I. Habsburg-Valois Wars (c. 1519-1559)
A. Treaty of Cateau-Cambrèsis (1559)
1. Ended Hapsburg-Valois Wars (last
purely dynastic wars in 16th century)
2. The wars had been political in
nature (not religious) as both France
and the HRE were Catholic.
B. France kept the HRE from controlling
all of Germany while inadvertently
helping Lutheranism to spread.
1. France saw keeping Germany
divided as more important than
religious unity in Europe.
2. This prevented German unification
for three centuries.
II. From 1560 to 1648 wars would be fought
largely over religious issues.
A. Spain sought to squash Protestantism
in Western Europe and the spread of
Islam in the Mediterranean.
B. French Catholics sought to squash the
Huguenots.
C. The Holy Roman Empire sought to reimpose Catholicism in Germany.
D. The Calvinist Netherlands sought to
break away from Spanish rule.
E. A civil war occurred in England
between Puritans and Anglicans.
Know These Wars!
• The Dutch Revolt
• Spanish Armada’s attack on England
• French Civil Wars
• Thirty Years’ War
• English Civil War
III. Spain’s Catholic Crusade
A. Philip II (r. 1556-98): continued the
crusade of his father, Charles V, to
reunify Europe under Catholicism
1. Oversaw the “Golden Age of Spain”
2. Escorial: new royal
palace (and monastery)
built in the shape of a
grill to commemorate
the martyrdom of St.
Lawrence
-- Symbolized the
power of Philip and
his commitment to
Catholicism
The Escorial
Built by Philip II
c. Phillip II opposed the spread of
Protestantism into England,
France, the Netherlands and
Germany.
B. Philip waged war against the Turks in
the Mediterranean to secure the
region for Christian merchants.
1. Battle of Lepanto (1571): Spain
defeated the Turkish navy off the
coast of Greece.
2. Philip’s religious fervor against the
Turks resembled the
earlier Christian
Crusades.
b. End of Turkish threat
in the Mediterranean
Philip II offers his
son (Allegory of the
Battle of Lepanto),
1571
By Titian
C. The Dutch Revolt (1568-1648)
1. William of Orange (1533-84) led 17
provinces against the Spanish
Inquisition of Philip II.
-- Philip sought to crush the rise of
Calvinism in the Netherlands.
“William the Silent”
Prince of Orange
2. United Provinces of the Netherlands
formed in 1581 (Dutch Republic)
a. Received aid from England under
Elizabeth I
b. Major blow to Philip’s goal of
maintaining Catholicism
throughout his empire
c. Spanish Netherlands (modernday Belgium): 10 southern
provinces remained under
Spanish control
d. Dutch closing of Scheldt River led
to Antwerp’s decline as a
commercial center
-- Amsterdam became the new
mercantile center
Map of the
Dutch
Republic
D. Spain vs. England
1. Mary Tudor (1553-58) “Bloody
Mary” sought to re-impose
Catholicism in England
a. Marriage to Philip II of Spain
b. After her death, Elizabeth I
reversed Mary’s
course via the
“Elizabethan
Settlement”
c. Elizabeth later
refused Philip’s
request for
marriage.
2. Elizabeth I (1558-1603) helped the
Protestant Netherlands in their revolt
against Spain
-- Had Mary, Queen of Scots
beheaded in 1587
3. Philip II sought revenge for England’s
support of the Dutch Revolt; he also
sought to make England Catholic
again
-- Thus planned a
monumental
invasion of
England
4. Spanish Armada, 1588
a. Spain’s attempt to invade England
ended in disaster.
b. Spanish navy destroyed by a raging
storm in the English Channel and
England’s smaller but more
efficient navy
Painting of the English victory over the
Spanish Armada in the Battle of Gravelines,
August 8, 1858.
Painting by Philippe-Jacques de
Loutherbourg
Portrait of Elizabeth I, commemorating England’s victory over the
Spanish Armada. Note Elizabeth’s right had on the globe,
symbolizing England’s rise to international power.
D. French Civil Wars (9 wars from 1562-89)
1. Power struggle after death of Henry II
in 1559 between 3 noble families
a. The throne remained under the
Catholic Valois family.
b. Three Valois kings
n
were dominated
by their mother,
Catherine de
Medicis, who, as
regent, fought to
maintain Catholic c
control of France.
2. Between 40-50% of nobles became
Calvinists (Huguenots)—many were
Bourbons
a. Many nobles sought
independence from the crown
b. Resulted in feudal disorder in
France
3. The ultra-Catholic Guise family also
competed for the throne; strongly
anti-Bourbon
4. Fighting began in 1562 between
Catholics and Calvinists.
-- Atrocities occurred
B. St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre,
August 24, 1572
1. Marriage of Margaret of Valois to a
Huguenot Bourbon Henry of Navarre
was intended to reconcile Catholics
and Calvinists
2. Rioting occurred when a Guise leader
had a leader of the Huguenot party
murdered the night before the wedding
3. Catherine de Medicis ordered the
massacre of Calvinists in response.
-- 20,000 Huguenots killed by early
October
4. The massacre initiated the War of the
Three Henrys: civil wars between the
Valois, Guise, and Bourbons
C. Henry IV (r. 1589-1610): 1st Bourbon king
1. One of most important kings in
French history
2. His rise to power ended the French
civil wars and placed France on the
road to absolutism
3. Henry was a politique (like Elizabeth I)
a. Sought practical
political solutions
b. Converted to
Catholicism to gain
the loyalty of Paris
--- Allegedly stated,
“Paris is worth a Mass”
4. Edict of Nantes, 1598: Henry
granted religious toleration to
Huguenots
a. Permitted Huguenots to worship
privately
b. Gave Huguenots
access to universities,
public office, and
fortified towns
V. Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648): most
important war of the 17th century
A. Failure of Peace of Augsburg (1555)
1. Agreement had given Germany
princes the right to choose either
Catholicism or Lutheranism in the
HRE
2. Factionalism in the HRE
precipitated the cataclysmic war
Holy Roman
Empire About
1618
B. Four phases of the war
1. Bohemian Phase (1618-1625)
a. “Defenestration of Prague”
(1618) triggered the war
b. Protestant forces were eventually
defeated and Protestantism was
eliminated in Bohemia.
The castle from where the two Catholic officials were thrown out the
third-story window.
2. Danish Phase (1625-29): represented
the height of Catholic power during
the war
a. Albrecht von Wallenstein (15831634): mercenary general paid by
the emperor to fight for the HRE
-- Invaded northern Germany
b. Edict of Restitution (1629):
emperor declared
all church territories
secularized since
1552 to be restored
to the Catholic
church
3. Swedish Phase (1629-35): Protestants
liberated territory lost during the
Danish Phase
a. Gustavus Adolphus, king of
Sweden, (r. 1611-1632): led army
that pushed Catholic forces all the
way back to Bohemia
-- Battle of Breitenfeld (1631):
ended Habsburg
hopes of reuniting
the HRE
-- Gustavus Adolphus
killed in battle the
following year
Gustavus
Adolphus, King
of Sweden, at the
Battle of
Breitenfeld, 17
September 1631
Painting by
Albert Cuyp
b. In response, the emperor annulled
the Edict of Restitution
c. Swedish army defeated by the HRE
in 1634; France now feared a
resurgence of Catholicism in the
HRE
4. French Phase (1635-1648)
a. Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642)
allied with Protestant forces to
defeat the HRE
-- Allied with Holland, Sweden,
Finland, and German
mercenaries.
b. Richelieu’s policies reflected
Catholic France’s paramount
diplomatic concerns as political,
not religious; thus he can be seen
as a politique
Cardinal
Richelieu
c. 1637
OiI on canvas
National Gallery,
London
C. Treaty of Westphalia (1648):
1. Renewal of Peace of Augsburg but
added Calvinism as a politically
accepted faith.
a. Ended the Catholic Reformation
in Germany
b. Guaranteed Germany would be
divided politically and religiously
for centuries
2. Dissolution of Holy Roman Empire
confirmed
a. Dutch and Swiss independence
from Spanish rule
b. 300+ German states became
sovereign
c. Pope was denied the right to
intervene in HRE affairs
3. France, Sweden, and Brandenburg
(future Prussia) gained territory and
international stature.
4. Two Habsburg branches weakened:
a. Spain saw its empire decline
b. Austrian Habsburgs lost much
influence in Germany
Holy Roman Empire in 1648
Europe in 1648
D. Results and aftermath
1. About 1/3 of the German
population perished
2. Germany further divided as a result
of the decline of the HRE
3. End of the wars of religion
4. Rise of France as the dominant
European power; also saw the
political rise of England, the
Netherlands, and Prussia
-- Balance of power diplomacy
emerged in Europe
Directly against Emperor
Indirectly against Emperor
Directly for Emperor
Indirectly for Emperor
Population
Loss in
Germany
during the
30 Years’
War
11-40%
40-50+%
Memory Device for Treaty of Westphalia:
“EF-CHIP”
E nd of Wars of Religion
F rance emerges as Europe’s most powerful country
C alvinism added to the Peace of Augsburg
H oly Roman Empire effectively destroyed
I ndependence for the Netherlands and Switzerland
P russia emerges as a great power
VI. English Civil War (1642-49)
A. Since the reign of the Stuart king,
James I (1603-1625), a struggle ensued
between the king and Parliament over
taxation and liberties
1. Both James I, and his son, Charles
I, believed in “divine
right” of kings
and absolutism
2. Monarchy supported
the Anglican Church
The Scottish King James VI became James I
of England following the death of Queen
Elizabeth. He was the first of four Stuart
kings to rule England in the 17th century.
B. Parliament was composed of many
Puritans (English Calvinists) and
Presbyterians (English Calvinists who
favored the Scottish Presbyterian
organization of John Knox)
C. Charles I (r. 1625-1649) twice dissolved
Parliament (1629 & 1640)
1. In effect, Charles ruled as an absolute
monarch between 1629 and 1640.
The son of James I, Charles
was the second Stuart king
to rule England after the
death of Elizabeth in 1603.
2. He raised money using Medieval forms
of taxation (those with wealth were
obligated to pay)
3. “Ship money”: all counties were
required to pay to outfit ships where
before, only coastal communities had
paid.
4. Religious persecution of Puritans by
Charles I became the biggest reason for
the English Civil War.
D. Civil war broke out in 1642
1. Cavaliers supported the king and
Church of England
2. Puritans (Roundheads) supported
Parliament
An English cartoon from the 1640s
E. Oliver Cromwell, a fiercely Puritan
Independent and military leader of the
Roundheads, led his New Model Army
to victory over the Cavaliers.
1. A division between Puritans and
Presbyterians (and non-Puritans)
developed late in the war.
2. Pride’s Purge, 1648:
Elements of the New
Model Army removed
all non-Puritans from
Parliament leaving a
“Rump Parliament”
F. Charles I was beheaded in 1649
-- First European king ever to be
executed by his own subjects
A contemporary
woodcut of the
beheading of Charles I,
1649
G. New sects emerged:
1. Levellers: radical religious
revolutionaries who sought social
and political reforms to create a
more egalitarian society
2. Diggers: denied Parliament’s
political authority and rejected
private ownership of land
3. Quakers: influenced by Anabaptists
a. Believed each person had an
“inner light” within him/her
b. Rejected official Church authority
c. Pacifists who opposed war
d. Women were allowed to preach
H. The Interregnum (1649-1660): rule with
no king
1. The Commonwealth (1649-53): a
republic was created after the war that
abolished the monarchy and House of
Lords
a. The new republic failed to govern
effectively
b. Cromwell dissolved the “Rump
Parliament” in 1653
2. The Protectorate: Cromwell became
Lord Protector (a Puritan dictatorship)
a. Denied religious freedom to
Anglicans and Catholics
b. Allowed Jews to return to England
3. Invasion of Ireland, 1649: Cromwell
put down an Irish revolt that favored
Royalist forces in England
4. Scotland conquered in 1651-52
5. Puritan dictatorship sought to regulate
the moral life of England
a. Dancing, gambling, drinking, and
prostitution were illegalized
b. Seriously alienated people from
Cromwell’s rule
6. Cromwell died in 1658 and was
succeeded by his son, Richard, who
ruled ineffectively
7. Stuarts were restored to the monarchy
under Charles II (r. 1660-1685) in 1660
The Anatomy of Revolution
Radicals take
revolution to
the extreme
Radical
Independents
under Cromwell
(New Model
Army);
(Levellers &
Diggers are
even more
extreme)
Revolution run
by Moderates
(Parliament:
Puritans and
Presbyterians)
Thermidor:
Move away
from extremism
(Cromwell’s
Protectorate)
“Old Regime” –
Conservatives
(Royalists)
Conservative
Restoration:
Return of
conservatives
to power
(Charles II)
Memory Device for the Religious Wars
“30 FEDS”
30 Years’ War
F rench Civil Wars
E nglish Civil War
D utch Revolt
S panish Armada