Chapter 15 – The Age of Religious Wars and European
Expansion
(pp. 489 – 528)
Study Questions
Politics, Religion and War
1. To what extent did the monarchy succeed in imposing unity on France by the
second half of the sixteenth century? What is meant by the term “feudal” as used
after the Middle Ages?
2. Describe the background, nature and outcome of the civil and religious wars in
France in the sixteenth century.
3. Of what long range significance was the position taken by the politiques in the
civil wars in France?
4. How did Henry IV come to the throne in 1589? What is the deeper meaning of
the remark, “Paris is well worth a mass”?
5. Discuss Henry IV’s attempt to settle the religious issue. Of what significance was
his reign for the development of the French monarchy?
6. How would you characterize the general state of political and religious affairs in
Europe in the early years of Philip II’s reign? What conflicts existed between
religious and national loyalties?
7. Explain the political, economic, and religious issues involved in the revolt of the
Netherlands. How did the revolt merge with the international political and
religious struggles in Europe?
8. Why did Phillip II send the Spanish Armada to invade England? Why did it fail,
and what were the effects of its failure?
9. How had the Peace of Augsburg attempted to settle the religious question in the
German states? What developments upset those arrangements?
10. How may one attempt to analyze the issues of the Thirty Year’s War? How did
European rivalries and ambitions become linked to the conflict in Germany?
11. Sketch briefly the events associated with each of the major phases of the war.
12. Summarize and evaluate the Peace of Westphalia with respect to (a) the religious
settlement, (b) territorial changes, (c) constitutional issues within the Holy
Roman Empire. Of what significance was the Peace of Westphalia for modern
international relations?
13. How would you evaluate the broad significance of the Thirty Years’ War and the
Peace of Westphalia? What seems to have been the net result of the wars of
religion?
Discovery, Reconnaissance and Expansion
1. What was happening in Spain, France and England that allowed investment in
expensive voyages of discovery and colonization?
2. Of what significance was Vasco de Gama’s discovery of a sea route to the east?
Why was there opposition in India to the arrival of the Portuguese? How did the
Portuguese meet this opposition?
3. What technological developments abetted European exploration and overseas
conquest?
4. What were the motives of the Portuguese and other European nations to pursue
exploration of the seas?
5. Why is interpreting Columbus’ voyages and actions a “problem” for historians?
6. Compare and contrast empires created by Portugal in the East and by Spain in
America. What were the goals of their colonial empires?
7. How did the voyages of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries affect the economy
of Europe?
Changing Attitudes
1 . Survey the changes in the status of women caused by the Protestant Reformation.
2. What does the Great European Witch Hunt imply about the attitude towards
women at this time?
3. Describe why the history of slavery is “inextricably tied up with the history of
sugar”.
Literature and Art
1. Why were the writings of Montaigne considered a change from previous
writings?
2. What reasons do the textbook’s authors give for Shakespeare’s place among the
greatest writers of English literature?
3. Describe Baroque art. How does this translate into Baroque music? (You may
want to find examples of Baroque music, such as Bach, on the internet in
answering this part of the question.