Essay Questions:

1. Identify and describe the events of the Late Middle Ages that contributed to the decline in feudalism and the power of the papacy and ultimately gave rise to the development of strong dynastic states such as England and France in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

2. Analyze the various ways in which the Protestant Reformation represented a turning point in European history.

3. Contrast the development of an absolute monarchy in France with the growth of constitutionalism in England between 1600 and 1715.

Constitutionalism and Absolutism1600-1715

Absolutism and Constitutionalism• Social Pressures in the seventeenth century

• the peasantry and the nobility• rise of the middle class (merchants and professionals)

• Economic Stress• cold weather=poor harvests=disease and malnutrition• decrease in population• costs of warfare, discontent, and tax revolts

• Political systems emerging in Europe• Constitutionalism and Absolutism

• Constitutionalism involved limiting government to enhance the liberty of individuals; legitimacy was based on consent of the governed

• The legitimacy of absolute monarchs rested on the notion of divine right or traditional assumption of power

• The nobles and the middle class (bourgeoisie) provided opposition to the growth of state power; in constitutionalist states they often obtained control of the state. In absolutist states they became servants of the state.

The Development of Constitutionalism in England

•The expansion of the middle-class and new gentry• Capitalism- an economic system in which investment in and

ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations, especially as contrasted to cooperatively or state-owned means of wealth.

• Growth in the power of the House of Commons

•Religion in the seventeenth century• Catholics, Anglicans, and Calvinists (Puritans)

Tudor Dynasty

Henry VIII

Mary I

Edward VI

Elizabeth I

Stuart Dynasty

James I

James II

Charles I

Charles II

English Civil War (1642-1648)

Major issues prior to the English Civil War:

1. Could the king govern without the consent of Parliament or go against the wishes of Parliament?

2. Calvinists/Puritans wanted to change the hierarchical structure of the Church.

The Stuart Dynasty (in England)

James I (r.1603-1625)• James VI of Scotland• son of Mary, Queen of Scots• inherited/increased massive debt• conflict with Parliament?• believed in the divine right of kings

• True Law of Free Monarchies (1598)

• conflict with Puritans?• “No bishop, no King”

Charles I (r.1625-1649)• divine right monarch• Charles needed $ for war, tax issues, and

problems with Parliament• Petition of Right (1628)• Dissolution of Parliament (1629)

• 1629-1640, Parliament inactive for 11 years

• Charles’ revenue?

• Charles still needed $

• Short Parliament (1640)• War with Scotland, King needed $

• Petition of Right…Charles dissolved Parliament

• Long Parliament (1640-1648)• Scotland invaded northern England

• Charles needed $... conceded to Parliament’s demands

Parliament’s Demands:

English Civil War (1642-1648)• Charles attempted to arrest the

heads of Parliament. Why?

• Cavaliers (Royalists) v. Roundheads (Parliamentarians)

• Oliver Cromwell, New Model Army, Rump Parliament, King’s execution

cavalier

Charles I on Trail

Charles I’s Death Warrant

The Execution of Charles I

The Interregnum (1649-1660)

• The Commonwealth (1649-1653)• The Protectorate (1653-1659)

• Cromwell’s military campaigns• Puritan moral standards

Oliver CromwellPuritan Soldier

The Restoration (1660)

Charles II (r.1660-1685) King’s power NOT absolute Development of political parties

Whigs and Tories Clarendon Code (1661-1665) Royal Declaration of Indulgence (1672) Test Act of 1673

Habeas Corpus Act (1679)

King Charles II

The Glorious Revolution (1688) James II (r. 1685-1688)

Catholic Intentions Parliament’s drive to revolution:

Declaration of Indulgences (1687) birth of a Catholic heir to the king James forced to abdicate

William and Mary of Orange

English Bill of Rights (1689) provisions…

Toleration Act of 1689 Act of Settlement (1701) Act of Union (1707)

James II

The nature of the English government in the early 1700s?

Robert Walpole

Euro Essay:

Contrast the development of an absolute monarchy in France with the growth of constitutionalism in England between 1600 and 1715.

The United Provinces of the Netherlands(The Dutch Republic)

• dominated world trade in the early 1600s

• government controlled by wealthy and powerful merchants = limited authority of the state

• stadtholder

• Why were the Dutch wealthy?• imported cheap grain and produced

profitable agricultural items• fishing• manufacturing• mercantile activities (trade)*

• Dutch East and West India Companies

• Religion in the Dutch Republic?• Calvinist but tolerant of other religions• consequences for trade?

Traditionally, how was the power of the monarchs checked in Europe?

• Estates-General (France)• Parliament (England)

These were assemblies of nobles, clergy, and wealthy townspeople the king summoned when he wanted to raise taxes.

How could these assemblies limit the power of the monarchs?

Absolutism in Europe

What is absolutism?• absolutism- a form of government with unlimited power held by

one individual or group (such as a monarch and his advisors). The monarch makes all final decisions in regard to matters of state.

What gave absolute monarchs their power and legitimacy to rule?

• God• divine right of kings- the belief that a ruler derived complete

authority to govern directly from God and was responsible to God alone for his or her actions

Characteristics of Absolutism

1. Sovereignty of a state is embodied in the monarch

2. Absolutes monarchs are not subordinate to national assemblies

3. a state’s bureaucracy is staffed with men who owe their position to the king

4. Absolute rulers control the religion/churches in their state

5. Acquisition of large standing armies loyal to the monarch

The Philosophy behind Absolutism:

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), Leviathan

Jean Bodin, sixteenth-century French political philosopher, Six Books of the Commonwealth

Basics of absolutism: 1. There is only one sovereign in any state

2. The power of the sovereign may not be actively resisted3. If a sovereign violates God’s commandments, then the

subject passively resists but must accept the sovereign’s punishment

“the king being God’s agent on earth and patriarch over all of his subjects and territories. His sovereignty is indivisible. The king, the head of the dynasty, passes this authority on to his eldest son.”

Bishop Jacques Bossuet (1627-1704), French political theorist and advocate of the divine right of kings. • Louis XIV’s childhood tutor• promoted the notion of divine right• the king, he argued, answers only to God

“ By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges on earth.” Proverbs 8:15-16

“ Let every soul be subject unto higher powers. For there is no power but of God; the powers that are ordained of God. Whoever resists that power resists the ordinance of God, and they will suffer damnation.” Romans 13:1-2

patriarchalism- kings hold power over their subjects as fathers hold power over their children

How did King Louis XIV see himself in relation to France?

The Rise of Absolutism in France

King Louis XIV (r.1643-1715)

French Society under the Ancien Régime

First Estate- Clergy (1%)

Second Estate- Nobles (2%)

Third Estate- Commoners (97%)Peasants

Artisans

Bourgeoisie

Who paid taxes?

1st Estate2nd Estate3rd Estate

The Three Estates in France

Why did absolutism succeed in France?

• Religious warfare and the decline in the power of the nobility• The French Wars of Religion (1562-1598)

• conflict between the French nobility• Valois dynasty (1328-1589)• Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, 1572• The War of the Three Henrys (1587-1589) and the end of the Valois

dynasty1. Henry Bourbon of Navarre (Huguenot)

2. Henry Duguise (Catholic)

3. Henry III Valois (Catholic)

Protestants Catholics

Religion in France- 16th century

ProtestantCatholic

Religion of the Nobility in France- 16th century

Henry IV of France (r.1589-1610)

est. the foundation for French dominance in the seventeenth century

Bourbon Dynasty French Wars of Religion Conversion from Calvinism (Huguenot) to

Catholic

Weakening of the nobility “nobility or the sword” and “nobility of the

robe”

Financial Reforms (Duke of Sully) mercantilism restored the royal treasury repaired roads and bridges supported trade and industry Henry’s reforms were instituted without

approval from the Estates-General. Henry IV assassinated in 1610

a power struggle emerged in France

Henry IV of France

Louis XIII (r.1610-1643) Louis succeeded his father at nine years old

Marie de Medici (regent) Called the Estates-General in 1614

Louis XIII as king

Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642) Est. the foundation for absolutism in France intendants

weakened the French nobility “nobility of the robe”

Continued development of mercantilism Enlarged and strengthened the French

military (increased taxes) Flawed tax policies?

Peace of Alais (1629) Huguenots lost some of the privileges given to

them under Henry IV (political and military)

Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) Goal: Reduce Habsburg power

Dealing with the Estates-General and the parlements

lit de justice

Louis XIII of France

Louis XIV of FranceLouis XIV of France The Sun King The Sun King

King Louis XIV (r.1643-1715) Louis XIV became king at five years old The Fronde (1640s)

Cardinal Mazarin (1602-1661) the discontent of the nobility was directed at

the regent weakness of the nobility consequences for King Louis and the future

of the French nobility?

“Sun King” epitomized absolute rule in Europe

“L’ état, c’est moi” (“I am the state”) divine right of kings

France became the dominant power in Europe during his rule

France was the most populous state in Europe

France endured as the center of literature and the arts until the 20th century

French became the international language

Versailles The Palace of Versailles, under Louis

XIV, became the grandest and most impressive palace in all of Europe

originally a hunting lodge Baroque architecture royal court held there (grew from 600

people to 10,000) maintenance costs = about 60% of all

royal income residence for potentially troublesome

nobles

Political organization under Louis XIV chief ministers chosen from the middle

class extension of Richelieu’s system of

intendants checked the power of potentially

resistant French institutions parlements Estates-General

oppressive control over the peasantry

Religious policies under Louis XIV Louis XIV considered himself head of the French Catholic Church Edict of Fountainbleau (1685)

Revoked the Edict of Nantes Consequences for French Protestants (Huguenots)

Persecution of the Jansenists

Louis XIV’s military? king as master-at-arms standing army

Economic policies under Louis XIV mercantilism, favorable balance of

trade, bullionism Jean Baptiste Colbert (1661-1683)

Goal: Economic self-sufficiency for France

development of a strong infrastructure government-supported monopolies reduced internal tariffs organized French trading companies est. the French merchant marine fleet

Obstacles to continued economic success

overtaxed peasantry emphasis on army rather than navy extensive and costly warfare

Foreign Policy/Warfare under King Louis XIV Louis’ wars were initially successful, but the expenses of waging war contributed

greatly to France’s ultimate economic ruin France maintained a professional standing army

Balance of Power

First Dutch War (War of Devolution) (1667-1668) France invaded the Spanish Netherlands (Belgium)

Second Dutch War (1672-1678) revenge for opposition in the previous war Treaty of Nijmwegen

War of the League of Augsburg (1688-1697) response to another French invasion of the Spanish Netherlands HRE, Spain, Sweden, Bavaria, Saxony, Dutch Republic Prevented France’s expansion into the Germanies demonstrated the emergence of balance of power William of Orange initiated a new era of French and English rivalry that lasted until

1815

The War of Spanish Succession (1701-1713) Cause: The Habsburg king Charles II of Spain (r.1665-1700) willed the Spanish

lands to Philip of Anjou, the grandson of King Louis XIV Fear: consolidation of Spain and France Grand Alliance Battle of Blenheim (1704)

Turning point in the conflict

Treaty of Utrecht (1713) maintained balance of power the Spanish Netherlands (Belgium) given to Austria a buffer territory created between France and the Netherlands prohibited the unification of Spain and France Frederick I recognized as king of Prussia Costs to Louis XIV and France

economic destruction, death, and debt

Absolutism in Central and Eastern Europe

Military Absolutism in Prussia Frederick William “The Great Elector” (r.1640-1688)

Est. the foundation for future German unification Calvinist, but tolerant to Catholics and Jews Built a strong standing army* Junkers and serfs

Frederick I (r.1688-1713) promoted the arts and sciences est. a palace in Berlin Prussia at war throughout most of his rule

(perpetuating the military tradition begun under Frederick William)

The Great Elector

Frederick I

The Germanies in the 18th century

Frederick William I (r.1713-1740)

doubled the size of the Prussian military 80% royal revenues spent on military left Prussia with a surplus in the treasury Purpose of a large standing army?

Frederick II “The Great” (r.1740-1786)

One more absolute ruler in Europe!One more absolute ruler in Europe!

Peter the GreatPeter the Great of Russia (r.1682-1725) of Russia (r.1682-1725) Russia’s “Time of Troubles”Russia’s “Time of Troubles” Romanov dynasty (1613-)Romanov dynasty (1613-) boyars, streltsyboyars, streltsy Westernization of RussiaWesternization of Russia Compare Peter the Great with Louis XIVCompare Peter the Great with Louis XIV new capital city at St. Petersburg on the Baltic Seanew capital city at St. Petersburg on the Baltic Sea Table of RanksTable of Ranks

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