31.3 Europe: a.d. 1601 to 1700  (Page 16/30)

It is of interest that one of the greatest trade commodities in early 17th century Holland was the tulip bulb. This famous flower had been brought from Turkey via Carolus Clusius, previously Prefect of the Imperial Medicinal Garden of the Austrian emperor. Any unusual tulip (often resulting from a virus infection) became a status symbol and prices sky-rocketed, with the tulip trade becoming a full-time occupation for many. Speculation in "futures" followed and laws and regulations were drawn up defining the way business should be carried on. Sometimes a single bulb would sell for 2,500 florins. Finally, however, as more and more bulbs flooded the market the collapse came and by mid-century Holland was on the brink of bankruptcy with this as a major factor. Tulip-mania ended, but the flower remained. (Ref. 13 ) Tea was introduced to the Dutch in this century, probably from Japan and soon all Europe thought that it would cure all illnesses. (Ref. 211 )

In religion the Dutch found it profitable to practice a degree of toleration broader than elsewhere in Christendom. The majority were Calvinists, but the Catholics were so numerous that suppression was impractical. Marrano Jews accumulated in many of the cities and they were granted freedom of worship but were forbidden to marry Christians.

The Jews included some of the wealthiest merchants. Some 4,000 Portuguese-Jewish families built a beautiful synagogue, which is still one of the sights -of Amsterdam. About 1630 Ashkenazaic, or Eastern (German) Jews arrived but were not welcomed well by the existing Sephardic group. Dutch cities were flooded with books and publishers and in at least five different cities there were books printed in Latin, Greek, German, English, French and Hebrew, as well as in Dutch. Amsterdam, alone, had 400 shops with books.

The area now called Belgium broke free from Spain for about 20 years at the opening of this century under Archduke Albert, but then it fell back under Spanish rule. Although ethnically diverse, the people were overwhelmingly Catholic, preferring to be dominated by a distant Catholic Spain than be subjected to Protestant neighbors. They welcomed the Jesuits and followed the intellectual lead of the Catholic University of Louvain. By the treaty of Westphalia, Spain had agreed to the closing of the River Scheldt to foreign trade, so that the city of Antwerp and the country 's entire economy was crippled. At the end of the century Belgium served as the battle ground for the French-Spanish wars, with the result that a large section of the beautiful city of Brussels was destroyed by French bombardment in 1695. It is somewhat ironic that Liege had developed a booming armaments industry, supplying much of Europe. (Ref. 279 ) One of the few great Flemish painters of this century was David Teniers, the Younger. (Continue on page 968)

British isles

England and wales

This 17th century was a time of transition from the island kingdom of Queen Elizabeth to the great European power of the later 18th and l9th centuries. (Ref. 131 ) The struggle of the English throne to rule with absolute monarchy against the powers of Parliament had ensued through the reigns of Henry VII and VIII, Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth I, but it came to an acute reckoning at the death of James I (Stuart of Scotland and son of Mary, Queen of Scots) in 1625. When Charles I then became king, civil war broke out and he countered by declaring war on Spain and France, further deteriorating the financial state of England. In 1628 Parliament issued the "Petition of Right", citing the old Magna Carta and reviewing various limitations on the king. Charles dismissed the Parliament and called none to meet for 11 years. A long civil war followed (the English Revolution, 1640-1688), with the king holding out in Oxford and the Parliament controlling London. Oliver Cromwell emerged as a military organizer, who picked religious enthusiasm as a rallying agent (Puritans), formed the "Ironsides" as a democratic military unit, beheaded Charles after a "trial" by a Rump Commons, suppressed an Irish Catholic insurrection, chastised Scotland again at the battle of Dunbar (1650) and then took to sea, trouncing the Dutch navy and making the English fleet supreme. Cromwell's Puritan supporters, who often wore short hair, were derisively called "Round-heads" in distinction to the wigged Cavaliers, supporters of the king. Commercially England was far behind the Dutch, but it soon became clear that only the English could possibly challenge them. More war with Spain followed and the Spanish fleet was again destroyed. At Cromwell's death in 1658 his republicanism came to an end and the son of Charles I, Charles II, was brought back to the throne, restoring the Stuart Monarchy. Under Cromwell the simple citizen profited little, although the merchant princes prospered from the wars. Rule by army and naked force, even coated by the religious cant of Puritanism, was still offensive and at the end Cromwell's regime was hated perhaps more than any that had gone before.