Ch. 14 Absolutism and Constitutionalism in Europe (1550-1715)
Section 1 Europe in Crisis: The Wars of Religion
 The French Wars of Religion


By 1560 Calvinism and Catholism had become highly militant (combative) religions. They were
aggressive in trying to win converts and in eliminating each other’s authority. This struggle for
the minds and hearts of Europeans was the chief cause of the religious wars that plagued Europe
in the sixteenth century (1500s).
However, economic, social, and political forces also played an important role in these conflicts.
 Philip II and Militant Catholicism














The greatest supporter of the Militant Catholicism in the second half of the sixteenth century was
King Philip II of Spain, the son and heir of Charles V.
The reign of King Philip II, extended from 1556 to 1598.
The first major goal of Philip II was to consolidate the lands he had inherited from his father.
These included Spain, the Netherlands, and possessions in Italy and the Americas.
To strengthen his control, Philip insisted on strict conformity to Catholicism and strong
monarchical authority.
King Philip tried to strengthen his control in Spanish Netherlands (Netherlands & Belgium)
because of its riches. He also wanted to crush Calvinism in this area.
The nobles of the Netherlands opposed Philip’s efforts, and in 1566 when Calvinists nobles began
to destroy statues of Catholic churches, violence erupted.
The struggle dragged on until 1609, when a 12-year truce ended the war.
The Northern Province began to call themselves the United Provinces of the Netherlands.
Philip’s reign ended in 1598. At the time, Spain had the most populous empire in the world.
Spain controlled almost all of South America, parts of North America, and a number of
settlements in Asia and Africa.
To most Europeans, Spain still seamed to be the greates power of the age.
In reality, however, Spain was not the great power that it appeared to be.
Spain’s treasury was empty. Philip II had gone bankrupt from spending too much on war.
The armed forces were out-of-date, and the government was inefficient.
Spain continued to play the role of a great power, but real power in Europe had shifted to England
and France.
 The England of Elizabeth Tudor (Elizabeth I)




During Elizabeth I reign (1558-1603), the small island kingdom became the leader of the
Protestant nations of Europe.
The Church of England under Elizabeth was basically Protestant, but it followed a moderate
Protestantism that kept most people satisfied.
Elizabeth tried to keep Spain and France from becoming too powerful by balancing power.
If one nation seemed to be gaining in power, England would support the weaker nation.









The queen feared that war would be disastrous for England and for her own rule.
Philip II of Spain had toyed for years with the idea of invading England.
Philip’s advisors assured him that the people of England would rise against their queen when
Spaniards arrived.
In any case, a successful invasion of England would mean the overthrow of Protestantism and a
return to Catholicism.
In 1588, King Philip assembled a massive fleet of some 130 ships and some 27,000 men,
known as the Spanish Armada, to invade England.
In 1588 most of the Armada sailed to the port Calais, France, just across the Strait of Dover from
England. There they waited for additional troops.
The Spanish had a fearsome reputation in Europe for their well-armed military. However,
England’s sea captains skillfully used the speed of their smaller, newly constructed ships to
great advantage. They propelled burning ships towards the Armada, whose ships quickly
became separated and more vulnerable to attack.
As the Spanish ships attempted to flee, a furious storm developed, damaging the battered fleet.
Only about half of the original Spanish Armada returned to Spain.
The failure of the Armada in 1588 revealed Spanish naval weaknesses.
Section 2 Social Crises, War, and Revolution
 Social Crises




Population figures in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries reveal Europe’s worsening
conditions.
Population grew in the sixteenth century. The number of people probably increased from 60
million in 1500 to 85 million by 1600.
By 1620, population had leveled off. It had begun to decline by 1650, especially in central and
southern Europe.
Warfare, plague, and famine all contributed to the population decline and to the creation of
social tension.
 The Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648)






Religious disputes continued in Germany after the Peace of Augsburg in 1555.
One reason for the disputes was that Calvinism had not been recognized by the peace
settlements. By the 1600s, Calvinism had spread to many parts of Europe.
Religion played an important role in the outbreak of the Thirty Years’ War, called the “last
of the religious wars,” but political and territorial motives were evident as well.
The war began in 1618 in the lands of the Holy Roman Empire (Germany).
At first, it was a struggle between Catholic forces, led by the Hapsburg Holy Roman emperors,
and Protestant (primarily Calvinist) nobles in Bohemia who revelled against Hapsburg authority.
Soon, however, the conflict became a political one as Denmark, Sweden, France, and Spain
entered the war.









Especially important was the struggle between France and the rulers of Spain and the Holy
Roamn Empire for European leadership.
The Thirty Years’ War was the most destructive conflict that Europeans had yet experience.
Although most of the battles of the war were fought on German soil, all major European powers
except England became involved.
For 30 years Germany was plundered and destroyed. Rival armies destroyed the German
country side as well as entire towns.
The Peace of Westphalia officially ended the war in Germany in 1648.
The major contenders gained new territories, and one of them—France—emerged as the
dominant nation in Europe.
The Peace of Westphalia stated that all German states, including the Calvinist ones, could
determine their own religion.
The more than three hundred states that had made up the Holy Roman Empire were virtually
recognized as independent states, since each received the power to conduct its own foreign
policy. This brought an end to the Holy Roman Empire as a political entity.
Germany would not be united for another 200 years.
Section 3 Revolution in England


In addition to the Thirty Years’ War, a series of rebellions and civil wars rocked Europe in the
seventeenth century.
By far the most famous struggle was the civil war in England known as the English Revolution.
At its core was a struggle between king and Parliament to determine what role each should
play in governing England.
 The Stuarts and Divine Right








With the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603, to Tudor dynasty came to an end.
The Stuart line of rulers began with the accession to the throne of Elizabeth’s cousin, the King of
Scotland, who became James I of England.
James believed in the divine right of kings- that is, that kings receive their power from God and
are responsible only to God.
Parliament did not think much of the divine right of kings. It had come to assume that the king or
queen and Parliament ruled England together.
Religion was an issue as well. Puritans (Protestant in England inspired by Calvinist ideas) did not
like the kings’s strong defense of the Church of England.
The Puritans were members of the Church of England but wished to purify and make the church
more Protestant.
Many of England’s gentry, mostly well-to-do landowners had become Puritans.
The Puritan gentry formed an important part of the House of Commons, the lower house of
Parliament.








-
The English Civil War














-
James I and his successor, Charles I, believed that the king’s power to rule came from God, and,
therefore, was absolute. No one could question his decision.
Parliament was used to exercising its rights in the name of the English people.
James I needed money for his luxurious life and to support wars.
Parliament refused to pass any laws until the king would agree that he could not make any laws
without the approval of Parliament.
The conflict that began during the reign of James came to a head during the reign of his son,
Charles I. In 1625 Charles I succeeded his father.
By 1628 Charles I needed money and decided to call Parliament into session.
Parliament used this to his advantage and forced him to agree to the Petition of Rights.
Petition of Right: document that added to the basic rights of the English people; Parliament alone
had the right to impose taxes.
In 1640 Charles called Parliament into session. He needed money for a war against Scotland.
Before Parliament gave the money to Charles I, they made him pass a law stating that the King
could not dismiss Parliament unless they agree.
Charles I agree but once he got the money, he marched into Parliament with a unit of soldiers to
arrest the Puritan leaders.
Puritan leaders escaped and in 1642 civil war broke out in England.
The leader of the Puritans was Oliver Cromwell. His supporters were known as Roundheads.
Charles’ supporters were known as Cavaliers.
In 1646, Cromwell’s forces defeated Charles’ Cavaliers.
Charles I surrendered and was tried, convicted, and beheaded as a traitor in 1649.
Cromwell seized control of the government. The House of Commons was allowed to remain.
The House of Lords was abolished.
The new Parliament ended the Monarchy and declared England a republic, or commonwealth.
By 1653, Cromwell could not control his new Parliament. He dismissed it.
He set up a military dictatorship. He ruled alone with support from the army.
Cromwell tried to change England to a Puritan nation but was unsuccessful because most people
like the Church of England.
Most people also wanted a Constitutional Monarchy. Under this system of government, the
power of the monarch is limited by law.
The Glorious Revolution







The Commonwealth fell apart after Cromwell’s death in 1658.
Parliament asked Charles’ son to return as King Charles II in 1660.
Restoration: time period between 1660-1688 were the monarchy was brought back to England.
The Church of England was also restored as the nation’s official religion.
Parliament passes laws limiting the right of Catholics and Puritans.
When Charles II died, his brother James II became king.
James II was Catholic and in 1687 he granted freedom of worship to Catholics and Puritans.








Some members of Parliament thought that James II meant to return England to Catholicism and
also limit Parliament’s power.
These members plotted against James II.
Parliament negotiated with Mary (James’ oldest daughter) and her husband, William, the Duke of
Orange.
In 1688 William led his soldiers into England.
James simply fled to France.
Parliament force Mary and William to sign the English Bill of Rights. The English Bill of
Rights included: (A) Parliament had the right to make laws, (B) Parliament had the right to
impose taxes, (C) Parliament was guaranteed free elections, (D) citizens were guaranteed the
right to trial by jury, among other things.
The monarch now ruled by the power of Parliament, not God.
This event became known as the Glorious Revolution.
Section 4 Response to Crisis: Absolutism
 France under Louis XIV












One response to the crises of the seventeenth century was to seek more stability by increasing
the power of the monarch, Absolutism.
Absolutism is a system in which a ruler holds total power.
In seventeenth century Europe, absolutism was tied to the idea of the divine right of kings. It
was thoguht that rulers received their power from God and were responsible to no one
except God.
Absolute monarchs had tremendous power. They had the ability to make laws, levy taxes,
administer justice, control the state’s officials, and determine foreign policy.
The reign of Louis XIV has long been regarded as the best example of the practice of absolutism
in the seventeenth century.
French history, for the 50 years before Louis, was a period of struggle as government fought to
avoid the breakdown of the state.
In France, two ministers played important roles in preserving the authority of the monarchy
because of the young age of Louis XIII and XIV.
Cardinal Richelieu, Louis XIII’s chief minister, strengthened the power of the monarchy by
killing many nobles that plotted agains the monarchy.
Louis XIV came to the throne in 1643 at the age of four.
Due to the king’s young age, Cardinal Mazarin, the chief minister, took control of the
government.
During Mazarin’s rule, a revolt led by nobles unhappy with the growing power of the monarchy
broke out. This revolt was eventually crushed.
With its end, many French people concluded that the best hope for stability in France lay with a
strong monarch.
 Louis XIV Comes to Power (1661-1715)











When Mazarin died in 1661, Louis XIV, at age 23, took over supreme power.
When Louis took over, he established a strict routine from which he seldom deviated.
He also fostered the myth of himself as the Sun King—the source of light for all of his people.
One of the keys to Louis’s power was his control of the central policy-making machinery of
government.
The royal court that Louis established at Versailles served three purposes: (1) it was the
personal household of the king. (2) The chief offices of the state were located there, so Louis
could watch over them. (3) Versailles was the place where powerful subjects came to find
favors and offices for themselves.
The greatest danger to Louis’s rule came from very high nobles and royal princes. They believed
they should play a role in the government of France.
Louis got rid of this threat by removing them from royal council.
Louis also enticed the nobles and royal princes to come to his court, where he could keep them
busy with court life and keep them out of politics.
Louis’s government ministers were expected to obey his every wish.
Louis had complete authority over traditional areas of royal power: (A) foreign policy, (B)
the Church, and (C) taxes.
The king bribed important people in the provinces to see that his policies were carried out.
 The Economy and War








The cost of building palaces, maintaining his court, and pursuing his wars made finances a crucial
issue for Louis XIV.
His controller-general of finances was Jean-Baptiste Colbert.
Colbert sought to increase the wealth and power of France by following the ideas of
mercantilism. To decrease imports and increase exports, he granted subsidies to new
industries.
To improve communications and transportation of goods within France, he built roads and canals.
To decrease imports directly, Colbert raised tariffs on foreign goods and created a merchant
marine to carry French goods.
Louis waged four wars between 1667 and 1713. His ambitions caused many nations to form
coalitions to prevent him from dominating Europe.
Through his wars, Louis added some territory to France’s northeastern frontier and set up a
member of his own dynasty on the throne of Spain.
In 1715, the Sun King died. He left France with great debts and surrounded by enemies.
 Absolutism in Central and Eastern Europe



After the Thirty Years’ War, there was no German state, but over three hundred “Germanies.”
Of these states, two—Prussia and Austria—emerged in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
as Great European powers.
Prussia had to build an army to protect its boarders.



Austrian lands included present-day Austria, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. After the defeat
of the Turks in 1687, Austria took control of all Hungary, Transylvania, Croatia, and Slovania as
well.
By the beginning of the eighteenth century, the Austrian Hapsburgs had gained a new empire of
considerable size.
However, because of its diversity, Austria became an empire with no common culture or political
rule.
 Russia under Peter the Great








In 1613, the national assembly chose Michael Romanov as the new czar of Russia.
The Romanov dynasty lasted until 1917. One of its most prominent members was Peter the Great.
Peter the Great became czar in 1689. Like the other Romanov czars who proceded him. Peter
was an absolutist monarchy who claimed the divine right to rule.
A few years after becoming czar, Peter made a trip to the West (Europe). When he returned to
Russia, he was determined to westernize, or Europeanize, Russia.
Peter was especially eager to borrow European technology. Only this kind of modernization could
give him the army and navy he needed to make Russia a great power.
Under Peter, Russia became a great military power.
Peter also (1) introduced customs, pratices, and manners. (2) He prepared a Russian book
of etiquette to teach Western manners. (3) He mixed the sexes for conversations and
dancing.
By his death in 1725, Russia was an important European state.