AP Euro - Absolutism & Constitutionalism (Unit 3)

William III of Orange

(1650-1702) The stadtholder of Holland. He rallied the Dutch and eventually led the entire European coalition against France and answered the invitation of Protestant English aristocrats to assume the English thrown.

Dutch East India Company

(1602) Displaced Portuguese dominance in the spice trade of East Asia and for many years prevented English traders from establishing a major presence there.

Parliamentary Monarchy

The form of limited or constitutional monarchy set up in Britain after the Glorious Revolution of 1689 in which the monarch was subject to the law and ruled by the consent of parliament.

Political Absolutism

A model of political development embodied by France in the seventeenth century. The French monarchy was able to build a secure financial base that was not deeply dependent on the support of noble estates, diets, or assemblies, and so it achieved absolute rule.

James I

In 1603 he succeeded the English thrown without opposition or incident; he was a strong believer in the divine right of kings and expected to rule with a minimum of consultation.

Puritans

English Protestants who sought to "purify" the Church of England of any vestiges of Catholicism.

Charles I

(1625-1649) He was unable to gain adequate funds from Parliament and restored to extra-parliamentary measures.

Long Parliament

(1640-1660) Acted with widespread support and general unanimity when it convened.

Oliver Cromwell

(1599-1658) Led the parliamentary army against the king and dominated England as a Puritan republic.

Restoration

England returned to the status quo of 1642, with a hereditary monarch, a Parliament of Lords and Commons that met only when the king summoned it, and the Anglican Church.

Charles II

(1660-1685) Returned England to a monarchy; had secret Catholic sympathies and favored religious toleration.

Test Act

Required all civil and military officials of the crown to swear an oath against the doctrine of transubstantiation.

James II

(1685-1688) Not only sought to aid his fellow Roman Catholics but also to pursue absolutist policies similar to those of Louis XIV.

Glorious Revolution

The largely peaceful replacement of James II by William and Mary as English monarchs in 1688. It marked the beginning of constitutional monarchy in Britain.

Louis XIV

(1643-1715) The best example of an absolute monarch; also know as the Sun King.

Parlements

French regional courts dominated by hereditary nobility. The most important was the Parlement of Paris, which claimed the right to register royal decrees before they could become law.

Triple Alliance

The alliance of England, Sweden, and the United Provinces.

Jansenism

A seventeenth-century movement within the Catholic church that taught that human beings were so corrupted by original sin that they could do nothing good nor secure their own salvation without divine grace. It was opposed to the Jesuits.

War of Spanish Succession

(1701-1714) The war between France and Spain over who would be the next king of Spain. It ended in a truce; Louis' grandson became the king but Louis couldn't unite Spain and France again.

Holy Roman Empire

Ruled by the Hapsburg family; it was very diverse and the people who lived in it had so many different languages and customs that almost no grounds existed on which to unify them politically.

Charles VI

(1711-1740) He devoted most of his reign of seeking the approval of his family, the estates of his realms, and the major foreign powers for a document called the Pragmatic Sanction.

Frederick William I

(1713-1740) The most eccentric monarch to rule the Hohenzollern domains and one of the most effective.

Streltsy

Guards of the Moscow garrison.

Peter the Great

(1682-1725) Tamed the Streltsy and Boyars, developed a navy, and founded St. Petersburg in Russia.

Boyars

Russian nobility.

Table of Ranks

An official hierarchy established by Peter the Great in imperial Russia that equated a person's social position and privileges with his rank in the state bureaucracy or army.

Holy synod

A government department which consisted of several bishops headed by a layman; the most radical transformation of a traditional institution in Peter's reign.

The Dutch had a high urban consolidation, transformed agriculture, extensive trade and finance, and an overseas commercial empire.

What were the sources of Dutch prosperity and why did the Netherlands decline the in eighteenth century?

The Netherlands was a republic and tolerated different religious faiths; people lived together peacefully.

In what ways was Dutch political organization connected to Dutch prosperity?

They found different sources to finance the growing cost of warfare.

Why did England and France develop different systems of government and religious policies?

Changes in military organization, weapons, and tactics sharply increased the cost of warfare and the traditional sources could not finance the growing expenses.

Why are military expenditures at the root of these divergent histories?

Parliament wouldn't give the king money and they didn't want him to be commander of the armies.

Why did the king and Parliament quarrel in the 1640s? What were the most important issues behind the war between them, and who bears more responsibility for it?

The replacement of James II by William and Mary as English monarchy. It happened peacefully after Parliament wanted to get rid of James and his son for being Catholic.

What was the Glorious Revolution and why did it take place?

Religion led to wars with England and Scotland and a civil war in England.

What role did religion play in the seventeenth century English politics?

Yes because Parliament has lots of power over the king.

Do you think the victory of Parliament over the monarchy in England was inevitable?

Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin attempted to impose direct royal administration in France.

Why did France become an absolute monarchy?

Louis made all of the nobility live at Versailles and spend all of their money. He organized life at court around every aspect of his own daily routine. There were no limits on his authority.

How did Louis XIV consolidate his monarchy? How did he use ceremony and his royal court to strengthen his authority? What limits were there on his authority?

Louis launched a methodical campaign against the Huguenots in an effort to unify France religiously.

What was Louis's religious policy?

Louis maintained his army at full strength and restlessly probed beyond his borders.

What were the goals of his foreign policy?

Protestants across Europe considered Louis a fanatic who must be resisted at all costs; the strengthening army caused the League of Augsburg.

What features of French government might Europeans outside of France have feared?

In exchange for their obedience to the Hollenzollerns, the Junkers received the right to demand obedience from their serfs.

How were the Hohenzollerns able to forge their diverse landholdings into the state of Prussia?

Frederick William broke the loyal noble estates, organized a royal bureaucracy, and built a strong army. Frederick I built palaces, founded Halle University, patronized the arts, and lived luxuriously. Frederick William I built the best army in Europe. Frederick II crystallized the Austrian-Prussian rivalry.

Who were the major personalities involved in this process and what were their individual contributions?

The army made Prussia a valuable potential ally.

Why was the military so important to Prussia?

Charles VI died with only a female heir and enforced the Pragmatic Sanction t protect her.
Because the empire was so big it was hard to keep it unified. Various rulers established central councils to chart common policies for their domains.

What major problems did the Hapsburgs face and how did they see to resolve them?

The Hollenzollerns because they had control of their nobility and had the strongest army in Europe.

Which family, the Hohenzollerns or the Hapsburgs, was more successful and why?

Poland had an absence of a strong central authority.

How and why did Russia emerge as a great power but Poland did not?

At one point, the domestic and military ambitions intersected on the gulf of Finland where he founded St. Petersburg.

How were Peter the Great's domestic reforms related to his military ambitions?

He built government structures and compelled the boyars to construct town houses, employing architects from western Europe.

What were his methods?

Peter had to suppress the independence of the Russian Orthodox Church where some bishops and clergy had displayed sympathy for his son.

How did family conflict affect his later policies?

Yes, he was a successful ruler.
Peter imitated Louis XIV by constructing smaller versions of Versailles.

Was Peter a successful ruler? In what respects might one regard Peter as an imitator of Louis XIV?