Download Chapter 15

Chapter 15
State Building and the Search for
Order in the Seventeenth Century
Social Crises & War
Witchcraft Craze
– witchcraft was nothing new in European villages, but the medieval
church began connecting it to diabolical activities
might have been a village healer or a mysterious person living just
outside the community
– craze of 16th & 17th cent differed from previous witch-hunts because
of the # of trials & executions carried out
maleficium – malicious, supernatural harm
– more than 100,000 prosecuted; numbers on executions unreliable &
vary widely
– large cities affected first, trials spread into rural areas & hysteria
lasted well into 17th century
– social conditions led to problems:
Economics – old communal values vs. “look out for one’s self”
Religious – trials often took place in areas where Protestantism controlled
– Women targets because they were “naturally inferior” & easier to
corrupt
Thirty Years’ War (1618 – 1648)
Conflict between militant Catholicism & Calvinism played role
in outbreak of war
Often called “ the last of the religious wars” but by the end of
the fighting, it was clear that secular desires were more
important
– Most of the fighting took place in HRE, but it became a Europe-wide
struggle
– 1555 - Peace of Augsburg ended religious fighting between Catholics
& Lutherans but didn’t recognize Calvinists
– Calvinist prince, Fredrick IV formed the Protestant Union & Duke
Maximilian of Bavaria formed the Catholic League of German states
– 1609 – Germany divided into two armed camps in anticipation of
religious war
Historians break the war into 4 periods
– Bohemian Phase, Danish Phase, Swedish Phase, & Franco-Swedish
Phase
Bohemian Phase (1618-25)
– Bohemian protestant nobles named Catholic Archduke Ferdinand
their king & became unhappy w/ his rule
– Calvinist nobles revolted in 1618, deposed Ferdinand & named
Frederick V (head of Protestant Union) their ruler
– Ferdinand becomes H.R. Emperor & attacks protestants w/ aid of
Maximilian of Bavaria, defeating Frederick at Battle of White
Mountain in 1620
– Spain invades Frederick’s home state & drive him into exile by 1622
– Bohemia becomes hereditary land of Habsburgs, protestant nobles
stripped of holdings
The Danish Phase (1625-1629)
– Protestant King Christian IV of Denmark joined Protestant Union
cause & enters northern Germany
– 1626-27: Christian IV suffers successive defeats, ends Danish
supremacy in the Baltic
– 1629: Edict of Restitution – Ferdinand II prohibits Calvinist worship
& orders return of all property taken by Protestant princes or cities in
the last 25 years returned to the Catholic Church
Swedish Phase (1630-1635)
– King Gustavus Adolphus builds Sweden into a Baltic power
(1611-30)
– devout Lutheran, decided to aide German protestants
– Adolphus swept imperial forces out of northern Germany &
moved south
– 1632: Sweden won at Battle of Lutzen, but Adolphus was killed
– 1634: Imperial forces victorious at Nordlingen, ensured southern
Germany would remain Catholic
– Ferdinand made peace w/ Ger. Princes, repeals Edict of
Restitution
Franco-Swedish Phase (1635-1648)
– Religious ties lose importance as Catholic France supports
Sweden against Catholic Habsburgs in Germany & Spain
– 1643: French victory at Rocroi ends Spanish military greatness
– France continued to win victories in southern, Imperial-controlled
Germany
– 5 years of negotiations ended w/ the Peace of Westphalia
Peace of Westphalia (1648)
ensured that all German states were free to determine
their own religion
France gained parts of western Germany, part of Alsace,
& control of the cities of Mertz, Toul, & Verdun
Sweden, Bavaria, & Brandenburg gained some German
territory but Austrian Habsburgs lost little land
Habsburgs did see their authority as emperor decline to
the point of being a figurehead of the HRE, as each state
was now essentially independent
very clear that religion and politics were now separate as
the pope was totally ignored in all decisions at
Westphalia
Absolutism in Western Europe
absolutism – sovereign power rested in the hands of the king who
claimed to rule by divine right
divine right – kings received their power directly from God & were
responsible to no one except God
Absolutism in France
Best example of absolute monarchy in 17th century was Louis XIV in
France
Both Louis XIII (1610) & Louis XIV (1643) were boys when they took
the throne
– intentdants executed orders of the central govt.
– As duties of intendants grew, the strength of the crown grew as well
Louis XIII’s intendant, Cardinal Richelieu, increased the taille,
mortgaged the crown lands and threw France deep into debt to
finance a confrontation w/ Habsburgs in Thirty Yrs. War
Richelieu died in 1642, Louis XIII died 5 months later, Louis XIV
became king at the age of 4 & Cardinal Marazin became intendant
Reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715)
Cardinal Mazarin died in 1661 & Louis immediately expressed
determination to be a real king & sole ruler of France
his father had been a puppet & until 1661, it was assumed Louis XIV would
be the same
created a grand royal court at Versailles, served several purposes
– king’s personal home & center of political machinery
– opulence showed his wealth & power, attracted nobility to the king’s court
– kept powerful nobles in check because they were is Louis’ house not out in
countryside
kept nobility busy with elaborate rules & rituals in court
– specific seating order, seats, head wear, table manners, etc.
Wars of Louis XIV
made war throughout his reign to increase royal power & ensure
domination for the Bourbon line
1667: invaded Spanish Netherlands & gained a few small towns
1672-78 : invaded United Provinces, peace gave France Franche-Comte
1689-97: War of the League of Augsburg, led to famine & depression in France
1702-1713: War of Spanish Succession – Louis’ grandson inherits throne of Spain
War of Spanish Succession (1702-1713)
Louis’ grandson Philip inherits the throne of Spain from Charles II, a
coalition formed to stop the union of the thrones of Spain & France
– England, United Provinces, Austrian Habsburgs, & German States
war dragged on in Europe & North American colonies for 11 years
war ended by Peace of Utrecht (1713) & Peace of Rastatt (1714)
Peace of Utrecht
– assured Philip V would retain throne of Spain, Bourbon line ruled in to
20th cent.
– Thrones of Spain & France would remain separate
– Spanish Netherlands, Milan & Naples to Austria, Prussia gained territory
– England got Gibraltar, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, & Hudson Bay Terr.
Louis XIV died 2 years later, seemed regretful about his reign
– urged great-grandson Louis XV to make peace w/ neighbors, avoid
overspending (Louis XV was 5)
– Louis XV lost Canada to Great Britain in French & Indian War
– French Revolution took place during reign of Louis XVI
Absolutism in Central, Eastern & Northern Europe
German States
1415 – Hohenzollern family gains control of Brandenburg
– 1618: received duchy of Prussia
Frederick William the Great Elector (1640-88) built a strong military to
protect Brandenburg-Prussia to protect the small territory
by 1678, had professional army of 40,000 men & 50% of revenue went
to military
to gain power over the Estates General, made deal w/ nobles
– Frederick got complete control of the government
– Nobility got total control of peasants & were exempt from taxes
Frederick III aided HRE in War of Spanish Succ. & was granted the title
of King of Prussia, becoming King Frederick I
Emergence of Austria
by end of 30 Yrs War, the Habsburg’s German empire was lost, but a
new one was being forged
the biggest obstacle Austria faced was the re-emergence of Ottoman
power in the 17th cent.
Ottomans had laid siege to Vienna in 1683, the Austrians
counterattacked and by 1687 had pushed them back east
Treaty of Karlowitz (1699) – gave Austria control of Hungary,
Transylvania, Croatia & Slovenia
The Austrian Empire had become considerable size but was still never
highly centralized (powerful, but would lead to future problems)
– too many different national / ethnic groups
– only held together by central authority figure
– Habsburg emperor was archduke of Austria, king of Bohemia &
Hungary
– each area had its own laws, legislatures, political life & military
– only connected by bond of service to house of Habsburg
Russia: Emergence to Power
16th century – Ivan IV the Terrible first ruler to take title of tsar
(Caesar)
– expanded Russia eastward after finding the West blocked by
powerful Swedish & Polish states
– expanded the power of the tsar by crushing the power of the boyars
– Ivan’s death began the “Time of Troubles”
– ended when the Zemsky Sobor chose Michael Romanov (1613-45)
as the new tsar, began Romanov Dynasty (lasted until 1917)
Muscovite society very stratified, tsar claimed divine right rule
abundance of land and shortage of peasants made serfdom appealing
to land owners
merchant & peasant revolts and religious unrest in the Russian
Orthodox church created very unsettled conditions in 17th century
Influenced by the Eastern (Byzantine) Roman Empire, Russia was cut of
culturally from the West until well into the late 17th century
– Russia had always been seen as “backwards” by western Europe and it
wasn’t until the reign of Peter the Great that that concept changed
Peter the Great (1689-1725)
physically huge – 6’9” ~250 lbs.
course, rude behavior, low brow humor
traveled in the west 1697-98, returned
determined to westernize Russia
– policy mostly about technological adaptation
very intelligent: shipbuilder, navigator, & military
strategist
moved capital from Moscow to St. Petersburg
increased military power of Russia
– introduced the conscription & bayonet
– improved artillery & created a navy
introduced a central bureaucracy, brought the
Church & nobility under his control
– (this provided a model for communist rulers)
Supposedly died from pneumonia from saving a
drowning sailor while inspecting a ship in the
Baltic
Peter’s radical reforms caused a split in Russia:
people who followed the czar & those who clung
to the old ways
policies backfired - his forceful ways made many
Russians distrust western ideas not embrace
them
England & the Emergence of Constitutional Monarchy
James I (1603-1625)
King James VI of Scotland, crowned in 1603 when Elizabeth I died
became James I of England & founded the Stuart line
alienated parliament by claiming divine right (responsible to no one
except God)
– refused to work w/ Parliament like Tutors & Parliament refused his
requests for money
Religious policy also alienated some politicians
– Puritans wanted the episcopal system of church organization
eliminated (elected bishops played administrative role)
– James refused because the appointed bishops were a major source
of support for the crown
his son Charles I (1625-49) continued James’ conflicts w/ Puritans
1628: Parliament passed Petition of Right – prohibited taxation w/o
Parliament’s consent
– conflict w/ Parliament escalated, many pushed to further limit royal
power
– 1641: Charles attempted to have radicals arrested, the English Civil
War began
English Civil War & Oliver Cromwell
Parliament created the New Model Army
– composed of radical Puritans called Independents & led by Oliver
Cromwell
– King Charles I captured in 1646
– Army was disbanded & Charles restored as king w/ a Presbyterian
state church, Charles fled & sought help of the Scots
– 1648: a second civil war breaks out & Cromwell condemned the king
as a traitor to England, Charles I beheaded on Jan 30, 1649
The House of Lords declares England a republic
–
–
–
–
executive power belonged to the Lord Protector (Cromwell)
he, like the king, had problems working w/ Parliament
dissolved Parliament in 1655 & the army took control of England
resorted to military force to maintain rule (11 regions ruled by
military)
– Cromwell died in 1658, 18 months later the decision to reestablish
the monarchy with Charles II (eldest son of Charles I)
– Restored the Stuart line, but another constitutional crisis was soon to
come
Restoration of the Monarchy
Charles II (1660-85)
entered London to the acclaim of the
people
– Anglican church reinstated as state
church
– brother James openly Catholic
1672 – Charles issued Declaration
of Indulgence
Parliament passed Test Act of 1673
– only Anglicans could hold office &
military positions
Parliament tried to pass a bill that
would have barred James from
taking the throne
Created first political parties
– Whigs: wanted protestant king
– Tories: line of succession not to be
tampered with
James II (1685-88)
Immediately attempted to further
Catholic interests in England
revolt subdued by fact that James
was old & daughters were protestant
June 6, 1688 – James II 2nd wife
gives birth to a son
11 English nobles invite William of
Orange (married to James’ daughter
Mary) to invade England
James, his wife & son fled to France
Glorious Revolution – little
bloodshed, William & Mary took the
throne
accepted Bill of Rights in 1689
– greatly limited power of throne
– laid foundation for constitutional
monarchy
Responses to the Revolution
Thomas Hobbes (1588 – 1679)
– Leviathan (1651)
– people form a commonwealth
– ruler had absolute power
– people have no right to rebel
John Locke (1632 – 1704)
– Two Treatises of Government
– Inalienable Rights: Life, Liberty and Property
– People and sovereign form a government
– If government does not fulfill its duties, people
have the right to revolt
The Baroque Period
Mannerism reflected the uncertainty & yearning for
spiritual guidance that people felt during the Reformation
Mannerism was eventually replaced by the Baroque
movement, which began in Italy as a result of the
Counter Reformation
The Baroque style built on the High Renaissance
classical ideals & the spiritual movement of the Catholic
Reformation
Achievements were made in the areas of art, music,
philosophy & science
Regardless of medium, Baroque artists were united by
three things
– commitment to strong emotional statement
– psychological exploration
– invention of new techniques
Baroque Art
Caravaggio (1573 – 1610)
despite his denial, his style shows
influences from Michelangelo
explored darker aspects of life &
death in some of the most dramatic
pictures ever painted
lifestyle did little to recommend him
to aristocratic patrons
– Stabbed a man over a tennis
match (1606)
– Assaulted a police officer, thrown
in jail, escaped (1608)
– Stabbed in bar fight, later died of
complications (1610)
The spirit of rebellion that governed
his life can be seen in his art
did not accepting traditional,
idealized versions of earlier artists
(he surrounded his figures with
shadows to emphasize drama)
commonly used poverty stricken or
dirty figures in his paintings to make
them seem more realistic
Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598 – 1680)
son of a Florentine sculptor
Most famous sculptor of the period,
but also accomplished painter,
architect, playwright, and designer of
stage sets & fireworks displays
his David seems to have been
intended to invoke comparisons to
similar works of Donatello &
Michelangelo
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606 – 1669)
premier portrait painter of Dutch
realism
considered the master of the use of
chiaroscuro
enrolled at Leiden University at the
age of 14
soon left school to study art under a
local painter
became known as a fashionable
portrait painter in 1630’s