherto unpublished sources James Casey explores two major themes in Spanish historiography - the consequences of the expulsion of the Moriscos (heavily concentrated in Valencia in the early seventeenth century), and the way in which the Habsburg Monarchy kept or lost control over its peripheral provinces. The study ranges widely over questions of population (including a pioneering attempt for early modern Spain at family reconstitution), landholding and agriculture, exploring the links between depopulation and economic decline - twin phenomena which characterized the peninsula in the age of Spain's decline. Dr Casey has drawn on a variety of previously neglected sources - parish registers, tithe records, cadastral surveys - in order to quantify these developments as far as possible. The result is a reassessment of the chronology and extent of economic recession in one of Spain's most fertile provinces, and a revision of some ideas about the importance of the expulsion of the Moriscos.

The King's Army
  • Warfare, Soldiers and Society during the Wars of Religion in France, 1562–76
  • James B. Wood
  • Published online:
    07 January 2010
    Print publication:
    22 August 1996
  • Historians have long ignored the military aspect of the wars of religion which raged in France during the late sixteenth century, dismissing the conflicts as aimless or hopelessly confused. In contrast, this meticulously researched analysis of the royal army and its operations during the early civil wars brings warfare back to the centre of the picture. James B. Wood explains the reasons for the initial failure of the monarchy to defeat the Huguenots, and examines how that failure prolonged the conflict. He argues that the nature and outcome of the civil wars can only be explained by the fusion of religious rebellion and incomplete military revolution. This study makes an important contribution to the history of military forces, warfare and society, and will be of great interest to those engaged in the debate over the 'Military Revolution' in early modern Europe.

Renaissance and Revolt
  • Essays in the Intellectual and Social History of Early Modern France
  • John Hearsey McMillan Salmon
  • Published online:
    23 December 2009
    Print publication:
    27 March 1987
  • The essays in this volume place the history of ideas and of literature in early modern France within their social context. They include the author's pioneering and authoritative analyses as well as particular studies of popular revolts. An extensive introduction contrasts the author's methods with other recent approaches, including those of the annaliste school. The stress throughout these essays is on change and discontinuity rather than stability and tradition. Few historians have Professor Salmon's expertise in both intellectual and social history. This volume brings the two together in a manner that shows a lucid, well-crafted exposition of their intricate and overlapping relations.

The Duke of Anjou and the Politique Struggle during the Wars of Religion
  • Mack P. Holt
  • Published online:
    15 December 2009
    Print publication:
    03 July 1986
  • From the beginning of the French Wars of Religion a small minority of toleration-minded Protestants and Catholics sought out a via media to end the civil wars which were destroying France. Later called politiques by their more zealous Catholic opponents, this group turned to François de Valois, duke of Alençon and Anjou in the 1570s, to champion their cause. Youngest son of Henry II and Catherine de Medici and heir to the throne himself after 1574, Anjou was also sought out by William of Orange and a similar group of politiques in the rebel provinces of the Netherlands, where the Dutch Revolt had virtually become a civil war. Anjou never became the saviour that either group had looked for, however. This book analyses why he nevertheless became the focus of such attention, and tries to explain why he never joined the politique struggle of the later sixteenth century.

The Quest for Compromise
  • Peacemakers in Counter-Reformation Vienna
  • Howard Louthan
  • Published online:
    03 December 2009
    Print publication:
    02 October 1997
  • The Quest for Compromise is an interdisciplinary study of the imperial court in late sixteenth-century Vienna, and a detailed examination of a fascinating moment of religious moderation. Against a backdrop of rising religious and confessional dogmatism, the Emperor Maximilian II (1564–1576) assembled a remarkable cast of courtiers who resisted extremes of both Reformation and Counter-Reformation. This book investigates the rise and fall of an irenic movement through four individuals whose work at the imperial court reflected the ideals of religious compromise and moderation. An Italian artist (Jacopo Strada), a Silesian physician (Johannes Crato), a Dutch librarian (Hugo Blotius) and a German soldier (Lazarus von Schwendi) sought peace and accommodation through a wide range of cultural, intellectual and political activity.

The Cost of Empire
  • The Finances of the Kingdom of Naples in the Time of Spanish Rule
  • Antonio Calabria
  • Published online:
    13 November 2009
    Print publication:
    07 March 1991
  • This is a study of early modern government finance in the kingdom of Naples, one of the most important European dominions of the Spanish Empire. Professor Calabria focuses on the period from the mid-sixteenth century to the time of the Thirty Years' War. He connects fiscal developments to larger issues, such as the seventeenth-century crisis, the decline of Italy and Spain, and the economic and social significance of investments in government securities markets in early modern Europe. The Cost of Empire blends quantitative data on economic, fiscal, and financial affairs with non-quantitative material detailing attitudes, economic behaviour, and administrative practices. The quantitative material includes analyses of government budgets from 1550 to 1638 and a computer study of about 4,500 investors and their investments in state securities in the later sixteenth century. The work is unrivalled in the breadth, comprehensiveness, and sophistication of its analysis of an early modern fiscal system.

After the Deluge
  • Poland-Lithuania and the Second Northern War, 1655–1660
  • Robert I. Frost
  • Published online:
    04 November 2009
    Print publication:
    18 March 1993
  • The Swedish invasion of 1655, known to Poles ever since as the 'Swedish deluge', provoked the political and military collapse of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the second-largest state in Europe. Robert Frost examines the reasons for Poland's fall and the conduct of the war by the Polish government, and addresses the crucial question of why, despite widespread recognition of the shortcomings of the political system, subsequent attempts at reform failed. War has long been seen as crucial to the development of more effective systems of government in Europe during the seventeenth century, but studies usually concentrate on states which responded successfully to the challenges. Much can be learned from those that failed, and the paucity of English-language material on this important conflict means that After the Deluge will appeal to a broad audience among historians of Poland, Germany, Scandinavia, Russia, and early modern Europe in general.

Henry IV and the Towns
  • The Pursuit of Legitimacy in French Urban Society, 1589–1610
  • S. Annette Finley-Croswhite
  • Published online:
    02 November 2009
    Print publication:
    19 August 1999
  • This 1999 book is a serious study of Henry IV's relationship with the towns of France, and offers an in-depth analysis of a crucial aspect of his craft of kingship. Set in the context of the later Wars of Religion, it examines Henry's achievement in reforging an alliance with the towns by comparing his relationship with Catholic League, royal and Protestant towns. Annette Finley-Croswhite focuses on the symbiosis of three key issues: legitimacy, clientage and absolutism. Henry's pursuit of political legitimacy and his success at winning the support of his urban subjects is traced over the course of his reign. Clientage is examined to show how Henry used patron-client relations to win over the towns and promote acceptance of his rule. By restoring legitimacy to the monarchy, Henry not only ended the religious wars but also strengthened the authority of the crown and laid the foundations of absolutism.

State and Nobility in Early Modern Germany
  • The Knightly Feud in Franconia, 1440–1567
  • Hillay Zmora
  • Published online:
    29 October 2009
    Print publication:
    08 January 1998
  • One of the most striking features of late medieval and early modern German was the countless feuds carried out by nobles. A constant threat to law and order, these feuds have commonly been regarded as a manifestation of the decline - economic and otherwise - of the nobility. This study shows that the nobility was not in crisis at this time. Nor were feuds merely banditry by another name. Rather, they were the result of an interplay between two fundamental processes: princely state-building, and social stratification among the nobility. Offering a new paradigm for understanding the German nobility, this book argues that the development of the state made proximity to princes the single most decisive factor in determining the fortune of a family. The result was a violent competition among the nobility over resources which were crucial to the princes. Feuds played a central role in this struggle that eventually led to the formation of an elite of noble families on whose power and wealth the princely state depended.

Altopascio
  • A Study in Tuscan Rural Society, 1587-1784
  • Frank McArdle
  • Published online:
    25 October 2009
    Print publication:
    02 February 1978
  • This is an interdisciplinary study of a large Italian estate which belonged to the Medici Grand Dukes of Tuscany. The Medici administrators kept detailed records of the activities of their subjects and these have been used by the author to analyse the demographic, social, economic and political history of the village. The records cover two centuries, which span a harsh economic depression and the 'general crisis' of the seventeenth century. An aim of the book is to gauge the impact of the general European crisis upon a regional society, and to assess the contribution of agrarian economic and social trends towards that crisis. It analyses the broad issues of population change, economic performance and social organization within a rural community, demonstrating how the contractual relationships between landlord and tenant selectively distributed the effects of the economic crisis, and how the strong economic bonds that linked lord and peasant helped to control the dogged resistance for which the people of Altopascio were notorious.

Frontiers of Heresy
  • The Spanish Inquisition from the Basque Lands to Sicily
  • E. William Monter
  • Published online:
    24 October 2009
    Print publication:
    29 June 1990
  • Frontiers of Heresy is among the first major English-language contributions to the history of the Spanish Inquisition since Henry Charles Lea completed his classic curvey eighty years ago. Focusing on the lands beyond Castile, Professor Monter analyzes the activities of the Holy Office during an 'Aragonese Century' (1530–1630) when these frontier tribunals were its most active elements. This 'other' Spanish Inquisition virtually ignored converted Jews and their descendants, but brutally harassed Moriscos and immigrant workers from France; it executed nearly as many people for sodomy as for heresy. Despite opposition from local elites, the Inquisition performed many services for the king, sending thousands of heretics to the galleys and even capturing horse-smugglers along the Pyrenees. Frontiers of Heresy is based upon an immense variety of archival sources, and represents a significant reappraisal of one of the most important yet misunderstood institutions of early modern Europe.

The Military Organisation of a Renaissance State
  • Venice c.1400 to 1617
  • M. E. Mallett, J. R. Hale
  • Published online:
    22 October 2009
    Print publication:
    12 January 1984
  • This book describes the role and organization of the land forces of a renaissance state over a long period. It thus provides a model against which the military development of other countries can be measured in terms of the composition, control and cost of armies. Above all, it redresses the imbalance whereby only the naval forces of Venice have been studied seriously. It is thus an essential contribution to an understanding of the extension and maintenance of an empire by land and sea, and of the strength in troops and fortifications that preserved Venice as the one truly independent state in sixteenth-century Italy. It also adds significantly to an understanding of the relationship between Venice and the republic's subject territories.

Early Modern Democracy in the Grisons
  • Social Order and Political Language in a Swiss Mountain Canton, 1470–1620
  • Randolph C. Head
  • Published online:
    14 October 2009
    Print publication:
    27 January 1995
  • The Freestate of the Three Leagues in the Grisons, a rural confederation in the Swiss Alps, was one of the most unusual political entities in early modern Europe. In the sixteenth century, its inhabitants enjoyed popular sovereignty and remarkable local autonomy, and many of them insisted on political equality among citizens, and on political leaders' responsibilities to their communities. The author of this 1995 book uses pamphlets and political documents to trace the Freestate's evolution, focusing on its institutional structure and on the political language used by its inhabitants. This language included radical statements about 'democracy' and rule by the 'common man'. Even so, the Freestate participated in contemporary European political developments; but because it was different, it provides new perspectives on political ideas in sixteenth-century Europe. It represents a political culture distinct from both absolutism and later liberal ideas.

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