Download Ch. 7: Crisis and Absolutism in Europe

CH. 7: CRISIS AND
ABSOLUTISM IN EUROPE
1550 - 1715
I. EUROPE IN CRISIS: THE WARS OF RELIGION
A. THE FRENCH WARS OF RELIGION
• The religiously motivated conflicts of the
early sixteenth century, culminating in the
Peace of Augsburg (1555), had not even
remotely decided the religious situation in
Europe. In the second half of the century,
Calvinism and Catholicism continued to
be militant faiths bent on defeating one
another.
• The so-called wars of religion in the later
1500s were not entirely motivated by
religious issues, however. Like all historical
conflicts, they were partly based on
economic, social and political
considerations as well.
• Perhaps the most devastating conflict in
this era was the series of French civil wars
from 1562 to 1598.
The Schmalkaldic War
Surrender at Breda,
Eighty Years’ War
I. EUROPE IN CRISIS: THE WARS OF RELIGION
A. THE FRENCH WARS OF RELIGION
Catherine de’Medici
• French Protestants, called Huguenots, made up
only about 7% of the population of France, but
nearly half of the aristocracy. Consequently, the
Huguenots were wealthy and powerful.
• The leaders of the Huguenot movement were the
Bourbon family, who ruled the semi-independent
nation of Navarre and were close in line of
succession to the crown of France. This made
them dangerous to the Valois kings.
• An extreme faction called the ultra-Catholics was
led by the Guise family. They drew support from
the north and northwest of the country, and they
were able to recruit large private armies.
• Towns and cities tended to favor the Huguenot
cause, not for religious reasons, but because they
resented the authority of the monarchy, which
had sided with the ultra-Catholics. These gave
the Huguenots bases from which to operate.
I. EUROPE IN CRISIS: THE WARS OF RELIGION
A. THE FRENCH WARS OF RELIGION
• The conflicts raged for over thirty years
and nine separate civil wars. Fighting was
notably brutal on both sides. Sieges
routinely turned into wholesale
slaughters. On St. Bartholomew’s Day
(Aug. 24), 1572, Catholic forces
massacred 2,000 Protestants in Paris, and
another 8,000 in the rest of France.
• In 1594, Prince Henry of Navarre, the
leader of the Huguenot cause, became
the sole heir to the vacant French throne.
In order to be crowned, he hastily
converted to Catholicism.
• To secure the end of the wars, Henry
(now Henry IV of France) signed the Edict
of Nantes in 1598. This treaty recognized
Catholicism as the official religion of
France, but allowed freedom of worship
and full citizenship for Protestants.
St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre
Henry IV
I. EUROPE IN CRISIS: THE WARS OF RELIGION
PREVIEW
• Philip II and Militant Catholicism
• The England of Elizabeth
• Pgs. 212 - 214
Philip II of Spain
The Spanish Armada
Elizabeth I of England
I. EUROPE IN CRISIS: THE WARS OF RELIGION
B. PHILIP II AND MILITANT CATHOLICISM
Philip II of Spain
Battle of Lepanto
• Catholic rulers of the late sixteenth century
were typified by Philip II of Spain (reigned
1556 – 1598), son of Charles V. Philip
regarded himself as the champion of the
Catholic Church, and the Spanish people
as the instrument of God’s will.
• In many areas, Philip was remarkably
successful in establishing Spain as the
dominant power in the world. He collected
tremendous wealth from Spanish colonies in
the Americas, he added Portugal to his
domains, and he led the Catholic League
to victory over the Turks at the Battle of
Lepanto in 1571.
• Philip’s reign was also characterized by
several important failures.
I. EUROPE IN CRISIS: THE WARS OF RELIGION
B. PHILIP II AND MILITANT CATHOLICISM
• Philip inherited the Spanish Netherlands, 17 provinces that are
now the Netherlands and Belgium. He tried to dominate these
important merchant centers and impose Catholicism on the
Calvinist population.
• Conflict broke out in 1566 over the desecration of Catholic
churches. This became a full-scale revolt of the seven United
Provinces under William the Silent, Prince of Orange. The Eighty
Years’ War (1568-1648) ended in the independence of the Dutch
Republic.
• Philip’s attempt to dominate Protestant England also led to
costly defeat, as we shall see.
• By Philip’s death in 1598, the Spanish treasury was empty, the
army was no longer the best in Europe, and the American
colonies were ravaged by English pirates.
I. EUROPE IN CRISIS: THE WARS OF RELIGION
C. THE ENGLAND OF ELIZABETH
• Elizabeth Tudor (ruled 1558-1603), illegitimate
younger daughter of Henry VIII, came to the
throne of England during trying times. Her
half-sister, Bloody Mary, had persecuted
Protestants and divided the nation. Elizabeth
passed an Act of Supremacy, making her
the sole authority in government and
religion. She established a Protestant English
church that was moderate and did not
harass Catholics.
• Elizabeth also followed a moderate course in
international politics. She attempted to play
Spain and France off of one another to
prevent either from becoming too powerful.
• At the same time, Elizabeth issued letters of
mark to English privateers like Sir Francis
Drake, who raided Spanish shipping in the
New World. This, of course, angered Philip II.
Elizabeth I of England
Sir Francis Drake
I. EUROPE IN CRISIS: THE WARS OF RELIGION
C. THE ENGLAND OF ELIZABETH
Spanish galleons
• Philip II had long wanted to invade England. As the
former husband of Bloody Mary, he believed that
English Catholics would welcome him as a savior.
• In 1588, Philip gathered a great fleet of warships
and troop transports, called an armada. The plan
was to sail across the English Channel and deliver
an army to seize London.
• Fortunately for Elizabeth, English naval forces had
several key advantages over the Spanish. They had
faster and more maneuverable ships with
professional crews, they had longer-range
cannons, they had experienced admirals like
Drake, and they had fire-ships.
• In a series of engagements between July and
August, 1588, the English fleet defeated the
Armada and drove the Spanish out of the
Channel. England had been saved, and Spain had
wasted a huge amount of money, ships and lives.
II. SOCIAL CRISES, WAR, AND REVOLUTION
PREVIEW
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Economic and Social Crises
The Witchcraft Trials
The Thirty Years’ War
Pgs. 216 - 218
II. SOCIAL CRISES, WAR, AND REVOLUTION
A. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CRISES
• From the mid-1500s to the mid-1600s, the
economy of Europe experienced a severe
decline. Factors that contributed to the crisis:
• Italian mercantile cities had been economic
leaders in the Renaissance. By the 1550s, they had
lost control of international trade to the Spanish.
The central European economy declined.
• By 1600, the Spanish economy was entirely
dependent on silver imported from the New
World. The availability of specie combined with a
lack of skilled artisans created rampant inflation.
Military disasters and pirate raids caused the
availability of silver to fluctuate, and the Spanish
economy to collapse by 1620.
• Warfare, plague and famine in central Europe
(more on this later) contributed to a declining
population. This led to destabilization and social
unrest.
II. SOCIAL CRISES, WAR, AND REVOLUTION
B. THE WITCHCRAFT TRIALS
Execution
Sabbat
• Belief in witches and black magic were not new.
Europeans have a long tradition of blaming misfortune
on witchcraft. From 1550 to 1650, however, a
widespread witch-hunting craze ravaged central
Europe. Historians have not explained this
phenomenon.
• Witch trials usually occurred in villages or small towns,
with a few cases in large cities. The accused were
usually poor and unprotected individuals. 75% were
women, mostly single or widowed, and over 50 years
old.
• Under judicial torture, the accused often confessed to
attending black masses, performing spells, and
consorting with demons. In total, more than 100,000
people were tortured, found guilty and executed for
witchcraft in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
• The witch hunt craze had played out in most places by
1650. Again, there is no satisfying explanation as to why.
Hammer of Witches
II. SOCIAL CRISES, WAR, AND REVOLUTION
C. THE THIRTY YEARS’ WAR
• The Peace of Augsburg (1555) had not solved the
religious questions of the Holy Roman Empire. The
same arguments led to the outbreak of the Thirty
Years’ War, the most destructive war in history up to
that point.
• The emperor Ferdinand II attempted to enforce
Catholicism on his entire state, including Calvinist
Bohemia. The Bohemians elected as their king
Frederick V, Elector of the Palatinate. This would
have challenged Ferdinand’s rule as emperor,
especially since the other Protestant states in
Europe supported him.
• The first stage of the war was thus a religious
conflict. Catholic Spain and Bavaria sent large
armies to support Ferdinand, while Frederick relied
on the other Protestant electors of Saxony and
Brandenburg. The Catholic forces soundly defeated
the Protestants at the Battle of the White Mountain
in 1620, and there the war could have ended.
Defenestration
of Prague
II. SOCIAL CRISES, WAR, AND REVOLUTION
C. THE THIRTY YEARS’ WAR
• The original cause of the war had been settled, but
Ferdinand continued to antagonize the Protestant
princes, who felt they had no choice but to rebel.
• For entirely political reasons, other European nations
became involved. Cardinal Richelieu, prime minister
of France, joined the Protestant cause in order to
weaken the Spanish Hapsburgs. Gustavus II Adolphus
of Sweden also intervened on the Protestant side.
• For a generation, foreign armies marched through
Germany, raiding the countryside for food and horses.
The German people suffered greatly from violence,
starvation and disease. In total, 8,000,000 died.
• The war ended in 1648 with the Peace of Westphalia.
The Peace gave the princes of Germany absolute
freedom to choose the faith of their state and
conduct foreign relations. The Holy Roman Empire was
Gustavus II Adolphus
effectively dismantled, and France emerged as the
dominant power in Europe.
II. SOCIAL CRISES, WAR, AND REVOLUTION
PREVIEW
• Revolutions in England
• The Stuarts and Divine Right
• Civil War and the
Commonwealth
• The Restoration
• A Glorious Revolution
• Pgs. 219 - 221
SECTIONS I AND II
HOMEWORK
• Answer each question in a half-page response with
complete sentences. Be accurate, be specific, be
complete. Due tomorrow.
• 1. Explain the sequence of events that led to the
Edict of Nantes.
• 2. Read Elizabeth I’s “Golden Speech” on pg. 215.
Identify the phrases that convey her feelings
towards her subjects.
• 3. How did the Peace of Westphalia impact the
Holy Roman Empire? How did it impact the German
principalities?
II. SOCIAL CRISES, WAR, AND REVOLUTION
D. REVOLUTIONS IN ENGLAND
• The mid-seventeenth century was a violent and tumultuous
time. In addition to the Thirty Years’ War in Germany and
the Eighty Years’ War in the Netherlands, there were violent
revolutions in other parts of Europe.
• In England, two separate civil wars between King Charles I
and Parliament were fought over what form of
government would rule the nation. A further revolution was
necessary to settle the question once and for all.
II. SOCIAL CRISES, WAR, AND REVOLUTION
E. THE STUARTS AND DIVINE RIGHT
• Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603 with no direct
heirs. The throne passed to her cousin once
removed. He became King James I of England
and VI of Scotland. He was the first of the Stuart
dynasty, descended from Mary, Queen of Scots.
• James was a believer in the divine right of kings,
a philosophy that was not popular with
Parliament. Furthermore, James was in favor of a
centrally-organized Church of England, which
was upsetting to the Puritans, who wanted to
retain autonomy.
• The conflict between monarch and Parliament
became worse under James’s son, Charles I. In
1628, he attempted to raise taxes without
Parliament’s consent and introduce rituals into
Anglican worship that were similar to Catholic
rites. These acts offended the House of
Commons, which included many influential
Puritans.
King James VI & I
House of Commons
II. SOCIAL CRISES, WAR, AND REVOLUTION
F. CIVIL WAR AND THE COMMONWEALTH
Battle of
Naseby
Execution
of Charles I
• Tensions led to civil war in 1642, when soldiers of
Parliament (Roundheads) fought against the Royalist
forces (Cavaliers). At first, the fighting was inconclusive;
neither side was very well disciplined.
• An obscure member of Parliament and a devoted
Puritan named Oliver Cromwell took over Roundhead
forces and created the New Model Army. This
professional force defeated Charles in 1646 at the
Battle of Naseby. He attempted an escape the
following year.
• As leader of the army, Cromwell took the lead in
reforming the government. He purged the membership
of Parliament, engineered the execution of Charles,
and helped establish the Commonwealth of England.
• By 1653, Cromwell had become frustrated with
republican rule. He dissolved Parliament and set
himself up as a military dictator. He was king in all but
name until his death in 1658.
II. SOCIAL CRISES, WAR, AND REVOLUTION
G. THE RESTORATION
• With Cromwell dead, the Commonwealth soon
collapsed and Charles’s son, Charles II, was restored
to the throne in 1660. Charles II’s reign (1660-1685)
was troubled by disasters (plague, fire), war (Dutch
Wars, War of Devolution) and personal scandal
(eleven illegitimate children, Catholic sympathies).
• Charles had no legitimate children, so his natural
heir was his brother, James Stuart. James was an
avowed Catholic, which caused concern within
Parliament. Some in government (the Whigs)
attempted to pass the Exclusion Bill to prevent
James from becoming king, but Charles dissolved
Parliament before it could vote.
• Others in Parliament (the Tories) believed that James
posed little threat to the nation. He was elderly, and
his two daughters were both Protestant. Late in life,
however, James and his second wife produced a
son, also named James, who would be a Catholic
heir to the throne.
Stuart dynasty
James II
II. SOCIAL CRISES, WAR, AND REVOLUTION
H. A GLORIOUS REVOLUTION
William & Mary
James Francis
Edward Stuart
• Rather than have a Catholic dynasty in England,
Parliament invited James II’s son-in-law William,
Prince of Orange, to take the throne. In 1688, William,
his wife Mary, and a small army invaded from the
Netherlands. Rather than fight, James II and his family
fled to France. This was the “Glorious Revolution.”
• William (III) and Mary (II) took the throne in 1689. At
the same time, they signed the English Bill of Rights. It
asserted Parliament’s rights to raise taxes, make laws,
and raise an army. The king could not govern without
the consent of Parliament, which destroyed divine
right monarchy and created constitutional
monarchy.
• The Bill of Rights also gave citizens the right to bear
arms, and access to jury trial. The Toleration Act of
1689 allowed citizens to freely worship in any
Protestant denomination. Catholicism was still
officially banned, yet no further religious persecutions
would take place in England.
III. RESPONSE TO CRISIS: ABSOLUTISM
PREVIEW
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France Under Louis XIV
Richelieu and Mazarin
Louis Comes to Power
Government and Religion
The Economy and War
Pgs. 223 - 226
Richelieu
Mazarin
Louis XIV
III. RESPONSE TO CRISIS: ABSOLUTISM
A. FRANCE UNDER LOUIS XIV
• After the political and social upheaval of the first
half of the seventeenth century, some European
nations sought stability by increasing the
authority of the monarchy. Based on the theory
of divine-right kingship, the idea ran that by
concentrating power in the hands of the
monarch, the noble class would not be able to
effectively rebel. This form of kingship is called
absolutism.
• The reign of Louis XIV of France (1643-1715) is
seen as the greatest example of absolutism in
action. During his majority (1661 on), Louis had
unquestioned authority over taxation, legislation,
justice, bureaucracy and foreign policy.
• During Louis XIV’s reign, France came to
dominate the political and social atmosphere of
Europe. French aggression led to several global
wars. Every court in Europe tried to copy the
style and grandeur of Louis’s Versailles Palace.
Louis XIV, the Sun King
Versailles Palace,
Orangerie
III. RESPONSE TO CRISIS: ABSOLUTISM
B. RICHELIEU AND MAZARIN
Richelieu at
La Rochelle
Faubourg
Saint-Antoine
• Between the Edict of Nantes in 1598 and the
coronation of Louis XIV in 1643, France experienced a
prolonged period of political struggle and
uncertainty. During the rule of Louis’s father, Louis XIII,
France was held together by the king’s first minister,
Cardinal Richelieu.
• Under the cardinal’s leadership, the Huguenots were
stripped of their political rights and independence.
Richelieu, through his spy network, uncovered several
aristocratic plots to destroy the government. The
plotters were executed and their power diminished.
• When Louis XIV came to the throne, he was only four
years old. During his minority, France was ruled by
Cardinal Mazarin. A conspiracy of nobles, called the
Fronde, fought two rebellions against the young king
in 1648 and 1650-53. Mazarin defeated both uprisings,
executed their leaders, and took their property for the
Crown. With the nobility crushed, the power of the
monarchy could grow without limits.
III. RESPONSE TO CRISIS: ABSOLUTISM
C. LOUIS COMES TO POWER
• Upon Cardinal Mazarin’s death in 1661, Louis
XIV took personal control of the French
government. At the age of 23, and with a
reputation for frivolity, few took him seriously
when he announced that he would
personally handle all of the day-to-day
decisions of the government.
• Louis meant business. For the next 54 years,
he reviewed the work of all his government
ministers on a daily basis. He stuck to a strict
schedule, working eight to ten hours a day
on government affairs. No decision was
made without his consent.
• Louis styled himself as the source of light for
the people of France: the Sun King. Under
his personal rule, France became the most
powerful and prosperous nation in Europe.
The Sun King
The Hall of Mirrors, Versailles
III. RESPONSE TO CRISIS: ABSOLUTISM
D. GOVERNMENT AND RELIGION
Louis’s royal council
Versailles, Marble Court
Huguenots in Germany
• Louis held court at the palace of Versailles. This
was Louis’s home, governmental offices, and
cultural center of France. Nobles came to
Versailles to attend the king and to ask for jobs.
• Louis’s political rivals were the wealthiest nobles
and the royal princes. To limit their power, he
barred them from the royal council. He invited
them to stay at Versailles where he could watch
them and distract them with opulent living.
• Louis personally appointed officials and expected
absolute loyalty from them. On the local level,
where nobles and town councils managed affairs,
Louis bribed them. In this manner, he ran the state.
• In order to create religious unity in France, Louis
persecuted the Huguenots. He renounced the
Edict of Nantes and destroyed Protestant
churches. Hundreds of thousands of Huguenots
fled France.
III. RESPONSE TO CRISIS: ABSOLUTISM
E. THE ECONOMY AND WAR
• Louis’s plans for French domination of Europe were
extremely expensive. In order to manage the
nation’s finances, he turned to Jean-Baptiste
Colbert, who employed mercantilist principles.
• Colbert reformed the economy by subsidizing new
industries, building roads and canals, implementing
tariffs and creating a merchant marine.
• Colbert’s reforms generated so much wealth for
the Crown that Louis XIV could raise a standing
army of over 400,000 men. This was a necessary
improvement, as Louis engaged in the War of
Devolution, the Franco-Dutch War, the War of the
Grand Alliance, and the War of the Spanish
Succession all between 1665 and 1713.
• Through Louis XIV’s military campaigns, he was
able to add some territory to the eastern border of
France and to crown a member of the Bourbon
family as king of Spain.
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
French army uniforms
III. RESPONSE TO CRISIS: ABSOLUTISM
PREVIEW
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Legacy of Louis XIV
Absolutism in Central Europe
The Emergence of Prussia
The New Austrian Empire
Pgs. 226 - 227
III. RESPONSE TO CRISIS: ABSOLUTISM
F. LEGACY OF LOUIS XIV
Louis XV
• Louis XIV’s military adventures and economic
experiments were successful in the short term.
France was the cultural center of Europe, it had
gained territory in the Netherlands, and it had a
stable absolutist political system.
• The wars of Louis’s reign had devastating longterm consequences. Upon his death in 1715,
France was bankrupt and every other European
nation was an enemy. Constant war had
depleted the resources and population of the
nation.
• Louis repented of his free-spending and
aggressive ways. He warned his great-grandson
and heir, Louis XV, not to spend too much or war
too much. Unfortunately for France, Louis XV was
only five years old at his coronation.
III. RESPONSE TO CRISIS: ABSOLUTISM
G. ABSOLUTISM IN CENTRAL EUROPE
• The Thirty Years’ War had devastated
Germany. The Holy Roman Empire no
longer existed, and with it had gone all
centralized political authority. Three
hundred independent states were left to
fend for themselves in the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries.
• The most powerful German territories, like
Saxony and Bavaria, had suffered
politically after the Peace of Westphalia.
In their place, a new power center arose
in central Europe: Prussia.
• After the loss of the old Empire, the
Hapsburg family regrouped and
established a new empire centered
around their hereditary lands in Austria.
III. RESPONSE TO CRISIS: ABSOLUTISM
H. THE EMERGENCE OF PRUSSIA
• In the mid-1600s, Brandenburg-Prussia was a
geographically divided territory with no
natural borders and several warlike neighbors.
In order to protect his state, Frederick William
Hohenzollern, called the Great Elector, raised
a professional standing army of 40,000 men.
• To manage the army, Frederick William
The Great Elector and Family
created the General War Commissariat,
which later became the principle office of
government. It was staffed by generals from
landed aristocratic families, called the
Junkers, who supported the Great Elector’s
rule.
• Frederick William’s son, Frederick III, assumed
office of his father in 1701. He was secure
enough in his power and territory to declare
himself the first king of Prussia as Frederick I.
III. RESPONSE TO CRISIS: ABSOLUTISM
I. THE NEW AUSTRIAN EMPIRE
• The Hapsburgs were the dukes of Austria. They controlled territory
in what is now Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary. With
their defeat in the Thirty Years’ War, the Hapsburgs shifted their
focus away from Germany and focused on southeastern Europe.
• The Austrian army, under Charles V, Duke of Lorraine, defeated
the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Mohacs in 1687. After the
victory, Austria claimed all of Hungary, Transylvania, Croatia and
Slavonia. By the end of the eighteenth century, the Empire
covered most of southeastern Europe.
• The new Empire was composed of more than a dozen states,
with their own customs and laws. The only institution that held
them together was the emperor himself, who was hereditary
duke of Austria, king of Bohemia and king of Hungary. Hapsburg
rule was never centralized or absolutist, as a result.
III. RESPONSE TO CRISIS: ABSOLUTISM
PREVIEW
• Russia Under Peter the Great
• Military & Governmental
Changes
• Cultural Changes
• St. Petersburg
• Pgs. 227 - 229
SECTIONS II AND III
HOMEWORK
• Answer each question in a half-page response with
complete sentences. Be accurate, be specific, be
complete. Due tomorrow.
• 1. Trace the sequence of events that led to the
English Bill of Rights.
• 2. What steps did Louis XIV take to maintain
absolute power?
• 3. How did Frederick William build a centralized
state in Prussia? Why was the Austrian Empire not
able to do the same?
III. RESPONSE TO CRISIS: ABSOLUTISM
J. RUSSIA UNDER PETER THE GREAT
• In the fifteenth century, Russia was an economic
and social backwater still under the domination of
the Tatars. By the sixteenth century, the princes of
Muscovy had gained control of the state and, in
1547, Ivan IV the Terrible declared himself czar of all
Russia.
• Ivan killed his only son and heir, so after his death, a
period of chaos followed (the Time of Troubles). This
lasted until 1613, when Prince Michael Romanov of
Moscow was elected czar by the Zemsky Sobor.
The Romanovs would rule Russia until 1917.
• The most influential of the Romanov czars was
Peter the Great (reigned 1689-1725). Peter was an
absolutist monarch who used his supreme authority
to reform Russian society. He toured Europe in the
early years of his reign, and adopted modern
German military and industrial techniques. By the
time of his death, Russia was a powerful participant
in European politics.
Ivan the Terrible
Peter the Great
III. RESPONSE TO CRISIS: ABSOLUTISM
K. MILITARY & GOVERNMENTAL CHANGES
Russian army, 1715
Russian navy
• Peter the Great’s major goal was to reform
Russia’s military along modern lines. He
created an officer corps made up of Russian
aristocrats and foreign professionals. He
instituted a draft system which created a
permanent standing army of 210,000 men
who served for 25-year terms. Peter also
created the first Russian navy, a project for
which he had tremendous enthusiasm.
• Peter attempted to reform the civil
administration of the state as well, but he
was much less successful. He wanted a
bureaucracy of efficient, patriotic and
honest servants, but he managed them
through intimidation and threats of
execution. Peter wanted to create a society
based on law and order, but instead he
made Russia into a brutal police state
managed by corrupt administrators.
III. RESPONSE TO CRISIS: ABSOLUTISM
L. CULTURAL CHANGES
• Peter the Great’s reforms also included changes
to Russian culture. He wanted the Russian people
to dress and act like “civilized” citizens of the West.
A handbook of etiquette was published at Peter’s
command, which advised courtiers not to spit on
the floor or scratch themselves at the dinner table.
• Peter also demanded that Russian aristocrats cut
their traditional long beards and wear short coats
rather than their usual long dress-like apparel. This
may have come as something of a shock to the
Russian nobility, but Peter enforced his wishes,
sometimes personally.
• Traditionally, women had been segregated from
men in Russian society. Following European
conventions, Peter insisted that women be
allowed to mingle with men at court functions. He
even introduced the idea of dancing to his court.
Consequently, the influence of women in high
society increased tremendously.
Traditional coat
Formal court ball
III. RESPONSE TO CRISIS: ABSOLUTISM
M. ST. PETERSBURG
• The ultimate goal of Peter the Great’s reforms was to make
Russia an important and powerful Western power. In order to do
this, Peter reasoned, he needed access to the Baltic Sea.
• Sweden controlled the Baltic coast, including all of what is now
Finland. Russia declared war on Sweden, and the two nations
fought the Great Northern War (1700-1721), which led to Russia’s
acquisition of a port and Sweden’s demise as a world power.
• Peter began constructing a new city on swampy ground in 1703.
By 1724, St. Petersburg was completed. The beautiful, Westernstyle metropolis became the capital of Russia, and remained as
such until 1918.
St. Petersburg
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg
IV. THE WORLD OF EUROPEAN CULTURE
PREVIEW
• Mannerism
• The Baroque Period
• Pgs. 230 - 231
IV. THE WORLD OF EUROPEAN CULTURE
A. MANNERISM
• The social and spiritual turmoil of the mid1500s brought an end to the secular
positivism of the Renaissance. People were
less certain about the world around them;
they were anxious and concerned about
spirituality in a new way.
• These tensions found expression in the art
of the period. The Renaissance concern
with balance, proportion and realism were
replaced by a style called Mannerism.
Mannerist painters used distortions of
perspective and elongation of forms to
convey emotion and religious significance.
• The most famous of the Mannerist artists
was El Greco, a painter from Crete who
studied in Italy and worked in Spain. El
Greco’s works use distorted human figures
and unnatural color schemes to create a
mood of anxiety and dread.
“Opening the Fifth Seal”
“View and Plan of Toledo”
IV. THE WORLD OF EUROPEAN CULTURE
B. THE BAROQUE PERIOD
“Martyrdom of St. Peter”
by Caravaggio
Paris Opera House
• In the late 1500s, Mannerism was replaced by the
Baroque style. The Baroque movement began in
Italy and was embraced by both the Catholic
Church and the great monarchs of the era,
especially the Hapsburgs of Spain and Austria.
• Baroque art includes both painting and
architecture. The style attempts to combine the
technical excellence of the Renaissance with the
resurgent religious passion of the sixteenth
century. Paintings use dramatic effects such as
lighting and shading to create striking images
and spiritual significance.
• Baroque architecture emphasizes grandeur and
elaborate decoration. This is in line with the
Renaissance architectural style, as well as making
a visual statement of power. The princes and
kings on the late sixteenth century wanted to
awe their own subjects and other monarchs with
these opulent buildings.
IV. THE WORLD OF EUROPEAN CULTURE
B. THE BAROQUE PERIOD
• The greatest architect and sculptor of
the Baroque period is Gian Lorenzo
Bernini. His works, including the interior
of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, exhibit
a great deal of dynamism and action.
• Bernini’s most famous work, and
perhaps the best example of the
Baroque aesthetic, is his Throne of Saint
Peter. This ornate chair cover features
statues of Church fathers holding it up
while angels and rays of light crown its
top.
• Female artists, like Artemisia Gentileschi,
contributed to the Baroque movement.
Gentileschi’s portraits of women from
the Bible combine realism, drama and
atmosphere to typify the Baroque style.
“Judith Slaying Holofernes”
IV. THE WORLD OF EUROPEAN CULTURE
PREVIEW
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A Golden Age of Literature
England’s Shakespeare
Spanish Literature
Pgs. 231-232
IV. THE WORLD OF EUROPEAN CULTURE
C. A GOLDEN AGE OF LITERATURE
• Along with advances in the visual arts, the period from
1580 to 1640 also saw elaboration in literature from the
major powers of western Europe. Specifically, the greatest
examples of the era come from England and Spain.
• While poetry, the novel, and nonfiction writing reflected
the developments of the period, it was changes in the
writing of theater that are most memorable, especially in
English.
IV. THE WORLD OF EUROPEAN CULTURE
D. ENGLAND’S SHAKESPEARE
• The Elizabethan period in England (the late
sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries) saw
an enormous amount of cultural creativity and
energy. This is most evident in theatrical works,
especially those of William Shakespeare.
• Theater in Shakespeare’s day was a
prosperous business. His Globe Theater seated
3,000, and admission was as little as a penny so
that the poor could attend. Theater appealed
to all segments of society, but especially to the
middle class.
• Shakespeare is regarded as the principle
genius of the period for two reasons. His
command of and creativity with the English
language is unparalleled. His profound
understanding of human psychology enabled
him to create realistic, compelling characters.
The Globe Theater
Shakespeare’s “Richard III”
IV. THE WORLD OF EUROPEAN CULTURE
E. SPANISH LITERATURE
Lope de Vega
Don Quixote & Sancho Panza
• As in England, theater was an immensely
popular form of entertainment in Spain. The
pre-eminent writer of Spanish theater in the
late sixteenth century was Lope de Vega,
who may have written as many as 1,500
plays. These were mostly fast-paced
comedies meant to satisfy paying
customers.
• The greatest work of Spanish literature from
this era is not a play, but a novel. Don
Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes, tells the
story of an idealistic and deluded knight of
La Mancha and his sober-minded squire
Sancho Panza. The two represent two sides
of the Spanish character, and by the end
of the novel they realize that they need
one another’s perspective to succeed.
IV. THE WORLD OF EUROPEAN CULTURE
PREVIEW
•
•
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Political Thought
Hobbes
Locke
Pg. 233
SECTIONS III AND IV
HOMEWORK
• Answer each question in a half-page response with
complete sentences. Be accurate, be specific, be
complete. Due tomorrow.
• 1. Why was it so important that Peter the Great
have a seaport on the Baltic?
• 2. How did Mannerist and Baroque art reflect the
mood and cultural themes of the era?
• 3. When was the “golden age” of Spanish
literature? Who set the standard for playwrights?
What was his goal as an author?
IV. THE WORLD OF EUROPEAN CULTURE
F. POLITICAL THOUGHT
• The social upheaval of the seventeenth
century caused monarchs and politicians
to be obsessed with order and power. This
focus was reflected in the art and
literature of the time, but perhaps most
directly in works of philosophy.
• Political philosophers became prominent
all over Europe in the sixteenth century,
including Rene Descartes of France and
Samuel von Pufendorf of Germany.
• In England, the radical changes brought
about by the Civil War, the
Commonwealth and the Glorious
Revolution caused political theorists to
look at questions of authority in new ways.
Two very different perspectives arose in
the late 1600s.
Samuel von Pufendorf
IV. THE WORLD OF EUROPEAN CULTURE
G. HOBBES
Thomas Hobbes
The Leviathan
• Thomas Hobbes was a political thinker of
the mid-1600s. He was horrified by the
brutality of the English Civil War, in which
he saw tendencies towards anarchy.
• In his principle work, Leviathan (pub.
1651), Hobbes argued that human
existence is essentially “solitary, poor,
nasty, brutish and short.” He said that
government, then, is a social contract
that people voluntarily enter into in order
to improve their lives through order.
• In Hobbes’s view, political authority
should be absolute in order to suppress
the savage instincts of the populace.
Rebellions should be crushed and civil
order preserved at all costs.
IV. THE WORLD OF EUROPEAN CULTURE
H. LOCKE
• The opposite view was taken by John Locke in
his book, Two Treatises of Government (pub.
1690). He viewed the natural state of man as
one of freedom and equality. He was the first to
discuss natural rights, which included life, liberty
and property.
• For Locke, government existed to protect
citizens’ natural rights. It was the duty of citizens
to support their system of government, unless
the government violated their rights, in which
case they were free to form a new one.
• Although his ideas were later used to justify the
American and French revolutions, Locke was
not an advocate of democracy. He believed
that political rights should only be for the
landed aristocracy. Nevertheless, his concept
of natural rights was adopted by Thomas
Jefferson and others in the eighteenth century.
John Locke
Declaration of Independence