Evolution of the Modern State and Mercantile Capitalism

The Dawn of the Early Modern Age

The Early Modern Age began in 1453 with the Fall of Constantinople and ended with the French Revolution in 1789. From the 15th century, it noticed a recovery because of several key factors:

• The increase in agricultural products: Conserving the three-field system, which consisted of cultivating only two pieces of land while one was left fallow.
• Intensified commercial activity: Because there was a surplus of food, people started selling it in city markets. Merchants and traders established new trade routes.
• The expansion of craftsmanship: These were controlled by guilds (associations of craftsmen). The domestic system was created because people started making products at home.
• New explorations: Due to new explorations, new products arrived in Europe.
• The development of mercantile capitalism: Money belonged to private owners who created trading companies.
• Providing loans: Bankers lent money in exchange for returning the same amount plus an additional cost. The Medici and the Fugger were the most important banking families. They played a vital role in the new system of mercantile capitalism.
• Creating new forms of payment: The bill of exchange was created. It is a document that guaranteed that the banker would pay a merchant.

Demographic and Social Changes

Economic prosperity resulted in an increase in the population and a decrease in the number of major epidemics; consequently, cities grew.

Social Hierarchy

• Privileged: The nobility and the clergy.
• Unprivileged: The peasants and the bourgeoisie (both upper and petite).

Some social groups protested, usually the peasants, though their revolts were suppressed.

The Rise of the Modern State

Monarchs had more resources and so they became more powerful and were able to reform the existing institutions and create new ones. Monarchs formed powerful armies of mercenaries and established a bureaucracy, which was composed of officials. They centralized power by creating new institutions to serve them, and the monarchs established a court or permanent seat for these new institutions.

The new political organization which emerged as a result of these reforms is called the Modern State.

Powerful Monarchies of the Era

The most powerful monarchies were:

• The Spanish: Isabel I de Castilla and Fernando II.
• The Portuguese.
• The French: Louis XI, Francis I, Charles V, and Henry IV.
• The English: Henry VIII.
• The Russian.