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Palgrave History of Europe
Seventeenth-Century Europe: State, Conflict and Social Order in Europe 1598-1700
This is a fully-revised edition of a well-established synthesis of the period from the Thirty Years War to the consolidation of absolute monarchy and the landowning society of the ancient régime. Thematically organized, the book covers all of Europe, from Britain and Scandinavia to Spain and Eastern Europe. Important new material has been added on the Ottomans, on Christian-Muslem contacts and on the role of women, and the text has been thoroughly updated to take account of recent research.
528 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 8, 2017
This is an important, of excellent quality, academically impeccable, and deeply researched textbook about the 17th century in Europe.
This book is thematically organized, with a strong focus on social and political structures and also on economic, religious, military, demographic and cultural developments. Aspects like social and geographic mobility, wealth distribution and taxation policies, domestic and international trading patterns, the relationship between the consolidating absolutist monarchies and the nobility, the evolution of farming techniques, pattern of ownership and tenure, are all treated with a deep level of detail and with careful attention to available primary sources (and, where available, actual quantitative information coming from sources such as state archives, private contracts, wills and parish records).
The attention to detail and the accuracy of approach and nuance of analysis are impressive and even occasionally overwhelming. This is a seriously researched book that never falls into generalisations nor over-simplifications: on the contrary, the author is always very diligent in highlighting areas where the available information is only partial and/or conflicting, and in stressing the peculiarities and unique developments within each geographical area and each state in Europe, including the Scandinavian countries, East Europe and Muscovy (as it was called in the West). Even within the Empire, the political and cultural diversity of the individual polities are highlighted by the author with accuracy and precision. The peculiar case of the United Provinces is also treated very well.
The seventeenth century can be considered, to some extent, as a transitional, conflictual and contradictory period between the two more expansive periods of the sixteenth century (with its religious debates, its overseas expansion, and significant economic growth), and of the eighteenth century (with the development of the Enlightenment phenomenon and the French Revolution).
Nevertheless, it is still an important period that saw the the first intellectual and scientific revolution of modern European history, the commercial re-orientation of trade flows towards the north-west, the consolidation of serfdom in eastern Europe and Muscovy, the English revolutions, the critically important Thirty Years War, the relative decline of Spain and the commercial success of the United Provinces and of England, and the changing nature of monarchical institutions in some of the most important European countries such as France.
This is the period where the power exercised by kings acquired, at least in some countries, some distinctive characteristics which historians generally tend to associate with term “absolutism”, with its focus on increasing centralisation of economic, military and political power. This centralisation was at least partially achieved by end of the century, even with the compromises and limitations due to the necessity to balance the vested interests of the nobility, the need to support drastic increases in the fiscal demands caused by the recurring wars and by the expanding role of the state, and the structural limitation of organisational institutions of the early modern state.
The so-called “taming of the elites” was necessarily a protracted development, achieved in different countries with different measures (from their harnessing to a partnership with the monarchy designed to serve mutual interest, to military suppression like in the case of the Frondes of the Princes) and with varying level of success (the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth being a striking case where the monarchy was particularly weak, with Muscovy being on the opposite side of the spectrum), but it did happen and it was a generally important development in many parts of Europe.
All the above aspects are treated with confidence, accuracy and very good level of detail by this stimulating and high-quality textbook.
It is important to highlight though that this book is thematically rather than chronologically organised, and it assumes some prior knowledge of the political chronology of the period. There is some chronological ordering, and a chapter is dedicated specifically to the Thirty Years War in the German lands; a very useful timeline is also provided, but this is not a book that would be very useful as a first introduction to this complex and controversial period of European history.
The only real issue with the book, apart from the occasionally overwhelming level of detail and the occasionally dry language, is represented by the infrequency and poor quality of the available maps, which is a real pity in this otherwise excellent and extremely informative book - a book that really manages to provide a nuanced, multi-dimensional, riveting perspective over this complex and often neglected period. A book that also brilliantly manages to condense, with efficiency and conciseness, a remarkable amount of detail and interesting information.
A well-deserved 4-star rating. I think that the 3.4 rating at the time of writing of my review does not reflect the overall quality and informative value of this book.
This book is thematically organized, with a strong focus on social and political structures and also on economic, religious, military, demographic and cultural developments. Aspects like social and geographic mobility, wealth distribution and taxation policies, domestic and international trading patterns, the relationship between the consolidating absolutist monarchies and the nobility, the evolution of farming techniques, pattern of ownership and tenure, are all treated with a deep level of detail and with careful attention to available primary sources (and, where available, actual quantitative information coming from sources such as state archives, private contracts, wills and parish records).
The attention to detail and the accuracy of approach and nuance of analysis are impressive and even occasionally overwhelming. This is a seriously researched book that never falls into generalisations nor over-simplifications: on the contrary, the author is always very diligent in highlighting areas where the available information is only partial and/or conflicting, and in stressing the peculiarities and unique developments within each geographical area and each state in Europe, including the Scandinavian countries, East Europe and Muscovy (as it was called in the West). Even within the Empire, the political and cultural diversity of the individual polities are highlighted by the author with accuracy and precision. The peculiar case of the United Provinces is also treated very well.
The seventeenth century can be considered, to some extent, as a transitional, conflictual and contradictory period between the two more expansive periods of the sixteenth century (with its religious debates, its overseas expansion, and significant economic growth), and of the eighteenth century (with the development of the Enlightenment phenomenon and the French Revolution).
Nevertheless, it is still an important period that saw the the first intellectual and scientific revolution of modern European history, the commercial re-orientation of trade flows towards the north-west, the consolidation of serfdom in eastern Europe and Muscovy, the English revolutions, the critically important Thirty Years War, the relative decline of Spain and the commercial success of the United Provinces and of England, and the changing nature of monarchical institutions in some of the most important European countries such as France.
This is the period where the power exercised by kings acquired, at least in some countries, some distinctive characteristics which historians generally tend to associate with term “absolutism”, with its focus on increasing centralisation of economic, military and political power. This centralisation was at least partially achieved by end of the century, even with the compromises and limitations due to the necessity to balance the vested interests of the nobility, the need to support drastic increases in the fiscal demands caused by the recurring wars and by the expanding role of the state, and the structural limitation of organisational institutions of the early modern state.
The so-called “taming of the elites” was necessarily a protracted development, achieved in different countries with different measures (from their harnessing to a partnership with the monarchy designed to serve mutual interest, to military suppression like in the case of the Frondes of the Princes) and with varying level of success (the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth being a striking case where the monarchy was particularly weak, with Muscovy being on the opposite side of the spectrum), but it did happen and it was a generally important development in many parts of Europe.
All the above aspects are treated with confidence, accuracy and very good level of detail by this stimulating and high-quality textbook.
It is important to highlight though that this book is thematically rather than chronologically organised, and it assumes some prior knowledge of the political chronology of the period. There is some chronological ordering, and a chapter is dedicated specifically to the Thirty Years War in the German lands; a very useful timeline is also provided, but this is not a book that would be very useful as a first introduction to this complex and controversial period of European history.
The only real issue with the book, apart from the occasionally overwhelming level of detail and the occasionally dry language, is represented by the infrequency and poor quality of the available maps, which is a real pity in this otherwise excellent and extremely informative book - a book that really manages to provide a nuanced, multi-dimensional, riveting perspective over this complex and often neglected period. A book that also brilliantly manages to condense, with efficiency and conciseness, a remarkable amount of detail and interesting information.
A well-deserved 4-star rating. I think that the 3.4 rating at the time of writing of my review does not reflect the overall quality and informative value of this book.
March 1, 2026
The most useful of the overviews I've read, not least because it contains a comparative chronology.
I am finding the comparative approach startling. Realising that Europe is *really* unstable in the middle of the 17th century is not how I was taught it (Thirty Years War over, all is peace, except over in England).
Date relates to the day I made my notes.
I am finding the comparative approach startling. Realising that Europe is *really* unstable in the middle of the 17th century is not how I was taught it (Thirty Years War over, all is peace, except over in England).
Date relates to the day I made my notes.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews