Crisis and Absolutism

England, France, Spain, Russia, Prussia, Austria

Crisis? What crisis? Isn’t everything fine in Europe after the

Renaissance?• Religion, Religion,

Religion!!!

• Conflict between Protestants and Catholics result in wars for religious and political control of the different regions of Europe

Absolutism…Absolutely!

Absolute monarchs are also associated with the rise of professional standing armies, professional bureaucracies, the codification of state laws, and the rise of ideologies that justify the absolutist monarchy.

Absolutist monarchs typically were considered to have the divine right of kings as a cornerstone of the philosophy that justified their power.

England

• 1558 laid foundation for a world empire

• For political (not religious reasons…although used religion as a justification) Henry VIII established the Church of England

Henry VIII’s SIX wivesCatherine of Aragon Anne Boleyn Jane Seymour

Divorced after 20 yrs. Executed Died

(Child=Mary) (Child=Elizabeth) (Child=Edward)

Anne of Cleves Kathryn Howard Katherine Parr

Annuled Beheaded Outlived

Spain• Largest empire; Catholic; spread

to Central and South America

• King Philip II: controlled Spanish Netherlands (Flanders); foremost Western European power

• Married to Queen Mary of England

• Spanish Armada very powerful in early part of Era of Absolutism (because of the Age of Exploration)

• England defeated the Armada when Queen Elizabeth (his sister-in-law) was in power

Spanish ArmadaQueen Mary I

• Qqueen Mary I

“Bloody Mary” • 1555: Protestant Bonfires (burned at the stake)

• As Queen, Mary was very concerned about heresy and the English church. She had always rejected the break with Rome instituted by her father and the establishment of Protestantism by Edward VI.

England and the Elizabethan Age

• 1558-1603

• Defeated the Spanish Armada

• Shakespearean Era

Russia• Ivan IV (aka: Ivan the Terrible)

Czar (caesar)– Time of Troubles

• Michael Romanov came to power and the Romanov family ruled from 1613 lasted until 1917 (WWI)

• Peter the Great(1689) – Sought to “westernize”

Russia (“open a window to the West”)

• European technology• Police state• Built St. Petersburg

30 YEAR’S WAR1618-1648

The War started then and included ALL major European powers except England involved

End = Peace of Westphalia ended war in Germany

Initially the war was fought largely as a religious conflict between Protestants and Catholics in the Holy Roman Empire (modern-day Germany), although disputes over the internal politics and balance of power within the Empire played a significant part.

Gradually the war developed into a more general conflict involving most of the European powers.[

France

Louis XIV (14) takes “power” in 1643 at 4 years old• Cardinal Mazarin ran country until his death 1661• At 23, Louis took over• ABSOLUTE power and DIVINE RIGHT

Created Versailles Anti-Protestant Policy Spread mercantilism

Versailles(just outside of Paris, France)

Peace of Westphalia• Ended European Wars of Religion• Divided the more than 300 states of the Holy

Roman Empire into independent states• Gave the “states” the power to determine their

own religion• Gave the “states” the power to conduct their own

foreign policy• Brought an END to Holy Roman Empire

OFFICIALLY• Created NATION-STATES in Europe

End of the Thirty Year’s War…

England after Elizabeth• Queen Elizabeth died in

1603, the Tudor dynasty ends

• James I Divine Right King of England

• Charles I (1628-son of James)

– Parliament passed petition that king could not pass taxes without Parliament’s consent

English Civil War• 1642: Cavaliers (Royalists) V.

Parliament/Oliver Cromwell (Roundheads)

• Roundheads WON!

• Oliver Cromwell creates Rump Parliament and executes Charles I (1649)

• Civil War ENDS ABSOLUTE monarchy and House of Lords; creates a commonwealth

• AND THEN set up a military dictatorship (1658)

Glorious RevolutionCromwell dies, Charles II takes over (restoration of the Stuart kings)– Parliament kept power

James II takes over (Catholic)

Parliament asks Mary, daughter of James to join her husband (William of Orange) to invade England in exchange for the throne

NO BLOODSHED

1689 English Bill of Rights = Constitutional Monarchy

Toleration Act of 1689: Puritans (not Catholics) free to publicly worship

Prussia, Austria, and “Germany”

• Prussia, Austria, and the German city-states are somewhat powerful at the time

• Since the Hapsburgs lost “Germany” which was the Holy Roman Empire, the family took Austria, Czech Republic, and Hungary and when they defeated the Turks (Muslims) in 1683, they took Transylvania, Croatia, and Slovania

Hapsburgs in Eastern Europe

Must Knows…

• Religious tension• Absolutism (in Europe)• Henry VIII and Act of Supremacy• Thirty Year’s War• Peace of Westphalia• English Civil War, Cromwell and the

Glorious Revolution• France, Spain, Hapsburgs, Russia, Austria,

etc.• End of the HRE