European State
In 1480 Europe was going through a state of change politically and religiously. Before 1480 many states we would geographically recognize today as a “nation state”, were fragmented due to political differences into individually governed states; take for example Spain at this time was divided into four states, with two richer states; Castile and Aragon and two poorer states Navarre and Granada.
The change was due to the circulating idea of the renaissance (or “rebirth”). This was a cultural movement which began in most subjects.
In political terms, like the previously addressed Spanish in 1479, nations were unifying under common rule, consolidating the resources economically to overall strengthen themselves, and although this was a political move they used religion to unify the nation.
Previously however the balance in Europe was becoming increasingly unstable; the fragmentation of nations left them unable to exploit the full extent of their powers on the European stage. The two most influential families in Europe were at war; the Hapsburg – Valois wars, and these wars extended over most of Western Europe.
The Hapsburgs controlled the HRE and through that many Germanic states, but despite the title, at the time the HRE was more concerned with the secular interests of the Germanic Princes rather than that of the church.
The Valois on the other hand controlled most France, however despite possessing one of the largest and richest lands in Europe: the many religious wars which plagued France had decentralized the government and limited their potential capabilities.
However there was also a religious was continuing internally of the family feuds between Protestantism and Catholicism.
The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire had triggered an influx of Greek Scholars and article’s which is thought to have been a instrumental part of the beginning...
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