MU #4 Shifts in Political Power

Who were the urban gentry?

A group of self-made people who got rich through commercialization or trade

-had no political power/struggled with monarchy and noble groups

Where were the urban gentry based?

England and Netherlands

What was the English Civil War?

A struggle between the gentry and the king in 1642

-English monarch shared power w/ parliament (could be easily dismissed)

-most monarchs tried not to call parliament (Charles I war w/ Scotland called Parliament for new taxes)

-House of Commons resisted the call (wanted to make Parliament more permanent)

How did Charles I try to dismantle Parliament?

Tried to arrest most outspoken members

-Most arrested were Purtians, who interpreted arrests as an attack

Who led the civil war on the gentry side?

Oliver Cromwell

What did Cromwell do once he won the war?

-banned nobles from parliament

-abolished monarchy

-used military to create laws

What could Parliament do after the victory of the gentry?

Convene without king’s dismissal, required to approve all taxes and funding

What was the political structure like in the Netherlands?

-no monarchy

-merchants and bankers had political power

-republican oligarchy of wealthy few

What was the political structure like in France?

-Nobles of the Robe: group of French aristocrats who mad eup Second Estate in pre-revolutionary France + older nobility

-held judicial/administrative posts, had great non military power

-some contributed to the Enlightenment (Baron de Montesquieu)