Download Ch. 15 Notes - Laurel County Schools

APE Chapter 15 Notes Absolutism and Constitutionalism
France in the 17th Century (17 million people-20% of Europe’s population)
1) First Estate- Clergy, 1% of the population, controlled 20% of the land, tax exempt
2) Second Estate- Nobility, 4% of the population, controlled 25% of the land, tax exempt
3) Third Estate- Everyone else, 95% of the population, controlled 55% of the land, paid all taxes
Characteristics of Western European Absolutism
1) Sovereignty of a country was embodied in the person of the ruler
2) Absolute monarchs were more powerful than national assemblies
3) The nobility was effectively brought under control
4) Governments were composed of career officials appointed by the king and answered only to him (very loyal)
5) French and Spanish monarchs effectively gained control of the Catholic Church in their countries
6) Maintained large standing armies
French Absolutism
1) Henry IV- Laid the foundation for France becoming the strongest European Power in the 17th century
- First Bourbon King
- Weakened the nobility by creating a new set of nobles called “Nobility of the Robe”. These nobles purchased their titles from
the king and answered only to him
- His Finance Minister “Duke of Sully” followed a mercantilism policy (create a favorable balance of trade by exporting more
than you import/colonies exist for the benefit of the Mother Country). He also created monopolies, reduced the royal debtsystematic bookkeeping and budgets, reformed the tax system to make it more equitable and efficient, oversaw improved
transportation system-nationwide highway system and canals
- Was assassinated in 1610 by a monk over the Edict of Nantes
2) Louis XIII- His Mother headed the government as his regent (he was 9 when he became king)
- Cardinal Richelieu - became First Minister in 1628
- used the intendant system to weaken the nobility (intendants were “Nobles of the Robe”)
- wanted to make the Crown the highest power in France (this was his main goal)
- subdued the Huguenots (Peace of Alais 1629 Huguenots lost their fortified cities and Protestant armies)
- supported the Protestants against the Hapsburgs (Catholic) during the Thirty Years’ War
3) Louis XIV- was nicknamed the “Sun King” because he thought he was the center of France just as the sun was the center of the universe
- L’etat, c’est moi (“I am the State”)
- strong believer in “divine right” of Kings
- had the longest reign in European History of 72 years (was at war 2/3 of that time)
- France became the undisputed major power in Europe during his reign (French became the international language and
France became the epicenter of literature and art)
- the Fronde was a series of French Civil Wars from 1648 to 1653 (in one instance, the nobles broke into Louis XIV’s
bedchamber traumatizing the young king. He made up his mind that from that point forward he was going to control the
nobles)
- Cardinal Mazarin was his Chief Minister
- government organization -> - recruited his top ministers from the middle class
- continued the intendant system
- kept a check on the power of French institutions that might challenge his power
- arrested officials who criticized the government
- never called the Estates General (legislative body in France) into session
- controlled the peasantry -> - peasants kept as little as 20% of their cash crops (taxes, rent,
tithes)
- corvee was forced labor requiring peasants to work for a month
out of the year on public projects
- idle peasants could be conscripted
- rebellious peasants could be executed or used as slaves on galleys
- Versailles Palace -> - became the grandest and most impressive palace in all of Europe
- 60% of all royal revenues went to maintain the palace
- became a pleasure prison for French nobles
- Religious policies -> - Louis XIV considered himself the head of the Gallican Church (French Catholic Church)
- Louis XIV issued the Edict of Fountainbleau 1685 which revoked the Edict of Nantes 1598 (Huguenots
could not practice Calvinism)
- Louis XIV supported Jesuits cracking down on Jansenists (Catholics who held some Calvinist ideas)
- Jean Baptiste Colbert -> - Louis XIV’s Finance Minister
- most important accomplishment was the merchant marine
- his goal was economic self-sufficiency for France
- Wars of Louis XIV -> - War of Devolution occurred when Louis XIV invaded the Spanish Netherlands without declaring war
(Spain had failed to pay Maria Theresa dowry. He gained 12 fortified towns on the border of the Spanish
Netherlands
- Second Dutch War occurred when Louis XIV invaded the southern Netherlands as revenge for Dutch
opposition to the War of Devolution (furthest limit to Louis XIV’s expansion)
- War of the League of Augsburg occurred when Louis XIV once again invaded the Spanish Netherlands
and the HRE, Spain, Sweden, Bavaria, Saxony, and the Dutch Republic allied against France. War ended
with the status quo (things were the same as before the war)
- War of Spanish Succession 1701-1713 occurred because the will of Charles II left all Spanish territories to
the grandson of Louis XIV. European powers were afraid that Louis XIV would combine the thrones of
France and Spain to create a monster power. England, Dutch Republic, HRE, Brandenburg, Portugal,
and Savoy allied against France. Treaty of Utrecht 1713 ended the expansionism of Louis XIV and
maintained the balance of power in Europe (Britain was the big winner by gaining the asciento from
Spain)
Cost of Louis XIV’s Wars
1) destroyed French economy
2) 20% of French population died
3) French government was bankrupt
4) Led to the French Revolution later in the century
Spain’s Decline in the 17th Century
1) three very weak kings after Philip II (Philip III, Philip IV, and Charles II)
2) Spanish economy hurt by the loss of the middle class Moors and Jews
3) upper class viewed work as something dirty (didn’t work-no capitalism as in England and Netherlands)
4) Spanish trade with its colonies fell drastically because of competition from England and Netherlands
5) Spanish treasury was bankrupt and they repudiated (refused to pay) their debts several different times which caused other countries to
not trade with them or allow them more credit
6) national taxes hit the peasantry really hard (left countryside to move to the cities which caused crop production to decrease)
7) inflation from the “price revolution” (increase in prices from the increase of gold and silver being brought from the New World) caused
domestic industries not to be able to export goods (prices of goods were too high)
8) Spain’s defeat in the Thirty Years’ War was politically and economically disastrous (Spain lost the Netherlands-7 Northern Provinces)
9) Treaty of the Pyrenees 1659 marked the end of Spain as a great power
10) by 1700, the Spanish navy had only 8 ships and most of its army consisted of foreigners
11) the War of Spanish Succession resulted in Spain losing most of its European possessions
Characteristics of Eastern European Absolutism
1) based on a powerful nobility (Kings were considered “First among equals” with the nobles)
2) based on a weak middle class
3) based on an oppressed peasantry made up of serfs who were tied to the land (“you can be a peasant without being a serf, but you
can’t be a serf without being a peasant”)
The HOP is replaced by the RAP
HOP (3 old aging empires)
1) Holy Roman Empire - the Reformation and religious wars of the 16th and 17th centuries split Germany
2) Ottoman Empire – couldn’t maintain possessions in eastern Europe and the Balkans in the face of Russian and Austrian expansion
3) Poland – voting in Polish Parliament had to be unanimous for changes to be made which made it impossible to strengthen the kingdom
(unanimous voting was called the liberum veto)
Ottoman Empire
1) lasted for over 500 years (1400-1919)
2) 1453 fall of the Byzantine Empire (Constantinople falls)
3) sultan was the title given to the leader
4) Suleiman the Magnificent most powerful ruler in the world during the 16th century
5) conquered peoples could worship religiously any way they wanted
6) no such thing as private property within the empire
7) highly talented Christian children were eventually put into the Ottoman government
8) “Janissary Corps” were Christian slaves who served loyally in the Turkish Army
9) had controlled the Indian Ocean trade
10) millet system referred to nations within the Ottoman Empire
11) practiced Islam
RAP (3 new empires)
1) Russia
2) Austria
3) Prussia
Russia
1) Muscovy formed the nucleus of what became Russia
2) Boyars were Russian landowning nobles
3) Ivan III (Ivan the Great) – established himself as the hereditary ruler of Muscovy and wanted to make Moscow the “Third Rome”
(Constantinople had been called the “Second Rome”)
4) Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible) - first to take the title of Czar (Russian for Caesar) (also spelled Tsar)
- Cossacks were free groups and outlaw armies who fought against Ivan IV. He responded by increasing
Serfdom
- blamed the boyars for his wife’s death and executed many
- “Times of Troubles” referred to the fight over who would assume the throne after Ivan IV’s death
5) Romanov Dynasty - Ruled Russia for over 300 years (1613-1917)
6) Michael Romanov - First Romanov ruler in Russia and he embraced many “Western ideas”
7) Peter the Great - defeated the Strelski (Moscow guards) when they tried to revolt (they had overthrown previous leaders)
- military power was his greatest concern
- each Russian village was required to send recruits
- military enlistments were for 25 years
- 75% of national budget was spent on the military
- all young male nobles had to complete 5 years of compulsory education
- through the Great Northern War gained his “Window to the West”
- wanted to “westernize” Russia
- Table of Ranks set educational standards for civil servants
- used a secret police to crush opponents of the state
- built St. Petersburg which became a crowning achievement (became capital)
Austria
1) ruled for 500 years by the Hapsburgs (1400-1919)
2) made up of many different nationalities (multi-ethnic)
3) Magyars was another name for Hungarians
4) Ferdinand II took control of Bohemia during Thirty Years’ War
5) Ferdinand III centralized the government
6) Leopold I successfully repelled the Turks during the Siege of Vienna in 1683
7) Emperor Charles VI got European leaders to agree to the Pragmatic Sanction 1713 which stated that Hapsburg possessions were never
to be divided and henceforth could be passed in tact to a single heir which could be female (his daughter Maria Theresa would rule
Austria for 40 years)
Prussia
1) ruled by the Hohenzollerns for over 300 years (1600-1919)
2) Frederick William “The Great Elector” - established Prussia as a great power and created the most efficient army in Europe at the time
- “Junkers” were Prussian landowning nobles who formed the backbone of the officer corps
3) Frederick I “The Ostentatious” - most popular of the Hohenzollern kings (first King of Prussia) who allied with the Hapsburgs. Fought in
two wars against Louis XIV to preserve the “balance of power”
4) Frederick William I “The Soldier’s King”- was obsessed with finding tall soldiers (most were nearly 7 feet tall-only fought 1 war)
- turned Prussia into the “Sparta of the North”
- 80% of government revenues went toward the military
5) Frederick II “Frederick the Great” - most powerful and famous of the Prussian Kings
- was an Enlightened Despot (less harsh form of absolutism)
- considered himself “first servant of the state”
- caused the War of Austrian Succession by invading and annexing the Hapsburg possession of Silesia
(defeated Austria and gained Silesia which doubled Prussia’s population)
- fought the Seven Years’ War (North America was called French and Indian War 1754-1763)
permanently acquired Silesia
Eastern European Serfdom
1) after 1300, Eastern Lords revived serfdom to combat growing economic challenges
2) lords demanded kings issue laws restricting or eliminating peasants’ rights to move freely
3) lords confiscated peasant lands and imposed heavier labor obligations
4) robot- law that required peasants to work 3-4 days per week without pay for their local lord
5) hereditary serfdom (subjugation) was re-established by the mid-17th century (serfs bound to the land from one generation to the next)
Constitutionalism – Form of government in which a King or Queen is limited by a constitution
English Society in the 17th Century
1) capitalism played a major role in the high degree of social mobility
2) Commercial Revolution significantly increased the size of the middle class (largest in Europe)
3) improved agricultural techniques improved farming production
4) Gentry (wealthy landowners in the countryside) dominated politics in the House of Commons (lower house of Parliament)
5) Calvinists were the largest percentage of the population by the early 17th century
6) Puritans (reform-minded Calvinists) wanted to “purify” the Church of England by removing its Catholic elements
James I
1) became the first Stuart King
2) was also King of Scotland
3) firm believer in “divine right” and absolutism
4) authorized the King James version of the Bible in 1611 (he did this so that the laity would read the Bible)
5) damaged the prestige of the Monarchy (had several male favorites and also flaunted his wealth)
Charles I
1) son of James I
2) tax issues pitted him against Parliament (he needed money to fight numerous wars)
3) by 1628 both houses of Parliament were firmly against the King
4) Petition of Right 1628- Parliament offered to give Charles I money if he would grant basic legal rights. Charles I dissolved Parliament in
1629
5) Charles I’s rule without Parliament from 1629 to 1640 became known as the “Thorough”. He ruled as an absolute monarch. Raised his
own taxes (ship money- all counties had to pay to outfit ships where before only coastal communities had to pay)
6) in 1639-1640 a Scottish military revolt caused Charles I to need money to fight the war so he called Parliament back into session.
Parliament refused to grant taxes unless Charles I agreed to the Petition of Right. He disbanded Parliament after a month (Short
Parliament)
7) desperate for money after Scotland invades northern England in 1640, Charles I agrees to certain demands made by Parliament a. Parliament could not be dissolved without its own consent
b. Parliament had to meet a minimum of once every three years
c. “Ship money” was abolished
d. The leaders of the persecution of Puritans were to be tried and executed (including Archbishop Laud)
e. The Star Chamber (still used to suppress nobles) was abolished
f. Common law courts were supreme to the king’s courts.
g. Refused funds to raise an army to defeat the Irish revolt
Two Major Issues Prior to the English Civil War
1) could the king govern without the consent of Parliament or go against the wishes of Parliament
2) Would the form of the Anglican Church follow the established hierarchical episcopal form or acquire a Presbyterian form?
a. Episcopal form meant king, Archbishop of Canterbury, and bishops of church determined Church doctrine and practices (used in
England)
b. Presbyterian form allowed more freedom of conscience and dissent among church members (used in Scotland)
English Civil War
1) 1642-1649
2) Charles I tried to arrest several Puritans in Parliament (in 1642 he declared war against Parliament)
3) Cavaliers supported Charles I against Parliament (mostly clergy, supporters of the Anglican Church, and gentry)
4) Roundheads supported Parliament against Charles I (mostly Puritans)
5) Battle of Nasby was the final major battle
6) Oliver Cromwell led his New Model Army to victory in 1649
7) Pride’s Purge 1648 - Elements of the New Model Army (without Cromwell’s knowledge) removed all non-Puritans and Presbyterians
from Parliament leaving a “Rump Parliament” with only 1/5 of members remaining
8) Charles I was beheaded in 1649 (first European monarch to be executed by his own subjects)
New sects emerged after the English Civil War
1. Levellers - radical religious revolutionaries; sought social & political reforms—a more egalitarian society
2. Diggers - denied Parliament’s authority and rejected private ownership of land
3. Quakers - believed in an “inner light”, a divine spark that existed in each person (rejected church authority, pacifists-didn’t believe in
fighting, and allowed women to play a role in preaching)
Oliver Cromwell’s rule
1) Interregnum - 1649-1660 rule without king
2) The Commonwealth (1649-1653) - a republic that abolished the monarchy and the House of Lords
3) The Protectorate (1653-1659) - England divided into 12 districts, each under the control of a military general
4) Cromwell takes the title of Lord Protector was basically a Puritan military dictatorship
5) The Puritan-controlled gov’t sought to regulate the moral life of England by commanding that people follow strict moral codes that
were enforced by the army (the press was heavily censored, sports were prohibited, theaters were closed)
6) Cromwell dies in 1658 and is replaced by his weak son Richard Cromwell (rules until the Stuarts are restored in 1660)
Charles II
1) restored to the throne in 1660
2) Parliament was stronger in relation to the king than ever before in England
3) Tories supported Charles II over Parliament (nobles, gentry, and Anglicans)
4) Whigs supported Parliament over Charles II (middle class and Puritans)
5) Clarendon Code - Sought to drive all Puritans out of both political and religious life
6) Test Act of 1673 - excluded those unwilling to receive the sacrament of the Church of England from voting, holding office, preaching,
teaching, attending universities, or assembling for meetings
7) Granted freedom of worship to Catholics
8) Charles dissolved Parliament when it passed a law denying royal succession to Catholics (Charles’ brother, James, was Catholic)
9) was known as the “Merry Monarch”
10) Parliament passed the Habeas Corpus Act in 1679
1. Whig Parliament sought to limit Charles’ power
2. Provisions - enabled judges to demand that prisoners be in court during their trials, required just cause for continued
imprisonment, provided for speedy trials forbade double jeopardy (being charged for a crime of which one had
already been acquitted)
11) Last few years of Charles’ reign in Scotland was known as the “Killing Time”
12) declared himself a Catholic on his deathbed
James II
1) was a Catholic and sought to return England to Catholicism
2) reissued the Declaration of Indulgence (granting freedom of worship to Catholics) and he demanded that the declaration be read in
the Anglican Church on two successive Sundays
3) birth of a Catholic heir in and 1688 (his wife at the time was Catholic she gave birth to a son)
4) Glorious Revolution (“Bloodless Revolution”) - Parliament not willing to sacrifice constitutional gains of the English Civil War and
were driven by James II reissuing the Declaration of Indulgence and the birth of his
Catholic son
5) James II is forced to abdicate the throne and is replaced by William and Mary (James II’s Protestant daughter)
William and Mary
1) England became a constitutional monarchy
2) accepted the English Bill of Right 1689 – Provisions: a. King could not be Roman Catholic
b. Laws could be made only with the consent of Parliament
c. Parliament had right of free speech
d. Standing army in peace time was not legal without Parliamentary approval
e. Taxation was illegal without Parliamentary approval
f. Excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishments were prohibited
g. Right to trial by jury, due process of law, and reasonable bail was guaranteed
h. People had the right to bear arms (Protestants but not Catholics)
i. Provided for free elections to Parliament and it could be dissolved only by its
own consent
j. People had right of petition
3) Toleration Act of 1689 - Granted right to worship for Protestant nonconformists (e.g. Puritans, Quakers) although they could not hold
office (did not extend religious liberties to Catholics, Jews or Unitarians)
Act of Settlement 1701 – ended the Stuart line of succession (William and Mary died childless and Anne who was Mary’s younger sister
died childless in 1714) The Hanoverians came to the throne
Act of Union 1707 – united England and Scotland into Great Britain
England’s Cabinet system
1) Leading ministers, who were members of the House of Commons and had the support of the majority of its members, made common
policy and conducted the business of the country
2) The Prime Minister, a member of the majority, was the leader of the government
3) Robert Walpole is viewed as the first Prime Minister in British history
The United Provinces of the Netherlands
1) was also called the Dutch Republic
2) 1600-1650 was the “Golden Age” of the Netherlands
3) The government consisted of an organized confederation of seven provinces, each with representative gov’t
4) Each province elected a stadholder (governor or executive officer) usually held by the Princes of Orange
5) The Dutch Republic was characterized by religious toleration
6) Calvinism was the dominant religion but was split between the Dutch Reformed (who were the majority and the most powerful) and
Arminian factions (Calvinism without the belief in Predestination)
7) The Netherlands was the greatest mercantile nation of the 17th century (Amsterdam was the commercial capital of Europe during
1600’s, replaced Antwerp)
8) By the end of the War of Spanish Succession in 1713, the Dutch Republic saw a significant economic decline
Baroque Art
1) baroque is Portuguese for an “odd-shaped, imperfect pearl”
2) Began in Catholic Reformation countries to teach in a concrete and emotional way and demonstrate the glory and power of the
Catholic Church
3) Sought to overwhelm the viewer: Emphasized grandeur, emotion, movement, spaciousness and unity surrounding a certain theme
4) Baroque architecture reflected the image and power of absolute monarchs and the Catholic Church
5) Bernini personified baroque architecture and sculpture
6) Versailles Palace built during the reign of Louis XIV is the quintessential baroque structure
7) Baroque painting - Strong sense of emotion and movement
- Stressed broad areas of light and shadow rather than on linear arrangements of the High Renaissance.
- Tenebrism (“dark manner”): extreme contrast between dark to light
- Color was an important element as it appealed to the senses and more true to nature
- Not concerned with clarity of detail as with overall dynamic effect
- Designed to give a spontaneous personal experience
8) Artists - Carvaggio is perhaps the 1st important painter of the Baroque era
- Peter Paul Rubens worked much for the Hapsburg court in Brussels the capital of the Spanish Netherlands (RFF-Rubens Fat
Females)
- Diego Velázquez was the greatest court painter of the era (Spanish Court)
- Artemisia Gentileschi was famous for her realism and emotion found in “Judith” (she was killing her own rapist)
- Rembrandt van Rijn is perhaps the greatest of all Baroque artists
- Jan Vermeer specialized in simple domestic interior scenes of ordinary people
9) Music – Johann Sebastian Bach was the greatest Baroque composer