Spain’s Empire and European Absolutism
Powerful Spanish Empire
• Following Charles V’s death, he leaves Holy Roman Empire and Austria to his
brother Ferdinand and leaves Netherlands, Spain, and American colonies to
his son Philip II
Philip II’s Empire
• When the king of Portugal died in 1580, _______________ assumed his territories
(his nephew)land in Africa, India, and E. Indies
• Spain found much wealth in precious _______________, and the king (Philip) got
a percentage of the profit.
• This wealth allowed the Spanish to recruit an army of around
___________________________
Defender of Catholicism
• When Philip takes over the throne, there were religious wars still rippling
from the __________________________
• _____________________- campaign to drive Muslims out of Spain (64)
• Philip thought it was his duty to protect ______________________ against
Protestants and Muslims
• On the pope’s orders, Philip II sends more than 200 Spanish Venetian ships
to defeat the ___________________________
• In 1588, he sends a Spanish armada to England to punish Elizabeth and her
people for supporting __________________________
• Philip II was very religious, and strongly supports __________________
Golden Age of Spanish Art and Literature
• The wealth Spain had allowed more than just military strength; monarchs
and nobles were able to become _______________ of the arts also
El Greco and Velazquez
• ____________ (The Greek) was born in Crete, but grew up in Spain
• His art was unique  clashing colors and distorted the human body. He also
painted ______________ (Catholic) figures
• __________________________ painted the pride of the Spanish monarchy nearly 50
years after El Greco
• Was the ___________________ of Philip IV
• Also known for using brilliant colors
Don Quixote
• _______________________________________ was the first real European novel
• His book discusses a __________________________ who went ____________ after
reading books about _______________________ and chivalry
Spanish Empire Weakens
• The gold coming from the America’s made Spain temporarily wealthy, but led
to long term problems
___________________________________
• caused by a growing population in Spain, and an increasing amount of silver
flooding the market
Spain lost many artisans and businessmen because they were expelled
(Muslims and Jews)
• In addition, Spain’s nobles didn’t pay ____________ causing the lower classes to
bear it  led to no ______________________ because lower classes couldn’t start
their own businesses
_________________________________________
• Guilds still dominated business in Spain
• These guilds kept Spanish goods __________________, so consumers found a
cheaper source
• In addition, Spain had to buy most of what they needed from England,
France, and Netherlands  Spain’s wealth was dumped right into their
_________________ pockets
• To finance wars, Spanish governments borrowed money from German and
Italian ________________ who were repaid in silver
___________________________________
• Philip raised taxes on the middle class in the Netherlands
• In response, Protestant (Calvanist) mobs swept through Catholic
________________
• In 1568, Philip sent an army to crush the rebellion and in one day killed
____________________________
• They fought for 11 more years, and in _________ the Dutch princes declared
their _____________________ from Spain
Independent Dutch Proper
• Different than the rest of Europe in that they: were religiously tolerant, were
a republic rather than a kingdom
Dutch Art
• Some of the best artists emerged in Europe emerged in the 1600’s, and many
merchants sponsored these artists
• ________________________________ was the greatest of the period
• He used _______________________________ to draw attention to his focus
• Painted the middle class (_______________________)
• _________________________ worked with contrast also
• He painted ________________ doing normal activities such as pouring milk from a
jug or reading a letter
•  these two artists symbolize how important ___________________ and the
_________________________ were in 17th century Netherlands
Dutch Trading Empire
• The Dutch stored _________ they bought from Poland, and in times of famine in
Europe they would sell this grain while prices were __________
• Had the largest _______________ fleet (4,800 ships in 1636)
• They created the ________________________________________, which benefitted from
Asian spice trade, and _______________________________________.
• Dutch eventually replace Italians as the European _______________
Absoutism in Europe
• While Philip lost his hold in the Netherlands, he was still a strong leader who
controlled every aspect of the empire
•
The Theory of Absolutism
• An absolute monarch is a king or a queen who holds
_________________________________ within their territory
• Absolute monarchs typically claim “_________________________”
Growing Power of Europe’s Monarchs
• Decline of _________________, growth of ________________, and growth of
_______________________________all helped centralize power
• The growing middle classes began to support absolute monarchs because
these monarchs promise ___________________________________
Crises Leads to Abolutism
• Religious and territorial conflict led continuously to __________________
• Governments had to build larger armies, which had to be funded by
the___________________________________________
• These economic pressures led to _____________________________ and ________________
• To help contain the unrest, monarchs tried to expand their already immense
power by ruling over everything
• Absolute monarchs created ___________________ to control their country’s
economic life
• Their goal was to free themselves from limitations that the _______________
brings as well as rep. bodies like __________________________
leads to absolute monarchs such as ________________________ of France