The Fight Between Medieval-ism and Modernity in 16th Century Ireland
Here it is! The first real post.
If I've done everything right, you should be coming here fresh off the video I have just uploaded over at my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5pLGLF4Km4. If you've found your way here by accident, I would recommend going back and watching the video (If you have the time).
A theme which I touched on a number of times during "The Fall of the House of Kildare" was the clash between modernity and the old medieval order in Ireland. Ireland's position on the fringe of Europe has historically rendered it a remote place, often isolated from the goings on in the rest of Europe. With the arrival of the early modern period around 1453 (Or later depending on who you ask) the European continent and its culture began to seep into Ireland at a greater pace.
While things like new European fashions and firearms were widely adopted by Irish lords in the ensuing years, the practice of feudalism remained alive and well, despite being synonymous with an era that was receding into the past. European states in this period were expending all their energies centralizing power under the ruling monarch. This process naturally meant that overly powerful vassals of any given monarch, had to be dis-empowered in order for the state to become supreme.
In Ireland, the message about the growing power of the state was slow to arrive, due largely to the remoteness of the island, and the inconsistent enforcement of state power by the English crown in Ireland. As I covered in my most recent upload, Thomas Fitzgerald learned the hard way that rebellion was no longer a tolerable way to protest your treatment by your sovereign. In his mind, Henry VIII was his feudal overlord. In Henry's mind, Thomas was a subject, and a disloyal one at that.
There was no room in the Early Modern period for old feudal vassals with delusions of grandeur. The severe way that Henry VIII dealt with Thomas and his supporters sent a clear message to the rest of Ireland. Admittedly the lesson wasn't immediately learned, as three more rebellions were to follow before the "Flight of the Earls" when Ireland's aristocracy finally gave up trying to safeguard their power and fled the island.
I think the core theme to take away from this period is the growth of the state and the diminishing of the individual. The foundations were being laid out for the nation state, where the people were loyal to a flag and not a dynasty like the Tudors in England. This, more than anything in my mind, was the impact of the Early Modern Period.
If I've done everything right, you should be coming here fresh off the video I have just uploaded over at my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5pLGLF4Km4. If you've found your way here by accident, I would recommend going back and watching the video (If you have the time).
A theme which I touched on a number of times during "The Fall of the House of Kildare" was the clash between modernity and the old medieval order in Ireland. Ireland's position on the fringe of Europe has historically rendered it a remote place, often isolated from the goings on in the rest of Europe. With the arrival of the early modern period around 1453 (Or later depending on who you ask) the European continent and its culture began to seep into Ireland at a greater pace.
While things like new European fashions and firearms were widely adopted by Irish lords in the ensuing years, the practice of feudalism remained alive and well, despite being synonymous with an era that was receding into the past. European states in this period were expending all their energies centralizing power under the ruling monarch. This process naturally meant that overly powerful vassals of any given monarch, had to be dis-empowered in order for the state to become supreme.
In Ireland, the message about the growing power of the state was slow to arrive, due largely to the remoteness of the island, and the inconsistent enforcement of state power by the English crown in Ireland. As I covered in my most recent upload, Thomas Fitzgerald learned the hard way that rebellion was no longer a tolerable way to protest your treatment by your sovereign. In his mind, Henry VIII was his feudal overlord. In Henry's mind, Thomas was a subject, and a disloyal one at that.
There was no room in the Early Modern period for old feudal vassals with delusions of grandeur. The severe way that Henry VIII dealt with Thomas and his supporters sent a clear message to the rest of Ireland. Admittedly the lesson wasn't immediately learned, as three more rebellions were to follow before the "Flight of the Earls" when Ireland's aristocracy finally gave up trying to safeguard their power and fled the island.
I think the core theme to take away from this period is the growth of the state and the diminishing of the individual. The foundations were being laid out for the nation state, where the people were loyal to a flag and not a dynasty like the Tudors in England. This, more than anything in my mind, was the impact of the Early Modern Period.
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