Historians often refer to the seventeenth century as an “age of crisis,” when Europe was challenged by population losses, economic decline, and social and political unrest. These difficulties were partially due to climate changes that reduced agricultural productivity, but they also resulted from bitter religious divides, war, and increased governmental pressures. Peasants and the urban poor were hit especially hard by the economic problems, and they frequently rose in riot against high food prices.

The atmosphere of crisis encouraged governments to take emergency measures to restore order, measures that they successfully turned into long-term reforms that strengthened the power of the state. These included a spectacular growth in army size as well as increased taxation, the expansion of government bureaucracies, and the acquisition of land or maritime empires. In the long run, European states proved increasingly able to impose their will on the populace.