Download The Rise of Absolutism Instructions I want you to read the following

The Rise of Absolutism
Instructions
I want you to read the following sections on Absolutism.
Open a new Word document and summarize each section into a few
sentences. No two students summaries should look alike.
Find a picture of each of the monarchs discussed.
Answer the question “What is Absolutism?”
Spain under Philip II
The long reign of Charles V ended in 1556, when he gave up his
imperial throne and entered a monastery, dividing his lands. His
brother, Ferdinand, received Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary. His
son, Philip, received Naples, Sicily, Milan, the Netherlands, and
Spain. Philip also gained control of a huge overseas empire. The
division of Hapsburg lands was a blessing for Philip, because it freed
him of his father's "German problem" and allowed him to concentrate
on the Spanish realm. However, problems came from the Turkish
threat to the central Mediterranean and the expensive task of heading
the Catholic resistance to Protestantism.
Under Philip II (1556–1598), Spain was the strongest military power
in Europe and the principal defender of the Catholic Church. The
nation's reputation was based upon the disciplined Spanish infantry,
silver that arrived in unlimited quantities from America, and the
Spanish Inquisition, which had earlier dealt effectively with the Jews
and Moors and was now being used to suppress Spanish
Protestantism.
Figure 1.1. Philip II
Philip II was a slight, somber, and unemotional man, dedicated to his
many official responsibilities. He had been warned by his father,
Charles, not to become too intimate with those who followed his
orders and particularly not to trust or depend upon women. He never
allowed any of his mistresses to influence his judgment or policies.
He married, for political reasons, four wives: Maria of Portugal, Mary
of England, Elizabeth of France, and his niece, Anne of Austria. They
bore him children but were not allowed to eat at his table, except
during official banquets.
Throughout his forty-two-year reign, Philip tried with limited success
to be an absolute monarch. In the part of Spain known as Castile,
Philip exercised the power of absolutism, issuing royal edicts as law
and using the cortes, the traditional assembly of estates, as a means
of measuring public opinion rather than as a legislative body. But his
attempt at centralizing government in his own hands was without
much meaning elsewhere in his lands. As the distance from Madrid
increased, Philip exercised less influence. In the Netherlands and in
Italy, the noble families dominated the noble assemblies. They
jealously protected their privileges and often opposed the royal
viceroys sent by Philip. These nobles maintained their status and
power by relying upon tradition, and they counted on poor
communications. In a number of places like the eastern Spanish
kingdoms of Aragon and Catalonia, revenues were lower than the
costs of subjecting the areas to Philip's absolute will.
Spanish Decline
The Spanish social order and political system caused Philip economic
problems. His nobles were exempt from most taxes. They made up
about 2 percent of the population but owned 95 percent of the land.
The tax burden fell upon the middle class, but religious purges had
eliminated the Marranos (Jews who had converted to Christianity)
and Moriscos (Muslims who had converted to Christianity), who made
up a large portion of this class. The lowest class, the peasant
farmers, were so exploited that agricultural production, particularly
grains, was insufficient to feed the population, requiring the expensive
importation of food grains. The use of much of the tillable lands for
the nobles' sheep worsened the situation. State regulation of industry
and trade further limited revenues and forced primary reliance on
silver and gold from America, bringing ever-rising inflation. When his
income failed to meet expenses, Philip borrowed at rising interest
rates.
Near the end of the 1500s, Philip's continued struggles with England,
France, and the Netherlands bankrupted Spain's material, economic,
and manpower resources. Spain's strength was sacrificed to fulfill the
dynastic pride of Philip II. The decline continued under Philip III, who
was not as energetic, frugal, or serious as his predecessor, nor
strong enough to restrain graft and inefficiency.
The Netherlands Revolts
The Netherlands were made up of the modern states of Holland,
Belgium, and Luxembourg. Their location in the marshy lands
between France and the German states created strong and
independent commercial cities. More than nineteen towns had
populations over ten thousand. Antwerp was the principal center of
commerce and banking in northern Europe.
Philip's attempt to unify his lands under Catholicism prompted revolt
in the Protestant regions of the Netherlands. A combination of
economic strength and religious Protestantism in the Netherlands
gave them the stamina to resist Philip's attempts to suppress their
revolt.
Philip's first move was sound, appointing as regent Margaret of
Parma, his illegitimate half-sister. As a native of that region and an
able administrator, she was popular among the people of the
Figure 1.2. William of Orange
Netherlands. This was negated when Philip ordered her to use the
Inquisition to suppress the Protestant faithful. The principal nobles
from her council defected, and popular protests within the cities
increased. Philip refused to follow her advice for leniency and
compassion. Eventually, in 1567, she was replaced by the Duke of
Alva and ten thousand troops. A military dictatorship was imposed
upon the land. Heavy taxes and a brutal religious tribunal tried to
eliminate the supporters of rebellion.
Open resistance broke out in 1568, led by William of Orange. This
rebellion, like many rooted in religion, was ferocious. In 1579, the
Pacification of Ghent united the Catholics and Protestants of the
seventeen provinces in proclaiming their sovereignty from Philip's
control. However, the new commander, Alexander Farnese, gained
the allegiance of the ten southern provinces, which were mainly
Catholic, by returning the lands and privileges to the nobles of that
region. The remaining seven provinces of Holland proclaimed their
independence in 1581, and the savagery continued until a truce was
negotiated in 1609.
England under Elizabeth I
Philip's most formidable opponent was Elizabeth I, queen of England.
She came to her throne in a very different fashion than Philip, nearly
losing her head several times in religious unrest before she was
crowned. In 1588, when she came to the throne, England was
fragmented into religious and political factions. However, Elizabeth's
greatest worries during her reign were from outside forces.
Figure 1.3. Elizabeth I
The first threat came from Scotland, which was under the regency of
Mary of Guise for her daughter Mary Stuart, queen of Scotland and
France. A descendant of Henry VII of England, and backed by French
soldiers, Mary posed a real threat. As a Catholic, she could unite
English and Scottish Catholics. Catholic prospects weakened in
1559, when John Knox converted many Scottish nobles to Calvinism
and, with the help of the English navy, cut ties to Rome. With the
establishment of the state religion and the expulsion of the French
troops, Elizabeth and England were safe in the north for a time.
Elizabeth was able to draw the many factions of England into a
compromise on religion by forming the Anglican Church. The religious
structure offered basics that most people could accept. It eliminated
most sacraments opposed by Protestants but retained the Catholic
organization of bishops and archbishops. Catholic ritual was limited,
and sacred relics were rejected. Elizabeth was recognized as the
head of the church. Its formation prevented the violent strife that was
common on the continent and placed the monarch solidly in control of
the nation.
Spanish Threat
Spain's growing power under Philip began to threaten English
sovereignty. His earlier marriage to Elizabeth's half-sister, Mary
Tudor, had given him strong ties to English Catholics. On her
ascension to the throne, Elizabeth began a game of duplicity, as she
permitted Philip to think she would become Catholic and marry him.
The addition of England's navy would allow Philip to put down revolts
in the Netherlands. Fearing an invasion from the Netherlands,
though, Elizabeth sent aid to the Protestants of the Netherlands. This
situation and the several Catholic conspiracies that surrounded Mary
of Scotland, who had escaped to England after the Protestants drove
her out, persuaded Elizabeth to order Mary's execution.
Philip now resolved to gain England by conquest. The pope blessed
his great enterprise against England. His "Invincible Armada" sailed
from Spain to collect his invading army from the Netherlands.
Shallow-draft Dutch ships blocked the ports and prevented the
loading of the invasion army. Philip's ships were then outmaneuvered
by the English ships, and many were destroyed.
England and Spain continued to strike at one another in a strengthdraining conflict through the late 1500s. This conflict permitted the
French and the Dutch to develop stronger and more influential states.
Power Struggles in France
France was torn by internal dissent in the last half of the 1500s and
was forced to give up claims in Italy and the Netherlands. After peace
between the French and the Spanish in 1559, France lost much of its
prestige in foreign affairs and struggled internally with religious strife.
By the 1560s, Calvinism was the major focus of France's internal
strife. Calvinism appealed to the middle class of France, especially
women. It had been outlawed and its followers persecuted. Much of
the growing Calvinism among the French nobility had its basis in
politics. Francis II, the fifteen-year-old son of Henry II, took the throne
upon his father's death in 1559. The uncles of his wife, Mary Stuart,
took control of the government and promoted the Catholic cause.
They were opposed by the Bourbons, who were becoming
Protestant.
Francis died in 1560 and was replaced by his nine-year-old brother,
Charles IX. The actual power within France, however, was Marie de
Medici, the wife of Henry II. Like Elizabeth, Marie attempted religious
compromise between Catholics and Calvinists, but she was
unsuccessful. War broke out in 1561, with extreme violence on both
sides. The worst outrage occurred in 1572, when Marie joined in the
murder of nearly ten thousand Huguenots, or French Protestants, in
Paris alone. This Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre decisively
divided the country.
Figure 1.4. Marie de Medici views victims of the Saint Bartholomew's Day
Massacre.
There were three principal claimants for the French throne in the
1580s. The dynastic struggle among these claimants came to an end
in 1589, with the assassination of Henry III and his uncle, Henry of
Guise. The third claimant was Protestant Henry of Navarre, who
proclaimed himself king in 1589. Thus began the new Bourbon
dynasty in France and a new period of French history.
The Thirty Years' War and Its Aftermath
The Thirty Years' War was a complex period of European history. It
was a long and intermittent power struggle between France and the
Hapsburg rulers of the Holy Roman Empire. The war began with the
Bohemian Revolt in 1618 against the Hapsburgs. At the root of the
war was the conflict between the growing militant Calvinism and
aggressive Counter-Reformation Catholicism. It was also complicated
by an underlying constitutional conflict between the Holy Roman
Emperor and the German princes. With the defeat of the newly
elected King Frederick of Bohemia in 1620 by Hapsburg forces, the
conflict began to spread because of the intervention of other powers,
such as Sweden, Transylvania, Denmark, France, and Spain. The
conflict was characterized by brutal savagery between the forces and
against civilians. The Hapsburgs were supported by Spain, and as
Spain's power collapsed, the Hapsburg Holy Roman Emperor was
forced to open negotiations in 1643. These resulted in the end of the
German fighting with the Peace of Westphalia.
The Peace of Westphalia ended the fighting between France and the
Empire and the war between Spain and the Dutch. The peace
marked the success of the French Bourbons over the Hapsburgs. It
also established the concept that the interests of the sovereign were
more important than other considerations like dynastic or religious
issues. This idea was the foundation of absolutism.
With the end of the Thirty Years' War, eastern Europe went through a
period of readjustment. The state of Austria evolved from the
remaining Hapsburg lands of Austria and Bohemia. Austria's move to
establish a strong nation under a monarch occurred with Maria
Theresa. She established herself as Austria's monarch at a time
when women were not recognized as capable of strong leadership.
Figure 1.5. Frederick William "The Great Elector"
In the vacuum that resulted from the Treaty of Westphalia, the
Hohenzollerns were able to establish Prussia as a strong power in
Germany. By aggressive marriage, intrigue, religious factionalism,
and war, they were able to acquire lands throughout northern
Germany. Between 1640 and 1688, Frederick William, known as "the
Great Elector," used his well-trained army to add the neighboring
lands of eastern Pomerania. Like Maria Theresa, he reorganized the
administration of Brandenburg and suppressed the nobles of Prussia,
Cleves, and Pomerania.
The Great Elector was succeeded by Frederick I and then by
Frederick William I, a crusty soldier king. His motto was "order,
discipline, work, and loyalty." A true proponent of absolutism, he said,
"Salvation belongs to the Lord. Everything else is my business." He
established a civil service for local administration, created a royal
supreme court, taxed the nobles and required them to train for
professional military careers, and created an army of 80,000 men that
was considered the best trained and equipped in Europe. Under his
leadership, Prussia increased in population, and everything was
subjected to the aim of producing the most efficient military state in
Europe.
Russia under Peter I and Catherine II
The most eastern of the European states, Russia was an agricultural
region exploited by its nobles and monarchs. Its people were largely
uneducated and technically undeveloped. As a result, Russia was the
most backward European state. It remained a backward region until
the first two Romanov czars, Michael and Alexis, ended the civil wars
between nobles and monarchs that had plagued its history.
Modern Russian history began with the rise to power of Peter I, who
became known as Peter the Great. He was physical giant, 6 feet 8
inches tall and 230 pounds, with a sharp mind. After difficulty with the
Turks, Peter realized the need to modernize his military forces and
country. He traveled throughout Poland, Germany, Holland, and
England as a common carpenter, learning European building
techniques firsthand. Peter was successful; he gained coastal lands
against Sweden, where he built his capital of St. Petersburg, and in
the south on the Black Sea.
Peter's reforms made Russia the most centralized country in Europe.
All levels of councils, ministries, and governorships were appointed
by Peter. The Patriarch of the Orthodox Church was replaced by a
Holy Synod of bishops and dominated by a secular official appointed
by Peter. Taxes were imposed on nearly all areas of Russian society
including births, marriages, and caskets.
Figure 1.6. Peter the Great
Peter's policies continued after his death in 1725. The strongest
opposition was from the nobles and clergy, who feared the loss of
privileges due to the new ways. For the rest of the century, only three
weak czars ruled. Five czarinas provided more effective leadership,
and Catherine II proved to be the most outstanding of the group.
Catherine took Peter's lead in depending upon foreign experts to help
Russia modernize. However, during this time, more common people
were forced into serfdom with few rights. Catherine ruled as the last
truly absolute monarch.