War and Society in Renaissance Europe 1450-1620

By J.R. Hale

Book Overview

In the modern view of Renaissance Europe, the rise of humanism often obscures violence and warfare. As J. R. Hale observes, there was probably no single period in which there was neither war nor occurrences that looked and felt remarkably like it. This major new assessment by one of the world's foremost Renaissance historians analyzes the impact of war on government, economy, technology, the military, and civilian life and broadens our conception of society in the early modern centuries.

From the end of the Hundred Years' War to the eve of the Thirty Years' War, Europe's population increased and its culture grew more complex; so too, its wars expanded from the episodes of violent housekeeping associated with succession to conflicts of territorial self-definition and quests for princely glory through acquisition. This book examines the devleopments in military technique and technology which both fueled and resulted from the changing nature of warfare.

Hale's main focus, however, is on the people--nobles and officials, merchantes and soldiers, peasants and townsfolk--whose lives were touched by war. He dicusses recruitment among mostly reluctany social groups and decribes conditions of service in the military for both professional and part-time soldiers. While the direct effects of war could be devastating for an area's populace, Hale shows that indirect effects, though less acute, were more pervasive. Economic and demographic shifts, increased and more efficient taxation, and governmental growth occasioned by war had profound and lasting influence on the shape of European society.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801831962
• ISBN13: 9780801831966
• Release Date: January 1986
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.7"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Good survey of critical period in early modern history

War and Society attempts to explore the extent to which warfare affected social conventions and vice versa. The author explores a multitide of avenues: weaponry, politics, technological innovation, army composition, state finances, and impact on civilians. His conclusions are somewhat surprising at times, as he does not conclude that war had as great an impact on society as many believe. In fact, society had the greater impact on the conduct of warfare than strictly military factors. A good amount of detail is provided on recruitment, both of leaders and soldiers, mercenaries, early modern taxation, and effects of warfare on the formation of governments (or lack thereof). The weakness is that it is a very difficult book to read, with lots of words that will send you to the dictionary and sentences that last eight lines or so with 3 semicolons, 1 colon, and 7 commas. Despite that, if you are interested in getting a somewhat different view and style about the military-social relationships in early modern Europe, this is a good choice.