Changing Social Structures

Taylor Edwards1st Hr

AP European History

- the composition, functions, and interrelations of social class

Social Structure

Causes of Changing Social Structure● Commercial Revolution● Population Growth● Falling Value of Money

○ Agricultural prices rose○ Caused inflation○ Drove land and rental prices up

Social Class● 3 Parts

○ Nobility○ Bourgeois ○ Poor

• Those who lost money sought positions in the King’s court or high offices in the Church• Became more concerned

with civil pursuits- eg. the education of their children• Became more diverse-

some lived in leisure, others worked hard in government• Began to place more

importance on ancestry and high birth

Nobility

Bourgeois ■ French word referring to the middle levels of

society between the aristocracy and the poor■ Increased greatly in the 16th Century■ The size, occupation, and importance of the

Middle Class varied between countries■ Composed of three levels

○ Urban Elite○ Clergy○ Lower Middle Class

Urban Elite● Governed towns● Made money from rural

property, commerce, or government work

● Might intermarry with low nobility

● Common professions: merchants, bankers, shipowners, lawyers, doctors, and judges

● Aristocratic children who were not heirs to an estate were often lawyers, doctors, or judges

Clergy● Drawn from all social classes● Some poor parish priests● Noblemen in the position of

Bishop or Abbot● Mostly drawn from the

Middle Class● Children of Protestant priests

were important contributors to the middle class

Lower Middle Class

● Small retail shopkeepers● Innkeepers● Owners of simple workshops● Lesser tradespeople

Poor■ Included

● Unskilled wage laborers ● Unemployed● Unemployable● Paupers● Beggars

■ Largely Illiterate ■ Mercantilist governments had failed in an effort

to put all the poor to work■ Common Occupations- tending livestock, digging

mines, fisherman, casual labor, domestic service of nobility

Charitable Relief

• The idea of mass charity appeared in the end of the 16th century• English Poor Law of

1601• Believed that begging

was a public nuisance • Poor should be

segregated into workhouses or hospices for the good of society• Most of the poor did not

receive this relief

Social Role of Education● Education took on a new social importance● The Catholic and Protestant Reformations

created a demand for educated clergy ● The growth of commerce made it necessary to

have literate clerks and agents● Governments wanted employees from both the

nobility and middle class who could cooperate, understand finance, draft proposals, and keep records

● There was a widespread need for lawyers

Founding of Schools● Philanthropy helped meet the need for education in England and France

● Scholarships were established

● Grammar schools (secondary education) were established in England

● The Ursuline Sisters founded 350 convents by 1700 for the purpose of educating women

France● 92 colléges were

founded between the years 1560 and 1650

● Mme. de Maintenon, wife of Louis XIV, founded a school for the daughters of French nobility

Universities● Dutch and Swiss Protestants founded the universities of Leyden and Geneva

● By the 17th Century Spain had ten times the number of universities they had in the Middle Ages

● 5 universities existed in Spanish America

● Oxford and Cambridge Universities were founded in England and gained a substantial amount of wealth

Students● Mostly still made up of the nobility, but many

middle class boys were being given organized educations

● Groups like the hidalgos (lesser nobles) in Spain made up the largest group of people getting educations

● Intelligent poor boys had more opportunity for education in Europe than any time previously

● Wealthy girls were offered less organized schooling

Social Role of Government● Government could boost economic growth

(England) or inhibit it (Spain)● Kings encouraged the rise of capitalism and a

business class by granting monopolies, borrowing from bankers, and issuing charters to trading companies

● Many people were advanced to the middle class by obtaining government positions

Monarchs Establish Social Distinctions● Heavily taxed the

peasantry, but exempted nobility

● King could grant titles of nobility

● Those who were in society of the king were seen as more honorable

Social Changes in Eastern Europe

● Commercial Revolution benefited the middle class in West and nobility in East

● East had a more intense feudal system due to lack of strong central monarchy

● Peasants served their wealthy landowner as subjects of a king

● Peasants were not allowed to leave the land, marry, or work for anyone else

● Prevented the growth of a strong middle class and weakened Prussia, Poland, Austria, and Russia.

Works CitedA 19th century tour of the University of Cambridge. (2005). Retrieved October 8, 2013,

from New Boston Fine and Rare Books website:

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Antique prints. (n.d.). Retrieved October 8, 2013, from Art Source International

website: http://www.rare-maps.com/details.cfm?type=prints&rid=251318

Grady, M., Sr. (2011, June 7). Prayer in the words of Andrea Merici. Retrieved October

8, 2013, from Ursuline Sisters website:

http://www.ursulinesisters.org/praywithus24

Kimball, W. (n.d.). Trombone history: 16th century. Retrieved October 8, 2013, from

Kimball Trombone website:

http://kimballtrombone.com/trombone-history-timeline/trombone-history-16th-cent

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Works CitedLouis XIV. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 12:31, Oct 09, 2013, from

http://www.biography.com/people/louis-xiv-9386885.

Madame de Maintenon. (n.d.). Retrieved October 8, 2013, from Liternaute website:

http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/magazine/dossier/06/elles-ont-regne/

maintenon.shtml

Palmer, R.R., Colton, J., & Kramer, L. (2002). Changing social structures. In L. Uhl

(Ed.), A history of the modern world (Ninth ed., pp. 112-117). Boston, MA:

McGraw-Hill Companies.