Great Divergence
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The Great Divergence or European miracle is the socioeconomic shift in which Western Europe along with former settler colonies in Northern America and Australasia overcame pre-modern growth constraint
The Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, begun in 1163 and largely completed by 1260
Detail of a portrait of Cardinal Hugh of Saint-Cher (wearing spectacles), painted by Tommaso da Modena in 1352
The distribution of coal deposits shaped industrial development in Britain.
Courtyard of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, circa 1670
Commercial revolution
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In European history, the commercial revolution saw the development of a European economy – based on trade – which began in the 11th century AD and operated until the advent of the Industrial Revolutio
Great Divergence
…including mineral deposits, geography, culture, institutions, and luck. There is also disagreement about its timing. While some scholars cite the Commercial Revolution or emphasize slow, long-term structural social changes rooted in the medieval period, others point to the early modern era (15th or 16th century) as…
Italy in 1494, after the Peace of Lodi
Potosí (Bolivia) silver 8 reales, Carlos III, 1768
Spanish gold doubloon stamped as minted in 1798
The Moneylender and his Wife (1514) Oil on panel, 71 x 68 cm Musée du Louvre, Paris