The Age of Absolutism

THE AGE OF ABSOLUTISM1550-1800

SPANISH POWER GROWS•Explain the growth of the Spanish empire during the 1500s

RISE OF SPAIN Charles I, son of Ferdinand and Isabella,

becomes king of Spain

Charles also became heir to Hapsburg empire Large empire that contained Holy Roman Empire

and the Netherlands Takes name Charles V

Butted heads with Muslim Ottoman empire in Turkey

RISE OF SPAIN (CONT.) Empire to big for Charles V to handle by

himself

Splits empire; gives half to his brother, gives half to his son Philip II

RISE OF SPAIN (CONT.) Philip II expanded Spain’s influence and ruled

as an absolute monarch Complete authority over government and lives of

people

With help of silver from Americas, made Spain foremost power in Europe

RISE OF SPAIN (CONT.) Philip believed he ruled with divine right

Belief that his power to rule came directly from God

To expand his empire, Philip saw fit to attack England

Sent over a large armada, or fleet of boats, to England

FALL OF SPAIN English ships faster and outmaneuver

Spanish

Marked the beginning of a Spanish decline

ARTS IN SPAIN Despite economic troubles, arts flourished in

Spain due to Philip II being a supporter

Famed painter El Greco

Miguel de Cervantes wrote Don Quixote

DON QUIXOTE Pg. 509

FRENCH AND ENGLISH ABSOLUTISM

RELIGIOUS STRIFE During the 1560s to 1590s, there were

religious conflicts going on

Catholics vs. French Protestants, called Huguenots

St. Bartholomew’s Day: Catholic holiday. Huguenots and Catholics gathered for royal wedding. Catholic royals plotted and massacred 3,000 Huguenots: St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre

PEACE IN A SHATTERED LAND Huguenot prince inherited the French throne:

Henry IV

Met with a lot of Catholic opposition; eventually converted to end it

To protect Protestants, he issued the Edict of Nantes which granted religious freedom to Huguenots

PEACE IN A SHATTERED LAND (CONT.) Henry IV set out to repair France

“A chicken in every pot”: a good Sunday dinner for every peasant

Built up royal power

Even though he helped, he expanded the government’s control on everything, setting the stage for later absolute monarchs

CARDINAL RICHELIEU Henry IV assassinated; his nine-year-old son

Louis XIII took over

Louis appointed Cardinal Richelieu as his chief advisor

Richelieu spent the next 18 years building up the royal government’s power

LOUIS XIV Five-year-old Louis XIV eventually took

control of France

Disorder and chaos followed soonafter

The Fronde, where peasants, nobles, urban poor, and merchants rebelled against the royal power

LOUIS XIV (CONT.) Louis also firmly believed he had divine right

Used the image of the sun to represent himself; called “The Sun King”

Letat, c’est moi: “I am the state”

LOUIS XIV (CONT.) Continued to expand the power of the state

Appointed intendants, who were royal officials that collected taxes, recruited soldiers, and carried out his policies

Also built up the French army

LOUIS XIV (CONT.) Louis’ financier, Jean-Baptiste Colbert,

bolstered France’s economy

France was made into one of the wealthiest countries in Europe

Louis was also a large patron of the arts

VERSAILLES Louis XIV turned a royal hunting lodge into a

giant palace of beauty; this was known as Versailles

Extravagant paintings, glass, and millions of flowers and trees perfectly aligned

Symbol of the Sun King’s wealth

VERSAILLES (CONT.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=9tS94tgd_Pk

LEVEE Louis XIV conducted ceremonies that

empahsized his importance

One of these was levee (“rising”)

Literally, everyone made a grand ceremony of Louis rising out of bed

LEVEE (CONT.) Two reasons:

To show how amazing he was Many nobles took part in these ceremonies, and

the nobles were usually rivals competing for power and land. With all of them with Louis XIV, they weren’t at home fighting for power or building armies

PERSECUTING HUGUENOTS Louis saw Huguenots as threat to political

unity

Revoked Edict of Nantes; many Huguenots fled

Joke’s on Louis: most of the Huguenots were hardworking subjects that gave a lot to the French economy. Economy starts to decline.

TUDORS AND PARLIAMENT What is Parliament?

England ruled by the Tudors at the time Again, believed in divine right

Unlike the other Absolutes, the Tudors want to work with Parliament

Despite consulting with them, the Tudors somewhat “controlled” them

THE STEWARTS After Elizabeth I died, her relative James Stuart

took the throne

James I started clashing with Parliament over his “divine right” and absolute power; dissolved Parliament

James also clashed with dissenters, who were Protestants that didn’t follow the Church of England

One group, the Puritans, sought to “purify” the Catholic Church; wanted more democratic church

CHARLES I After James, Charles I inherited the throne

Charles also behaved like an absolute monarch

Charles called Parliament back to raise taxes

Parliament made him sign Petition of Right: prohibited king from raising taxes or jailing anybody without Parliament’s consent

Charles signed, and then dissolved Parliament again

THE LONG PARLIAMENT Charles calls Parliament back once again to

get more funds for wars

This time, Parliament launches it’s own revolt, where they tried and executed many of Charles’ chief ministers

Known as “The Long Parliament”

THE LONG PARLIAMENT Parliament declared it could not be dissolved

without it’s own consent

Charles fought back: led troops into Parliament to arrest it’s most radical leaders

Escaped through a back door and raised their own army. Now it is time for a Civil War

THE ENGLISH CIVIL WAR Two groups: Cavaliers and Roundheads

Cavaliers were supporters of Charles I Plumed hats and long hair

Roundheads were the forces of Parliament; everyday people Hair was cut close around their heads

THE ENGLISH CIVIL WAR (CONT.) Leader of the Roundheads was Oliver

Cromwell

Cromwell was a Puritan member and skilled general

Roundheads win the war, and Charles is executed

THE COMMONWEALTH After execution of Charles I, Parliament

declared England a republic, known as “the Commonwealth”

Cromwell chosen as leader

New government faced many new threats Supporters of Charles II, the uncrowned heir,

attacked England via Ireland and Scotland

THE COMMONWEALTH (CONT.) Levellers started fighting for rights for

EVERYONE Crushed; never got their say

Since Cromwell was Puritan, there were various Puritan changes to English society No theaters No dancing No gambling No pubs No “fun”

END OF THE COMMONWEALTH People starting to get really fed up with

Puritan and military rule

After Cromwell dies, the Commonwealth dissolves

Parliament invites Charles II to return to England

RETURN OF MONARCHS Charles II returns to England and becomes

ruler

Avoids mistakes his father, Charles I, made Encourages tolerance of other faiths Still believed in divine right and absolutism

Charles II’s brother, James II, takes throne from him

RETURN OF MONARCHS (CONT.) James II not too popular

Very open about Catholic beliefs and practices Parliament thought James II would restore Roman

Catholic Church

Parliament members asked James’ daughter, Mary, and son-in-law, William, to become rulers, James fled to France

This was known as the Glorious Revolution

ENGLISH BILL OF RIGHTS Before William and Mary were crowned, they

had to accept the English Bill of Rights

This asserted that Parliament had superiority over the monarchy

Restated rights given to English citizens

LIMITED MONARCHY Government now in place was a limited

monarchy

This means that a monarch’s power is limited by a legislative body, and rulers had to follow Parliament’s law

Very radical at the time

CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT Rise of constitutional government

Government whose power is defined and limited by law

Cabinet established to help George I (who didn’t speak English) Handful of Parliamentary advisors to set policy

for the king

Leader of cabinet became known as “prime minister”

OLIGARCHY Despite all these new leaps, Britain still not

really democratic

Britain was an oligarchy: a government where the ruling power belong to just a few

Many peasants and people “just getting by” in England

Growing middle class however, which later fuels Industrial Revolution

ABSOLUTISM IN RUSSIA

PETER THE GREAT Peter the Great was a Russian tsar/czar who

used his power to put Russia on a path to modernization

Spent hours learning about the Western ideas and cultures

PETER THE GREAT (CONT.) Wanted to westernize Russia

In order to do this, he had to establish autocratic authority over Russia He ruled with unlimited power

PETER THE GREAT (CONT.) Improved Russian alphabet and set up

various academies

Improved canals and waterways

No mercy for those who opposed his ideas

PETER THE GREAT (CONT.) Peter built up the Russian army and navy to

make the greatest standing army in Europe

Wanted desperately to trade with West, but there was a problem with his seaports. Any ideas?

Ports kept freezing; searched for a warm-water port that was free of ice all year round

WARM-WATER PORT Nearest port that would fit this description

was in Black Sea

Area under control of the Ottoman Empire

Tried to push through empire, but failed

ST. PETERSBURG Russia fought Sweden numerous times

Finally prevailed and gained land; Peter builds St. Petersburg and models it after Western cities

The “Versailles of Russia”

CATHERINE THE GREAT Peter had no direct successor

Power struggle for years

Finally, a new monarch appears: Catherine the Great

CATHERINE THE GREAT (CONT.) Was a German princess that wed into the

family at 15

Army officials close to her murdered her husband; she became ruler

Like Peter, embraced Western ideas

CATHERINE THE GREAT (CONT.) Big follower of the Enlightenment; the

“Enlightened Empress”

Reorganized government and began public education for boys and girls

Like other absolute monarchs, also pretty ruthless