THE AGE OF ABSOLUTISM
FRENCH WARS OF RELIGION
• PLAYERS
– French Catholics: about 93% of the French
population (including the king)
– Huguenots: about 7% of the French
population, but 40-50% of the French nobility
• Protestants were persecuted
• Towns and provinces assisted nobles in
trying to limit the power of the monarchy
HENRY OF NAVARRE
HENRY IV (1589-1610)
Domestic Policies:
– was a Huguenot, but realized a
Protestant would never be
accepted by Catholic France.
– issued the Edict of Nantes
recognizing Catholicism as the
official religion of France, but
giving Huguenots the right to
worship and enjoy political
privileges.
First Bourbon monarch
LOUIS XIII (1610-1643)
Came to the throne
when he was just a
boy
His Mother, Marie de’
Medici, ruled as regent
until he was 15
Kingdom was actually
ruled by Cardinal
Richelieu (1624-1643)
SPAIN AND MILITANT
CATHOLICISM
CHARLES I (1516-1556)
• Also known as
Charles V, Holy
Roman Emperor
(1519-1558)
• Was a Hapsburg
(German) by birth
• Helped make Spain
the most powerful
nation in Europe
during the Age of
Discovery
PHILIP II (1556-1598)
The “Most Catholic
King”
Married Mary I of
England
Ruled the largest
empire in the world
(parts of Europe,
Asia, and Africa, and
almost all of South
America)
Philip II continued
Domestic Policies:
– Insisted on strict conformity to Catholicism
– Strong monarchical authority (power of the king)
Foreign Policies:
– Strengthen Catholic influence world-wide
– Wage war on non-Catholic nations
– Increase colonial possessions
Sent the Armada to England in an effort to defeat
Elizabeth I, believing that his defeat would
overthrow Protestantism and return England to a
Catholic nation
ENGLAND: THE TUTORS AND
ELIZABETHAN AGE
TUTORS:
HENRY VIII (1509-1547)
• Broke from the
Catholic Church
• Had 6 wives
EDWARD VI (1547-1553)
• Became king
at 9 years of age
• Died in his
early teens
• Maintained Protestantism in
England
MARY I (1553-1558)
• Known as “Bloody Mary”
• Changed England’s religion
back to Catholicism
• Married Philip II of Spain
ELIZABETH I (1558-1603)
• “The Virgin Queen” – never
married
• One of the best loved English
monarchs
Domestic policy:
– Worked well with Parliament
– Implemented a new Act of
Supremacy naming her the
head of both church and state
– Repealed laws favoring
Catholics
Elizabeth I continued
Foreign Policy:
– Held a moderate view
– Tried to keep a balance
of power between Spain
and France
– Tried to avoid war
– Defeated Philip II’s
Spanish Armada
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
CRISES IN EUROPE (15601650)
ECONOMIC CRISES:
• INFLATION
– Caused by the great influx of gold and silver
from the Americas
– A growing population increase the demand for
land and food, driving up prices
Warfare, plague, and famine caused a
population decline by 1650 and led to the
creation of social tensions
SOCIAL TENSIONS
Belief in witchcraft:
An intense hysteria caused many people to be charged with
witchcraft (a carry over from the Inquisition’s search for
heretics)
Common people were most often accused (single or widowed
women were targeted)
The Thirty Years War:
Cause: Disputes between Calvanists and Catholics and a
struggle between France, Spain, and the Holy Roman
Empire for European leadership
Results: most destructive conflict Europe and yet experienced,
The major contenders gained new territories (France
emerged as the dominant power), brought and end to the
Holy Roman Empire, and The Peace of Westphalia stated all
German states could determine their own religion.
REVOLUTION IN ENGLAND
JAMES I (1603-1625)
• First Stuart king
• Believed in the
“Divine Right of
Kings”
• Alienated Parliament
• Was also James VI of
Scotland
CHARLES I (1625-1649)
• King of England
during the English
Civil War
• Did not work with
Parliament
• Beheaded by Oliver
Cromwell and the
Roundheads
THE COMMONWEALTH
• Ruled by Oliver
Cromwell (16531658)
• Governed as Lord
Protector (actually a
kind of military
dictator)
• His son, Richard,
succeeded him after
his death
CHARLES II (1660-1685)
• Came to power in the
time known as “The
Restoration”
• Dissolved Parliament
in England and ruled
alone until his death
• Had no heirs, so his
brother inherited the
throne
JAMES II (1685-1688)
• Last Roman Catholic
monarch in England
• Parliament feared his
belief in absolutism
and planned changes
to the Church of
England
• His foes orchestrated
the “Glorious
Revolution”
WILLIAM AND MARY (1688-1702)
• Came to power as a result of the “Glorious
Revolution”
• Ruled jointly until Mary’s death in 1694
• Signed the English
Bill of Rights
• Marked the beginning
of England’s
Constitutional Monarchy
• They were both Protestant
RESPONSE TO CRISIS:
ABSOLUTISM
LOUIS XIV (1643-1715)
(1643-1661) Cardinal
Mazarin helped rule as
regent
The Sun King
Accomplishments:
• Epitome of an
absolute monarch
• Built the Palace at
Versailles
Louis XIV continued
Domestic Policies:
• Maintained complete authority by
distracting nobles and princes with court
life, to keep them out of politics
Foreign Policies
• Waged war on neighboring countries
When he died in 1715, he left France in
great debt and surrounded by enemies
Frederick I (1701-1713)
First king of Prussia
Domestic Policies:
• Patron of the arts
• Wanted to make Prussia a
strong nation
Foreign Policies:
• Militaristic (fought other countries)
Accomplishments:
• 4th largest army in Europe
AUSTRIA
Charles VI (1711-1740)
• Brought Austria into its
widest expansion
• signed the Pragmatic
Sanction of 1713, giving
power to his daughter
upon his death
Maria Theresa (1740-1780)
• Promoted commerce and
agriculture
• Financial and educational
reforms
RUSSIA
Ivan IV (1533-1584)
Accomplishment:
• Known for his cruelty, which
earned him the nickname “the
Terrible”
– Was probably mentally unstable
– Killed his own son
Domestic Policies:
• Wanted to get rid of the
nobility
Foreign Policies:
• Increased the size of Russia
Peter the Great (1682-1725)
First Romanov ruler
Domestic Policy:
• Tried to “westernize” Russia
(make Russia more like Europe)
Foreign Policy:
• Built a large navy
• Increased the size of Russia
Accomplishments:
• Created the city of St.
Petersburg
ASSIGNMENT
• Examine the portraits of Louis XIV, Peter
the Great, and Elizabeth I on the following
slide
• Complete a primary source framework
analysis for each one
• Write a short essay describing how the
portraits portray the concept of absolutism.
Include a personal critique of your favorite
portrait (what you like about it).
Louis XIV
Peter the
Great
Elizabeth I
EUROPEAN CULTURE
MANNERISM – reflected a new environment
of anxiety and uncertainty in European
culture by deliberately breaking down the
Renaissance principles of balance,
harmony, and moderation (elongated
figures were used to show suffering,
emotions, and religious ecstasy)
El Greco was probably the most
famous artist of this movement
The Baroque Movement:
Sought to bring together the
classical ideals of
Renaissance art with the
spiritual feelings of the
16th century religious
revival
Largely reflected the search
for power through
magnificent and rich detail
and elaborate drama
The Golden Age of Literature:
Drama and Theater – William Shakespeare
is the most famous of all the dramatists
and perhaps the best example of
“Elizabethan” literature
Lope de Vega was also a great Spanish
playwright
Novels – Miguel de Cervantes is the most
notable Spanish novelist of the time and
his novel Don Quixote has been called
one of the greatest literary works of all
time
POLITICAL THOUGHT
Thomas Hobbes – claimed that before
society was organized, humans were
guided not by reason and moral ideals but
by a ruthless struggle for self-preservation.
Promoted a social contract in which
people agree to be governed by an
absolute ruler with unlimited power in
order to preserve society, and rebellion
must be suppressed.
Political thought continued…
John Locke – argued against the absolute
rule of one person. Believed that before
society, humans lived in a state of equality
and freedom based on natural rights. Said
that the contract between people and
government involved mutual obligations
and government was established to
protect people’s rights.
His ideas can be found in the Declaration of
Independence and U.S. Constitution