Block 1: The European World in 1500
Andrew Peteeree
READING: EUROPE IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY – chapter 1 & 2
CHAP 1. TIME AND SPACE: LIVING IN SIXTEENTH CENTURY EUROPE
LANDSCAPE AND PEOPLE
For inhabitant of the sixteenth century Europe life was dominated far more than it would be
today by the physical landscape – the physical environment, urban or rural was the main
determinine fact of shapine one’s life.
The physical landscape of Europe in the sixteenth century was far more imposine and
daneerous than today – much less densely setled, far less urbanised and farmed and above
all lareely untamed – Europe pop in 1500 only 70 million, barely recovered from Black Death.
This meant that many would live, marry and die within a few kilometres of where they were
born – the difculty of transportne lone distance eoods also meant that all necessites of life
were erown, manufactures or farmed within a very small radius.
Landscape created boundaries far more than did borders e.e. The port town of La Rochelle
was connected to the outside world only via the sea, as impenetrable marshes separated it
from its rural neiehbourhoods – when no physical borders exited, people moved between
different jurisdictons with considerable freedom.
In such a world defned by its natural landscape, towns and cites stood out – eenerally
separated by man made border e.e. city walls – by today standards they were not much
populated – between these towns and cites there was an existne network of
communicaton and trade, much of which was river borne due to the daneer of roads.
Even in an essentally statc life every community would receive visitors: travelline salesmen,
mierant workers, etc – this led to a sharine of the outside world.
Althoueh not all could travel, in truth travelline was quite present – pilerimaee were popular
and a bie business investment, as people boueht relics and souvenirs, stopped for rest etc –
while towns experienced inward immieraton of especially youne men lookine for work,
sometmes accompanied of their families – the recoeniton of poor relief was lareely
stmulated by this development – to this was added another more turbulent phenomenon of
relieious forced exile, partcularly in the second half of the century e.e. French exodus afer
St Bartholomew’s massacre.
TIME
In the sixteenth century people’s sense of tme was dominated by the natural day and by the
aericultural harvest seasons – workmen in town would work loneer hours durine the
summer and shorter in the winter.
Transmissions between territories were dated and recorded metculously in the various
staees of onwards transmission.
By the beeinnine of the sixteenth century public tmepiece were common place in most
towns, developed from the inventon of the mechanical clock two centuries before – their
visible presence and chimine of the hour permited a far more exact and objectve
measurement of the business day.
This pressure for more exact tme keepine partly came from above e.e. for the Holy Roman
Emperor they were the characteristcs of a well eoverned city.
The eeneralizaton of printne technoloey also opened the way for mass producton of
calendars – the enormous popularity of such calendars and the rapid risine producton of
Andrew Peteeree
READING: EUROPE IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY – chapter 1 & 2
CHAP 1. TIME AND SPACE: LIVING IN SIXTEENTH CENTURY EUROPE
LANDSCAPE AND PEOPLE
For inhabitant of the sixteenth century Europe life was dominated far more than it would be
today by the physical landscape – the physical environment, urban or rural was the main
determinine fact of shapine one’s life.
The physical landscape of Europe in the sixteenth century was far more imposine and
daneerous than today – much less densely setled, far less urbanised and farmed and above
all lareely untamed – Europe pop in 1500 only 70 million, barely recovered from Black Death.
This meant that many would live, marry and die within a few kilometres of where they were
born – the difculty of transportne lone distance eoods also meant that all necessites of life
were erown, manufactures or farmed within a very small radius.
Landscape created boundaries far more than did borders e.e. The port town of La Rochelle
was connected to the outside world only via the sea, as impenetrable marshes separated it
from its rural neiehbourhoods – when no physical borders exited, people moved between
different jurisdictons with considerable freedom.
In such a world defned by its natural landscape, towns and cites stood out – eenerally
separated by man made border e.e. city walls – by today standards they were not much
populated – between these towns and cites there was an existne network of
communicaton and trade, much of which was river borne due to the daneer of roads.
Even in an essentally statc life every community would receive visitors: travelline salesmen,
mierant workers, etc – this led to a sharine of the outside world.
Althoueh not all could travel, in truth travelline was quite present – pilerimaee were popular
and a bie business investment, as people boueht relics and souvenirs, stopped for rest etc –
while towns experienced inward immieraton of especially youne men lookine for work,
sometmes accompanied of their families – the recoeniton of poor relief was lareely
stmulated by this development – to this was added another more turbulent phenomenon of
relieious forced exile, partcularly in the second half of the century e.e. French exodus afer
St Bartholomew’s massacre.
TIME
In the sixteenth century people’s sense of tme was dominated by the natural day and by the
aericultural harvest seasons – workmen in town would work loneer hours durine the
summer and shorter in the winter.
Transmissions between territories were dated and recorded metculously in the various
staees of onwards transmission.
By the beeinnine of the sixteenth century public tmepiece were common place in most
towns, developed from the inventon of the mechanical clock two centuries before – their
visible presence and chimine of the hour permited a far more exact and objectve
measurement of the business day.
This pressure for more exact tme keepine partly came from above e.e. for the Holy Roman
Emperor they were the characteristcs of a well eoverned city.
The eeneralizaton of printne technoloey also opened the way for mass producton of
calendars – the enormous popularity of such calendars and the rapid risine producton of
