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Unit 4
State Building in the
17th Century
Europe after 30 Years’ War…
 The last of the religious conflicts profoundly
impacts the states of Europe
 Powerful states declined while others rose from
the ashes following the war
 Religious difference and competition for
overseas empires had become defining features
of the European experience by mid-17th century
 States seek political stability through different
forms of government – absolutism; constitutional
monarchy
Trends in Western Europe
 Following the 30 Years’ War, western
Europe experienced a reconfiguration of
power
 France’s Emergence and the theory of
Absolutism
 Spain’s decline
 Emergence of the Dutch Republic – officially
granted independence (along with Swiss
cantons)
 England’s triumph as a constitutional
monarchy
France Emerges from the Ashes
 Impact of the Peace
France wins valuable territory in Rhineland
of Westphalia
 Dutch, English, and
French emerge
 500 mile radius
around Paris creates
the zone which was
to dominate Europe
and much of the
world.
 France was first to
rise – why?
A Difficult Path to Greatness…
 Provincial Autonomy and Decentralization
 “A bundle of territories held together by allegiance to a king”
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National Estates General (parliament) ?
Local parliaments (supreme courts) ?
300 local regional legal systems…
No uniform taxes, coinage or weights and measures
 Religious Differences
 Edict of Nantes
 Efforts to unify France under one religion resisted at home
and abroad
 Lack of Competent Rulers
 1559 -1650: Only ONE competent adult monarch
 Sons of Henry II and Catherine de’Medici (Francis II, Charles
IX and Henry III) were young, generally weak, and ineffective
 Henry IV Bourbon (1589-1610) was the only adult king from
the start and ruled effectively.
 Louis XIII (1610-1643) and Louis XIV (1643-1715) both took
the throne as young boys…
Young kings
Francis, Charles,
and Henry
Absolutism in France: Royal Ministers’ Role
 Boy kings Louis XIII and Louis XIV faced
uneasy succession to throne
 Role of royal ministers
 Cardinal Richelieu (1624-1642)
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Richelieu and young
Louis XIII
Attacks power of nobles
Peace of Alais reduces power of Huguenots
System of spies
Intendants
Aided Swedes vs. Hapsburgs in 30 Years
War
 Raised taille and gabelle to fund French
involvement in 30 Years’ War – debt rising!
 Died in 1642, with Louis XIII 5 months later,
leaving 4 year old Louis XIV on the throne
Absolutism in France: Royal Ministers’ Role
 Cardinal Mazarin (1642-1661)
Come here, my
Italian stallion!

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I shall win you some
gold at the gaming
tables!
Allowed by Anne of Austria – regent of
Louis XIV, to continue in Richelieu’s
footsteps
Mazarin’s foreign background…
Fronde (1648)
 Series of noble rebellions broke out against
Mazarin
 Fronde (“child’s slingshot”) is put down
 Mazarin dies, leaving power solely to
23 year old King Louis XIV
 France poised to accept absolutism
Anne of Austria and
Mazarin … they were
lovers you see…
Theory of Absolutism
Divine!
 King had ultimate authority by divine


Absolute!


Bishop Bossuet and
Jean Bodin: Divine
Right and Absolutism!
right
Bishop Jacques Bossuet: “God
establishes kings as his ministers, and
reigns through them over the people”
Jean Bodin: "The sovereign Prince is
only accountable to God"
Influence of era of religious wars…
French ministers had paved the way
for Louis XIV – the poster child for
absolutism
Louis XIV – An Introduction
 “He was extremely fond of
himself and his position of
kingship, with an insatiable
appetite for admiration and
flattery. He loved
magnificent display and
elaborate etiquette, though
to some extent he simply
adopted them as
instruments of policy rather
than as a personal whim.”
“Le Roi Danse”
Before taking the throne, Louis
built his divine reputation
through his ballet dancing, with
the help of eccentric Baroque
composer Jean-Baptiste Lully.
It was the Ballet de la Nuit that
earned Louis the nickname the
“Sun King”
Louis XIV – Government and Administration
 Louis’ view of the state:
Emblem
of Louis
XIV;
Louis in
his
younger
days
L’etat c’est moi
 Believed in ABSOLUTISM
and perpetuated myth that
he was the “sun king” –
source of light for all his
subjects and center of
their universe
Louis XIV – Government and Administration
 Army


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Ended independence of colonels
Louis “made war an activity of state”
Centralized, systematized, & increased size
first war ministry

Recently ennobled or middle class men with no
political influence
Use of bribery
Used Councils of State and intendants
Each intendant...embodied all aspects of the
royal government, supervising...taxes and
recruiting soldiers, keeping an eye on the
nobility...stamping out bandits, smugglers, and
wolves, policing the marketplaces, relieving
famine, watching the local law courts...a firm and
uniform administration...was superimposed
upon...the old France.
 Advisers
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Louis XIV – Economic Policies


Finances were a BIG deal – had to get $ to build
palace at Versailles, maintain the court, and pursue
war
Mercantilist Colbert served as financial minister
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Colbert in his golden years
with fabulous wig; New
France (in blue)
Bourgeois origin
“Five Great Farms”
Commercial Code
Subsidies and tax exemptions to key industries
Encouraged colonies
French navy and French East India Company
Merchant marine
Encouraged export of manufactured products
Prohibited the export of food
Advanced commercial capitalism
Colbert brought $ in…Louis spent it!
Louis XIV – Economic Policies
 Tax problems
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Taille passed through many officials
Tax farmers
Noble exemptions
Bourgeois bought special tax exemptions
Poor taxed heavily
 Nevertheless, government deficits
grew
 Methods to raise money
Top: A patent of nobility;
Bottom: devalued
French livre – it looked
the same but had 20%
less gold and silver!

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
Currency was devalued in secret
Patents of nobility
Sale of government offices and military
commissions
But then what…?
Louis XIV – Religious Policies

Louis acted to centralize religion
as all other aspects of society

supported Gallican church
(CATHOLIC with the French
monarch at the head)
Rewards for conversion
Use of dragoons and the
dragonnades
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Edict of Fontainebleau (1685)
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Images associated with the dragonnades
depicting obnoxious soldiers behaving badly
while priests attempt to attain conversions
revoked Edict of Nantes (1598)
destruction of Huguenot churches
and schools
Exodus of over 200k Huguenots!
Impact?
Louis XIV – Life at Court
 Versailles built outside
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Palace of Versailles: Grounds and Hall of Mirrors
Paris
Reflected power of French
monarchy
Elaborate system of rules
and regulations
Everyone had to use flattery
to get pension
Reduced “people of quality”
to his lap dogs
Gambling, entertainment,
prostitution
appartement
Lifelong imprisonment?
Wars of Louis XIV: Overview
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Louis XIV leading the battle charge
on horseback
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Largest standing army in
Europe
Conscription
When Louis took control in
1661 (Mazarin’s death),
France still faced Hapsburgs
on three sides
Spain’s weakness and the
pursuit of France’s “natural
boundaries”
Costly, fruitless missions
Concern over balance of
power caused other
European nations to form
alliances vs. France
Early Wars of Louis XIV

War of Devolution of 1667
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Invasion of Spanish Netherlands and Franche-Comte (FRANsh-conTAY)
Blocked by Triple Alliance of Dutch, English and Swedes
Only earned a few towns in Spanish Netherlands by Treaty of Aix-laChapelle
“Dutch War” of 1672
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Louis invades United Provinces
Brandenburg, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire allied against him
Louis only gains Franche-Comte
Louis next attacked east vs. Holy Roman Empire
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Strasbourg and Alsace - Lorraine
Germany’s lack of unity opens the door…
Louis distracts HRE Leopold I, by inciting and financing a Hungarian
rebellion, and encouraging a Turkish attack on the Empire, leading to a
siege of Vienna in 1683.
Leopold, with Polish assistance, was able to drive the Turks away and
bring the Hungarians back into line.
Early Wars of Louis XIV

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Leopold I united
Catholic nations
against France
Protestants unify
under William III of
Orange against Louis
In 1686, Louis faced
all of his opponents in
the War of the
League of Augsburg
(1688-1697)

“Glorious
Revolution” in
England sparks war

French success on
land, failure at sea

Treaty of Ryswick
(1697)
War of Spanish Succession (1702-1713):
Overall Trends
 “Watershed war,”
setting new standards
for the next century
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Less destructive war?
Religion of little
importance
 English involvement?
 First “world war”?
Charles II: Bringing Sexy Back
War of Spanish Succession: Cause
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Charles II dies without
male heir
Balance of power
principles vs. Charles’
will?
Next in line: Louis XIV’s
grandson, Philip.
English William III of
Orange was unwilling to
accept the will, and
created the Grand
Alliance
War of Spanish Succession: Cause
“All in the family”: Charles was the product of LOTS of inbreeding.
War of Spanish Succession: Aspirations
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France?
Spain?
Austria?
Holland?
England?
Louis flanked by his enemies:
Emperor Leopold I and William III
of Holland (and England)
War of Spanish Succession: Fighting
My salon hair shall
lead me to victory!
John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough
 War fought in Europe
and North America
(Queen Anne’s War)
for 11 years
 John Churchill,
Duke of
Marlborough, and
Battle of Blenheim
(1704)
 Peace of Utrecht
(1713) and Peace of
Rastatt (1714)
War of Spanish Succession: Treaty of Utrecht, 1713
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Spain
 King Philip V Bourbon
 Spain and France separate.
 Bourbons influence on
monarchy and New World?
France
 Monarchy lost ground to
aristocratic and parliamentary
opposition
 Expansionist dreams checked,
but retained Alsace, Strasbourg,
and the Franche-Comte
England
 Gained Gibraltar and Minorca
and Newfoundland, Nova
Scotia, and Hudson Bay
Territory
 Received the valuable asiento
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Austria
 Gained Italian Hapsburg
holdings (Milan, Naples,
Sicily)
 Took Spanish Netherlands,
now called Austrian
Netherlands (Belgium)
The Duke of Savoy got
Sardinia, and was recognized
as a king
Elector of Brandenburg got
Guelderland
 was recognized as a king
 Brandenburg became
known as Prussia
Holland got the “Dutch Barrier,”
a string of forts in former
Spanish Netherlands (Belgium)
War of Spanish Succession- Peace Settlement
 The Treaty
of Utrecht,
confirmed
the system
of
international
relations.
 The seeds
of the
nations of
Italy and
Germany
planted!
 France and
Great
Britain: two
strongest
powers
War of Spanish Succession- Peace Settlement
Overseas Territories
The Decline of Spain
 At start of the 17th century,
Philip III of Spain and his favorite
advisor, the Duke of Lerma. Philip
had little interest in the affairs of
state, and devoted much of his time
to purchasing and marveling at
relics. Lerma was primarily
interested in bolstering his family’s
wealth and position at court.
Spain controlled a vast
empire and appeared to be a
formidable European power
 However, the unsuccessful
wars of Philip II and the
excessive court spending of
Philip III emptied the Spanish
treasury
 In the end, their ambitions
outstripped their resources
The Decline of Spain
 Rule of Philip IV and his chief
Philip IV of Spain and his chief
minister, Gaspar de Guzman, count
of Olivares. Philip’s continued
involvement in the 30 Years’ War
was costly, and incited internal
rebellion. At the Battle of Rocroi in
1643, the Spanish army was
decimated
minister, Gaspar de Guzman
 Involvement in Thirty Years’
War…
 Dutch independence by the
Peace of Westphalia (1648)
 The Peace of Pyrenees (1659)
lost Artois as well as their
defenses of the Spanish
Netherlands, later lost to the
Austrian Hapsburgs in the War
of Spanish Succession
Emergence of the Dutch Republic
 The Dutch created a
bourgeois society that
was wealthy,
flourishing, civilized and astonishingly
creative!
Vermeer’s Woman with a
Balance
 Hugo Grotius
 Baruch de Spinoza
 Anton von Leeuwenhoek
(microscope),
 Huygens
 Vermeer, Rembrandt,
and Leyster
The Greatness of the Dutch Republic
 The Dutch were characterized by a spirit of
toleration
 The great Dutch fleet of 1600
 Dutch East India Company
 Manhattan and the Cape of Good Hope
 Dutch West Indies Company which set up
posts in Brazil, Curaçao, Guinea.
 Bank of Amsterdam, backed by the Dutch
government, made Holland the financial
center of world
Dutch Ship circa 1600
 allowing deposit of “mixed money” issuing
notes for florins--soon the main
international currency
 innovative use of checks and guaranteed
deposits
 Charged a fee for maintaining accounts and
for exchange and enriched the city of
Amsterdam.
Dutch Government
 Each province had a
stadtholder, but most
provinces usually elected the
Prince of Orange in
emergencies.
 Normally the burghers ran the
government, keeping Holland
decentralized.
 William III of Orange (16501702)
 grave, reserved, Dutch Calvinist
 lived plainly and hated flattery
 married Mary, Protestant
daughter of James II (Stuart) of
England
Willie III of Orange – His
Younger Days…
Foreign Affairs
 The Dutch fought three indecisive wars with England during the reign
of Cromwell, but gave New York to England. (Anglo-Dutch Wars)
 Wars with France were much more serious, and the Dutch
successfully used balance of power politics to stop Louis XIV’s
aggression in 1667, 1672, and 1689. (Franco-Dutch Wars)
 However, these wars came at a cost and Dutch power declined
through end of 17th century
Raid on the Medway: greatest naval victory for the Dutch (over England).
“The Devil Shits Dutchmen!” Says Samuel Pepys, English Naval
Administrator.
Elizabeth’s England – A Recap
 A Politique – adopted the via media after
"I have no desire to make
windows into men's
souls."
Edward and Mary embraced more extreme
approaches to religion (Elizabethan
Settlement restored Protestantism)
 Refusal to marry – why?
 Tumultuous childhood/teenage
experiences (Thomas Seymour affair)
 Henry VIII’s erratic treatment
 Mary’s experience with marrying Phillip II
 Robert Dudley
 Avoided war whenever possible, but
eventually forced to confront (and defeat)
Spain as well as squelch internal plots by
Catholics to replace her with Mary Queen of
Scots (who was eventually beheaded)
 Ruled with Parliament and managed to keep
the mounting religious turmoil at bay during
the final years of her reign (Golden Age)
England’s Civil Wars
 England after 1588 withdrew from continental matters and was
the one great European power absent from the Treaty of
Westphalia. Why?
 England was involved in a religious/civil war, fought between the
Puritans and the Anglicans, between the forces of Parliament and those
of the king.
 Wars in England were relatively mild, but at the same time fierce and
savage conflicts were occurring in Ireland.
 Nine Years’ War (1594-1603) England invests more troops in Ireland
than in the Dutch conflict
 Nearly forced the English crown into bankruptcy
 Plantation of Ulster
 This was the basis for the Protestant stronghold on N. Ireland in
Ulster
“Ulster Plantation”
England - 17th Century Demographics
 England in the 17th Century had
about 4-5 million English-speaking
peoples.
 In addition, groups had emigrated
to the West Indies, North Ireland
and the 13 American colonies.
 Total American pop in 1700:
500,000
 English culture included
Shakespeare, Milton and Francis
Bacon.
 The English economy was
enterprising and affluent, inferior to
Holland in shipping, but with a
larger, more productive homeland.
 The British East India Company
was formed (1600) to compete with
the Dutch.
England – James I (1566-1625)
 Elizabeth dies (1603) as last
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

of the Tudor line.
Throne goes to James VI of
Scotland/James I of
England. (son of Mary,
queen of Scots and Lord
Darnley)
James believed he was
absolute and divinely
ordained
James alienated the
Puritans
 Episcopal system vs. the
Presbyterian model
 House of Commons
dominated by Puritans
England – James I
 Parliament and the Stuart Kings
 James I Stuart ultimately has a major conflict with
Parliament
 belief in royal absolutism
 his support of the Anglican hierarchy under Archbishop
Laud
 his Scotch origins
 his pedantic ways (“wisest fool in Christendom”)
 his constant need for money,
 Parliament was nationally unified, with no provincial units as
on the European continent.
 House of Lords was dominated by great noble landowners
 House of Commons had the gentry plus reps of merchants and towns
 Parliament was generally unified in social interest and wealth
 This opened door for eventual civil conflict
 When James died, throne passed to his son, Charles
England – Charles I (1625-1649)
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Charles decided to rule without Parliament in
1629
violated the Petition of Right, newly passed in
Parliament
Charles violated it by levying a tax called Ship
Money on coastal towns, supposedly used for
“defense.”
Religion was also a problem
 he married a Catholic, Henrietta Maria of
France
 tried to force Scotland to adopt Anglican
Book of Common Prayer in Scottish
Presbyterian Church.
 Scots rebelled due to religious oppression
and Charles had to call Parliament in 1637 to
get money to quell rebellion.
England – Parliamentary Resistance
 April 1640 Parliament proved hostile and was dissolved in
under a month (Short Parliament)
 A second Parliament called in the fall of 1640 was equally
rebellious and began a revolution against the king under
John Hampden, John Pym, Oliver Cromwell--land-owning
gentry and Puritans who were supported by merchant
class.
 These rebels formed the Long Parliament, led by “root
and branch” men--the first radicals
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Presented “Root and Branch Petition” (1640)
sought to impeach and execute royal advisers
abolish bishops and end the Anglican hierarchy
ultimately declared Presbyterianism the legal religion.
The result was open war between the Royalist “Cavaliers,” with
followers from north and west and “Roundheads,” of Parliament
mostly from the south and east.
England – Civil Conflict Erupts!

2 warring camps in Parliament
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Royalist Cavaliers wanted to stop reforms there
Radical Roundheads under John Pym and
Oliver Cromwell wanted more reforms.
Charles tried to exploit differences by arresting
some radicals, and civil war erupted by 1642
Oliver Cromwell starts New Model Army of
Puritans to fight king’s forces.
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used all the latest military tactics
Defeated Charles I’s forces to end first phase of
war in 1645
Expected Charles to give in to Constitutional
Monarchy
Religious conflict splintered the revolutionaries –
Puritans vs. Presbyterians
Charles sought to exploit the situation by getting
help from the Scots in putting down
revolutionaries.
Cromwell would have none of it and captured
Charles, purged Parliament of Presbyterians,
tried Charles and had him beheaded in 1649.
England - Oliver Cromwell
 Cromwell now declared England a Commonwealth
(Republic).
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Cromwell could never win over the conservatives, and his own
supporters soon divided over radical issues
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He crushed the Scots
Rump Parliament abolished House of Lords and monarchy and set
England up as a commonwealth with Cromwell as leader
Levellers
Quakers
Diggers
Fifth Monarchy Men
Cromwell abolished Parliament (1653) and ruled as Lord
Protector, placing England under Puritan military rule
characterized by “blue laws”
Cromwell did challenge the Dutch naval supremacy and in a
brief war with Spain was able to seize Jamaica.
He died in 1658 and was briefly succeeded by his son.
England - Oliver Cromwell
 “the native religion and
clergy were driven
underground, a foreign
and detested church was
established, and a new
and foreign landed
aristocracy, originally
recruited in large
measure from military
adventurers, was settled
upon the country.…”
England – Restoration of the Stuarts
 Royalty was restored with Charles II in 1660
 England was left with the memory of the nightmare of
standing armies and rule by religious fanatics.
 Democratic ideas were rejected as “leveling” (except in
America where some Puritan leaders took refuge)
 Political consciousness of the lower classes basically
ceased for the next two centuries.
England – Restoration of Charles II
 Charles was careful not to provoke
Parliament
 The “Merrie Monarch” was welcomed back
after the socially and morally oppressive
years of Cromwell.
 New Parliament – Cavalier Parliament met
to reestablish Anglican Church as official in
England, and to force others to conform.
 Parliament took steps to limit king
 creation of modern land tenure
 abolishing certain feudal payments to king--in
Under the Clarendon
Code (1661-65) passed
by Sir Edward Hyde,
Charles’ chief minister,
Puritans were
disenfranchised
exchange for which they agreed to support the
state (king) by taxing themselves--and share in
the governing of England.
 Local landowners also ran local affairs as
“justices of the peace”
 Dissenters, i.e. Puritans, were severely
restricted
England – Charles II and Catholicism



Charles’ beloved
sister Minette was
married to Philippe,
the allegedly gay
brother of Louis XIV
and helped engineer
the Treaty of Dover

Charles II, perhaps sympathetic to Catholicism,
suspended restrictive laws vs. Catholics and
Puritans via Declaration of Indulgence 1672,
provoking worry…
Tendency in Europe was for Protestants to
return to Catholicism; however, the English
people and Parliament were anti-Catholic.
Charles II, however, admired Louis XIV and
made a secret treaty (Treaty of Dover) involving
English help against the Dutch in exchange for
cash, a promise of his eventual conversion, and
toleration for Catholics in England.
Angered, Parliament passed Test Act of 1673:
all office-holders had to take communion in the
Church of England (be Anglican), Catholics
could not serve in army or navy.
Restoration and Fear of Catholicism
 Parliament worried about
succession of James II
 Exclusion Bill
 Two factions formed
 Whigs who wanted James
barred
 Tories who hated James but
didn’t believe succession
should be tampered with.
 Charles’ response to the
James II: UberCatholic
factions: DISMISS
PARLIAMENT!
 Charles dies in 1685 and his
brother James II succeeds
him.
England – Restoration
James II (1685-1689) and Beyond
 Ignored Test Act
 Declaration of Indulgence allows Catholics to
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
James II: “The
Psychedelic” and
stamps
commemorating the
Battle of the Boyne
hold office!
Also believed in his power to make/unmake laws.
Parliament lays low …until Catholic heir born…
Parliament offered the throne to Mary, Protestant
daughter of James and wife of William III of
Orange--who was thoroughly Protestant and
opposed to Louis XIV.
Offered the crown, William “invaded” England;
James fled
 James II attempted to reclaim the throne,
unsuccessfully attacking from Ireland in 1690 at
the Battle of the Boyne
 Victory still celebrated by the Orangemen of
North Ireland
 James II fled to the court of Louis XIV
England
The Old and Young Pretenders
 James II’s son, James, was considered James
III of England/VIII of Scotland by his
supporters, but referred to as the “old
pretender” by those who did not support his
claim to throne.
 “Bonnie” Prince Charlie, was the “young
pretender”
 Papacy, Louis XIV, and Spain supported Stuart
claims
 Both tried to reclaim the English/Scottish thrones but
failed– but failed, thus ending all hope of a Stuart
restoration for good.
Displaced Stuarts
England: Glorious Revolution
Reign of William and Mary
 Bill of Rights (1689)
 No law could be suspended by
the king
 no taxes or army without
Parliament’s consent
 no subject could be arrested or
detained without legal process
 Act of Settlement (1701)
 Toleration Act (1689)
 Act of Union (1707))
England: Glorious Revolution
Reign of William and Mary
 Ireland: England feared Irish
Trinity College, the only
university in Ireland at the time,
did not admit Catholics until
1793. The RCC finally changed
its policy that excommunicated
any Catholics who attended the
university without special
dispensation from the Pope until
1970!
“counter-revolution” to the
burden of an alien church and
absentee landlords – given a
harsh “penal code”
 Bank of England: to pay for his
new war with France, William
borrowed from private lenders
who were granted the right to
operate a bank--the Bank of
England
England – Was it a Glorious Revolution?
 As an advocate of absolutism,


William and Mary and
family. The throne passed
next to Anne, Mary’s sister
in 1702.


Thomas Hobbes condemned
the revolution in Leviathan
It did, in part, vindicate the
principles of parliamentary
government, as promoted by
John Locke in his Two
Treatises on Government
Large segments of the people
were still excluded from
government
England was a true aristocracy
Divine Right in England forever
is obliterated
Big-Picture Trends in Eastern Europe
 Three old, increasingly ineffective, loose and
sprawling political organizations are in
decline
 the Holy Roman Empire
 the Republic of Poland
 the empire of the Ottoman Turks
 Newer and stronger powers are rising to
replace them in the wake of the 30 Years’
War
 Prussia - the military state of the Hohenzollerns
 Austria – the new seat of Hapsburg power
 Russia – absolutism and westernization of Peter
Big-Picture Trends in Eastern Europe
 More rural
 less productive human labor
 weaker middle classes
 Peasants were governed by their
landlords and were losing freedom
 Impact of the Commercial
Revolution: serfdom persists
Three Aging Empires:
 Each of the three (HRE, Polish, Ottoman) was
different in origins and traditions but with
basic similarities:




Central authority was weak
Powerful local lords
None had an efficient administration.
All were comprised of diverse ethnic/language
groups
 All were at the mercy of strong neighbors.
Three Aging Empires – HRE After 1648
 Impact of Protestant



Even WE
couldn’t bring
enough
culture to the
HRE!

Gottfried Leibnitz – inventor
of binary system and
calculus (independently of
Newton) and J.S. Bach
Reformation
Impact of Thirty Years’ War
Lacking large-scale organization,
could not carry on overseas
colonization or trade
Internal commerce stifled by
varying laws, tariffs, tolls and
coinage
Culture was at a low ebb, in spite
of Gottfried Leibniz and J. S.
Bach
Three Aging Empires - HRE
 Germany: 300
sovereign states
plus 200
sovereign “free
knights”
 Each state
anxious to
preserve
“German
liberties”
 France and
others happy to
oblige and
weaken the
potential threat of
a unified nation
 Electors required
each new
emperor to agree
to “capitulations”
Three Aging Empires - HRE
 Issues facing the Imperial Diet
 Protestants/Catholics split
 All talk no action
 Each minor state aspired to absolutism
 Ambitious states used the politics of marriage
to increase power and territory
 Hohenzollerns accumulated key territories
 Bavarians used the church to gain key cities
 Saxons eventually gained the thrones of England
(Hanover Dynasty) and Poland (Wettin Dynasty)
Three Aging Empires - Poland
 Poland - a
Republic
 Nobles’
liberties
 Large,
heterogeneo
us population
 Townspeople
largely
Germans
and Jews
 Jews had
lived apart
for religious
reasons
 Jews
eventually
forced into
ghettos
Poland was decentralized and lacked middle class and national language (except Church Latin)
Three Aging Empires - Poland
 Power of the aristocrats (8% of the people)
 Royal elections were centers of foreign intrigue, bribery
 People were too divided to accept any Polish king under





most conditions.
Diet was ineffective - (liberum veto)
The king lacked an army, law courts, officials and
income.
Nobles were highly cultured and cosmopolitan – and
independent!
“Poland was, in short, a power vacuum...and as centers
of higher pressure developed, notably around Berlin and
Moscow, the push against the Polish frontiers became
steadily stronger.”
Talk began of partitioning Poland.
Three Aging Empires - Ottoman
 The Ottoman Empire
was the largest and
most solid of the
territories
 The Ottomans
controlled many subject
peoples, but there was
no assimilation
 Law tied to Muslim
religion
 non-Muslims were left to
settle their own
problems by religious
groupings
A janissary with a merchant
Three Aging Empires - Ottoman
 Turkish rule: oppressive, arbitrary and
brutal
 Border provinces only loosely attached,
serving as battlegrounds
 Family of Elizabeth Bathory defends S.
Russia and Hungary from Turks
 Hapsburgs eventually absorbed the region
 In 1663, Turkey began to modernize
under the rule of exceptional viziers
(viz-EARS)
 The Turks again became a threat to
Austria (encouraged by Louis XIV!)
 Eventually defeated in 1699 by an
international force.
Austria Emerges: Recovery of Hapsburg Power, 1648-1740
GO
EAST!
 The Thirty Years’ War dashed Hapsburg
hope of twin supports in Spain and the Holy
Roman Empire--though the Austrians did
maintain an interest in the Germanies until
1870.
 Main divisions:
 Austria, the “hereditary provinces” of the
Hapsburgs
 the Kingdom of Bohemia, made up of Bohemia,
Moravia, and Silesia
 the Kingdom of Hungary, made up of Hungary,
Transylvania, and Croatia.
Leopold I: Holy
Roman Emperor
 HRE Leopold I (1658-1705) moves the
empire eastward
 Hapsburgs eliminated Protestantism in their
territories during the Thirty Years’ War, and
briefly conquered Hungary soon after from
the Turks
Austria Emerges: Recovery of Hapsburg Power, 1648-1740
 Turkish siege of
Vienna in 1683
 Austrian, German
and Polish troops
financed by Pope
Pius XI sent to
battle the Turks.
 Turks defeated
and driven back
Trieste (tree-EST), was developed as the Hapsburg window on
the Mediterranean
 Prince Eugene of
Savoy
 Added Hungary
to the Hapsburg
domains.
 Treaty of
Karlowitz (1699)
Development of the Austrian Monarchy
 Empire was international with strong German
influence
 It was based on cosmopolitan aristocrats
 Old Diets remained in place in Austria,
Hungary, and Bohemia but there was no
overall imperial Diet.
 National diets retained their “liberties,” and no
questions were asked in Vienna as long as the
diets…
 produced taxes and soldiers as needed
 accepted the wars and foreign policy of the ruling
Hapsburg house
Consolidation of Bohemia and Hungary
by the Austrian Monarchy
 Bohemian independence
crushed in 1620: turned into
a Catholic state
 1699 Protestant Hungary
was given the same
treatment
Francis II Rákóczi led the
Hungarians to rebel against
the Hapsburgs
 1703 rebellion crushed
 Hungarians: proud,
nationalistic, distinct and
pissed!
Development of the Austrian Monarchy
 Each constituent country had its own
law, diet, and political life
 To give a semblance of unity,
Hapsburg Emperor Charles VI in
1713 produced the Pragmatic
Sanction
HRE Charles VI
passes Pragmatic
Sanction to secure his
daughter’s succession
– and territories!
 Hapsburg territories were indivisible with
only one line of heirs.
 Charles’ only heir – daughter Maria
Theresa!
 To secure her succession, Charles got
all major foreign powers to sign a
guarantee as well.
 Frederick II of Prussia takes upper Silesia
from Maria Theresa in 1740 to spark
war…
Growth of Brandenburg Prussia
 Prussia was indeed an unpromising
site from which to rise to greatness
 Machiavellian-style leadership and a
strong military allowed the region to
prosper
 It was composed of two basic
territories:
 Brandenburg
 Prussia
Growth of Brandenburg Prussia
 Hohenzollerns of
Frederick William the Great Elector
(1620-88) was a military legend
Brandenburg inherited
Prussia.
 Expansion via Treaty of
Westphalia helped unify
disparate and divided
land
 Militaristic traditions key
to success
 Role of Frederick
William, the Great
Elector
Freddie’s the Great Elector’s Game Plan
 Use of small, efficient military to break
local forces that controlled taxation
 Levied taxes over diverse region to
support army
 General War Commissariat to collect
taxes.
 GWC then evolved to be bureaucracy
for administration of civil government
 officers from Junkers
 Junkers fill all high posts in government
bureaucracy
Note: Strong man-thigh
Brandenburg Prussia: Controlling The Junkers
 Junkers were the dominant class in Prussia
 To get power over these local nobles in each
region, Fred made a deal
 Fred gets power in their region and military service
from Junkers
 Junkers get exemption from taxes and their free
control over their peasants
 Legitimized serfdom
 Junkers’ code of duty, service, obedience, and
sacrifice molds Germany to this day.
 Middle class growth stifled
Freddie’s the Great Elector’s Game Plan
 Mercantilism and
monopolies for
manufacturers
 Taxes used to
construct roads/canals
 Skilled religious
refugees encouraged
 The main identifiable
features of this new
Prussia were:
• the disproportion between
the size of the army and
the resource base
• the use of this army as the
main all-Prussian
institution and basis of the
state
• the state-based economy
Brandenburg Prussia - Growth
 Frederick William the Great Elector leaves the
state to his son, who becomes Frederick I
(1701-1713), first King of Prussia
 Attains the title of King
 Imitates the court of Louis XIV
 Leaves throne to his son, Frederick William I
 Frederick William I (1713-1740)
 Use “balance of power” politics superbly under this
able ruler post-Louis XIV
 Der soldatenkönig
 Freddie Willie I produced the base that made his son
Frederick II “the Great.”
 Judged simply as a human accomplishment,
Prussia was a remarkable creation, a state
made on a shoestring, a triumph of work and
duty.
Emergence of Russia
 Between 1650 and
1750, Russia emerged
from the old Tsardom
of Muscovy
 Russia had long been
Christian, but had not
participated in the
development of
Western Europe many
reasons:
Map of Russia in 1648 - cut off from the
West by Sweden and the Ottoman Empire
 Greek Orthodox
Christianity
 The Mongol conquest
in 1240 - eastern
orientation
 Russian geography
Russia and Prussia: A Comparison
 A comparison of Russia and :
 Both lacked natural frontiers, consisting of a
wide plain
 State arose as a means to support the army
 had an autocratic government and landlord
class in service of the state
 imported skills from W.Europe for the army
and the state
 Neither developed a commercial class
(bourgeoisie) of any size.
Russia’s Diversity and Unique (backward?) Features
 Diverse population
 Great Russians of Muscovy
 assimilated Tartars of the Volga regions
 Cossacks of the area between the Volga and
Black Sea
 White Russians (Belorussians) were south and
west of Moscow
 Lesser Russians (Ukrainians) under Polish
rule.
 In 1650 Swedes controlled the Baltic Coast
and Turks the Black Sea
 Russians had little contact with Europeans
Russian
dress –
bizarre to
the
west…
 Most trade routes were north-south.
 The English had trading companies through
Archangel on the White Sea before 1600.
 Russian culture was essentially crude
 Religion played a major role but lacked
charitable or educational institutions (Orthodox
practices were considered bizarre by western
Euros)
Russia: Ivan IV: The Terrible (r. 1533-84)
 Was the first to call himself tsar
 Ivan had himself crowned Tsar





(CAESAR) – tried to expand
west
Blocked by Polish and Swedish
powers, he looked east instead –
“THIRD ROME” = Moscow
Crushed power of the Boyars, or
Russian nobility.
Established Zemsky Sobor
Cruel, sadistic, and most likely,
mentally ill.
Killed his own (similarly sadistic)
son and heir, Ivan Ivanovich
I MUST be
terrible. I
killed my
son by
hitting him
in the head
with my
sceptre!
See my child! See him!
I whacked him in the
head with my sceptre!
I’m….dead.
Thanks, dad!
Russia:
Time of Troubles and the Emergence of the Romanovs
 Ivan’s reign was followed by the brief reign
of his younger and mentally retarded son
Feodor (1584-1598), who died without an
heir.
 Following Feodor and end of Rurik dynasty,
10-year “Time of Troubles” occurred.
 Nobles (Boyars) asserted their power
 Bad harvests, famine
 Time of Troubles came to an end when
Top: Feodor “the
Bellringer”; Bottom:
Mikhail Romanov
Zemsky Sobor elected 16-year old Mikhail
Romanov (1613-1645) as new Tsar.
 Eventually, the Romanov Dynasty, one of
the noble families, was able to suppress the
Duma and develop an autocracy.
 Romanov dynasty lasted until revolution of
1917!
The Romanov Dynasty:
Political and Economic Structure
 Political structure
 Tsar on top - divinely ordained
 2 legislative houses
 Duma made up of Boyars
 Zemsky Sobor (established by Ivan IV and
made of landed Russians)
 Economic Structure
 upper class dominated – landed aristocracy
ruled
 peasants were turned into hereditary serfs,
able to be bought and sold
 Merchants were heavily restricted
 Economic revolts often occurred in 17th century
The Romanov Dynasty – Religious Structure
 The Russian Orthodox Church
became divided under Tsar Alexis (son
of Mikhail) and the Patriarch Nikon
 Nikon wanted Russian Orthodox to
return to its Greek roots
 Nikon also interfered in politics and was
regarded as an opportunist and even
the “Antichrist”
 Church was divided:
Defiant Boyarynya arrested by Tsarist
authorities in 1671. She holds two
fingers raised: a hint of the old (i.e.
"proper") way
 An established, upper class church –
used for political control
 Old Believers (“Raskolniki” or
dissenters)
 The peasants: for them “both church and
government seemed mere engines of
repression.”
 Religious revolts
Russia: Peter the Great (r. 1682-1725)
 After a time of anarchy
Damnski. I wish
he’s slow it
down. I’m old.
Many tried to keep up with Peter’s
great pace and huge strides…he was
always on the move!
and a return to
government largely
controlled by the boyars,
Peter the Great takes
throne
 Personal qualities
 Initially shared throne with
brother Ivan V until Ivan’s
death in 1696
 Sister Sophia regent until
1689
Peter Looks West…(1697-1699)
 Peter visited Archangel and




Young Peter
spent a year in Holland and
England
He was crude, practical, and “as
little troubled by appearances
as by moral scruples.”
He recruited 1000 foreign
experts for service in Russia many followed later.
Goal was to build a powerful
army and state--partly
defensive, partly expansionist
He believed Russia needed
“windows on the West,” warm
water ports and a new Westlooking capital city – St.
Petersburg.
Peter Rebuilds His Military
 Brought technology back
Peter’s Azov Fleet establishes
Russia as a Maritime
powerhouse and secures
access to the Black Sea
to Russia to beef up
military to create an elite
fighting machine.
 Created an army of
210,000 men
 Built navy from scratch
that made victory in Great
Northern War possible.
 Fought to attain territory
that would provide a warm
water port for trade with
the west.
Peter’s Wars
 Peter was able to recover Kiev and Smolensk from
Polish rule because of Poland’s anarchy.
 Russo-Turkish War (1686-1700)
 Discovered the inferiority of his army
 Azov
 Treaty of Constantinople
 Great Northern War vs. Sweden (1700-1721)
 Charles XII/Battle of Narva
 He then rebuilt his army with western advisers and
weaponry;
 Poltava
 Peace of Nystad in 1721 gave Livonia, Estonia and part of
Finland to Russia.
 Russia had won its Baltic coast, its window on the West.
 Peter now built his new capital city of St. Petersburg
 Moscow was left behind.
Peter’s Wars
Green region in the east shows what Peter the Great
won from Sweden in the Great Northern War.
St. Petersburg: The New Capital
 Like Louis, Peter rebuilt a new capital – his
“window to the west” at St. Petersburg
 Time and money
 Peasants exploited
Pete Takes Control of Government
 Taming the Streltsy and Boyars
 Pete embraced western culture – no
spitting on floor, long beards, long coats
or sleeves.
 Required schooling and good manners!
 Created Table of Ranks
 The streltsy rebelled while Pete was
away on military campaign.
 Peter quells rebellion
 Morbid response?
Pete Enforces “Beard Burning”
OMG! That long beard
is a fashion faux pas!
It’s gotta go!
WT*-ski! I smack
you in the headski,
little man!
AKA “Queer
Western Eye for the
Straight, Old
Russian Guy”
Pete Takes Control of Government
 Bureaucracy
 Swedish system
 colleges set up
 The Duma and national assembly
replaced by a “senate” controlled by the
tsar.
Pete takes Control of Church
 Before Pete’s interventions, there was
stress
 Patriarch Nikon
 Old Believers’ response
 Peter abolished the office of Patriarch and
created a Holy Synod (council) headed by
layman ruler called Procurator General
 Ended the rule of hereditary succession
Pete takes Control of Economy
 Encouraged iron production in the Urals
 Sent young Russians west to be educated
 Encouraged non-Russian artisans to live
in Russia
 Increased taxes, mainly on peasants,
 serfdom even more universal
 He encouraged mercantilist policies
An Assessment of Peter
The whole system of centralized absolutism, while in form
resembling that of the West...was in fact significantly different,
for it lacked legal regularity, was handicapped by the
insuperable ignorance of many officials, and was imposed on
a turbulent and largely unwilling population. The empire of the
Romanovs has been called a state without a people.
 Many opposed the speed of change
 Change probably would have come as Russia was
on the move before.
 BUT by Peter’s impatient forcing of a new culture, he
fastened autocracy, serfdom, and bureaucracy more firmly
upon his country....he was able to reach only the upper
classes...[They] became impatient of the stolid immovability
of the peasants around them, sense themselves as
strangers in their own country, or were troubled by a guilty
feeling that their position rested on the degradation and
enslavement of human beings.
Flourishing of European Culture: Art
 Mannerism (Italian origin, 1520s)
 Reflected this period of war and turmoil
 Broke with balance and harmony of
Renaissance
 In the manner of Michelangelo’s later style
 Twisted figures, anxious, emotional faces
 El Greco studies in Venice and moves to
Spain
 Baroque (Italian origin, 1570s)
El Greco’s Laocoon (ley-OKoh-on ); Rubens’ Rape of the
daughters of Leucippus
 Style of Catholic Counterreformation
 Mix of Renaissance classicism and intense
religious emotion and drama
 Gaudy, colorful, use of shadow/light
 Bernini, Rubens, Artemisia Gentileschi
Flourishing of European Culture: Art
Dude. This is the
worst handwriting
Morons.
I’ve ever seen.
Dude…is
that your
mom?
 French Classicism (1650)
 Rejects Baroque showiness
 Emphasis on balance,
simplicity, order
 Portrayal of noble, CLASSICAL
subjects
 Poussin (1594-1665)
Cougartown!
MILF
Shut UP!
Poussin; Rembrandt
 Dutch Realism
 Newly wealthy commercial
class commissioned portraits
and portrayals of everyday
secular life
 Judith Leyster (1609-1660)
 Rembrandt (1606-1669)
Flourishing of European Culture: Theater
 Both England and Spain achieved literary




greatness between 1580-1640
Literary works written in vernacular
England: The Elizabethan Era
 William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Wrote, directed, and acted
(Anonymous, 2011)
 Popularity of theatre
 Globe; exclusive Blackfriars
Spain’s Golden Century
 New theaters were established
 Lope de Vega; Cervantes’ Don
Quixote
French Drama (1630-1680)
 Theater used by Louis XIV to gain
notoriety
 Jean-Baptiste Racine’s Phedre
 Jean-Baptiste Moliere’s Tartuffe
Discussion Questions
 Was French absolutism truly absolute? Why or why





not?
What purposes did Versailles serve?
How did Western ideas influence the reign of Peter
the Great in Russia?
What gains did Parliament make at the expense of
the monarchy during the course of the seventeenth
century?
How did English political thinkers react to the English
revolutions?
How did the art and plays that emerged after the
Renaissance reflect the societies of their day?
Web Links









The Museum of Witchcraft
Chateau Versailles
The Thirty Years War Homepage
The State Hermitage Museum – St.
Petersburg, Russia
The Glorious Revolution of 1688
Thomas Hobbes
Renaissance and Baroque Architecture
Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet
National Drama: Spain to 1700