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Honors World History
Chapter 5 Notes
Spain’s Empire and European Absolutism
-Charles V of the Hapsburg Empire controlled most of Europe between 1520 and 1555:
Spain, Spain’s American Empire, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, and Germany
-After the Peace of Augsburg he divided his empire between his brother
Ferdinand who received Austria and the Holy Roman Empire and his son Philip
II, who inherited Spain, the Spanish Netherlands, and the American Colonies
-When the King of Portugal died in 1580, Philip II claimed the throne and took over the
Portuguese Empire: Africa, India, and the East Indies
-Spain stock piled incredible wealth from the Gold and Silver mines of South
America and Africa
-Philip II felt an obligation to defend his Catholic religion against the Ottomans and
Protestants
-Defeated a large Ottoman fleet at Lepanto, but then lost to the British in 1588
-El Greco was a native born Greek who spent a great deal of time painting in Spain
-Painted deeply religious figures of martyrs and saints using rich colors and
distorted figures
-Velazquez painted the royal family during the time period
-Cervantes wrote Don Quixote, a book about a Spanish nobleman who becomes crazy
after reading too many books about knights
-Became the birth of the modern European novel
-The large amounts of gold and silver caused for rapid inflation in Spain
-Nobles did not have to pay taxes leaving the burden to the lower classes
-The Spanish relied heavily on foreign trade due to the guild system still in place
-The Seven Northern Provinces of the Netherlands defeated an army of Spanish soldiers
by flooding the lowlands, became the Protestant Netherlands led by William of Orange
-The remaining ten Southern Provinces became Catholic Belgium remaining
under Spanish control
-The Dutch who had the largest merchant fleet in 1636, +4,800 ships, became the leaders
of trade in Europe
-Traded grain from Poland, timber from Scandinavia, and gradually Amsterdam
and the Netherlands became the center of banking in Europe
-Rembrandt became a leading Dutch artist using contrast to show distinctive facial
characteristics
-Many European rulers ruled by absolutism believing they were granted their power by
divine right
-The middle class usually supported the monarchs due to the stability they provided
during tumultuous times
-Rulers looked to free themselves from the nobility that once had an influence on
their power
France’s Ultimate Monarch
-Between 1562 and 1598, France fought a series of internal religious wars between
Huguenots and Catholics
-Resulted in an unstable government and a weakened nation
-Henry IV became the first king in the Bourbon dynasty of France
-Proved to be a strong leader, ended religious fighting, and strengthened the
economy
-Converted to Catholicism, but allowed Protestants to worship freely
-Stabbed to death by a fanatic
-Henry’s son Louis XIII became the new king, however he was a weak leader
-Cardinal Richelieu ceased the opportunity to have a wide influence on the king
and became, in effect, the ruler of France
-The Cardinal removed walls from noble’s castles and Protestant cities
-Also, looked to weaken the Hapsburg Empire by involving France in a 30
year war against them
-Descartes was part of a group of thinkers known as the skeptics, who placed doubt in the
forefront of philosophical thinking
-Became a leader in Enlightenment thinking and scientific method
-Louis XIV became the leader of France at an early age
-The Thirty Years War had ended and France was the leading power in Europe
-Because of his young age Cardinal Mazarin served as the temporary ruler of France until
Louis came of age
-He put in place high taxes and threatened nobles; violence erupted over these
policies and Louis would never forget the threat he felt
-When Louis finally took control at age 23, he strengthened the power of the central
government and look to further weaken the power of the nobles
-Louis with the assistance of Jean Baptiste Colbert looked to strengthen the French nation
into a mercantilist power
-Protected French factories and expanded colonies to make them a source of raw
materials and a market for French goods
-In 1685, after Colbert’s death, Louis cancelled the Edict of Nantes that allowed
Huguenots to worship in France: many skilled artisans and business people left
-Louis lived life to the fullest spending incredible amounts of money on food, clothing,
and on the Palace of Versailles, where the arts flourished
-France had a dominant army under Louis, but failed to achieve in far reaching conquest
as the European nations united under the League of Augsburg to battle against Louis
-England, Austria, and the Dutch joined together to wage war on France and Spain when,
Spain’s king Charles II died without an heir
-Louis grandson became king putting two Bourbon kings in charge of the two
most powerful nations in Europe
-The War of Spanish Succession lasted 12 years and ended with the Treaty of Utrecht
-Britain gained Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and the Hudson Bay
Central European Monarchs Clash
-The Thirty Years’ War broke out after the Treaty of Augsburg failed to end the tension
between Catholics and Lutherans
-When the future Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II, closed some Protestant
churches in Bohemia the Protestant Union began to revolt, sparking the war
-With the aid of Cardinal Richelieu and Mazarin, the Protestants were able to hold their
own against the powerful Hapsburg Empire
-The cardinals feared the power of the Hapsburgs
-Germany was devastated losing 4 million people and valuable land holdings
-The Peace of Westphalia saw Spain and Austria weakened, Germany give land to
France, German princes independent of the Holy Roman Emperor, and introduced the
method of negotiations to the peace table
-Each empire now saw itself as an independent state acting for themselves and not for the
church
-Austria and the Hapsburgs regained strength after the Thirty Years’ War
-They reconquered Bohemia and Hungary; and Charles VI solidified his power
for his daughter Maria Theresa by getting leaders of Europe to recognize her right
to rule the empire when he died
-In 1640, Frederick William inherited the land holdings of Prussia and Brandenburg
-Built a standing army of 80,000 men paid for with tax payer money
-King Frederick William I placed the Junkers or nobility as officers in the army
-Had his son’s friend beheaded in fear that his son was too weak to rule an empire
-Frederick II would prove to be a capable leader, known as Frederick the Great
-Maria Theresa tried to defend Austria when Frederick II looked to conquer it
-The French allied with Prussia, while the British allied with Hungary and the
Hapsburgs: Known as the Austrian Succession
-After the Austrian Succession, Maria Theresa now signed an alliance with the French
-Frederick II immediately looked to ally with the British
-Austria, France, Russian, and others were now involved in a war against the
British and Prussia
-Known as the Seven Years War in Europe and the French and Indian War
in the Americas
-Had real no territorial effect in Europe
Russian Czars Increase Power
-Ivan III of Moscow who ruled from 1462-1505 conquered much of the territory around
Moscow, liberated Russia from the Mongols, and centralized the Russian government
-His son would continue to expand the Russian state and increase the power of the
central government
-Ivan IV, Ivan III grandson came to the throne in 1533 and eventually became known as
Ivan the Terrible
-Ivan was under constant threat from the Boyars or landowners
-At the age of 16 he proclaimed himself Czar and married Anastasia a daughter of
an old Boyar family the Romanovs
-After Anastasia died mysteriously, Ivan began to hunt down the Boyars using a secret
police force dressed in black and riding black horses; seized land and gave it to a loyal
group of nobles
-In 1581, Ivan killed his oldest son in a fit of rage and left the throne to his weaker
second son when he died, three years later
-Son proved incapable and died shortly after taking the throne
-In 1613, representatives from the cities chose a new Czar from the Romanov family
-In 1696, Peter the Great assumed ultimate control over Russia
-Russia remained isolated due to religious differences, geographic reasons, and due to
Mongol occupation
-Never experienced the Renaissance and were Eastern Orthodox
-At 24 years of age Peter went on the “Grand Embassy,” touring western Europe and
working and acting as a commoner
-He learned of the modernization that Western Europe had experienced and
brought these ideas back to Russia
-Peter brought the church under state control, gave huge land holdings to men from
lower-ranking families, and created an army of 200,000 men that drilled under the finest
European military trainers
-Peter paid for all of this with heavy taxes
-In 1703, Peter built the city of St. Petersburg on a swampy marshland that had access to
the Baltic Sea and western Europe
-When the city was complete he force nobles to move there and made it the new
capital of Russia
Parliament Limits the English Monarchy
-By the time Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, England faced a huge debt
-Parliament had power of the purse which kept English monarchies from
becoming absolute
-James Stuart the King of Scotland became King James I King of England and Scotland
-The two would not become united until 1707
-James believed he ruled by divine right and refused to negotiate with Parliament on any
matter
-Being a Calvinist he offended many of the Puritans that were in Parliament
-James did agree to make a new translation of the Bible
-In 1625, Charles I became King after James I died
-Charles was involved in fighting wars against both Spain and France
-He dissolved Parliament several times after they refused to give him money
-Finally, he was forced to sign the Petition of Right
1. The king would not imprison any subjects without due cause
2. The king would not levy any taxes without Parliament’s consent
3. He would not house soldiers in private homes
4. He would not impose martial law in peacetime
-After signing the Petition in 1628, in 1629 Charles dissolved Parliament once again
-Began to lose popularity with the English people
-In 1637, Charles began to impose Anglican prayer books on his Scottish subjects
-Faced with the threat of revolt, he needed money from Parliament
-When Parliament assembled they began to pass laws limiting the power of the
King
-He then tried to arrest the leaders of Parliament, but they escaped
-With commoners rioting in London he sought safety in Northern England
where he had more support
-From 1642-1649 the English Civil War was fought between Charles and
the Cavaliers ‘v’ Oliver Cromwell and the Roundheads
-Cromwell and the Puritans were victorious and had Charles executed after a
public trial
-Cromwell promoted Puritan values and crushed a revolt in Ireland, killing
616,000 Irish
-The Restoration began with the rule of Charles son, Charles II
-Parliament asked for him to become the new monarch of England after
Cromwell’s death
-James II a Catholic assumed the throne, when Charles II dies with no heir
-Parliament invited William of Orange who was married to James II
Protestant daughter to invade England and become the new monarch
-As a result William agreed to a constitutional monarchy, where the monarchy’s
power is limited by law
-A cabinet system was devised to serve as a voice for the monarchy in Parliament
-Prime Minister is the head of the Cabinet and majority party