2.3 SkillBuilder activity USING HISTORICAL SOURCES Identify the origin, content, context and purpose of primary and secondary sources by examining SOURCE3 .
SOURCE3 From Harold J. Grimm, The Reformation Era 1500–1650
... a new attitude toward economic matters manifested itself among businessmen which may be called the ‘ capitalist spirit ’. Since money was no longer loaned primarily to assist those who were in need, but also loaned for profit, the Biblical [restrictions] ... and other restrictions upon usury were ... ignored. The new spirit began to touch nearly every phase of European life. Feudal services and dues were commuted to money payments; agricultural production came to be looked at as a means of making profit; merchants and even some nobles invested accumulated surpluses in commercial and industrial enterprises; entrepreneurs began to own raw materials, warehouses and the means of production; labor was hired as a means of creating new wealth; territorial rulers sought to increase the decline of the medieval economy ... and its many regulations designed to give people ‘a fair living’ and goods sold at ‘a just price’, and with the greater opportunities to make money their power by tapping all available sources of income; and even church offices and means of grace were frequently viewed in terms of financial returns. ... The older chivalric virtues of honor and personal loyalty were gradually supplanted by the middle-class virtues of honesty, industry and integrity; and the medieval sense of corporate responsibility gave way to an emphasis upon individual initiative. Source: Harold J. Grimm, The Reformation Era 1500–1650 , Macmillan, New York, 1965, p. 12.
1. Identify what Grimm calls the new attitude of businessmen towards economic matters. 2. Explain what you think he means by ‘the capitalist spirit’. 3. Describe what changed in investment in agriculture and industrial production. 4. Analyse how personal virtues were changing.
2.3
Exercise
Learning pathways LEVEL1 1, 2, 3, 4
LEVEL2
LEVEL3
5, 6, 8
7, 9, 10
REMEMBER AND UNDERSTAND 1. Identify when populations began to recover from the losses caused by plagues, famines and wars. A. Mid-thirteenth century B. Early twelfth century C. Eighteenth century D. Mid-fourteenth century 2. Where did the Hanseatic League dominate trade? A. Britain, Germany and Italy B. Germany, northern Russia and Scandinavia C. Portugal, northern Russia and Spain D. India, Scandinavia and Germany 3. Complete the sentence: Merchants improved transport by __________ and __________. They improved commerce and were assisted by rulers of __________, __________ and __________. 4. Identify the parts of the world where Portugal had trading posts by the mid-sixteenth century.
26 Jacaranda Humanities Alive 8 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
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