AP Euro Chapter 15

Peace of Westphalia

(1648) Marked the end of the 30 years war. Finally recognized the independent authority of over three hundred German Princes, which reinstated the lack of authority held by the emperor of the HRE. This also reinforced the Augsburg Agreement (1555), and now recognized Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Calvinism as legal creeds. Northern Germany remained Protestant, and southern Germany remained Catholic.

Defenestration of Prague

n 1618, two imperial catholics and their secretary were thrown out of a window by unhappy protestant bohemians, acting against the Emperor Ferdinand II’s suppression of their rights.

Absolutism

 A style of government in which kings claimed to be the sole person allowed to make/enforce laws, and no other authority was allowed to check their power. This was allowed with the excuse of God. Kings would claim to have “found” the law that was given by God, and that they must obey this law. Louis XIV was seen as the most absolute monarch, yet this isn’t entirely true as his success relied on the conformation of nobles. 

Cardinal Richelieu

(1585-1642) The first minister of the French crown during the reign of Louis XIII (r. 1610-1643). His policies intended to strengthen royal control, and he also aimed to suppress Protestantism. He helped increase the power of the French intendants, which in turn increased the power of the central government of France.

Cardinal Mazarin

(1602-1661) Succeeded Richelieu for the next king, Louis XIV (four at the start of his reign). He aimed to continue Richelieu’s work, but he failed to increase revenue in the face of increased wars, bringing upon the Fronde from 1648-1653. He died in 1661, just after the period of instability ended as Louis XIV assumed full personal rule of France.

The Fronde

An uprising from 1648-1653, called for by the robe nobles of the magistrates of the Parlement of Paris. They were infuriated by the autocratic measures put in place by Cardinal Mazarin, and called for violent protests by common people. They also occurred during the instability of the ‘reign’ of Anne of Austria, where she acted as the regent because Louis XIV was too young.

Louis XIV (the Sun King)

 (r. 1643-1715) Assumed the role of the crown at four years after his father passed, where his mother acted as regent until he was old enough to assume full responsibility (1651). Known for being an incredibly absolutist king, Louis XIV believed that Kings were to answer to only God, who had given him the right to rule and govern. He didn’t have a minister, caused financial problems, and believed that the religious unity of the realm was necessary for the state. He didn’t share power anywhere, and personally involved himself in decisions across all divisions of the government.  He retracted the Edict of Nantes in 1685  in order to bring that religious unity, which called for the destruction of Huguenot churches, closing schools, and exiling Huguenots who refused to convert and renounce their faith. He ordered the building of the Palace of Versailles. Louis’ power throughout France was unstable, as he relied heavily on the cooperation of Nobles in order to gain any power.

Versailles

The court and government of France was moved to the palace at Versailles in 1682, which had recently been renovated from a hunting lodge, and quickly the place became a center for political, social, and cultural life. Louis XIV required all nobles to spend at least part of the  year at the palace, so as to oversee their activities, and the nobles had no choice in this. The palace, being home to Louis’ family, government officials, servants, and occasionally being open to the public, was crowded and cramped with thousands of people each day. Courtiers and nobles fought for the opportunity to do certain things, as it meant being closer to the king and therefore getting favored treatment.

Jean Baptiste Colbert

(1619-1683) Controller general of Louis XIV, proved to be a financial genius. Applied Mercantilist (regulation of economic activities by and for the state; international powers rely on wealth of the state) ideas throughout his career, insisting that France should produce everything French people need and increase exports at the same time, by supporting old industries and creating new ones. To increase purchases of French goods, he abolished domestic tariffs and instated international tariffs. He sent colonists to Quebec to make Canada part of the French Empire, and French explorers continued south down the Mississippi River to its mouth, now named Louisiana, after Louis XIV. While he improved the French economy, his death quickly stopped that with the pressure of warfare.

Salon

Parisian women would gather together in their mansions and engage in discussion of poetry, literature, theater, art, and worldly events. They wrote literature, and despite having refined conversational skills, were regarded as “precieuses” or precious, as well as affected and pretentious. These women were still an influential and important force, led by women.

War of the Spanish Succession/Peace (Treaty) of Utrecht

The war of Spanish Succession began in 1701 when Louis XIV accepted the will of Charles II, late king of Spain, despite there being a treaty that said the Spanish possessions shall be split between the king of France and emperor of the HRE, who were both brother-in-laws of Charles II. In 1701, the English, Dutch, Austrians, and Prussians formed the Grand Alliance against Louis XIV. The Peace of Utrecht ended the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1713) by allowing Louis XIV’s grandson to remain king of Spain while the crowns of France and Spain remained separate. France also surrendered Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Hudson Bay to England. This treaty showed the balance-of-power principle, setting limits on the expansion of France’s power and territorial expansion. After 35 years of war, France was left very financially unstable and on the brink of bankruptcy.

Balance of power

The principle that sets limits on how much power any one nation can hold. For example, sets limits on the expansion of land, the exertion of power, and the power of individual rulers. This was important because it helped keep many nations in check from dominating all of Europe, including France in this occurrence.

Serfdom

When a landowner, referred to as a lord, owns large patches of land for farming, and hires serfs to help maintain the land. These serfs are bound to the land, unable to leave, and are paid very little. The lords in Eastern Europe around 1500-1650 infiltrated the personal lives of serfs, requiring permission to marry, and having the ability to make them work unpaid for up to six days a week. Children of serfs were born into serfdom, so there was no way to escape except by running away, which also wouldn’t work as citizens outside of the land were required to turn serfs back to their lords. The justice system was, well, unjust, as the lords were typically also the local prosecutor, judge, and jailer, and there was nobody to regulate arrests or punishments.

Junkers

The land-owning classes of Prussia and Brandenburg. Frederick William convinced Junkers to pay taxes without consenting so he could fund an army. Their condition was that they wanted to reconfirm their privileges, including authority over serfs. The cooperation of the junkers led to Prussian cities being abolished from estates and thus allowing the estates to decline rapidly in power, due to Frederick William (the Great Elector) to have financial independence and superior force.

Hohenzollerns

 Ruled parts of eastern Germany in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries as the imperial electors of Brandenburg and the dukes of Prussia. Being the electors meant they could be one of seven electors to elect the Holy Roman emperor, despite the fact that emperors didn’t hold much power anyway.

Frederick William, the Great Elector

An elector of Brandenburg who insisted on biting his three provinces and enlarging his holdings. Frederick William successfully convinced Junkers to take on taxes for goods and services in order to fund an army, and this army crushed opposition to his power from Prussian towns. These towns were eliminated from the state one by one, causing the estates’ power to also decline rapidly. At this point, Frederick had immense financial independence and superior force, and by following his own advice, expanded his army vastly by tripling the state revenue during his reign.

Frederick William I, the “Soldier King”

(r. 1713-1740) Frederick William’s grandson who intended to complete the work of his grandfather and succeeded. He fully established Prussia as an absolutist and military state. Frederick lived his life as a highly professional soldier, and by orchestrating himself and the way he ruled this way, he was able to see good results. He had a very large, disciplined army, and all men of Prussia were ordered to undergo military training. This, combined with harsh peasant bondage and Junker tyranny, led to a highly militaristic state.

Ivan III, The Great

(r. 1462-1505) Was able to expand the principality of Moscow east towards the Baltic Sea and west towards the Ural Mountains and Siberian frontier. This made him strong enough to declare autonomy of Moscow and refuse payment of tribute to the Mongols. They established their new autonomous state by borrowing systems from the Mongols, such as census, tax systems, and postal routes. Moscow was also authorized by the Muscovite princes’ claims to the Byzantine Empire, solidified by the marriage of Ivan the Great and the daughter of the last Byzantine emperor.

Ivan IV, The Terrible

 (r. 1533-1584) The first to claim the title of Tsar in 1547. He rose to the throne at age three, and after his mother died five years later, he lived in neglect and disrespect of the boyars. Eight years later, when he was sixteen, Ivan crowned himself Tsar, pushing away all of his advisors. He began a campaign that would persecute all he suspected were against him, and persecuted many leading boyars along with their families, friends, and servants. He created a new service nobility he knew he could depend on, as their loyalty lied in the fact that they needed Ivan to have land and titles. He tied serfs more tightly to the land of their lord, and even ordered the urban dwellers to remain in their towns so that they could have more taxes. Ivan was successful in defeating the remnants of Mongol power and creating a foundation for the vast Russian Empire that now exists.

Boyars

The highest ranking members of Russian nobility. After the death of Ivan IV’s mother, they made him suffer by disrespecting him. They were pushed aside when he was sixteen and became Tsar, and after that, they were persecuted if suspected of opposing Ivan IV, along with their families, friends, servants, and peasants.

Tsar

A title first given to Ivan IV in 1547, was used to describe the supreme ruler of the Russian Empire. This is important because it began a very rough few hundred years in Russia, with a heavy caste system, harsh governments, and not very much wealth despite being a very vast state.

Cossacks

Groups of people who lived on the edge of Russian territorial borders. Typically consisting of runaway serfs and peasants, outlaw armies, and other people. They had formed an official alliance with the Russian state by the end of the 1500s. In 1598, the Cossacks attempted to rise against the nobles after the death of Ivan IV, but they failed.

Time of Troubles

(1598-1613) The fifteen year period after the death of Ivan IV in which the Cossacks came together and rebelled against the nobles. This brought the nobles together, crushing the Cossacks, and bringing Michael Romanov to the throne (Ivan IV’s grandnephew). This is important because the Romanov dynasty would remain in the throne for three hundred years until the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Peter the Great

 (r. 1682-1725) Continued the work of his predecessors by expanding the Russian territory, this time with goals of reaching the sea. In 1696 he built Russia’s first ever navy base in order to conquer Azov (an Ottoman fort) to begin reaching his goal. He then unofficially sailed through Europe, meeting with foreign kings and other specialists. Although he didn’t form an alliance against the Ottomans like he had hoped, he learned lessons from Dutch and English forces, and even brought many experts back to Russia to expand his navy and improve Russian infrastructure. Now, he formed a secret alliance with Denmark and Poland, and suddenly declared war on Sweden in order to gain access to the Baltic Sea. Despite them thinking it would be an easy victory, Charles XII of Sweden quickly overtook Denmark and then turned to Russia, beginning a long and brutal war that would last from 1700-1721 (The Great Northern War). After this defeat, he focused on increasing state power and strengthening his military. He required all nobles to serve either in the military or civil administration for life, as well as forcing every young nobleman to be educated for five years away from their homes. Peter also established a fourteen rank bureaucracy that allowed for commonfolk to rise up to positions of power, and this system gradually improved the power and efficiency of the government. Peter enforced similar, more harsh laws on peasants. 300,000 men were permanently drafted to the army, taxes increased by 300%, and serfs were reassigned to work in factories and mines to supply the military. In 1721, Russia finally won the war against Sweden, becoming a huge, dominant powerhouse of the Baltic and of Europe in general. Another large part of Peter’s reign was that he encouraged the modernization and westernization of Russia, which was largely disliked throughout the state. This, however, led it closer to the European mainstream.

Table of Ranks

Introduced in 1722, a formal list of the rankings of imperial Russia. Included the military, government, and court. Introduced by Peter the Great during a struggle with the existing nobility. The Table of Ranks was abolished in 1917 by the Bolsheviks. This table was important because

Sultan

The ruler of the Ottoman empire, who owned all of the empire’s agricultural land and was served by an army and bureaucracy that consisted of highly trained slaves. This meant there was practically no private property, and nobility was not gained by hereditary means.

Janissary corps

The core of the Sultan’s army, consisting of non-muslim slaves. After 1683, it became a volunteer force open to both Christians and Muslims, as it was such a prestigious role. These troops were efficient and organized, and they held a high advantage over western Europeans in times of war.

Millet system

An Ottoman system in which people would be divided into religious communities, with each community (also known as a millet) having autonomous self-government under their respective religious leaders. Orthodox Christians, Jews, Armenian Christians, and Muslims were all identified and respected millets, but the Ottoman Empire was an Islamic state. These millets allowed the religious leaders and ruling class to have a powerful bond. Each millet collected taxes for the state, maintained law courts, schools, houses of worship, hospitals, and also regulated group behavior.

Constitutionalism

Republicanism

Puritans

James I

William Laud

Charles I

Triennial Act

English Civil War

Oliver Cromwell

New Model Army

The Protectorate

Charles II

Test Act

James II

John Locke

Thomas Hobbes

Constitutional Monarchy

Diggers and Levellers

Gunpowder Plot

William and Mary

Glorious Revolution

Baroque

Johann Sebastian Bach

Peter Paul Rubens

Rembrandt