How Borders in Europe Changed During the Renaissance

 

        By 1650, European borders had changed dramatically compared to 1400.  In 1400, only a few states had similar political and religious borders as they did in 1650.  Though there were several outliers, the general trend in the Renaissance was a consolidation of scattered states into nation-states.  The idea of the state wasn’t even recognized until the Renaissance (Muir, 107), possibly because there were so many of them that they were taken for granted.  As nation-states developed, they required institutions and bureaucracies that reinforced their consolidation.  An expanded efficiency of commerce was one of the more robust reasons for this transformation (Muir, 108).  Another was the Protestant Reformation, which redefined religious boundaries as states sought alliances based on religious identity.

Few states had political borders that did not change during the Renaissance.  England was one of them (Traver, Emerging “Nation-States”), which can be attributed to at least two reasons.  One is that it was off the mainland; another is that it was the first country to split from the Catholic Church.  England did not seek many alliances because of its geography and its identity as a religious outcast. 

Spain and France on the other hand were much smaller in 1400 than they were in 1650.  Spain had actually been fragmented into four states, but by 1600 it could claim the entire Iberian Peninsula, including Portugal (Traver, Emerging “Nation-States”).  During this time, France expanded eastward into Italy after several invasions of it.  The expansion of France and Spain from 1400-1650 established borders in those countries that are fairly similar to today, since Spain lost the territory to Portugal that it had gained by 1650.  Religion may have played a role in the consolidation of these states, as both identified as Catholic, which was known for its expansionist tactics, like missionary activism.  Protestants were also known for this, but their numbers in the Mediterranean were too low to gather much influence.  It could be argued that the threat of Protestantism played a heavy role in the consolidation of these states, as allies who strengthened themselves against the Reformation had a better chance of maintaining their religious identity.

            Judging from the maps in the lecture (Traver, Emerging “Nation-States”), there were many other border changes in Europe that occurred during the Renaissance.  Outside of the three countries already mentioned, Scotland virtually maintained the same borders, also due to its geography as an island state, while Ireland consolidated its states into one nation.  Italy and Germany were divided into many small states in 1400, which had not changed by 1650, though the borders of their territories did- especially Venice, which expanded substantially.  Religion was instrumental in preventing the consolidation of Germany, which saw the origin of the Reformation and the most war related to it, including the Peasants Revolt and the Thirty Years War.  Because neither side was able to gain a significant advantage, Germany remained fractured politically for a long time.  Italy is more of a mystery; most of its states identified as Catholic, so it was more likely that advantages in commerce prevented states from consolidating there.  Venice especially was a state of commerce, trading frequently with distant places via the intermediary Ottoman Empire, due to its proximity to the east.  The Protestant population was also lower in Italy, so there was less incentive for states to unite against a common religious threat. 

In 1400, the Ottoman Empire only consisted of present-day Turkey and some of the Balkan states; by 1650, it had largely expanded territory into Africa and Europe.  There was a religious element of this expansion because the Ottomans largely identified as Muslim.  This strengthened the consolidation of Spanish and Holy Roman Empire (Catholic) states against it, which saw a common enemy as the Ottomans advanced into Europe. 

The kingdoms of Denmark and Sweden were not established in 1400, but they were by 1650.  The borders of Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland-Lithuania remained fairly consistent during this time.  Russia was more similar to France and Spain; in 1400, it mainly consisted of scattered states, but by 1650 they had consolidated into the Tsardom of Russia, which took the general shape of Russia we know today- at least the European portion.

Social borders are most abstract.  If we are talking about the expansion of business that contributed to a growing upper class, then the Renaissance indeed saw the beginnings of a revolution in capitalism.  Merchants and traders had huge advantages in conducting business, thanks to the printing press and a growing awareness of resource-laden lands outside of Europe.  Exploration contributed to the growing gap between the nobility and the peasantry, for nobles were often able to exploit the resources of distant lands by returning valuable exotic goods to the European marketplace.  The institution of slavery, which began as a result of all the exploration during the Renaissance, also contributed to a transformation in class relations, particularly as it seemed to invent a new class- one below the peasantry.

Changes in commerce and religious identity during the Reformation influenced the emerging state boundaries more than anything else.  As states grew larger, borders were needed to mark their boundaries.  States increasingly became represented on maps, thanks to the efficiency by which the printing press could distribute them to the population.  That is why the map of Europe as we know it today is far more similar to one made in 1650 than in 1400.