Spain: 1337-1650
The First to be the Greatest
Ferdinand and Isabella create the
nation = late 1400s
• Ferdinand and Isabella marry – unites Castile
and Aragon - 1469
• Defeated Muslims, united Spain - 1492
• Expelled Jews and Muslims
• Spanish Inquisition
Ferdinand and Isabella create a strong
monarchy
• Allied with townsfolk vs. nobles
• Limited Cortes
• Allied with Church
The Golden Age of Spain
• Royal Family = Hapsburgs – Charles I(V) – early
1500s, Philip II – 1556-1598
• 2 Driving Principles = Catholic Faith, Power
Making the country strong – Expansion
and Colonization
• Where? – Americas and Philippines
• Why? – Spread Catholic faith, and $= power
(mercantilism) + gold and silver
• Also, acquired Portugal and her possessions
Mercantilism… an aside
• Mercantilism = system of trade intended to
strengthen a country by having a favorable balance
of trade (especially through colonies).
• Favorable balance of trade = When value of
exports outweighs imports
• What was the purpose of colonies?
To create a favorable balance of trade for Mother
Country.
Spain on top 1550-1650
• Major cultural advances – arts, literature
• Great international power
• Tremendous wealth
but…
• Spanish Armada fails to take England, 1588
• Excessive gold and silver leads to inflation
• Financing of wars (such as 30 Years’ War =
1618-1648) across Europe leads to debt
• Dutch revolt in 1600s
• Marrying of relatives leads to less capable
offspring
Charles II
II. France 1589-1715
Royal Family = Bourbons
– Henry IV (1589-1610)
– Louis XIII (1610-1643) – Cardinal Richelieu
– Louis XIV (1643-1715) – Cardinal Mazarin
Religion: Catholic with a sizeable
Huguenot (Calvinist) minority
B. Obstacles to royal power
• 1. Catholic Church
• A. Henry IV converted from Huguenot
to Catholic (1589) – Catholics happy.
• B. Gallican Articles (Louis XIV) put
Church under the king’s control
2. Estates-General – weak version of
parliament
• Met in 1615 and not again until 1789.
3. Huguenots
• Edict of Nantes (1598) said toleration and
fortifications.
• Richelieu said no more fortifications.
• Louis XIV said no more tolerance or
Huguenots (revoked Edict of Nantes – 1695)
4. Nobles
• Intendants took their jobs.
• Richelieu took away their castles.
• Louis XIV bought them off with life at
Versailles, no taxes, etc.
France Flexes its Muscles
30 Years’ War (1618-1648)
• Civil war in HRE between Catholic Hapsburg
Emperor and Protestant princes
30 Years’ War (1618-1648)
• Catholics were winning and on verge of
uniting HRE when…
• France’s Catholic Cardinal Richelieu intervened
on behalf of the Protestants
• Why?
30 Years’ War (1618-1648)
• Richelieu was more afraid of being squeezed
between two Hapsburg countries than of the
spread of Protestantism.
• France’s intervention made the war last much
longer, bankrupted Spain, and weakened HRE
• He opted for his country’s interests over those
of his religion
Balance of Power
• When no one country (or group of countries)
can dominate all the others. Two examples…
• 30 Years’ War (1618-1648) – stops Habsburgs
in Spain and HRE/Austria
• War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714) –
stops Bourbons in France and Spain.
War of Spanish Succession
III. Holy Roman Empire
• A. 300+ small principalities make up the
empire = fragmented
• 1. Led by Holy Roman Emperor, who is
elected, but is usually an Austrian and Catholic
• 2. No Strong central power after Charles V
and Peace of Augsburg, 1555
• 3. 1618-1648 = 30 Years’ War, which solidifies
Protestant status of the north and Catholic
status of the south
30 Years’ War - Results
• a. Devastation of land, 1/3 of people died
• b. Leaves a weak, disunited empire
• c. Treaty of Westphalia splits empire into
Lutheran, Catholic and Calvinist
B. Austria and Prussia compete for
power within HRE (peaks during War
of Austrian Succesion)
1. In South – Austria
• a. Royal Family = Hapsburg
• b. Official religion = Catholic
• c. They become absolute within Austria
2. In North – Prussia
• a. Hohenzollerns become absolute within
Prussia
• b. Lutheran
• c. Nobles = Junkers – bought off (no taxes)
• d. Strong military – “Model System”
• e. Frederick and Frederick William
instrumental leaders
C. Two wars in battle for supremacy
among the Germans in HRE
• 1. War of Austrian Succession
a. GB and Austria vs. Prussia
b. Prussia wins Silesia
• 2. Seven Years’ War (French and Indian War in
America)
a. Austria, France, Russia, vs. GB, Prussia
b. Results in great gains for GB especially
War of Austrian Succession (top)
Seven Years’ War (bottom)
IV. Russia
The Rurik Family
• * Ivan III = the Great (1462-1505) – kicks out
Mongols, becomes czar, Muscovy grows
• * Ivan IV = the Terrible (1547-1584)
• Royal Family = Romanovs (1613-1917) –
– Peter the Great (1689-1723)
– Catherine the Great (1762-1796)
• Russian (Eastern) Orthodox
A. Making the country strong
• 1. Expansion – window to the west on Baltic
Sea at St. Petersburg, 1721
• 2. Peter the Great pushes for westernization
of Russia
B. Making the monarch strong
• 1. Increased control of the nobles (Boyars),
church, and economy
• 2. Virtual enslavement of the serfs under
Catherine the Great buys nobles’ support
•
•
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4LhGx1YPBs&feature=PlayList&p=C82CC38E
D4955517&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=28
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4LhGx1YPBs
V. England: 1337-1649
The rise of a nation, the failure of
absolutism
Two Wars Make Monarchy Strong –
1. 100 Years’ War (1337-1453)
Consequences for England
• No more distraction from fiefs in France after
loss
• Loyalty to nation, king increased during this
war
• Dead nobles, high taxes, centralized power
2. War of Roses = 1455-1485
• House of Lancaster vs. House of York
• At stake – rule of Jolly Old England
And the winner is…
• Henry VII (1485-1509) of the Tudor family =
House of Lancaster
• War of the Roses left Tudors in control
• More dead nobles
The Tudors and Stuarts grow royal
power (1485-1649)
• Major Tudor monarchs = Henry VIII (15091547) and Elizabeth I (1558-1603)
• Major Stuarts = James I (1603-1625), Charles I
(1625-1649)
Henry VIII and Anglican Schism
• Henry VIII dumps Catholic Church, becomes
head of the English Church
• Ensuing monarchs play religious ping-pong
• The Stuarts continued in their Anglican
religion and persecuted those who were not
Anglican
• This led to many Englishmen fleeing to the
New World – which enriched England
Religious issues lead to colonization
and increased power:
• Anglican
Obstacles to Royal Power
• Tradition and Magna Carta in 1215 – limit
kings’ power
• Parliament (rich nobles) – controls $$
• Catholic Church
• Nobles
Overcoming the obstacles
• Proclaimed Divine Right of Kings (James I)
• Raised money without Parliament
• Dump Catholic Church, replace with king as
head of Church of England (Anglican Church)
• Buy off nobles with land from Catholic
monasteries
Oops
• But, Parliament tired of Charles I’s attempts to
rule without them and…