Erasmus, who was an extremely famous writer during the Middle Ages, felt that an advance in classical learning and a reform of the church was necessary, and he wanted to do it peacefully. This was a view that, made possible by the invention of the Printing Press, had begun to spread throughout Europe. This alone had the potential to unite Europe and bring a period of stability to the Continent. If people from many different backgrounds shared a common ideology, it was possible for people to work together to reach this goal, removing previous causes of instability. With Erasmus’s strong belief in peace and unity spreading, the idea of a Europe where everybody could co-operate resulting in all-round stability was no longer instantly disregarded as impossible, and if it led to the ending of wars and the damage that they caused, many people were certainly willing to listen.
Diplomacy was also becoming a major aspect of the Middle Ages, and was something that certainly had the capability of producing large-scale stability throughout Europe. With religious issues and wide-ranging international relations becoming increasingly important, Ambassadors became extremely important figures in Europe. They aimed to eradicate tension between different countries, and if they succeeded in this then stability would be assured.
The final major aspect of Europe in the Middle Ages and it’s stability is the European Economy that was beginning to become apparent. As previously mentioned, the discovery of the New World had the opportunity to create stability between Spain and the other countries of Europe that they traded with. Many people were keen to experience the new products that were being brought in, and so co-operative international relations were able to grow. Money was being used to trade to a much greater extent, setting up a financial system that would be used until Modern times. Finally, Guilds were becoming an important aspect of the European Economy. They were able to regulate trade, prevent destructive change, and protected trade from being flooded by rural labourers. This was able to create a great deal of stability within individual trades, ultimately creating a certain degree of stability within the Economy.
Despite these potential reasons that suggest Europe may have been relatively stable towards the end of the Middle Ages, there is certainly more evidence that reinforces the idea that Europe was actually in a relatively unstable position. Even though the Holy Roman Empire’s structure had the potential to work well and create a stable country, this was certainly not the case. Despite having the highest status in Europe, the Emperor actually had extremely little power. He did not rule a central government, and could only raise taxes by agreement, and it took a truly dire emergency for that to happen. The German parliament (the Imperial Diet), was more likely to list its grievances against the Emperor, and even more so the Pope, than to initiate any decisive action. With little decisive leadership it was always likely that there were would be quarrels within the country, pulling the country apart and causing instability not only within the country but also throughout Europe. Leading on from this, Charles V, the next Hapsburg following Maximilian I, came to power in 1519. This could have had dangerous ramifications for Europe as a whole, and Pope Leo X wanted to prevent this. As Charles was already ruler of Spain and the Netherlands, he had now become the dominant power in Europe. With one person having such a large influence in Europe, the stability of the continent was always going to be at risk. Finally, attempts were made to centralise the power to the Emperor. However, the Princes were not willing to surrender the power and the Holy Roman Empire remained divided. If centralisation of power had been successful a more stable Europe would have been a possibility, but without this, the existing divides remained and an unstable country and continent resulted.
As well as the instability being generated by the Holy Roman Empire, Western Europe was having its own problems, especially between France and Britain. The long wars, including the 100 Years War, were having a damaging effect on both the condition of the individual countries and the long-term relationship between the countries. With two of Europe’s major countries continually in conflict, the general stability of Europe would always be at risk. Also, as well as the wars with France, England was having its own internal problems. The War of the Roses is one of the most important aspects of English history, and the volatility it caused within the country radiated to the other countries of Europe. Leading on from this, the wars between France and Italy, and Spain and the Holy Roman Empire were always going to be damaging to the stability of Europe. With so many countries in conflict, international relations were always going to be frayed for many years, and a stable Europe would be a long way away.
Eastern Europe was also in an extremely unstable position, and it is becoming clear that the large build up in possible causes of instability were accumulating to create a potentially very unstable Europe. Neither reformation nor monarchies were doing particularly well, and the realms of Poland-Lithuania, Bohemia and Hungary were under great political threat. Possibly the most important weakness and therefore cause of instability was the elective Monarchies similar to those of the Holy Roman Empire. The rulers of the Eastern realms, generally descendants of the Jaogiellons, had not proven to be effective in resisting the noble’s independence and by 1516 the monarchy had conceded to giving the ruling noble’s free reign. This resulted in peasantry, economic decline of towns and concentration of power for the nobles, leading to an extremely unstable country and building to the overall insecurity and unrest in Europe. Finally, one other factor that adds to this overall instability is problems such as poor communication caused by low population densities. This is shown by the fact that Poland-Lithuania had a population density of 14 people per square km, compared to 47 in Italy and 34 in France. Disunity was a result of this, as well as fragmented towns, a difficulty in political organisation and difficulty in the adoption of new ideas. Together, these added to the unrest in both Eastern Europe and Europe as a whole.
Attempts to unify Italy and Switzerland had also been unsuccessful, and this was just another problem that was adding to the turbulence in Europe. A great deal of political instability accompanied with French invasions was also creating widespread unrest. The Papacy was also causing unrest, along with contested elections and different Popes being recognised by different countries. Inconsistencies such as this led to conflict of opinions, and this would always be a source of great unrest throughout Europe. Finally, the Swiss Guards were also an important factor. The Swiss were made rich by loaning out their excellent fighters as Mercenaries. This was always likely to cause tension between the countries that the Swiss guards were being used to fight against and the Swiss themselves, once again adding to the growing unrest of the late Middle Ages.
The Ottoman Empire also played its part in the growing unrest with Europe. They controlled the whole of Turkey and were now looking to expand. This obviously created tension between the Ottoman Empire and their potential targets, creating turmoil within a large section of Europe. The expansion was undertaken by the three main Kings (or Sultans), the first of which was Mehmed II, who bolstered the state and military and proved his competence by capturing Constantinople. Sultan Selim I then came to power, most notably expanding the Empire’s eastern and southern frontiers. Finally, Suleiman the Magnificent, who was perhaps the greatest of the three warriors, was able to build on Selim’s conquests. During his reign, he took control of Belgrade, Hungary, laid siege to Vienna, and ensured Transylvania, Walachia and Moldova were under the Ottoman’s control. This led to the Ottoman Empire greatly influencing European culture, showing that the times were changing and generating a great deal of unrest.
Although it is arguable that the new ideas being introduced by Erasmus and Aristotle could unite Europe, this is by no means plausible, and in fact had the opposite effect. These new ideas challenged the existing accepted beliefs and therefore caused large conflicts of opinion between those who believed in the traditional ideologies and those that wished to challenge them. These contrasting ideas were able to become widespread because of the Printing Press. Large amounts of identical copies of these theories could be created quickly and cheaply. Great unrest resulted, as people were not used to the traditionally accepted ideas being challenged.
Warfare and International Relations were also a major aspect of creating instability and unrest within Europe. Many new military advancements were being made, and they were given an opportunity to be tested regularly due to the shaky International Relations that were present within Europe during the late Middle Ages. Many countries and Princes were looking to expand their territories. Artillery, Pikes and Cavalry were improving, and unrest was created when countries were worried about the growing capabilities of other countries. War’s inevitably had a negative effect on the economy which left countries in turmoil, and also left the general public extremely unhappy. They did not like the financial difficulties it resulted in, not to mention the death and destruction it resulted in for many innocent people.
Although the economic changes that were taking place had a long term beneficial effect on Europe, they caused short term unrest throughout the continent. During the Late Middle Ages, there was a shift in the “economic centre” of Europe. Instead of being based around the Mediterranean because of Italy’s dominance, it was now shifting towards the nations of the Atlantic seaboard. The city of Antwerp was now the financial and commercial centre for the European economy, and this shift in dominance created unrest within Europe. Italy was losing its ascendancy, which naturally it was unhappy about, and countries such as Spain were growing in power which created a great deal of friction. With the influx of precious materials from the New World came a need for banking and finance within Europe. This led to several families, most notably the Fugger’s, becoming extremely prominent within Europe. They were able to become extremely rich from these activities, and were able to make many of their clients extremely rich as well. This created an even larger bridge between the rich and the poor, which is an obvious cause of unrest. The poor people were not happy with how they were being exploited for people such as the Fugger’s gain, and they were especially unhappy with how they were made to pay high levels of taxes when the extremely rich families did not have to. Inflation, and especially the Great Price Rise, were also large causes of turbulence in the late Middle Ages. As the economy continued to grow through the early 16th Century and populations rose, there was a greater demand for goods, so accompanied with the increase of money in Europe, prices were able to rise. Wages were not rising though, leading to poverty for many individuals. The vast amounts of people who were negatively affected by this felt greatly aggrieved, feeling that wages should be rising with the inflation, but when they did not, conflict was always a possibility. Accompanied with these consequences were the negative effects of Monopolies and Debasements, and it is clear that all of these combined effects were creating a great deal of unrest within Europe.
To conclude, the late Middle Ages were certainly a time of unrest in Europe. With so many divisions within countries, it was unlikely that stability and co-operation between other countries would be possible. The changes in religious ideologies, the economy, the increasing number and growing sizes of wars and society as a whole were creating tension between countries and ultimately unrest throughout the continent. It was clear that beliefs were changing, and that they were not going to change without considerable disturbance.
