Dynastic competition. Geopolitics welfare between 1450 and 1650; 6!

Dynastic conglomerates

• in the second half of 15th c.

• several European policies monarchs succeeded to establish stable dynastic traditions => to pacify their kingdoms

• those princes raised more than their predecessors did

• employed more civil servants, succeeded to attract local nobilities to their courts

• mustered more troops for longer period of time

• this enable them to complete more intensively with each other and to participate in the exploration and colonisation of extra- European territorties

In France; e.g. for such monarchs

• Charles VII (1422-1461): concluded the Hundred Years War victoriously

• Louis XI (1461-1483): conquered Burgundy and Picardy for the French crown

• Louis XII (1498- 1515): annexed Brittany to France

• Francis I (1515- 1547): favoured the spread of Renaissance culture in France

England

• Henry VII (1485-1509): concluded the War of the Roses and established the Tudor dynasty

• Henry VIII (1509- 1548): broke away from the Catholic Church and founded the Anglican Church

Aragon and Castile

• Ferdinand (1479-1516) and Isabella )1474- 1504) => the catholic monarchs conquered Granada, the last Moorish kingdom on the Iberian peninsula

Burgundian Low Countries

• modern-days Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France

• gradually brought under the control of the Dukes of Burgundy

• rich and powerful → due to trade

• in the 15th c., The powerful Dukes of Burgundy - a noble family originally from eastern France- acquired many of these territories through inheritance, marriage, diplomacy and conquest. Large and powerful dynastic state that was more centralised than the feudal patchwork typical of the time

Philip the Good (1419- 1467) and the Burgundian Low Countries

• Duke of Burgundy

• from 1420 to 1440 → united many of the Low Countries (e.g. Flanders, Brabant, Holland, Zeeland, Namur, etc)

• Created Burgundian Netherlands - a personal union of states under his rule

• began efforts to centralise administration which was difficult in such a diverse region

Charles V (1506- 1555)

• Habsburg (not a Burgundian duke, but inherited their lands)

• Philip the Good’s great-grandson and inherited Spain, Austria and became Holy Roman Emperor in 1519

• between 1520- 1540 he continued efforts to centralise powers in the Low Countries- making them more unified politically and administratively

• 1530 - crowned Emperor by Pope Clement VII, making him THE HEAD OF A VAST HABSBURG EMPIRE

• his reign market the height of Habsburg power in Europe

main political developments in Europe (1450-1650) under 3 kings

• Charles V, Francis I (france) and Henry VIII

• Long reigns: princes rules for extended periods, enabling sustained reforms

• Territorial expansion and centralisation effort

• Composite monarchy:

  • one ruler over multiple regions

  • each territory kept its own laws, institutions, coinage etc

• Despite centralising moves, full integration was rare

• Charles V (Spain & Habsburg) Francis I (France) Henry VIII (England)

  • same generation

  • promoted political humanism: applying Renaissance ideas (reason, education, reform) to statecraft

Regional States

• Holy Roman Empire

  • despite fragmentation → some centralisation occurred

  • Habsburg rulers:

    • Friedrich III (1440-1493)

    • Maximilian I (1493- 1519)

      → extended their authority, expand imperial influence

• Italy

  • large comuni absorbed smaller ones → growth of regional powers

  • Many republics became monarchies

    • Este in Ferrara

    • Gonzaga on Mantua

    • Medici in Florence

    → exception!! → Genoa, Lucca, Venice stayed aristocratic republics

• !!Resistance against centralisation = > the continuous expansion of power provoked resistance movements in some regions

Resistance against centralisation

• The continuous expansion of state power provoked as well in several regions resistance movements:

  • Comuneros in Castile (1520- 1521)

  • The German Peasants War (1524-1526)

  • Pilgrimage of Grace in Northern- England (1536-1537)

  • Ghent Revolt (1538-1540)

• these rebels opposed higher taxed and reforms that they perceived as encroachments on their traditional for of society

Ottoman Threat (1450-1650)

• Ottoman expansion into the Balkans and Hungary

• 1529: Failed Siege of Vienna- first major push into Central Europe

• Mediterranean conflict → Constant battle with Christian powers:

  • Spanish Habsburgs, Venice, Papal States, Tuscany, Genoa

    → Ottoman allies: North African kingdoms under Sultan’s protection (Istanbul)

• 1571: Catholic victory at Battle of Lepanto, but mostly symbolic

• Ottomans kept the initiative in the eastern Mediterranean

  • Loss of Crete by Venice after a long war and siege (1645- 1669)

The Habsburg super power

• the superpower of 16th c. => the Habsburg princes

• Charles V (1500- 1558) => brought together an entire empire; including the Netherlands, the Iberial Kingdoms (with the exception of prtugal), large parts of Italy, the Holy Roman Empire and the colonies in Latam

• his younger brother Ferdinand I (1503- 1564) ruled the Holy Roman Empire de facto on the behalf of Charles, and since 1556 on his own behalf as emperor

Devision of the Habsburg Empire (1554- 1556)

• by the 1550s, Charles V felt his empire was too vast to govern effectively

• between 1554-1556, he abdicated in stages and divide his empire

  → Philip II (his son)

  • Spanish kingdoms

  • American colonies

  • Italian territories

  • The Netherlands

  → Ferdinand I (his brother)

  • German Empire (Holy Roman Empire)

  • Austrian hereditary lands

  • Central Europe: Hungary, Moravia, Bohemia

  => 2 HABSBURG BRANCHES:

  1) Spanish Habsburgs

  2) Austrian Habsburgs

  → the Habsburg empire remained family business

Opposition on the Habsburgs

Habsburg dominance sparked resistance across Europe

• German princes, imperial cities and England

the biggest rival the successive French Valois kings

• Francis I (1515- 1547)

• Henry II (1547-1559)

Habsburg- Valois Wars:

• fought for European supremacy

• fought in the borders area between France and the Low Countries and in Italy

Outcome: Peace of Cateau- Camvresis (1559)

Peace of Cateau- Camvresis (1559)

France acknowledged Habsburg supremacy.

direct control of the Habsburg Dynasty:

• Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, Milan

• the Tuscan grand dukes

• no pope elected without benediction of the Spanish Court

• The republic of Genoa = subordinated allies, not under direct control

• !! Only exception = Venice, only truly independent state 

Limits of Habsburg Power

• Peace of Augsburg (1555)

• Habsburg leadership in Europe was never absolute

• Their ability to enforce religious unity was clear until 1555

• Peace of Augsburg (1555)

  • introduced Cuius regio, eius religio = ‘Whose region, their religion’

  • Leaders of each German State could choose Catholicism or Lutheranism

• This compromise limited imperial authority but ensured stability in the Holy Roman Empire for decades

The Crisis of French monarchy after 1559

• After Henry II’s death (1559)

  → 4 sons survived, none had a male hair

  → led to a succession and religious tension

• Late 16th c.

  → series of civil wars (French Wars of Religion)

  → Conflict over:

  • religion (Catholics vs Protestants. Huguenots)

  • Royal succession

• Outcome

  → Henry IV (Bourbon), a former Protestant leader, became king, he promulgated:

  → 1598: Edict of Nantes → granted limited religious freedom to Protestants; helped restore peace and stability

State Formation and Military Revolution (16th c.)

• State apparatus expanded due to:

  → higher tax revenues

  → influx of silver from:

  • Bohemia and Tyrol

  • from 1545, massive silver from Bolivia

• Still not enough to fully fund monarchies.

• Continuous warfare drove expansion:

  → ‘War made the state, and the state made war’ - Charles Tilly

  → Spending focused on:

  • Larger standing armies and navies

  • Stronger fortifications

• Warfare changed:

  → more sieges, greater impact on cities

  → historians call this THE MILITARY REVOLUTION

• Even with power and resources, Habsburgs couldn’t bring lasting peace to Europe

How did monarchies grow beyond just military power?

• Growth beyond armies

• expansion of bureaucracy and government institutions

• New bodies: princely councils, courts, and administrative offices

• Philip II of Spain => the paper monarch

  • obsessed with documents, personally supervised paperwork

  • symbol of this control: Escorial Palace near Madrid

• Legal explosion:

  • 16th century: surge in laws, legislation, lawsuits

  • 17th century: decline in legal activity, likely because many disputes were already legally defined or codified

Shift in royal image

• medieval king => a judge, appointed by God to preserve divine order

• 16th century king => a legislator, actively intervening in society

• Royal authority became more visible, more felt by the population

Political Theories 1450-1650

• Niccolò Machiavelli, Il principe (The Prince); published in 1532: The prince must do everything he can to maintain his territory, even to expand it

• Jean Bodin, 1576: Sovereign is the monarch who does not take to acknowledge a superiror

• Justus Lipsius 1589: Development of neo- stoicism in response to the crisis, subjects owe obedience to the monarch

The advent of the princely favourite

• Monarchs lacked training and governance became too complex

  → many kings outsourced power to trusted advisors

• Emerge of royal favourites at most courts

  → held real political power on behalf of the monarch

• They held significant influence, potentially directing policy, awarding patronage, and shaping the court's atmosphere. 

• Favourites were often intimate companions, friends, or confidants of the monarch. 

Early modern monarchs

=> had been hardly trained to govern, complicated job = more money to spend, more papers to do, the ideal attitude to the early 16th c. prince => to hunt, to behave, being untouched by whatever happens in your surrounding, staying friendly but unmoved, NOW (first half of 17th c) monarchs had to do more → princely favoured

Confessionalisation

= stronger link between church and state

• Seen in both Protestant and Catholic countries

• Examples:

  → Anglican Church in England as a state church

  → Inquisition in Catholic regions (powerful institution of the Catholic Church that investigates and punish heresy- any belief or practice that went against the Church teachings.

• Result: Strengthening of state authority

• But early on:

  • Top- down imposition of religion often caused civil wars

  • Key examples: 1) France (Wars of Religion) and 2) The Netherlands (Dutch Revolt

How did rulers shape religion in their territories?

• Habsburg monarchs led re-Cathlicization campaigns in:

  • Hungary

  • Bohemia

  • aimed to reverse Protestant influence

• Protestant rulers also confessionalised:

  • Lutheran princes in northern Germany

  • Calvinists Elector of the Palatine

    e.g. Haidelberg = major Calvinist university

• each ruler used confessionalization to solidify political control and shape religious identity within their state

Strong religious differences

= increased the mutual tension between states

• these tensions would culminate in the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648)

Thirty Years War 1618-1648

• Root cause: Rising religious tensions and rival state ambitions in Europe

• Goal: Reward the religious and political map of Europe

• Seen as a European civil war and even called the ‘First World War’ Dick Harrison

  → as it also involved colonies and oceans

• Trigger event:

  →Prague Defenestration (23 May 1618)

  • Protestant nobles in Bohemia threw Catholic officials out a window

  • Market the start of a massive continental conflict

Thirty Years War- Key Adversaries and Early Events

• Catholic Side

  - > Austrian and Spanish Habsburgs

  → German Catholic princes (e.g. Bavaria, prince- bishops)

• Protestant Side

  → e.g. Frederick V of the Palatinate (the Winter King)

  → Branderburg, Saxony

  • supported by The Dutch Republic

  • from 1630: Sweden (King Gustav- Adolf)

  • From 1635: France (Rickelieu) though Catholic, joined against Habsburgs for political reason

• Key Early Event:

  • Nov 1619: Frederick V elected king of Bohemia by Protestants

  • Nov 1920: Defeated at the Battle of the Winter Mountain

    → fled to the Dutch Republic

    → ruled for one winter - called the winter king

Thirty Years’ War – Mid-Phase Developments (1620s–1630s)

Main battlefield:

• Holy Roman Empire

Other fronts:

• Alpine passes

• Mantuan succession crisis

• French conquest of Lorraine

• Conflict in the Netherlands

Catholic advance (1620s)

• led by Wallenstein, Habsburg general

• by 1628, Catholic troops reached the Baltic coast

Problem

• Radical Catholic demands (esp. for restoring all confiscated church lands) => blocked peace efforts

Protestant comeback:

• Swedish King Gustav- Adolf II joined in 1630

• won major victories

• but died in battle at Lützen (nov 1632)

How were the Thirty Years’ War and the Eighty Years’ War connected?

• Overlap in time:

  → the Eighty Years’ War (1568-1648) resumed in 1621 after a truce

  → The Thirty Years’ War began in 1618

• Same players:

  → Spanish Habsburgs fought in both wars

  → Dutch Republic supported Protestants in the Thirty Years War

• Shared geography:

  → battles in the Low Countries were part of the wider European conflict

• Same peace settlement:

  → Both wars ended in 1648 with Peace of Westphalia

  → The Peace of Mübster recognised the Dutch independence, ending the Eighty Years War

Key Treaties and their outcomes

→ Two simultaneous treaties

• Treaty of Münster (Spain ←> Dutch Republic) → officially recognised Dutch independence

• Treaty of Westphalia → formally ended the Thirty Years War

Effects on the Holly Roman empire:

• Member states (princes, duchies, etc) => became sovereign actors in Int law

  • each could pursue its own foreign policy independenty of the Emperor

• Austrian Habsburg gains:

  • acquired Bohemia and part of Hungary permanently

  • These regions became the final strongholds for the recatholicization under the Counter- Reformation

European power shift after 1648

• New Great Powers

  → Dutch Republic and Sweden emerged as major European powers (until early 18th c.)

  → France was also among the victors of the Thirty Years War

• Treaty of the Pyrenees

• Decliniing Power:

  → Spanish Habsburgs began to be seen as a fading power

Treaty of the Pyrenees

• signed between France and Spain

• Confirmed France’s status as a dominant power in Europe

How did the Eighty Years’ War become intertwined with the Thirty Years’ War?

• Twelve Years’ Truce ended in 1621 → war resumed the Spanish Habsburgs and the Dutch Republic

• The Eighty Years’ War became interwined with the Thirty Years’ War (same enemies, overlapping theaters)

• Early Spanish success: capture of Breda

• Followed by major Dutch victories:

  → Loss of ‘s-Hertogenbosch (1629)

  → Loss of Maastricht (1632)

• The modern borders between:

  → Belgium and Netherlands

  → Netherlands and Germany

  → reflect the front lines at the time of the Peace of Westphalia 1648

Effects of the Thirty Years War

• 1 out of every 10 inhabitants of the Holy Roman Empire had lost his life directly or indirectly → hunger crisis, failed harvests, plague, epidemics etc) as con

Crisis in the Spanish- Habsburg Empire (1630-1640s)

• Wider Mediterranean crisis: Political, economic, and demographic instability across the region

• Revolts across the Spanish- Habsburg Empire:

  • Sicily, Naples, Catalonia and Portugal all saw uprising

  • In 1632, nobleman in the Southern Low Countries attempted and failed a coup d’état

• Concequences:

  → The crisis nearly collapsed the empire

  → led to the dismissal of the Count- Duke of Olivares, the king’s chief of ministers

  → most significantly, Portugal regained independence in 1640

The Frondes and France’s Rise (1640s- 1659)

The Fondes (1647-1651)

• A civil war in France during Luis XIV’s minority

• Led by Frondeurs: high-ranking officials and aristocrats

• Protested high taxes and loss of privileges

• Made possible by weakened royal authority during the regency

Despite internal unrest, France continued war against the Spanish Habsburgs

Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659)

• ended war with Spain

• Marked the decline of Habsburg dominance

• Confirmed France as the leading European power (until 1715)

Civil wars in the British Isles (1639- 1660)

• Civil wars from 1638 onward led to:

  → Execution of Charles I (1649)

  → Victory of Parliamentary Puritans (1651)

• Irelaaand

  → Came firmly under English control

  → A protestant aristocracy was installed

• Monarchy restored in 1669:

  → Charles II, son of Charles I, returned

  → but royal power was limited by the Parliament

  → the Anglican Church could no longer enforce religious monopoly