ABSTRACT
This chapter is an attempt to characterise the political and economic landscape of early modern Europe as seen from a maritime point of view. It is to a considerable extent based on economic history and historical sociology. This is necessary as warfare at sea from 1500 to 1650 was not a straightforward contest between well–integrated political units (states) fighting for national interests defined by their rulers. In this period, centralised and well–integrated territorial states were exceptions to the rule, loosely connected empires and city–states were still important, and the classical European system of great powers had not yet developed. Especially at sea, conflicts up to 1650 are often better understood as contests in protection and coercion between interest groups and coalitions of such groups. Many rulers had no ambition to exercise an efficient monopoly on violence at sea and to deny their subjects the right to fight for their private interests at sea. Most European states only gradually and unevenly developed the administrative competence required for large–scale warfare at sea. For those who used the sea lines of communication in order to explore economic opportunities, efficient use of violence was one of several entrepreneurial skills which were necessary for profit. 1
