Age of Absolutism

1. Age of Absolutism Justification—Thomas Hobbes (Social Contract) • How did monarchs in Europe justify their right to rule? Centralization— • How did European rulers centralize power and control the nobility? Church and State— • How would you characterize relations between absolute monarchs in Europe and the Catholic Church, or other branches of Christianity?

2. Absolutism Use of power/wealth— • How did European monarchs view human resources within their empires? • In addition to building grand palaces, in what other ways did absolute ruler use the vast wealth they accumulated? Preconditions to Absolutism • What were some social, political, and economic conditions in a nation or empire that often lead to absolutism? • Social • Political • Economic

3. 16th-18th centuries—1550-1715 • Key Characteristics • Wars of Religion—Protestants and Catholics fight for religious and political control • Absolutism—European rulers attempt to extend their power both at home and overseas • Enlightenment—Ideas about Constitutionalism and Democracy are developing in an era of absolute monarchs

4. Absolutism thru history • What is absolutism? • When do people or a society turn to absolutism? • Often social, political, and economic turmoil results in individuals giving up freedom for peace and security (Hobbes, Leviathan). • How have absolute rulers we’ve studied justified their rule? • In Mesopotamia, kings were representatives of gods. In Egypt, kings were gods. In ancient China, Zhou leaders introduced a concept of authority known as the Mandate of Heaven.

5. Absolutism thru history • How did they secure their power? • In Persia, King Darius appointed local governors called satraps to rule each province and then sent out inspectors throughout the kingdom to check on their loyalty. • Did they ever interfere in religious affairs? • Roman and Byzantine emperors controlled not just the state but the Church as well. • How did they use their wealth and power? • Rulers have embarked on massive public works projects, often at the expense of human freedoms. Frequently, peasants hand no choice but to work or die. • What conditions typically lead to absolutism?

7. Spain’s Empire Charles V • Spanish Empire • Haciendas • Charles V (r.1516-1556) • Habsburgs • Philip II (r.1556-1598) • Religious Wars • Netherlands (1648) • vs. Spanish Netherlands (Belgium) • Elizabeth I (1558-1603) • “Privateers” • Spanish Armada (1588) • Tilbury Speech Dutch Empire Philip II Mary Queen of Scots Elizabeth I

9. Tilbury Speech “I am come amongst…being resolved, in the midst and heat of battle, to live or die amongst you all – to lay down for my God, and for my kingdoms, and for my People…I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a King…and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm…I myself will take up arms…I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarded of every one of your virtues in the field.”

10. Spanish Decline • Natural limitations • Geography, Population • Economic Problems • Inflation, Taxation, Trade Imbalance, Economic Stratification

11. Absolutism thru history • What is absolutism? • When do people or a society turn to absolutism? • Often social, political, and economic turmoil results in individuals giving up freedom for peace and security (Hobbes, Leviathan). • How have absolute rulers we’ve studied justified their rule? • In Mesopotamia, kings were representatives of gods. In Egypt, kings were gods. In ancient China, Zhou leaders introduced a concept of authority known as the Mandate of Heaven.

12. Absolutism thru history • How did they secure their power? • In Persia, King Darius appointed local governors called satraps to rule each province and then sent out inspectors throughout the kingdom to check on their loyalty. • Did they ever interfere in religious affairs? • Roman and Byzantine emperors controlled not just the state but the Church as well. • How did they use their wealth and power? • Rulers have embarked on massive public works projects, often at the expense of human freedoms. Frequently, peasants hand no choice but to work or die.

13. French Absolutism Origins of Absolutism • Decline of feudalism, rise of cities, birth of nationalism, decline of church power, support of merchant class Civil War (1562-1598) • Huguenots • Bartholomew’s Day Massacre • August 24, 1572 Henry IV (r. 1589-1610) • Bourbon Dynasty • Edict of Nantes (1598) Henry IV

14. French Absolutism Cardinal Richelieu (in office 1624-1642) • Peace of Alais (1627) • Edict of 1626 • Intendants • 30 Years War (1618-1648) Cardinal Richelieu

15. Edict of 1626 “being neither on hostile frontiers nor in important passes or places, only serve to augment our expenses by the maintenance of useless garrisons, and also serve as retreats for divers persons who on the least provocation disturb the provinces where they are located...For these reasons, we announce, declare, ordain, and will that all the strongholds, either towns or castles, which are in the interior of our realm or provinces of the same, not situated in places of importance either for frontier defense or other considerations of weight, shall be razed and demolished; even ancient walls shall be destroyed so far as it shall be deemed necessary for the well-being and repose of our subjects and the security of this state, so that our said subjects henceforth need not fear that the said places will cause them any inconvenience” --Cardinal Richelieu (1626)

16. French Absolutism Louis XIV (r. 1643-1715) • “Sun King” • “L’etatc’estmoi.” • Edict of Fontainebleau (1685) • French Emigre • Jean Baptiste Colbert • Mercantilism—tariffs and subsidy • Versailles—Royal Court and Councils • Foreign Conflict • Spanish Netherlands (1667-1678), League of Augsburg (1680’s), War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714) • Treaty of Utrecht (1714) • Results of his reign Louis XIV

17. Versailles

18. Life at Versailles • According Duc de Saint-Simon, what were Louis’ primary motivations for moving his court to Versailles? • What does the Duchess of Orleans’ concern regarding her seat tell us about the importance of court etiquette? • How did Louis’ use of status and “favor” serve to maintain control? Provide examples. • Do you see any issues in regards to bias, point of view, or accuracy that would create an issue for a historian using these documents?

19. Thirty Years’ War 1618-1648 Origins of the conflict: • Peace of Augsburg (1555) • Protestant Union (1608) • Catholic League (1609) • Ferdinand II • Defenestration of Prague (May 1618) Ferdinand II

20. Thirty Years’ War 1618-1648 Habsburg Triumphs (1618-1630) • Edict of Restitution (1629) Habsburg Defeats (1630-1648) • GustavusAdolphus • Cardinal Richelieu GustavusAdolphus

21. Thirty Years’ War 1618-1648 Peace of Westphalia (1648) • Peace of the Pyrenees (1659) • Aftermath: • End of Religious Wars • Weakened Habsburgs • “Nation-states” • German Devastation • French Dominance Signing of the Peace of Westphalia

22. Central European Aftermath Maria Theresa • Austria • Habsburgs • Maria Theresa r.1745-1765 • Prussia • Hollenzollerns • Junkers • Frederick the Great r.1740-1786 • Potsdam • 7 Years’ War (1756) • Partition of Poland (1772-1795) • “Aristocratic Republic” Seven Years’ War “French and Indian War” Frederick the Great

23. Russian Absolutism • Physical Geography • KievanRus • Culture/Religion • Vladimir (r. 980) • Byzantine v. Roman • Mongol Conquest (1240-1480) • Ivan III (r.1462-1505) • “Prince of Muscovy”

24. Russian Absolutism Ivan IV (r. 1533-1584) • Czar • Boyars Time of Troubles (1584-1613) • Feodor I Romanov Dynasty(1613-1917) Ivan IV

25. Russian Absolutism Peter the Great (r. 1696-1725) • Grand Embassy 1697 • Centralization • “state service” • Westernization vs. Slavophiles • St. Petersburg St. Petersburg Peter I

26. Russian Absolutism Catherine II (r. 1762-1796) • “Enlightened Despot” • Pugachev Rebellion • Russian Serfdom • Partition of Poland Catherine II

27. Limited English Monarchy Why is England different? • Parliament—composed of all classes • Magna Carta—tradition of limited monarchy Elizabeth I r.1558-1603 • “Tudor” James I r.1603-1625 • “Stuart” • Puritanism • King James Bible James I

28. Limited English Monarchy Charles I r.1625-1649 • Raised in France under Richelieu…married a Catholic • Denied support for Huguenots • Refused to join the 30 Years’ War • Forced Anglicanism on Presbyterians in Scotland—needed Parliament to fight a Scottish rebellion • Petition of Right (1628) • Due Cause, Taxation w/ Consent, No Quartering, No martial law • Personal Rule (1630-1641) Charles I

29. Limited English Monarchy English Civil War 1642-1649 • Royalists (Cavaliers) vs. Roundheads (Puritans) • Execution of Charles (1649) Oliver Cromwell r.1653-1658 • 1st Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell Charles I

30. Limited English Monarchy “Restoration” • Charles II r.1660-1685 • Habeas Corpus • Exclusion Act • Tories vs. Whigs • James II (Catholic) r.1685-1690 Glorious Revolution • William of Orange and Mary (daughter of James) • “English” Bill of Rights 1689 • Toleration Act of 1689 Constitutional Monarchy William III House of Commons—Glorious Revolution

31. Scientific Revolution • Describe the causes of the Scientific Revolution and what it reflects about changes in society. • Renaissance, Secularism, Reformation, Exploration/Contact • How might the Scientific Revolution have influenced the Enlightenment and later intellectual movements in Europe? • Encouraged questioning, Scientific focus turned toward society

32. Scientific Revolution Views of the world: Medieval view (Geocentric) Modern View (Heliocentric) • Scientific Method: Observation, Hypothesis, Test, Analysis Galileo

33. Enlightenment English Influence • Thomas Hobbes (Leviathan, 1651) • John Locke (Two Treatises on Government, 1689) Philosophes • Jean Jacques Rousseau (Social Contract, 1762) Thomas Hobbes John Locke

34. Enlightenment • Philosophes • Reason • Nature • Happiness • Progress • Liberty Jean Jacques Rousseau

35. Enlightenment • Freedom of Religion and Speech • “I do not agree with a word you say but will defend to the death your right to say it.” • “There is scarcely any city or borough in Europe, where blood has not been spilt for religious quarrels…I say, that Europe would have had a third larger population, if there had been no theological disputes.” • Deism Voltaire

36. Enlightenment • Montesquieu • Separation of Powers • “Power should be a check to power” • Beccaria • Judicial Rights • Denis Diderot • Encyclopedia (1751) • Salons Baron de Montesqieu

37. Enlightenment • Mary Astell • “If absolute sovereignty be not necessary in a state, how come it is to be so in a family?...If all men are born free, how is it that all women are born slaves?” • Mary Wollstonecraft • “women spend many of the first years of their lives acquiring a smattering of accomplishments; meanwhile strength of body and mind are sacrificed to indulgent notions of beauty, to the desire of establishing themselves—the only way women can rise in the world—by marriage.” Mary Wollstonecraft

38. Enlightenment Catherine II • Enlightened Despots • Frederick the Great of Prussia r. 1740-1786 • Joseph II of Austria r. 1780-1790 • Catherine the Great of Russia r. 1762-1796 Joseph II

39. Enlightenment • What was the legacy of the Enlightenment? • Belief in progress • Secular outlook • Importance of the individual • End of the slave trade—William Wilberforce (1759-1833) • American Revolution (and others that followed) • Declaration of Independence— “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it”

40. Enlightenment • American Bill of Rights—1st 10 Amendments to the Const.) • Amendment I—Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press… • Amendment VIII—Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.