The Influence of Technology on the Development of the Centralized European State 1400-1600
By naresuan
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In the Hundred Years War, the Battle of Agincourt was a decisive victory for the English. However, it also was an important sign of the end of the dominance of mounted calvary on the battlefield, overtaken by the power of the longbow.
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Sultan Mehmet II's conquest of the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire is significant both as a step on the Ottoman Empire's path to strength, and technologically for the use of heavy cannon in battle for the first significant time.
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The fall of the Emirate of Granada, expedited by Spanish use of gunpowder infantry and artillery, concluded the Reconquista of Spain, unifying all of the Iberian peninsula (except Portugal) under a single personal union.
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Da Gama's voyages for the Portugese Crown, which established the Portugese Empire in Asia, were facilitated by the development of ships like the light caravel and heavy carrack in the 1400s by Portugese shipbuilders under Prince Henry the Navigator
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The election of Charles V of Spain to throne of the Holy Roman Empire was heavily financed by loans from the Függer Bank, making the bank a strong factor in the creation of one of the most powerful states of 1500s Europe, the Habsburg Empire.
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The conquest of the Aztec Triple Alliance by the Spanish Conquistadors created the first major European colonial empire, benefiting the centralized authority of the Spanish Crown.
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While the mines of Potosi had been worked by the Spanish since 1545, their efficiency increased four-fold wjhen mercury from nearby mines in Huancavelica were used to refine the silver more efficiently using modern methods, increasing the wealth of the Spanish even more.
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A tactical victory for the Dutch, in which Maurice of Nassau's new tactics using muskets and arquebuses are shown to defeat the Spanish. This victory, and others like it in the Dutch Revolt, allowed for the development of the Dutch State.
