Intertwined History

The three largest aspects of a society: Art, Politics, and Science, are all interconnected. This is evident through Isabella of Castile, Leonardo da Vinci and the invention of the Compass. Without any of these pieces of history, the others would not have had such a prominent effect on the world. From Columbus's journey, to Isabella's possible decency had her art not been filled with humanistic ideas, the world would have been a much different place if not for these three things working together.

Isabella of Castile, the woman behind the Spanish inquisition. After quickly gobbling up her chance at the throne of Castile ,Isabella and her husband Ferdinand controlled both Castile and Aragon, unifying Spain. The first thing they do with this unified Spain is to cause the torture and deaths of thousands of people. The historical facts do not shine so kindly on the character of Isabella, yet still she had a huge impact on history.

Compass , an instrument able to find directions, usually utilizing the earths magnetic pull to do so. The earliest compasses were of Chinese invention, and consisted of a lodestone sitting in a pool of water with a needle, causing the needle to point south. It is still debated whether Europe invented it's compass separately or whether they received the idea from China. Whatever the means of origin, the compass that began popping up in Europe around 1300 was much different. The European compass did not require water, and also pointed North rather then south. The effect the compass had on sea travel is quite hard to call anything but immense.
Leonardo da Vinci is arguably one of the most diversely, extremely talented men in all of history. An engineer, scientist, inventor, sculptor, mathematician, and most notably a painter; Leonardo accomplished more in his lifetime then ten average geniuses do. He is the creator of such masterpieces as the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper. He is the inventor of hydraulic pumps, and machines of flight far ahead of his time. He is unarguably one of the most influential people in all of history. He is Leonardo.

Isabella had a fondness for the arts, and as such had a large collection of paintings from relatively unknown Spanish artists. During the time she was amassing this collection, the world of painting was being radically redefined by the great Renaissance artists of Italy, not the least prominent of which happens to be Leonardo. When the entire art form was being shifted so hugely with men like Leonardo at the helm, it doesn't matter that you don't have his exact work, or how far away you are from him, all paintings in the known world were radically different then they had been a century earlier. More realism, and emphasis on the human experience influenced by a humanistic way of thinking creeped into the brush of every aspiring painter of the age. Including those in Spain providing Isabella with her with whatever her cruel heart desired. These paintings filled with humanistic ideas were a driving force in Isabella's compulsion to "cleanse" her religion. These ideas brought by Leonardo indirectly caused the torture and deaths of hundreds.

1492 is the year in which Christopher Columbus finally convinced Isabella to fund his voyage across the ocean to the Indies, after his third try to do so. Without her backing the Americas would not have been found, so quickly at the very least, and possibly not ever, considering the general consensus that the world was flat, and that they would fall of the edge of said flat world if they were to attempt what Columbus attempted. Compasses had become a simply indispensable tool necessary for sea travel by the time either Columbus or Isabella were up and about. Without a way to guide him to his planned destination Columbus may never have reached his completely surprising actual destination.

Isabella of Castile, Leonardo da Vinci, and the invention of the compass, these three were all influential on history, yet seemingly completely individually accomplishing that, be it from persecuting an entire nation, changing art forever, or creating easier navigation. Yet without one of these aspects of history the others would not have had such a profound effect, namely on the discovery of the Americas by Spain. If Columbus hadn't gotten his finances from Isabelle, or ended up going in a completely wrong direction because he lacked reliable navigation technology, how would the history of at least the entire western world have differed? How would the political happenings of Europe have differed, if no one had been occupied trying to grab there piece of "the new world"? If religions other then Catholosism hadn't been discouraged and persecuted so extremely by Isabella (inspired by Leonardo's humanistic ideals), how much would that have changed the development of Europe over the last few centuries? There is no way to truly know the utterly radical differences that would have occurred had these three forces not worked together without realizing they were doing so. This is just one example of how every aspect of the world affects the others, and together they form something we call history.

Lucrative Persuasion

It has nothing to do with science, the world goes round because of money. Economics really is the behind the scenes force driving in each and every new revolution that happens to come along. You can get anything done with enough money. You can create an army to destroy your opponents with enough money. The gathering of money from the masses causes general unrest. As well as the lack of money makes people do things they would never do otherwise. Economics are the most influential thing in the world, and the Medici knew it.

"Democracy depends on consensus, consensus on persuasion. And what is more persuasive than money?" Medici Money Page 88. That statement is entirely amazingly true. With enough money you can get just about anything you want done. This is because people are willing to take any risk for cold hard currency. Cosimo fully realized this and utilized it often, along with his other favorite tactics which is taking advantage of the fact that if you are funding someones endeavors (or their livelihood in general) are very hesitant to the point of outright against speaking against you, and your own endeavors. It is relatively simple to see how this can be used in correlation with spurring on a revolution. One simply has to place a few coins in the pockets of those opposed to this new radical change, and on the hugely strange chance that that is not enough to persuade the individual or organization to stop hindering your efforts, just hire someone to help you discreetly. With enough money your revolution will come about.

"Even when it most resembles a sport, even when it is most futile, war is always cruelly expensive. And where war is never conclusive, a constant supply of money becomes absolutely essential." Medici Money page 72. For the Revolution of Humanism would not have spread so easily and far, had Italy not been in a constant state of war within itself. The fact that this dissension among the various city states existed, meant that the Church did not have full control over everything, and with that came a chance for the ideals of Humanism, which seemingly challenged the traditional thinking of the Church to spread and flourish without being widely recognized until it was to large to stop. This level of chaos does not come cheaply, and requires a very healthy economy before the start, if it is to sustain for long enough for a true revolution to take place. Also in other Revolutions which developed in the form of wars, namely the French Revolution, and the American Revolutionary war, vast armies fought, and without proper food, equipment both of which do not come cheap. Without enough money, your revolution will fall apart.

"As an order, they were virtually exempt from paying taxes of any kind. They collected rent from the peasant population who lived on their lands. They also collected an extraordinary amount of customary dues from the peasantry." http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/lecture11a.html. That is speaking of course of the nobles before the French Revolution. For some reason there seems to be a pattern throughout history that those with money seem to be corrupted by it, and develop a need to gain more in whatever way possible, ethical or not. That was the case for the nobles of France in the late eighteen hundreds, and the British midway through that same century. In both cases the upper class became obsessed with an idea that they were entitled to the wealth of all those below them, and thus they taxed them cruelly, to the point where the ones being oppressed financially finally couldn't take anymore and decided drastic changes had to take place. Those drastic changes ended up being revolutions. Hording all the money you can, causes a revolution from those you have horded this money away from.

"There [China] it produces the very same product in the very same way, only with cheaper labor, lower taxes, subsidized energy, and lower health-care costs." The World Is Flat page 137. The impoverished do things no one in a decent financial situation would ever consider. It's called acts of desperation, and it is a road towards revolution. As the malnourished french peasants rose up and fought for equality a few hundred years ago. the Chinese, and Indian citizens today are doing the same thing much more quietly, with less literal bloodshed. The horrible economic state of China and India is allowing their highly skilled workforce to do the same work at a fraction of the cost that an American worker is forced to do it for, based on cost of living.Those without enough money to survive will inevitably attempt to start a revolution.

Every major change in history has been caused in a large part by economics. Every change in history rather. No matter how many ideals people try to throw in front of their causes, to make them seem just, every single one of them comes down to one thing in the end. Money. It is one of the most sickening realizations I have ever made, yet there is no denying it. I wish we lived in a world where money wasn't on the mind at all times of those that gain power, but that's just it, the people who want money, gain power as a result of gaining the money they seek. It's a vicious circle of horrible, greedy people telling us what to do, and I see know way to put an end to it. There will always be those people, like the Medici who are willing to destroy any pretense of morality to gain meaningless wealth; and these will always be the people that have the means to start a revolution. Money causes every shift in history, it really is what makes the world go round, however sickening that is.

(All information pertaining to the French Revolution courtesy of http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/lecture11a.html
All information pertaining to the American Revolutionary war courtesy of http://www.historycentral.com/Revolt/causes.html)