The Age of Absolutism: Spain and France

1. Chapter 17 The Age of Absolutism By: Michael Giampapa

2. Spain and the Hapsburg Empire • Spain was the first modern European power. Queen Isabella financed Columbus’s voyage, leading to the Spanish conquest of the Americas. Isabella’s grandson, Charles V was heir to the Hapsburgs, the Austrian rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Netherlands. He was a devout Catholic who suppressed the Protestant movement in the German states. His greatest foe was the Ottoman empire. He couldn’t rule all of the Hapsburg empire by himself, so he entered a monastery and divided his empire. He gave lands in central Europe to his brother Ferdinand, and Spain, Netherlands, and southern Italy to his son Philip.

3. An Imposing Monarch • King Philip II was hardworking, devout, and ambitious. He sought to expand Spanish influence, strengthen Catholic Church, and make his power absolute. His palace, the Escorial, served as a Church, residence, and tomb for members of the royal family. He centralized royal power and became an absolute monarch, ruler with complete authority over the country. He also believed in divine right, in which his authority to rule came directly from God. He wanted to defend the Catholic Reformation and turn back Protestant tide in Europe

4. Wars of Philip II • Philip fought many wars. He battled Protestant rebels in the Netherlands. In 1581, the northern Protestant provinces became known as the Dutch Netherlands. The southern remained Catholic and part of the Spanish empire. He saw England’s Queen Elizabeth I as his chief protestant enemy. Elizabeth persuaded English captains, known as Sea Dogs, to plunder Spanish treasure ships. Philip took the initiative and prepared a huge armada, or fleet, to carry Spanish invasion force to England. The weather favored the English and many Spanish ships took losses from the faster, lighter English ships. In the end, however, the Dutch, English and French fleets surpassed Spanish power in Europe.

5. The Golden Century • From 1550 to 1650, Spain’s siglo de oro, or Golden century had brilliant arts and literature. One famous painter El Greco, studied in Renaissance Italy before settling in Spain. He produced haunting religious pictures, and portraits of Spanish nobles. An amazing writer named Miguel de Cervantes, wrote Don Quixote, the first modern novel in Europe.

6. Sec 2 France Under Louis XIV • During the 1560’s to the 1590’s, religious wars between Huguenots (French Protestants) and the Catholic majority drove France apart. On St. Bartholomew’s Day, August 24, 1572, Huguenot and Catholic nobles celebrated a royal wedding. Violence had erupted which led to the massacre of 3,000 Huguenots. St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre symbolized the breakdown of order in France.

7. Henry IV and Richelieu • Henry IV, also called Henry of Navarro, was a Bourbon prince and Huguenot leader. He changed religions from Protestant to Catholic, since the majority of France was Catholic. He issued the Edict of Nantes to grant Huguenots religious toleration and let them live in their own towns and cities. In the year 1610, he was killed by an assassin and his son Louis XIII inherited the throne. He hired Cardinal Armand Richelieu as his chief minister. Richelieu wanted to destroy the power of the nobles and the Huguenots. He handpicked his own successor which was Cardinal Jules Mazarin. In 1643, Louis XIV inherited the throne. Mazarin was his chief minister who tried to extend royal power.

8. Louis XIV: From Boy King to Sun King • Louis believed in divine right. The sun was the symbol of his power. Since the sun was the center of the solar system, the Sun King was the center of the French nation. Louis strengthened the state by expanding the bureaucracy and appointing intendants, royal officials who collected taxes, recruited soldiers and carried out policies. Louis found a chief finance minister named Jean Baptiste Colbert. He bolstered the economy and promoted trade. His policies made France the wealthiest country in Europe.

9. Splendor of Versailles • Louis XIV built an huge palace in Versailles. It was a symbol of the Sun King’s wealth and power. He supported a splendid century of the arts. An actor-playwright named Moliere turned comedies such as The Miser, into the delight of middle-class citizens. Louis supported French Academies, which set high standards in art and science.

10. Successes and Failures • Louis fought many wars. Some led by the Dutch or English, fought to maintain balance of power, distribution of military power that would prevent any one nation from dominating Europe. Louis’s grandson inherited the throne of Spain, which led to The War of the Spanish Succession. France signed the Treaty of Utrecht, in which France agreed never to unite the twp crowns. In the revoking of the Edict of Nantes, more than 100,000 Huguenots fled France, because they were threat to religious and political unity.

11. Sec 3: Triumph of Parliament in England The Tudor Dynasty ruled England from 1485 to 1603. Henry VIII broke with the Roman Catholic Church and became head of the Church of England. His daughter Elizabeth I, consulted in Parliament an controlled in well. She became a popular and successful ruler.

12. The Early Stuarts • When Queen Elizabeth died in 1603, there was no direct heir to the throne. Her relatives the Stuarts, were the ruling family of Scotland. James I was the first Stuart monarch who agreed to English laws. James dissolved parliament and faced Puritans, English Protestants, who wanted to purify the Church of England o English practices. Charles I took the throne after his father and behaved like an absolute monarch. He was told to sign the Petition of Right, which prohibited the king from raise taxes without consulting Parliament. Charles refused and ruled without Parliament for 11 years. When Charles tried to summon Parliament they revolted and became known as the Long Parliament. They executed his chief ministers and declared they could not be dissolved without their consent

13. The English Civil War • The Cavaliers, supporters of Charles I and Roundheads, country gentry, manufacturers, and Puritan clergy fought in civil war. Oliver Cromwell was a skilled general who organized the New Model Army. Cromwell’s army defeated the Cavaliers in many battles. Parliament put the king on trial and he was guilty. Then In 1649 the king was then executed. He was the first king to be tried and executed by his own people.

14. Charles II • Charles II was a popular ruler. He restored the Church of England but tolerated other religions. He signed the Petition of Right and believed in absolute monarchy. His brother James II took the throne in 1685. He flaunted his Catholic faith and many believed he was restoring the Roman Catholic Church. In 1688, James’s Protestant daughter Mary, and her Dutch Protestant husband William III, became rulers of England.

15. The Glorious Revolution • William and Mary landed with their army as James II fled to France. This bloodless overthrow of a kin became known as the Glorious Revolution. William and Mary accepted the English Bill of Rights. These rights ensured Parliament superior over the monarchy, barred any Catholic from sitting on the throne, and issued England a Limited Monarchy. This means a government in which a constitution or legislative body limits the monarch’s powers. The Bill of Rights affirmed habeas corpus, which is no person could be sent to prison without be charged for the crime. The Toleration Act of 1689, granted limited toleration to Puritans, Quakers, and other Protestant dissenters.

16. Sec 4: Rise of Austria and Prussia • Religion in Germany divided the states. North was Protestant while the south was Catholic. It sparked the Thirty Years’ War. Ferdinand, the Hapsburg king of Bohemia, suppressed Protestants and tried to roll back the Reformation. With so much murder and torture followed famine and disease. One-third of Germany’s population had died. In 1648, the Peace of Westphalia was accepted. France were the big winners by the land they gained, and Hapsburgs were the losers because they had to accept princes of the Holy Roman Empire. Germany was divided into more than 360 states.

17. Maria Theresa • When Charles VI faced a crisis of having no son, his daughter, Maria Theresa took over ruling the Hapsburg lands. When Frederick II of Prussia seized the Hapsburg province of Silesia, Maria went to Hungary for military help. During the eight year war, Maria did not succeed in pushing Frederick out of Silesia. She, however, reorganized the bureaucracy, and improved tax collection.

18. Frederick II • Frederick II inherited the Prussian throne in 1740. He was abused by his father because of Frederick being a big fan of the flute and writing poetry. He got the name Frederick the Great because his persuading that Prussia was a great power and of his seizing Silesia.

19. PETER THE GREAT • Peter the Great pushed Russia into becoming a great modern power. He wasn’t well-educated but very curious and determined to learn. He wanted to centralize royal power. Under him serfdom had spread. He supported western technology, improved education, simplified the Russian alphabet, and set up academies for math, science, and engineering. He insisted noblemen shave their beards and modernize their old-fashioned robes. Whoever resisted the new order, Peter had no mercy for. He executed and tortured thousands and left their corpses outside his palace for months.

20. Russian Expansion • Peter created the largest army in Europe and wanted to extend Russian borders. He fought Sweden over the Baltic region. When he pushed them back he noticed their seaports were frozen during the winter. He then went sent to reach a warm-water seaport that way they could trade with the west all year long. He built a new capitol city as a symbol of his desire, which is called St. Petersburg. Peter died in 1725, although he succeeded in expanding Russian territory, gaining ports off the Baltic Sea, and building a strong army.

21. Catherine the Great • Catherine the Great was a German princess who came to Russia at age 15, to wed Czar Peter III, heir to the throne. He was murdered by a group of army officers. She took the Russian throne and was very efficient. She embraced western ideas. She was determined to expand Russia’s borders. She also took steps to gain Poland territory.

22. Questions • 1.) Peter the Great and Catherine the Great changed Russia by • 2.) Westernization in Russia came about largely through the • 3) Changes in Russia under Peter the Great were similar to changes that occurred in • 4) “. . .The person of the King is sacred, and to attack him in any way is an attack on religion itself. Kings represent the divine majesty and have been appointed by Him to carry out His purposes. Serving God and respecting kings are bound together.” Which person would you most agree with this statement? • 5) “God hath power to create or destroy, make or unmake, at his pleasure; to give life or send death; to judge…and to be judged (by) none…And the like power have kings;…” Which idea is described by this passage?

23. Answers • 1) introducing western ideas and customs • 2)efforts of Peter the Great and his successors • 3) Japan during the Meiji Restoration • 4) Louis XIV • 5) theory of divine right