Age of Absolutism
16th and 17th Century Europe
Age of Absolutism
Varying Degrees of Success among European
States
England Dutch
Stuarts William III
Least Successful
Russia
Peter the
Great
France
Louis XIV
Most Successful
The Balance of Power
• Goal: To prevent “Universal Monarchy” and
preserve own sovereignty / independence of
action
– Seek alliances with other weaker states to create a
counterweight to dominant power (was the
Hapsburgs; now France)
• Alliances consistently shifting with
circumstances
• Dominant factor in state interaction during
period.
Absolutism in Europe
WHAT WAS ABSOLUTISM: AP EURO
BIT BY BIT
Absolutism Overview
• End of religious warfare: society looks for order/structure
• “Turning Point” in European history
• Rise of Absolutism (political power under monarch)
• Bishop Jacques Bossuet
– (a) Politics Drawn from the Very Words of Holy Scripture
– (b) Divine Right Monarch
• Gov’t is ordained (by G) so humans could lived in organized
• God established kings, ruled through them
• Authority was absolute, responsible to no one (Estates-General,
Parliament, Diets, etc) except God
End of Religious Warfare
• Peace of Augsburg (1555)
– Ended the religious warfare in the HRE caused by the Reformation
– Allowed princes to select btwn Catholicism & Lutheranism
• Edict of Nantes (1598)
– Ended the religious warfare in France caused by the Catholics vs.
Huguenots
– Allowed Huguenots full religious & political rights in France
• Peace of Westphalia (1648)
– Ended the 30 Years War in HRE
– Allowed princes to select btwn Catholicism & other Protestant
religions (Calvinism)
• Edict of Fontainebleau (1685)
– Passed by Louis XIII (Cardinal Richelieu) in France
– Took away the POLITICAL rights of Huguenots
DECLINE OF SPAIN
Factors in the Decline
• Philip II (1556-1598)
– Excessive expenditures on war; Armada (1588)
– Near bankruptcy (1596)
• Philip III (1598-1621)
– Inept, mismanaged overseas colonies
– Spent $$ on courts & Catholicism, not army (1607)
• Philip IV (1621-1665)
– Involvement in 30 Years’ War (large expenditures)
– Peace of Westphalia (1648) and Pyrenes (1659) made
loss of Netherlands official
• Charles II (1665-1700)
Charles II
• The Last & the Least of the
Habsburgs in Spain.
• Father-Mother was an Uncle-Niece
combination
•
Married twice, but was never able
to consummate his marriages
• Battled bouts of depression, had
bodies of family members exhumed
to view them.
• King of Spain 1661-1700??!!!
FRANCE
Louis XIII (1610-1643)
• Ascended to throne at 8
• Chief Minister (regent)
• Cardinal Richelieu:
– Objective: Strengthen Monarchy
– (1) Eliminated political rights of
Huguenots (more reliable)
– (2) Royal officials (intendants) to
provinces to spread royal policy (had
to clash with royal governors)
– (3) Taille (annual tax levied on land
or prop) increased; never had to call
Estates General
– (4) Control the Habsburgs & expand.
Louis XIV (1643-1715)
• Chief Minister: Regent: Cardinal Mazarin (1642-1661)
• Fronde (1648-1652)
– Civil Wars (1) Mazarin unpopular; (2) nobles want power, (3) taxes
– End:
• Nobles of Robe (service nobility) vs. Nobles of Sword (medieval)
• Result: Middle Class put trust in crown to control
• Louis XIV Policy: Increase power & prestige of monarchy
– (1) Dominated ministers & secretaries (Versailles)
– (2) Edict of Fontainebleau (1685):
• Revoked Edict of Nantes
• Closes churches & schools
– (3) Financial Programs (Colbert) fostered mercantilism
– (4) Foreign Policy (4 Wars btwn 1667-1713)
War of Spanish Succession (17021713)
• Charles II (S) dies (heir-less)
– Leaves empire to Louis XIV grandson (King Philip V of
Spain)
– Suspicion of Bourbon dynasty in W. Europe (upset B of P)
– England, Austria, Netherland, G. states vs. France & Spain
– Peace of Utrecht (1713)
• Philip V is ruler, thrones to remain separate
• England gets lands in N. America
• Wars of Louis XIV left France in a terrible financial
state.
RISE OF RUSSIA
Background
• 16th century under Ivan IV (1533-1584)
– Extended east
– Controlling Russian nobility (Boyars)
– 1598-Time of Troubles (Civil War); Zemsky Sobor (assembly)
• Romanov dynasty (1613-1917)
• Russian Society
–
–
–
–
Tsar: ordained by God
Landed aristocrats: feudal system (peasants bound to land)
Townspeople: stratified professional (leads to revolts)
Schism w/ Orthodox Church created unsettling religious
environment
Peter the Great (1689-1725)
• Trip to the West in 1697-1698
• Primary objective: Westernize
Russia
– (1) Encouraged new businesses
(industrialization)
– (2) Modernization Military
• Reorganized Army & Navy
• Conscripted peasants for 25 yr
stints (210,000)
– (3) Altered Central Government:
• Senate (1711): Supervise
administration
• Divided Russia into 50 provinces
• Table of Ranks: civil services jobs
ranked on 14 levels
• Mercantilism: increase exports
Peter the Great (1689-1725)
• Social Changes:
–
–
–
–
Western customs, practices & manners
Russian book of etiquette
Cut beards & coats
Women benefitted
• The Wars of Peter:
–
–
–
–
“Window to the West;” port accessible to Europe
Baltic controlled by Sweden
Great Northern War (1701-1722)
St. Petersburg
Monarchy in
England
Britain: The Civil War
• Milder variant of Wars of Religion on the
Continent but similar to Continent, religion and
politics mixed indistinguishably
• The Sides…
– Puritans (aka Roundheads) = Supporters of
Parliament; mostly from South / East
– Anglicans (aka Cavaliers) = Supporters of King; mostly
from North / West
England in the 17th Century
• Age of Achievement
– Spread of Population (New World; N. Ireland
“Plantation of Ulster”
– Deliberate Empire Building
• National Culture
– Language as a vehicle for expression of thought /
feeling.
• England developed own literary traditions separate from
influence of France. (Think Shakespeare & Milton)
• Economic Activity
– Primary wealth in the land; not limited to mercantile /
seafaring occupations like Dutch
Background to the Civil War
• What makes the Civil War unique?
– Parliament, in defeating king, came to workable
form of government. Different from similar
situations on Continent b/c this act usually meant
political dissolution / anarchy.
– Began movement of liberalism and representative
institutions w/on government.
The Stuarts and Parliament
• James I  Royal Absolutism / Divine Right
– The True Law of Free Monarchy (“free” = free from
control of Parliament, church, or laws/customs of
past)
• Complaints Against James
–
–
–
–
–
–
Read Parliament lectures on royal rights
Constant need of money (Par. Refuses to grant)
Threatened to “harry Puritans out of the land”
Enforce religious conformity
Fears that landowners wealth become insure
Dislike of prerogative courts (Star Chamber)
Parliamentary Resistance
• Concentrated Opposition dominated by
interests of landowners
– Church not a factor
• B/c of organization, social interests, wealth
represented Charles I unable to govern against
its will in the long run
The Ship Money Dispute
• Illustrates arguments of both sides…
– Basically a fight over who raises / pays for navy,
which had traditionally been a responsibility of
coastal towns.
• Parliamentary Class: Idea that taxes should be
authorized by Parliament
• King: Newer ideas of monarchy developing
incl. that king had right to collect needed
revenues for state.
The Long Parliament
• 1640 – 1660
• Scots rebel (1637) w/ attempts to impose
Anglican prayer book / organization (they
were Calvinist)
• Par. refuses to grant requested funds;
Dissolved by C1, new elections w/ same
people elected
– Mostly landed gentry
The Long Parliament
• Par. used Scottish rebellion to make own
demands.
– Chief advisors to C1 impeached / executed
– Abolished Star Chamber & High Commission
– Abolition of bishops
• 1642: War btwn C1 and Par.
Emergence of Cromwell
• New Model Army – Parliamentary Army
– Oliver Cromwell = leader of Ironsides Regiment
• Cromwell emerges as most powerful political &
military leader
– Moved against Par, leaving Rump Parliament (50 – 60
strong supporters of Cromwell)
– Declared England Republic as the Commonwealth w/
limited religious tolerance
– Problems w/ rule from the start b/c failed to gain full
support of the English.
Religious & Social Radicalism
• Rise of the Levellers
– Wanted universal suffrage, equality of
representation, written constitution, subordination
of Par. to reformed body of voters.
• Society of Friends “Quakers”
• Diggers
• Fifth Monarchy Men
All Repressed and Persecuted by Cromwell
through the use of military rule
The Restoration: The Later Stuarts
• 1660 – 1688
• Monarchy, C of E, Par all restored to 1640
position.
• Charles II
• James II
New Legislation
• Parliaments enacts far reaching legislation to
change legal basis of land ownership
– Set up system of modern private property
– King to receive income from taxation controlled by
Par.
– Landowners control national affairs / local affairs
as Justices of Peace
Exclusion of Dissenters
• Dissenter = Puritans refusing to accept C of E
– Actively excluded from governing bodies,
dissenters from teaching school or come w/in 5
mi. of incorporated town, prohibited religious
meetings not held according to forms / authority
of C of E
• Act of Settlement of 1662
– Restricted movement of poor class by making
parishes responsible for only its own paupers
More of the Same Problems
• C 2 inclined to Catholicism and admired Louis
XIV
– Secret Treaty of Dover 1670: England help against
Dutch / France pay C 2 $$$ for each year of war.
• Test Act of 1673
– All officeholders required to take communion w/in
C of E, Catholics may not serve in government,
army, navy. (largely ignored by James II)
Whigs & Torries in Opposition to the
Crown
• Whigs: those generally most suspicious of
king, Catholics, & French
• Torries: supporters of king.
• 2 sides joined forces when…
– J2 violated liberties of C of E, arousing fears of
“popery”
– Invited J2’s daughter & husband (Mary / William
III) to take thrown
William Invades England
• William III, Duke of Orange leads force into
England.
– Why?
• Taking control over England will allow him to bring
England into Balance of Power against France
– Had to agree to certain conditions…
• Bill of Rights
• Toleration Act
The Bill of Rights & Toleration Acts
• Bill of Rights (1689)
– No law could be suspended by the king
– No taxes raised or army maintained w/o Par. Consent
– No subject arrested / detained w/o legal process
• Toleration Act (1689)
– Dissenters allowed to practice religion but excluded
from political life / public service
• Act of Settlement (1701)
– No Catholic may sit on thrown
• Unification of England / Scotland (1707)
– Ensured J2 not restored to Scottish throne
Glorious Revolution
• Portrayed as vindicating principles of
parliamentary government, rule of law, right
of rebellion against tyranny.
• But… upper-class movement primarily,
promoted / maintained by exclusionary
landed aristocracy
– Lower classes actually lost rights.
ART AND CULTURE OF 16TH & 17TH
CENTURY EUROPE
New Styles of Art
• Mannerist (c. 1520s/1530s – 1600)
• Baroque (c. 1625 - 1675)
• Dutch Realist (17th Cent. Netherlands)
• French Classicism (17th Cent. France)
Characteristics: Mannerism
Definition / Description
Characteristics
•
•
•
Attempts to break down
renaissance ideas of
balance, harmony and
moderation and give more
freedom of subjectivity to
artist.
Response to tensions btwn
High Renaissance ideas &
problems w/in society.
•
•
•
Distorts rules of proportion
(elongated figures)
Sense of suffering,
emotional atmosphere of
anxiety / confusion
asymmetrically-balanced.
(May have a large group of
figures on side of the
painting, and no figures on
the other.)
Unusual light: no single
light source.
Key Characteristics of Mannerism
• Light and shadows are a constant.
• Figura serpentinata the twisting of human
bodies, like a serpent or snake. Bodies contort
into unnatural positions and figures intertwine
with each other.
• Italians referred to Mannerism as, il maniera.
Parmigianino
• Madonna with a Long Necktraditional theme of
Madonna and Child
surrounded by angels.
• Madonna has a small oval
head, a long neck, an
elongated body and long
elegant feet.
• Her facial expression, pose of
her long fingered hand, and
expressions of the angels
convey the refinement of
Italian painting.
• The bodies display figura
serpentinata.
Madonna with the Long Neck, ca. 1535. Oil on
wood, approx. 7’ 1” x 4’ 4”
PARMIGIANINO, Madonna with the Long Neck, ca. 1535. Oil on wood, approx. 7’ 1” x 4’ 4”
• The composition is
crowded with angels on
left and the right is empty.
• Notice the similarity
between the white column
and the Madonna’s neck;
engimatic figure in the
bottom right.
• The asymmetrical
composition adds
complexity to the painting,
a desirable trait in the
court of nobles.
Characteristics: Baroque
Definition / Description
Characteristics
•
•
•
•
Sought to combine classical
ideas of Renaissance w/
spiritual feeling of religious
revival of time;
Highlights search for power
of Monarchs.
Serves as reminder of far
reaching power and values
of time.
•
•
•
•
Use of dramatic effects to
arouse emotion
Grandiose; Large Scale
3D display of life / energy
Often religious in nature
Shaped by: fascination w/
lighting, representation of
interior spaces, subtle hues
of distinctive color,
naturalistic image of human
beings
Characteristics: Dutch Realist
Definition / Description
Characteristics
•
•
•
Realistic portrayal of
secular life w/in
Netherlands
Focuses on Burgher class
•
•
Shares similar
characteristics to Baroque
Seeks to emphasize
aesthetic pleasure in
common experience of
daily life
Subject matter incl.
portraits (individual /
group), lands & seascapes,
genre scenes, still lives,
interiors.
Characteristics: French Classicism
Definition / Description
Characteristics
•
•
•
•
Tried to remain committed
to values of Renaissance.
Reflects changes in
perception of classical
world & values of the past
Cumulative tradition
•
Emphasized clarity,
simplicity, balance,
harmony of design.
Conception of grandeur –
portrayal of noble subjects
(particularly of classical
antiquity)
MANNERIST PIECES
Time
Cupid
Venus
Fraud &
Jealousy
Jest
Jealousy,
Despair, Effects
of Syphilis ?
Folly &
Pleasure
Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time
• Exemplifies aristocratic
tastes.
• Elongated hands and feet
• Figura serpentinata and
delicate features.
• Another Mannerists
element: eroticism
• Educated patrons enjoyed
intricate allegories with
erotic undertones.
• Cupid is fondling and
kissing, his mother, Venus,
in an exaggerated FS pose.
A Spanish Mannerist
• A renowned painter of the 16th century in
Spain, was not a Spaniard, Domenikos
Theotokopoulos (1547-1614), called EL
GRECO (the Greek).
• Was born in Crete but emigrated to Italy as a
young man.
• He absorbed traditions of Late Byzantine
frescoes and mosaics. (stylistically influenced)
• El Greco, went to Venice, where he
connected with Titian’s workshop.
El Greco (the Greek)
• His art is a strong personal blending of Late
Byzantine and Italian Mannerists.
• The intense emotionalism, which appeal to the
Spanish; the dematerialization of form; and the
great reliance on color bound him to the 16th
century Venetian art and Mannerists.
• His strong sense of movement and light prefigured
Baroque style. (Tintoretto’s work made a huge
impact on him.)
• El Greco’s art was not strictly Spanish (even though
is appealed to the Spanish society), however his
“hybrid” style captured the fervor of Spanish
Catholicism.
BAROQUE PIECES
DUTCH REALIST
FRENCH CLASSICISM
Contextualization
• Go stand by one of the pieces we just
examined. (1 piece / person; not the Vermeer)
– What was happening in Europe at the time the
painting was created that might have had an
influence on the artist?
– What is the specific event being addressed in your
painting? How does this relate to larger processes
or trends in Europe at this time?