Royal Power and Conflict
• City-states were replaced with
nations
• Most rulers ruled under an
absolutist government
– Group or individual ruling has total
power
• Divine Right
– They were selected to rule from
God
• Centralized rule helped unify
people
Spain: Philip II
• Ruled from 1556–1598
• Goal was to spread Catholicism
– Got Spain involved in several wars
• Unrest
– Ferdinand and Isabella unified Spain
• Failed to unify laws
– Philip II made Madrid the capital
• Religious Policy
– Supported inquisition
– Dutch Protestants rebelled
• England helped them win independence
Spain: Philip II
• Spanish Armada
– Phillip supported Elizabeth I until
she aided the Dutch
– Decided to invade England
• 1588 sent Armada to England
• England sunk the Armada
• Last of the
Hapsburgs
– Philip II’s
decedents were
ill-equipped to
handle problems
England: Tudors
• Henry VII – fist Tudor king
– Rebuilt English commercial prosperity
• Henry VIII
– Fought wars, made England a great
naval power
– Had six marriages
• Edward VI
– 9 when he became king, and he died
shortly
• Mary I
– Became queen,
brought back
Catholicism
England: Elizabeth I
• Her reign was a great cultural
period
– Theater flourished
• Refused to marry
– Didn’t want to give up her
powers
• Government
– Passed legislation
– Justices of the Peace
enforced the laws
England: Elizabeth I
• Social and Economic Policy
– Three classes
• Queen and her court
• Gentry, merchants, lawyers, and
clergy
• Yeomen
– Laws regulated the lives of
people
– Elizabeth tried to get the
monarchy out of debt
• Costs of war, mounting inflation
England: Elizabeth I
• Foreign Policy
– Continued to build a strong navy
– Fought to maintain a balance of
power
• Keep any one nation from becoming too
powerful
– Sought to make
Scotland and Ireland
an ally
• So they could not ally
with the Spanish