La Garde Ecossaise Historical Fiction and Early Modern Studies Newsletter

Welcome

A warm welcome to the La Garde Ecossaise Historical Fiction newsletter – this is your fortnightly update on the novel series and early modern studies. 

New Releases from La Garde Ecossaise

Audio Guide Chapter 6 The Franco British Relationship.

Audio Guide Chapter 7 Where Did John Hamilton Come From?

Quote

Robert Meldrum on Hamilton:

‘Not only was he an outstanding diplomat, bodyguard, intelligence secretary, he was first and foremost a consummate solider. Acting without fear or favour towards all men, he was as ruthless as he was loyal, and he expected and received a high degree of loyalty from his men’.

Early Modern Digest

16^th century Italian painting restored after earthquake https://aleteia.org/2025/02/03/historic-16th-century-artwork-restored-after-earthquake.

French scientists decode a 500-year-old letter written by Charles V https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-63757443

End of a 400 year old Swedish-Danish conflict https://theconversation.com/denmarks-new-royal-coat-of-arms-marks-the-end-of-a-400-year-long-swedish-danish-conflict-247924

17th century blue jeans (seriously?!) https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/when-were-blue-jeans-invented-these-paintings-suggest-fashion-trend-dates-back-1600s-180984315/

Sea Voyages, Navigation and Print in the 17^th century  https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2024/1120/1481949-samuel-sturmys-mariners-magazine-maynooth-notes-17th-century/

Do You Know?

Terra Australis is the early modern term used to describe a large landmass that stretched from the southern tip of South America to Papa New Guinea. See more about this here:  https://oceanwide-expeditions.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-antarctica-in-maps

Feature: Six Foundations that help us understand the Early Modern European World. Part II: Reformations, Sovereignty and the Printing Press.

Before we take a deep dive into specific aspects of early modern studies that are reflected in the novel we should take a moment to step back and reflect upon what I call ‘The foundations of the early modern European world’.

These are broad and far-reaching events, innovations, and ideas that spread throughout Europe over two centuries that define the parameters of early modern Europe.

As always, I will put recommended reading in the footnotes of the article should you wish to explore any of these topics further.

Many of these subjects should be viewed on multiple levels; international, national and intranational. Indeed, taken together they show a complex and fascinating set of events, innovations and ideas. 

This list is far from exhaustive, and some scholars and students may disagree with some of the choices here. You are very welcome to leave a comment at the bottom of this post if you are online or contact me directly to discuss this further. You can do so at: [email protected]

 Reformations: Lutheran, Calvinist, Henrician and the Catholic Reformations

The term ‘Reformation’ can have multiple meanings but within a religious context the term ‘Reformation’ means:

 ‘ The action or process of bringing about an improvement or advancement in an existing state of affairs, institution, practice, etc.; an instance of this, esp. a radical change for the better in political, religious, or social matters’.[1]

You will notice that the term can encompass changes beyond religion to include political and social change which, as we will see, was certainly the case as religious changes were closely linked to political and social changes too. 

You should also note that it can also mean ‘a radical change for the better.’ However, in the case of early modern Europe these religious changes and innovations were contested, not just by the Catholic church but amongst Protestants themselves.

Yet this quote also acknowledges another important aspect of the Reformation and its ideas. The Reformation did not stand still but constantly evolved throughout the early modern period. This evolution of religious ideas and forms of worship is one of the most important defining features of early modern Europe. 

Behind these religious changes was a sincerely held belief in the need to return the church to Christianity’s roots. Disputes about how this should be achieved both within the Protestant and Catholic churches resulted in conflict but also set in motion a constant evolution of religious ideas and approaches to religious worship that continued apace until the Enlightenment in the eighteenth century.[2]

There were four major reformations that began in the sixteenth century which spread throughout Europe and continued to evolve over the next two centuries:

Lutheran, Calvinist, Henrician and the Catholic Reformation.  

Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation in the Holy Roman Empire

Martin Luther was born in 1483 in Eisleben in Saxony. He came from a modest but comfortable background. His father earned money in the copper mines and became a partner in a mining company.  For his modest social standing Martin Luther was fortunate enough to go to grammar school. In 1501 Martin Luther went to university and during this time he became very introspective and began thinking deeply about life and death. He feared God’s judgement. Narrowly escaping death by lightning strike, he believed that he had been saved by God and vowed to become a monk. He joined an Augustinian order and meticulously followed their rules wanting to please God. Yet he had doubts about his salvation and felt unworthy to take Mass. From 1505 onwards he took an intense interest in the Bible. In 1510-1511 he was sent to Rome on a mission, but it was unsuccessful. Upon his return to Saxony, he was appointed as a city preacher in Wittenberg. He gave lectures on the Bible and gained new insights into biblical theology as he wrote his lectures.[3] 

These ideas began as new perceptions on existing beliefs rather than creating an entirely new religion. Key insights included:

- Salvation was unconditional due to the death of Jesus Christ. It was the responsibility of humans to recognise this and to acknowledge God’s grace. In other words, faith alone guaranteed salvation. Good works such as charity were not required for God’s forgiveness.

- The Bible was the Word of God, and this should be the central focus of people’s faith.

- The clergy were not essential. Individual Christians, lay and clerical could connect with God through the Bible. He did not wish to abolish the clergy but recognised that there was nothing spiritually or divinely special about clergy. Essentially for Luther all Christians could practice their faith.

- The last days were at hand as foretold in the Book of Revelation and preachers had a duty to warn and prepare people for the great change that was to come.[4]

The full implication of these ideas and how they challenged the basis of the Catholic faith were not immediately obvious. This was to emerge later when Luther clashed with political and religious authorities. 

As Scribner, Dixon and other historians have emphasised Luther is very much a man of his time. He was not the first theologian and humanist who began to see the Bible as the Word of God as a means by which people could connect with the divine. Indeed, as we have already discussed in the previous newsletter (No 4.) Erasmus, a devout Catholic, had already come to a similar conclusion. A generation of theologians influenced by humanist ideas began to question the value of church ceremony alone to create a connection between man and God.[5] 

How did Luther’s ideas some to the fore? The answer lies in the reaction to his ideas from the Catholic church and the Holy Roman Empire. As with all ideas, Luther’s work evolved over time and he began to attack the Catholic church directly.  By 1518 he had concluded that God grace could be given to man through faith alone. This is contrast to the Catholic church which believed that God’s mercy could only be obtained through good works. This was the basis of Luther’s attack on indulgences which brought Luther to the attention of the Catholic church in Rome, which in turn, gave greater attention Luther and his ideas outside of Saxony. Indulgences could be purchased from the church in return for forgiveness of your sins without having to do good works. For Luther the sale of indulgences undermined the importance of repenting your sins in the face of God.  Troubled by what he saw as corruption Luther sent a letter to Archbishop Albrecht and enclosed his 95 theses on indulgences and declared that he was willing to debate the issue with the archbishop. However, the archbishop sent Luther’s letter and 95 theses to Rome. In response Rome sent Luther a threatening letter. Luther in response to this threatening letter used the Bible to back up his argument. Luther was accused of heresy and summoned to Rome for questioning.[6]

However, the ruler of Saxony, Elector Federick arranged for Luther to be cross examined in Augsburg. When interrogated Luther held to his belief that the indulgences had no authority in the Word of God (the Bible) making them null and void. In 1521 Luther was before Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms and doubled down on his views and declared that he did not recognise the Pope’s authority. Between 1518 and 1521 Luther had developed his ideas and printed several publications. Prayer was to be an individual and internal practice; Christ was the head of the church, not the Pope. It was clear to everyone present at the Diet of Worms that these ideas directly conflicted with the Catholic Church and could not be accommodated.[7] How did Luther’s ideas manage to gain traction?

Preaching was fundamental to the spread of Luther’s ideas. Preaching the gospel became seen as a powerful connection to the divine. Preaching was not just talking but a performance that could bring the gospel to life for audiences. Preaching had already become a common feature to spread the gospel within the Catholic church at this time with Augustinian monks particularly active. Furthermore, preaching could take place out with formal church buildings in fields and churchyards. Some preachers who advocated reform encouraged their listeners to become militant and disrupt traditional Catholic services. Luther’s ideas and this wider momentum for church reform appealed to a cross section of society. Even whole town councils such as the council in Nuremberg advocated reform throughout the whole city. People from all backgrounds could gather and listen to sermons preached by reformers.[8]  

The Lutheran reformation spread throughout the Holy Roman Empire and to other countries including:

Switzerland (initially, but overtaken by Calvinism, see below), Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Livonia (part of modern-day Latvia), parts of Poland especially those parts with a German population, Bohemia, Movaria, Hungary, Transylvania, Austria (but by 1618 the vast majority had converted back to Catholicism), Slovenia, Croatia, Prussia.[9] 

Jean Calvin, Predestination and Cross-National Fellowship

Jean Calvin was born in Noyon in Picardy on 10 July 1509 and came from a middle-class background as his father held several important offices in the area. The prominence of Calvin in Geneva in later years was due to his extensive education and his ability to passionately communicate his political and religious ideals. Calvin’s education began at the College of Capettes in Noyon where he began his education in Latin. In 1523 he went to the University of Paris where he found himself under the tutelage of Maturin Cordier. Cordier was a devoted humanist and instilled in Calvin a love of Latin and the Classics. However, in 1534 Cordier had to leave Paris for Geneva, but Calvin remained in contact with his tutor for the rest of his days. In 1528 Calvin went to study law at the University of Orleans where he learned about the relationship between the law, politics and the church. Calvin then enrolled into the University of Bourges where he was influenced by Italian humanist Andrea Alicianti. This university education was instrumental in shaping the relationship between the church and the city state of Geneva in the 1540s.[10]

In 1531 around the death of his father Calvin experienced what he later described as his ‘conversion’. For Calvin this was a time of discovery, self-reflection and truth as he moved away from the Catholic Church and towards Protestantism. Like Martin Luther before him he came to believe that there was no biblical evidence that justified the existence of the Papacy and that the Word of God, the Bible, was the ultimate source of knowledge about the will of God.[11]

Yet there were sharp differences between Calvin and Luther, and the forms of Protestantism that bear their names Calvinism and Lutheranism.

In addition to the above Calvinism believes that:

- All human actions and events are predestined, that God is all knowing and all seeing. God has pre-organised and prearranged human actions and events at a microcosmic level. It is best summed up in a Scottish phrase ‘What’s before you, won’t go by you.’ In other words, God has a destiny for every human to fulfil.  These predestined events and actions are often referred to as ‘God’s providence’ by Calvinists.

- Salvation is only for the ‘elect’; that is salvation is only guaranteed for those who fulfil God’s will on earth. Only a minority of human beings are predestined to be a member of the ‘elect’.

- To become a member of the elect the individual must go through a conversion process whereby they recognise the errors of their ways and henceforth dedicate themselves to fulfilling God’s will as a member of the elect.[12]

By the 1540s these beliefs were present throughout all sections of Genevan society. Calvin had first arrived in Geneva in 1536. Before Calvin’s arrival Geneva was aware of its perilous economic and political situation and had a determination to preserve its independence as a city state from outside actors so sought an alliance with the Swiss Confederation.  As part of this process Geneva made significant changes in line with the emerging Protestant reformation including:

- Official documents were to be written in the vernacular French rather than Latin.

- Printing was overseen and controlled.

- A board of audit was created to oversee the spending of public funds.

- There was an extension of the reach of the judiciary

- Catholic church lands were transferred to the city authorities and local nobles.

- Parish priests were forced to disavow the Catholic church and adapt to the new Christian religion.[13]  

After a brief exile preaching in Strasbourg Calvin returned to Geneva in 1541. He declared to the city authorities that there was a new way forward for the Genevan church and insisted that the city needed its own written constitution. He offered his services to write the constitution. It is here that Calvin’s extensive knowledge and learning marked him  apart from all his contemporaries in Geneva. Indeed, Calvin’s sermons were popular throughout the city and as such he was appointed to the task.[14]

But what was like to live in Calvin’s Geneva?  William Monter’s classic description gives a first impression:

‘The enforcement of God’s and man’s law in Calvin’s Geneva is something of a mystery. The city had no true police. As in a totalitarian state, every man was encouraged to report his neighbors unorthodox behaviour but the neigbbor was not put to the torture or even fined, except in the most serious cases. Genevan authorities could rely on the public fear of scandals to ensure that most of the laws were kept most of the time’.[15]

He continues:

‘it was primarily the fear of bringing down the wrath of God upon their city which prompted many lesser Genevans to report their neighbors faults to the ecclesiastical authorities; the authorities in turn had been instituted to admonish rather than to punish the guilty’.[16] 

Calvinism spread throughout Europe from the mid-sixteenth century onwards and had an enormous impact on events and even changed the map Europe over the next century.

Countries that leaned towards Calvinism during the early modern period include:

- The Swiss Confederation.

- Parts of northern Germany that border the Netherlands.

- The Palatinate (South-West Germany).

-  Scotland.

-  United Provinces (modern day Dutch Netherlands).

- While France which was predominately Catholic there was a Protestant Calvinist minority known as Huguenots.

- Within England there was a Calvinist minority known as Puritans.

- In Ireland by the early 17^th century Scottish immigrants had settled on the plantations in Ulster. The many of these Scottish settlers were Presbyterian. i.e. Calvinist.

- There were also Calvinists in Poland and Hungary.

- In the early to mid-17^th century English Puritans and the Dutch establish settlements in North America and parts of the Caribbean.

- The Dutch colonise parts of the Far East and take their Calvinism with them.[17]  

The Henrician ‘Reformation’: A Church ‘Hafly-Reformed’.

Compared to Lutheranism and Calvinism the English Reformation under Henry VIII stands in stark contrast. Indeed, there are debates amongst historians whether there was a reformation (as understood within a wider European context) at all.

The roots of the English Reformation lie in Henry VIIIs need for Papal approval for a divorce from his first wife Katherine of Aragon. Yet, this need to a divorce did not just stem from his love for Anne Boleyn but a need to secure his dynasty with a male heir. This deep insecurity stemmed from his awareness of the Wars of the Roses which had torn England apart in the fifteenth century. To ensure national stability and a smooth succession Henry VIII was desperate for a male heir to secure his dynasty. Katherine of Aragon to whom he had been married for twenty-four years could no longer fulfil this need. Henry VIII was not just looking for a younger and fresher model in Anne Boleyn but there were more concrete and practical reasons behind his actions.

There were deep-seated doubts behind this move. Henry VIII had also been influenced by the new trends in humanism, particularly his close reading of the Bible. Whilst consulting the Bible on marriage he discovered that the scriptures forbade any marriage between a dead brother’s wife and another brother. This is what Henry VIII had done when he married Katherine of Aragon in 1509. Katherine of Aragon had been the wife of his eldest brother Arthur until Arthur’s death. Indeed, Henry VIII had to gain a Papal dispensation to marry Katherine of Aragon in 1509. After reading the Bible and its laws on marriage Henry VIII had sincere doubts about his actions. Having gained a Papal dispensation to marry Katherine of Aragon he thought that he could approach the Papacy for a divorce.[18]

As Richard Rex states ‘it can scarcely be denied that had Pope Clement VII agreed to annul the marriage the Act of Supremacy would not have been needed’.[19] Indeed, the Act of Supremacy which made King Henry VIII the Head of the Church of England only came into being because the Papacy denied him a divorce from Katherine of Aragon. This stands in sharp contrast with Lutheranism and Calvinism which were both movements from below which sought genuine church reform based on the Word of God. In contrast, Henry VIII broke from Rome out of political concerns, not religious reform and this is instrumental in understanding the English reformation that followed. It was imposed from above as it sought to fulfil the King’s ambitions. 

The first major act of the English Reformation was the Act of Supremacy which made Henry VIII the head of the Church of England and not the Pope. Horror at Henry’s actions were expressed by English contemporaries at the time and as we know from a previous newsletter Thomas More paid the ultimate price due to his unswerving loyalty to Rome. Even Protestant reformers such as John Calvin were appalled at Henry’s actions viewing them as motivated by personal interest rather than a true devotion to God. Henry used the printing presses to massage public opinion and drew upon several academic and humanist scholars to argue his case. One of these pamphlets we have already come across in newsletter no 3. A glasse of the truth. It is also worth noting that concepts about power in ancient Rome were drawn upon to build the King’s case. A key figure in this process was Thomas Cromwell who after the fall of More became the preeminent adviser to Henry VIII. Cromwell devised an oath that required the swearer to recognise the annulment of the marriage of Katherine of Aragon. This was followed by a Treason Act which made it treason not to recognise Henry VIII’s supremacy over the church.[20]

Cromwell also drove through other changes that were designed to bolster the King’s position as Head of the Church of England including:

- Prayers for the Pope were banned.

- Catholic Mass was prohibited.

- Preachers were ordered to recognise and promote Henry’s position as Head of the Church of England.

- Church property, land and associated wealth was transferred away from Rome to the English State.

- The monasteries in England were dissolved and all their wealth was transferred to the English State.

- The saints were no longer venerated, and their relics were destroyed.

-  The English Calendar that observed saints’ days, Catholic Mass and seasons disappeared.

- Preaching sermons were prioritised in church services resulting in an oral dissemination of the scriptures replacing a ceremonial and visual approach to Christian doctrine.

- The Word of God (the Bible) becomes central to religious worship and not Catholic Mass.[21]

Despite fulfilling the King’s wishes Thomas Cromwell fell from power in 1540. Henry VIII died in 1547. Yet the English Reformation continued to evolve throughout the reigns of Edward VI and Elizabeth I. Due to the nature of the emergence of the English Reformation it fractured the Catholic unity of England into three parts.[22] Most English people accepted the new church and became known as Anglicans. 

However, given that the Reformation had been largely driven by Henry VIIIs own wishes rather than genuine religious reform driven by the Word of God as found on the European continent, there were those who sought a more reformed church as found in the Holy Roman Empire and in Geneva. In the early stages of the Reformation these people were called Lollards, however, by the later sixteenth and the early seventeenth centuries they were known as Puritans and looked towards Calvin’s Geneva as an ideal model for a fully reformed church.[23]

There were still Catholics who retained loyalty to the Pope and the Catholic church, and they became known as Recusants. Until the nineteenth century Catholics often had to practice their religion in secret because to practice Catholic Mass in England became an act of treason punishable by death.[24]  One factor that sustained their faith was that they were part of an international community of believers and that the Catholic church was actively pushing back against Protestantism.

Countries impacted by the Henrician Reformation include England (Anglicanism), Ireland (Church of Ireland) and Scotland (Episcopacy). During the 17^th century Anglicans settled in the American Colonies and the Caribbean.

The Catholic Reformation

In recent years a debate has raged amongst historians of Catholicism about what to call the history of the Catholic faith and its institutions during the early modern period. In the literature you will see various terms such as Catholic Counter-Reformation, Tridentine Catholicism and Early Modern Catholicism and broadly speaking they all mean the same, Catholicism c.1500-1750. Historians now agree that the term ‘Catholic Counter-Reformation’ distorts the history of the Catholic Church during the early modern period because it wrongly assumes that religious reformation in the Catholic church was a direct response to the emergence of Protestantism in the sixteenth century. It is now widely acknowledged that the Catholic church had attempted reforms before the emergence of Protestantism and some of these reforms continued throughout the early modern period. Therefore, the history of Catholic reformation in the early modern period is more than just a reaction to Protestantism. For example, Rome had already started to bolster the Papacy’s standing, the Papacy worked with reformers such as Nicolas De Cusa, councils for reform had been established such as the Lateran Councils.[25]  

The Catholic Reformation was global in its scope because of the territorial expansion and colonialism of Spain and Portugal in the New World, in Africa, and parts of Asia. Catholic missionaries, especially the Jesuits were eager to promote a reformed Catholicism to peoples where Christianity was not established. Therefore, the Catholic Reformation was not just about Protestantism. During the early modern period you could find Catholic missionaries in the Philippines, Japan, China, Mexico, Peru, Paraguay, the Congo in Africa. Catholicism made inroads into New France (Canada). It was a triumph for a restrengthened Papacy who could promote Catholicism as the global universal church.[26]

How did the Catholic Church manage to achieve this? 

Reform in the Catholic church was driven by the work of the Council of Trent. Simon Ditchfield comments:

‘the council was not a single event but an unfolding discontinuous process which took place over the reigns of five popes, four kings of France and two Holy Roman Emperors’.[27]

The Council met:

December 1545-March 1547 (at Trent).

April 1547-January 1548 (in Bologna).

May 1551-April 1552 (Trent).

January 1562-December 1563 (Trent).[28] 

The Council stated and instituted the following:

- People were saved by faith through the death of Jesus Christ and good works are essential for salvation.

- Mass should be celebrated with real meaning and genuine faith in God.

- A reform of the Missal and Breviary.

- Music and singing in religious worship should rid itself of secular impurities.

- Widespread foundation of seminaries for educating the clergy.

- A better selection process for candidates of the clergy by seeking out those with good morals and standing.

- The ceremonial rites of the Catholic church are as equal to the Bible in importance. Ceremonial rites were handed down by the Apostles. This directly challenged Luther’s view that the Bible was the sole and ultimate authority on Christian religious practice.

- Approval of an official cannon of books in the Bible.

- Priests were to preach on Sundays and Feast Days.

- Penance and Holy Communion remained important sacraments; indeed, they officially declared to recognise the following, Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Communion (Lord’s Supper), Penance (Confession), Extreme Unction, Holy Orders and Matrimony.[29]

Within Europe Catholic Reformation was promoted in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and parts of the Holy Roman Empire. In Ireland there was a Catholic majority and Catholicism was still present in parts of the Scottish Highlands.[30]

Sovereignty: Resistance or Absolutism?

One key aspect of the early modern world that derived from Humanism was the emergence of political thought drawn from classical, legal and biblical sources. Many works of political thought in the early modern period are also reflective of the time within which the work is written. We have already come across the first major work of political thought in the early modern period, Machiavelli’s The Prince (see newsletter no.4) where he reflecting on power and human nature.

A reoccurring theme in the early modern period is the nature of government. There were many works throughout the early modern period that conceptualised and idealised good governance by a sovereign whether that be by a king or a republic.  

However, with the outbreak of the French Religious Wars in the second half of the sixteenth century political theory took a different turn. This resulted into two contrasting camps:

- Calvinist theories of resistance and

- Absolutism

Calvinist Theories of Resistance  

In the early years of the French Wars of Religion French Calvinist Protestants known as Huguenots continued to swear loyalty to the French crown believing that one day the French monarchy would convert to Protestantism. However, in 1572 there was a massacre of thousands of Protestants in Paris at the hands of Catholics, known to posterity as the St Bartholomew’s Day massacre. The most shocking part of this event was not just the violence but the fact that this massacre was sanctioned by the crown itself.  French Protestants now had a serious problem. It was clear that the Crown was not going to protect them as subjects of the kingdom of France and even worse, the Crown actively wanted to kill them. French Protestants had to think about their survival and to justify ‘resisting’ the Crown’s punitive policies just to stay alive.[31]

The Huguenots could not just take up arms and do as they wished, even in a civil war such as the French Wars of Religion, they had to think deeply about their actions and whether these actions were permissible under divine law, natural law and whether they could actively disobey civil law. There were several tracts written for and by French Protestants on this subject but the most influential was Theodore Beza’s Du Droit des Magistrates [Of the Right of Magistrates] which set out ‘rules of engagement’ regarding the French Huguenots right to resist the French Crown in a time of civil war.

In this book Beza advises the following:

- God must be always obeyed and even when human authorities contradict divine law. Follow God’s law even if you are punished for doing so and even if it results in martyrdom.

- Resistance must be a collective action against the sovereign.

- Individuals cannot resist the monarch alone and can only participate in passive negative behaviours, even if a legitimate ruler becomes a tyrant.

- If a tyrant embarks upon an illegal invasion of a country the tyrant can be resisted without any legal restraints and can even be assassinated by private individuals.

- Governance throughout the state is contractual. Kings are limited by divine law, natural law and the expectation that they will govern in the interests of the community. The ruler has entered into a contract with his people and the magistrates when he took his oath of office. If the ruler violates this oath of office the contract between the sovereign and his people is broken. In this context Beza is alluding to the lack of security and safety that French Huguenots felt under the crown. Therefore, sovereignty is not just situated in the Crown but shared between subjects and the sovereign. 

- The magistrates have a responsibility to uphold the law and to ensure that the Crown’s obligations under oath are upheld. If the sovereign violates this oath of office the magistrates have a duty to disregard the sovereign’s will and resist for the safety of the people.[32]  

This theory of contractual governance between a sovereign and their people and their right to resist should that contract be broken played a major part in fueling the conflicts of the sixteenth and seventeenth century. In particular, the French Wars of Religion, the Revolt of the Netherlands against Hapsburg rule (Eighty Years War) and the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, particularly Scotland under the Covenanters.  These countries at the time of these conflicts were Calvinist.

Bodin and the Absolutism

After the St Bartholomew’s Day massacre in 1572 another work appeared which took an opposite approach to the Calvinist theories of resistance and advocated indivisible sovereignty to ensure political stability. Six Livres de La Republique was published in 1576 and was primarily a work on public law. Its author Jean Bodin was a legal scholar who had failed to obtain an academic post at the University of Toulouse but continued his grand plan for a comparative analysis of the nature of sovereignty across various nations including France, England and Spain. He compared the powers of contemporary rulers with ancient Roman imperial emperors following humanist methods of enquiry. The work evolved into a treatise on the location and nature of sovereignty within a state and is known for is advocation of indivisible sovereignty, otherwise known as absolutism as the best form of government. 

 In this respect Bodin argues:

- Sovereignty is not shared across political institutions, society and the Crown but resides in the monarchy or an oligarchy of rulers.

- Magistrates did not share sovereignty with crown nor had a responsibility to oversee the actions and power of the Crown. Magistrates power derived from the power of the Crown and its was only through the Crown that the magistrate could act.

- The unity of the legal system predisposes the state to having a single ruler or single ruling group. 

- Without a single ruler there will be anarchy.

- If Crown and society had shared sovereignty they would come into conflict with each other.

- The sovereign’s power should never be restrained by independent actors within the state.  The sovereign is not to be restrained by earthly authorities as the sovereign is God’s lieutenant upon earth.  

- The sovereign’s power is not limitless as the sovereign cannot change long established law and custom without the consent of ruling assemblies.  

- The sovereign must always respect private law especially a private individual’s right to enjoy their own property.

- The sovereign has to honour God and ensure the pastoral well-being of the Commonwealth.

- The sovereign is never allowed to violate the laws of nature and divine law and if they do so, they will be answerable to God for their actions.

- The right of resistance is a recipe for anarchy and conflict.[33]

This idea of indivisible sovereignty became celebrated in legal circles for almost half a century. After the devasting European and British wars of the mid-seventeenth century many countries gravitated towards indivisible sovereignty and absolutism including France, Austrian Hapsburgs, Spain, Prussia, Denmark-Norway, Sweden and Russia.[34] 

 The Printing Press: A Revolution in Communication?

In 1440 in Mainz in Germany Johannes Gutenberg constructed a printing press that shaped the world for centuries to come. Indeed, the emergence of the printing press is one of the defining characteristics of the early modern period that distinguishes it from earlier times. So profound was the impact, that its influence can be seen in all the foundations of the early modern Europe we have discussed so far, humanism, renaissance, dynastic unions, reformations and political thought. Yet we must remember that older forms of communication such as manuscripts, hand drawn illustrations, written letters, preaching sermons continued and sat alongside the printing press throughout the period.

In her seminal work ‘The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe’ Elizabeth Eisenstein analyses how the printing press changed Europe and carefully evaluates its impact on events over the next two centuries. What is certain is the speed with which the printing press took hold in Europe. From the initial Gutenberg press founded in Mainz in 1440, by 1500 there were printing presses in every major urban centre in Europe. The press had a significant impact on the way Europeans published books which up until that point were written by highly trained scribes.  

Eisenstein outlines how the printing press revolutionised the production of books in the early modern period:

- The printing press reduced the number of hours needed to create books.

- You could publish multiple duplicate copies of the same work quickly and easily.

- Due to the volume of duplicates this resulted in more books surviving through the centuries.

- Printed books were cheaper to produce than their handwritten manuscript counterparts.

- The printing press resulted in the emergence of a book trade that remained profitable throughout the early modern period.

- Corrections lists or errata lists could easily and cheaply be added to books to correct errors after publication.

- The same image could be reproduced multiple times and could be viewed by all readers. Scribes could rarely produce identical images.

- A structured and constant chain of production was created that could easily publish books.

- Authors works could now be read far and wide crossing national borders. 

- Books could now be afforded by all sections of literate societies, not just the wealthy.

- Europe transformed into s society dominated by image and ceremony to a society dominated by words.

- Readers could own multiple books and cross reference ideas found in each book.

- It opened people’s horizons as they could see detailed images of places, they would never be able to visit.

- Multiple languages and fonts could be easily published within a single printed work. 

- The printing press also significantly changed how books were organised with tables of contents, chronological tables, running heads, section breaks and indexes.[35]  

Let’s briefly reflect on the impact of the printing press on the foundations already discussed:

Humanism

Printing accelerated and greatly assisted the standardisation of classical texts. These standardised texts could be distributed far and wide. These texts could be used by students, academics and even those who refused to accept appointments at universities. It enabled the growth and development of knowledge through intellectual collaboration and criticism as books could be printed and distributed cheaply. New approaches and ideas spread from Italy throughout Europe. However, we must also recognise the importance of handwritten manuscripts in knowledge exchange too. Indeed, printers eagerly printed manuscripts and conversely scholars would turn printed books into manuscripts to distribute to select audiences. [36]

Renaissance

Although hand drawn illustrations were still popular the printing press allowed for images to be produced in much more detail using woodcuts and engravings. Scientific and architectural literature greatly benefited as drawings could clearly display technical aspects of new inventions, ideas, places, architecture and astronomical calculations.[37]

Dynastic Unions

The printing press was a double-edged sword in a composite monarchy. If used correctly the monarch could use the press to actively promote their standing in nations where the monarch was absent. However, the use of the printing press used in the wrong way by a monarch could destabilise the delicate balance within the dynastic union and plunge the country into civil war, for example, King Charles I and the revolt over the Scottish Prayer Book in 1637 which led to the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.[38]

Reformations

Preaching was detrimental to the religious reformations of the sixteenth century but the Word of God took centre stage. Authorised and standardised printed Protestant Bibles were distributed throughout Europe. Martin Luther, Jean Calvin and Henry VIII actively used the printing press to promote new theologies and approaches to religion. The Council of Trent also used to press to ensure the standardisation of practice throughout Catholic dioceses across Europe and to actively promote the Catholic faith through the publication of a Breviary, a book of prayers and readings for the clergy.[39]

Debates on Political Theory

Authors such as Beza and Bodin could write their treatises and give their handwritten manuscripts to a team of professionals, such as copyists, correctors, typesetters and printers who would publish their books on their behalf. There was an element of independence and lack of oversight in this process which allowed individuals from all walks of life to express themselves in the printed word and distribute their works to a wide audience.[40] 

What other ‘foundations’ of the early modern world can you think of? If you are reading this newsletter on the web please leave a comment below or you can email me at [email protected]

[1] Oxford English Dictionary ‘Reformation 3a’ https://www.oed.com/dictionary/reformation_n1?tab=meaning_and_use#26141387 Date accessed 07/02/2025.

[2] Diarmaid MacCulloch, Reformation: Europe’s House Divided 1490-1700 (London, 2024) is the best all-encompassing survey of Europe’s religious reformations. 

[3] Martin Brecht, ‘Luther’s Reformation’ in Thomas A. Brady Jr, Heiko A. Oberman, James D. Tracey eds, Handbook of European History 1400-1600: Late Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation Volume II: Visions, Programs and Outcomes (Leiden, 1995) 129-131;Rob Sorenson, Martin Luther and the German Reformation (London, 2016) 27-36; Thomas Kaufman, A Short Life of Martin Luther (Michigan, 2016); Julius Kostlin, The Life of Martin Luther (Porirua, 2024); Richard Marius, Martin Luther: The Christian Between God and Death (Cambridge Mass; 1999).

[4] R.W. Scribner and C. Scott Dixon, The German Reformation (Basingstoke, 2003) 13-16; Sorenson, Martin Luther 100-109; Bernhard Lohse, Martin Luther’s Theology: Its Historical and Systematic Development (Augsburg, 1999); Timothy J Wengert, Reading the Bible with Luther: An Introductory Guide (Grand Rapids MI, 2013).

[5] Scribner and Dixon, The German Reformation 13-16.

[6] Brecht, ‘Luther’s Reformation’ 131-134; Richard Rex, The Making of Martin Luther (Princeton, 2017) 135-158.

[7] Brecht, ‘Luther’s Reformation’ 134 ; Rex, The Making of Martin Luther 159-183; Jack D Kilcrease and Erwin W. Lutzer eds, Martin Luther in His Own Words (Grand Rapids MI, 2017)  See Chapter 5 ‘The Doctrines of Men That Are To Be Rejected’.

[8] Scribner and Dixon, The German Reformation 20-30.

[9][9] Brecht, ‘Luther’s Reformation’ 146-148.

[10] Michael Mullett, John Calvin (Abingdon, 2011) 2-11; Bruce Gordon, Calvin (New Haven, 2011) Loc 178-556  [Kindle].

[11]Gordon, Calvin Loc 840 -Loc 862 [Kindle]

[12] Gordon, Calvin Loc 186, 199; Jacquelene Hudgens, All About Calvinism (Delhi, 2014) 14.

[13] E. William Monter, Calvin’s Geneva (Eugene OR, 2012) 29-43, 48, 65. The essential classic text on Calvin’s Geneva.

[14] Monter, Calvin’s Geneva 71-72, 99-100.

[15] Monter, Calvin’s Geneva 101.

[16] Monter, Calvin’s Geneva 101.

[17] Robert N. Kingdon, ‘International Calvinism’ in Thomas A.Brady Jr, Heiko A. Oberman and James D. Tracey eds., Handbook of European History 1400-1600 Late Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation. Volume II: Visions, Programs and Outcomes (Leiden, 1995) 229-245; Alan Taylor, American Colonies: The Settling of North America (London, 2001) 158-186, 245-272;Jonathan Bardon, The Plantation of Ulster (Dublin, 2012) 142-189; Jonathan I. Israel, The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness and Fall 1477-1806 (Oxford, 1995) 318-327.

[18] Alex Rynie, The English Reformation: A Brief History (London, 2020) 26-27; Richard Rex, Henry VIII and the English Reformation (London, 2006) 20.

[19] Rex Henry VIII and the English Reformation 18-19.

[20] Rex Henry VIII and the English Reformation 10-15; Rynie, The English Reformation 28-29; Peter Marshall, Heretics and Believers: A History of the English Reformation (New Haven, 2017) 307-321.

[21] Rynie, The English Reformation 27, 29-31.; Joyce Youings, The Dissolution of the Monasteries (Abingdon, 2021); James G Clark, The Dissolution of the Monasteries: A New History (New Haven, 2021); Eamon Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England c.1400-1580 (New Haven, 1992) 733-828; Marshall, Heretics and Believers 305-307, 321-340.

[22] Rynie, The English Reformation 31; Eamon Duffy, Reformation Divided: Catholics, Protestants and the Conversion of England (London, 2017).

[23] Patrick Collinson, The Elizabethan Puritan Movement (London, 1982). The classic text on English Calvinism. One of my personal favourites.

[24] Alan Dures, English Catholicism 1558-1642: Continuity and Change (London, 1983). Best entry point for the subject.  

[25] Michael A. Mullett, The Catholic Reformation (Abingdon, 1999) 15-38;John H Arnold ‘Catholic Reformations: A Medieval Perspective’  Alexandra Bamji and Geert H. Janssen and Mary Laven eds., The Ashgate Research Companion to the Counter Reformation (Oxford, 2024).419-434.Robert Bireley, The Refashioning of Catholicism (London, 1999) 8, 21-22.

[26] Simon Ditchfield, ‘Catholic Reformation and Renewal’ in Peter Marshall ed, The Oxford History of the Reformation (Oxford, 2015) 192-200; Karen Melvin, ‘The Globalisation of Reform’ in Bamij, Janssen and Laven eds, The Ashgate Research Companion to the Counter Reformation 435-449; Karen Valez, ‘Catholic Missions to the Americas’ in Bamij, Janssen and Laven eds, The Ashgate Research Companion to the Counter Reformation 147-162;Tara Alberts, ‘Catholic Missions to Asia’ in Bamij, Janssen and Laven eds, The Ashgate Research Companion to the Counter Reformation 127-146.

[27] Ditchfield, ‘Catholic Reformation and Renewal’ in Marshall ed, The Oxford History of the Reformation 212.

[28] Ditchfield, ‘Catholic Reformation and Renewal’ in Marshall ed, The Oxford History of the Reformation 212.

[29] Mullett, The Catholic Reformation 63-93.

[30]Richard Mackenney, Sixteenth Century Europe: Expansion and Conflict (Basingstoke, 1993) 196. An excellent map showing the counties in Europe that were Catholic, Lutheran and Calvinist c.1560; John Bossy, ‘The Counter-Reformation and the People of Ireland 1596-1641’ in Historical Studies viii (1971) 155-169; F.A. MacDonald, Missions to the Gaels (East Linton, 2006). The definitive work on the Catholic Reformation in the Scottish Highlands.

[31] Robert M Kingdon, ‘Calvinism and Ressistance Theory’ in J.H. Burns ed, The Cambridge History of Political Thought 1450-1700 (Cambridge, 1991) 206-207; J.W. Allen, A History of Political Thought in the Sixteenth Century (Abingdon, 1928) 315.

[32] Kingdon ‘Calvinist Resistance Theory’ in Burns ed, Cambridge History of Political Thought 209-210; Janine Garrisson, A History of Sixteenth Century France 1483-1598: Renaissance, Reformation and Rebellion (London, 1995) 292-293; R J Knecht, The French Civil War 1562-1598 (London, 2000) 167; Allen, A History of Political Thought in the Sixteenth Century 308, 316, 322.

[33] Jullian H. Franklin, ‘Sovereignty and the Mixed Constitution: Bodin and His Critics’ in J.H. Burns ed., The Cambridge History of Political Thought 1450-1700 (Cambridge, 1991) 298-309; Sophie Nicholls, Political Thought in the French Wars of Religion (Cambridge, 2021) 167-173.

[34] Anthony Upton, Europe 1600-1789 (London, 2001) 119-141, 156-174.

[35] Elizabeth L. Eisenstein, The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge, 2005) 13-96.

[36] Eisenstein, The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe 6; Charles G Nauert, Humanism and the Culture of Renaissance Europe (Cambridge, 2013) 38, 40, 46, 55, 61-62; Brian Richardson. Manuscript Culture in Renaissance Italy (Cambridge, 2009).

[37] Eisenstein, The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe 24-25, 65, 84; Paula Findlen, ‘The Renaissance of Science’ in Gordon Campbell ed, The Oxford History of the Renaissance (Oxford, 2023) 400, 402, 404.  

[38] Glenn Richardson, Renaissance Monarchy: The Reigns of Henry VIII, Francis I and Charles V (London, 2002) 45-46; Martyn Bennett, The Civil Wars in Britain & Ireland 1638-1651 (Oxford, 1998) 27-31.

[39] Sorensen, Martin Luther and the German Reformation 155; Monter, Calvin’s Geneva 178-183; J. Christopher Warner, Henry VIIIs Divorce: Literature and Politics of the Printing Press (Woodbridge, 1998); Mullet, The Catholic Reformation 212.

[40] Eisenstein, The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe 26.