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Chapter 16: The Age of Absolutism 15501800
Section 1: Extending Spanish Power
Philip II of Spain built Spain into a strong
centralized state
All power was in his hands, which inspired
other European Monarchs
Charles V and the Hapsburg Empire
Charles V was actually in charge of two
empires:
-Spain
-Hapsburg
This put him in almost constant warfare
 Charles’ greatest foe was the Ottoman Empire,
who challenged him in both Empires
 This proved too stressful, and Charles stepped
down and split his empire in two:

-Hapsburg lands went to his brother,
Ferdinand

-Spanish lands to his son, Philip
 Philip II and Divine Right
 Philip II had three goals:

-expand Spanish influence

-strengthen the Catholic Church

-make his own power absolute
 Philip reigned as an Absolute Monarch
 As a divine right monarch, Philip saw a need to
protect the Catholic Church
 He used his authority to stop the spread of
Protestantism
 The Wars of Philip II
 Advancing Spanish Catholic power was a
theme in many wars waged by Philip
 Strong Protestant beliefs sparked revolts in the
Netherlands
 In 1581 the Northern Netherlands split from
Spain and became the Dutch Netherlands
 The South remained under Spanish control
 Philip then planned to invade Protestant
England, which failed
 Spain’s Golden Age
 1550-1650 was Spain's golden century
 Phillip was a large supporter of the Arts and
Education
 Academies were founded to teach math and
science
 During this time, Spanish painters and writers
flourished
 Economic Decline
 Phillip II successors proved to be less powerful
than he was
 Spain's economy also took a big hit due to
costly wars and bad economic decisions
 Vocab pg 504, 3-5 pg 508
 Section 2: France Under Louis XIV
 From the 1560s to the 1590s, religious wars
between Huguenots (French Protestants) and
the Catholic majority tore France apart.
 To protect Protestants, Henry IV issued the
Edict of Nantes, which granted Huguenots
religious toleration
 Henry then set out to heal the shattered land.
 Under Henry, the government reached into
every aspect of French life.
 By building the royal bureaucracy and
reducing the power of the nobility, Henry laid
the foundations for royal absolutism.
Louis took the sun as the symbol of his absolute
power and was often quoted as saying, “I am
the state.”
During his 72-year reign, Louis did not once call a
meeting of the Estates General.
Louis expanded the bureaucracy and appointed
intendants:
- collected taxes
- recruited soldiers
- carried out Louis’s policies in the
provinces.
Louis created the strongest army in Europe,
which he used to enforce his policies at home
and abroad.
SUCCESSES
FAILURES
Louis greatly strengthened
royal power.
Louis engaged in costly
wars that had disastrous
results.
The French army became
the strongest in Europe.
France became the
wealthiest state in
Europe.
French culture, manners,
and customs became the
European standard.
The arts flourished in
France.
Rival rulers joined forces to
check French ambitions.
Louis persecuted the
Huguenots, causing
many to flee France.
Their departure was a
huge hit to the French
economy.
Vocab pg 510, 3-5 pg 514
 Section 3: Triumph of Parliament in England
 Inspired by French Absolutism, English Kings tried to
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assert absolute power
The Tudors and Parliament
The Tudor family ruled between the years 1485-1603
They were absolute, but also saw the need for good
relations with Parliament
The Early Stuarts
When the last Tudor died without an heir, the English
throne passed to the Stuart family
Unlike the Tudors, the Stuarts clashed with Parliament
James I was the first Stuart ruler, and he dissolved
Parliament so he could levy taxes on his own
 When Charles I inherited the throne, he needed
to summon Parliament to raise taxes
 They forced him to sign the Petition of Right:

-king needs Parliaments consent to raise
taxes

-king may not imprison anybody without
just cause
 Charles eventually dissolved Parliament and
ignored the petition
 Need for tax revenue eventually saw the need
for Charles to summon Parliament
 This time Parliament launched it’s own
Revolution
 Parliament accomplished several revolutionary
goals:

-tried and executed some of the Kings chief
ministers

-Parliament could not be dissolved without
it’s own consent

-abolition of church bishops
 When Charles fought back against these
demands it kicked off a long civil war in
England
 The English Civil War
 War between The King and Parliament lasted
from 1642-1649
 There were two opposing groups in this war:

-Cavaliers who were loyal to the king

-Roundheads who were loyal to Parliament
 The Roundheads were led by Oliver Cromwell
who turned his army into a well disciplined
fighting machine
 Cromwell led the Roundheads to several
important victories
 By 1647 they had captured the king
 Vocab pg 516, 3-6 pg 523
 Charles I was tried and convicted as a traitor
 He was beheaded, and his death signaled the
end of absolutism in England
 The Commonwealth
 The House of Commons abolished the
Monarchy and named Cromwell leader of the
republic
 Cromwell faced many challenges, especially
from Charles II, heir to the throne
 He also faced protest from the poorest English
citizens who demanded rights
 He was backed by the Puritans who were very
devout and strict
 When Cromwell died, Parliament invited
Charles II to return to the throne
 From Restoration to Glorious Revolution
 Charles II lifted all the harsh Puritan laws,
and restored the Church of England
 When Charles II died, James II came to
the throne
 James II was openly Catholic which upset
many English citizens
 Parliament invited James’s daughter Mary
and her husband William to rule England
 This caused James II to flee resulting in
the Glorious Revolution
 Vocab pg 525
Section 4: The Rise of Austria and Prussia
The Thirty Years War
CAUSES
Rival German princes held more power than
the emperor.
Religion divided the Protestant north and the
Catholic south and created a power struggle.
RESULTS
The Peace of Westphalia ended the war with a
general European peace.
The war led to severe depopulation.
France gained territory.
The Hapsburgs were forced to accept
independence of all of the princes of the Holy
Roman Empire.
Germany was divided into more than 360 states.
The Netherlands and present-day Switzerland
won independence
Two great empires, Austria and Prussia,
rose out of the ashes of the Thirty Years’
War.
AUSTRIA:
The Hapsburgs kept the title of Holy Roman
emperors and expanded their lands.
Hapsburg monarchs worked hard to unite the
empire, which included peoples from many
backgrounds and cultures.
Maria Theresa won popular support and
strengthened Hapsburg power by
reorganizing the bureaucracy and improving
tax collection
PRUSSIA:
The Hohenzollern family united their lands by
taking over the states between them.
Hohenzollern kings set up an efficient central
bureaucracy and reduced the independence of
nobles.
Frederick William I created one of the best
armies in Europe.
Frederick II used the army to strengthen
Prussia.
Keeping the Balance of Power
By 1750, the great powers of Europe included
Austria, Prussia, France, England, and Russia.
These powers formed various alliances to
maintain the balance of power.
Though nations sometimes switched partners,
two rivalries persisted.
 Prussia battled Austria for control of the
German states.
 Britain and France competed for overseas
empire.
 3-5 pg 529
 Section 5: Absolute Monarchy in Russia
 Peter the Great was committed to a policy of
westernization in Russia.
 To impose his will, Peter became the most autocratic of
Europe’s absolute monarchs. During his reign he:
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forced the boyars, or landowning nobles, to serve
the state.
imported western technology and culture.
insisted that the boyars shave their beards and
wear western-style clothing.
used autocratic methods to push through social
and economic reforms.
imposed policies which caused the spread of
serfdom.
brought all Russian institutions under his control.
Peter created the largest standing army in Europe and set
out to extend Russian borders to the west and south.
Peter unsuccessfully fought the Ottomans in an attempt to
gain a warm-water port for Russia.
Peter engaged in a long war with Sweden, and eventually
won land along the Baltic Sea.
Peter built a magnificent new capital city, St. Petersburg.
Peter signed a treaty with Qing China which recognized
Russia’s right to lands north of Manchuria.
Peter hired a navigator to explore what became known as
the Bering Strait between Siberia and Alaska
 Catherine the Great
 An efficient, energetic empress, who ruled in the
tradition of absolute monarchs, Catherine:
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reorganized the provincial government, codified
laws, and began state-sponsored education for boys and
girls.
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embraced and encouraged Western ideas and
culture.
gained a warm-water port on the Black Sea.
agreed to partition Poland and gained the eastern
portion.
granted special privileges to the boyars.
allowed the boyars to increase their control of the
peasants and repressed peasant rebellions.
 Vocab pg 530, 3-5 pg 535