内容简介

　　西方何以支配现代世界近500年？要解答这个问题，我们需要回到这至关重要的40年。从1490年到1530年，这40年是欧洲和世界历史的一个关键转折点。在这40年间，有哥伦布横渡大西洋的壮举，也有马丁·路德开启的新教改革运动。欧洲一系列社会、政治、经济、文化和科技的迅猛发展，推动了现代世界的形成：印刷媒体形塑了人文主义新知识观，大规模的宗教冲突一触即发，高度集权军事-财政国家初现，火药带来军事技术变革和大规模战争，西方开始对世界进行野蛮征服……所有这些因素相互作用，形成了以金融为纽带的独特经济体制，进而奠定了未来四个世纪里欧洲在世界舞台上的主导地位，即所谓西方与世界其他地区的“大分流”。

　　本书选取了九个人物为叙事线索，将当时的欧洲与世界连接起来，讲述了欧洲近半个世纪的政治、军事、宗教、金融、贸易等方面的革命性巨变，并分析究竟是什么关键因素奠定西方的主宰地位，影响了整个世界的发展进程。本书首先讲述了三位著名的人物：探险家哥伦布、西班牙伊莎贝拉女王和金融家雅各布·富格尔。地理大发现促进了贸易的发展，而贸易和国家都需要金融的支持。金融的兴起奠定了欧洲内部的交换网络，为后续军事-财政结合的国家形态打下了基础。接下来，作者将视线转向三位并不那么显赫的普通人：雇佣兵葛兹·冯·贝利欣根、出版商阿尔杜斯·马努蒂乌斯和羊毛商约翰·赫里蒂奇。通过他们的经历，我们可以看到：不同地区的商业交流打破了地理疆域的限制，金融向社会各层面的渗透促进了信用工具的出现，欧洲内部商业网络得以形成；印刷技术及印刷商业的发展，为思想和知识大范围传播提供了可能；火药带来的军事技术变革，使得欧洲国家内部竞争激烈。战争和印刷不仅是技术密集型也是资本密集型的，金融-技术-战争这三者相互促进。最后三个代表人物是生活在这个时代后期的宗教改革发起者马丁·路德、奥斯曼的苏莱曼大帝、神圣罗马帝国皇帝查理五世。在金融、印刷、火药的加持下，马丁·路德毫不起眼的一篇文章最终化成欧洲政治颠覆性的力量，也是这些力量，使查理五世在欧洲建立统一大帝国的梦想化为泡影。苏莱曼治下的奥斯曼帝国虽然成为当世第一强权，但这巅峰便是衰落的开始，因为世界的规则已经改变。

　　作者简介

　　帕特里克·怀曼（Patrick Wyman），历史作家、历史类播客节目制作人及播主，南加州大学历史学博士，主要研究方向为人类历史上的贸易与交流。他主持的播客节目《罗马的陨落》和《历史的浪潮》下载量超过3200万次。在他的播客中，怀曼致力于将前沿历史研究带给普罗大众，以其引人入胜的叙事风格和深邃明晰的历史洞见相结合的特色，在国际范围内赢得了无数的听众。《欧洲之变》也会起到同样的作用——既吸引希望通过阅读历史理解世界演变的读者，也吸引渴望通过充满戏剧性和画面感的文字感受热血与激情的读者。

Content introduction

How did the West dominate the modern world for nearly 500 years? To answer this question, we need to go back to these crucial 40 years. The 40 years from 1490 to 1530 were a pivotal turning point in European and world history. In those 40 years, there was Columbus crossing the Atlantic and Martin Luther starting the Protestant Reformation. The rapid development of a series of social, political, economic, cultural and technological developments in Europe promoted the formation of the modern world: the printed media shaped the new humanistic view of knowledge, large-scale religious conflicts were on the verge of breaking out, highly centralized military-financial states emerged, gunpowder brought about military technological changes and large-scale wars, and the West began to barbaric conquer the world... All these factors interacted to form a unique economic system linked by finance, which in turn established Europe's dominance on the world stage for the next four centuries, the so-called "Great divergence" between the West and the rest of the world.

This book selects nine characters as narrative clues, connects Europe and the world at that time, tells the revolutionary changes in politics, military, religion, finance, trade and other aspects of Europe in the past half a century, and analyzes what key factors have established the dominance of the West and affected the development process of the whole world. The book begins with three famous figures: explorer Christopher Columbus, Queen Isabella of Spain, and financier Jacob Fugger. Geographical discoveries facilitated trade, and both trade and countries needed financial support. The rise of finance laid the foundation for the network of exchange within Europe, which laid the foundation for the subsequent military-financial integration of the state. Next, the author turns his attention to three less illustrious ordinary people: the mercenary Gerz von Belichingen, the publisher Aldus Manutius, and the wool merchant Johann Heretich. Through their experiences, we can see that business exchanges between different regions have broken the restrictions of geographical boundaries, the penetration of finance into all levels of society has promoted the emergence of credit instruments, and the formation of intra-European business networks; The development of printing technology and printing business has made it possible to spread ideas and knowledge on a large scale. The change in military technology brought about by gunpowder led to fierce competition among European countries. War and printing are not only technology-intensive but also capital-intensive, with finance-technology-war reinforcing each other. The final three figures were Martin Luther, the founder of the Reformation, who lived in the latter part of the era; Suleiman the Great of the Ottomans; and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. With the help of finance, printing, and gunpowder, Martin Luther's humble essay turned out to be the subversive force in European politics that ended Charles V's dream of a unified empire in Europe. The Ottoman Empire under Suleiman became the world's first power, but this peak was the beginning of its decline, because the rules of the world had changed.

About the author

Patrick Wyman is a history writer, producer, and presenter of history podcasts. He has a Ph.D. in history from the University of Southern California, where his research focuses on trade and communication throughout human history. His podcasts Fall of Rome and Waves of History have been downloaded more than 32 million times. In his podcasts, Wyman is committed to bringing cutting-edge historical research to the general public, and his combination of compelling narrative style and deep historical insights has won him an international audience. "The Change of Europe" will do the same - appeal to readers who want to understand the evolution of the world through reading history, but also to readers who want to feel the blood and passion of dramatic and pictorial words.