The History Book (Big Ideas Simply Explained)

The ancient world reached the peak of its classical period around 2,000 years ago. The world’s population had grown from around 20 million at the time of the first civilizations to an estimated 200 million. About 50 million of these lived in a united Han China, while about the same number were under the governance of the Roman Empire, which had extended its rule to the shores of the Atlantic and the borders of Persia.

Renaissance thinkers found a fertile source of inspiration in classical antiquity, in areas as diverse as architecture, philosophy, politics, and military tactics. The humanist scholars of the Renaissance period declared history one of the principal subjects in their new educational curriculum, and the antiquary became a familiar figure in elite circles, rummaging among ancient ruins and building up collections of old coins and inscriptions.

The country was plunged into debt and opinion turned against the Crown. In spite of this, Louis established a pattern of absolutism in France that lasted, in a more enlightened form, for most of the 18th century until attempts to reform the system resulted in the overthrow of the monarchy in 1792 during the French Revolution.

On the death of his chief minister Cardinal Mazzarin, the 23-year-old Louis XIV of France declared that he would now rule alone, as an absolute monarch. During his 72-year reign (1643–1715), Louis dominated his subjects, cultivating the image of a “Sun King” around whom the country orbited. Louis saw his power as God-given, and himself as the embodiment of the state, with the nobility, the middle classes, and peasants dependent on him for justice and protection.

The capital Edo became the center of a thriving urban culture during the Tokugawa shogunate. Japanese literary forms, such as the haiku (a short poem consisting of three lines and 17 syllables) flourished, as did the distinctive theatrical forms of kabuki (which combines theater and dance) and the bunraku puppetry theater. It was also a time of major achievements in the visual arts, particularly landscape painting and woodblock printing.

Since 1192, the Emperor of Japan had been little more than a figure-head. He delegated power to the shogun: a hereditary, high-ranking military commander who ruled with absolute authority.

In 1602, these trading companies merged to form the Dutch East India Company, and shares in the enterprise were allocated at the new Stock Exchange in Amsterdam.

In 1596, the Dutch explorer Willem Barentsz tried to find a northern passage to Asia and in the process discovered Svalbard (Spitsbergen), which later became a destination for Dutch whalers.

As a coastal nation, the Dutch Republic produced notable sailors and explorers, so long-distance trading was a natural consequence of the country’s maritime history. In addition, advancements in ship-building technology in the Republic enabled the Dutch merchant fleet to expand rapidly; by 1670, the Dutch had more merchant ships than the rest of Europe put together.