Absolutism/Constitutionalism/Enlightenment/Scientific Revolution Quest Study Guide

By: Kareem Ibrahim

Factors Leading to Centralized Governments

Monarchs built bureaucracies, taxed efficiently, and used professional armies; colonial wealth increased power; divine right justified rule as God-given.

Divine Right

Belief that monarch’s authority comes from God and cannot be challenged.

French Absolutism under Louis XIV

Expanded bureaucracy, built Versailles to control nobles, revoked Edict of Nantes, fought costly wars.

Edict of Fontainebleau (1685)

Revoked Edict of Nantes; persecution drives Huguenots out, hurting France’s economy.

The Fronde (1648–1653)

Noble and peasant uprisings against royal power; convinced Louis XIV to control nobility tightly.

Prussian Absolutism

Strong military state; discipline, obedience, taxation to support army.

Frederick-William I of Prussia

“Soldier King”; created highly efficient military bureaucracy and cadet system.

Frederick II (the Great)

Enlightened monarch; expanded territory, supported religious tolerance, improved legal system.

Austrian Habsburg Dynasty

Rebuilt after Thirty Years’ War; diverse empire with centralized control through bureaucracy and Catholic identity.

Maria Theresa of Austria

Modernized taxes and administration; strengthened monarchy; limited power of nobles.

Russian Absolutism under Peter the Great

Westernized Russia, controlled Orthodox Church, modern army and navy, built St. Petersburg.

Development of English Constitutional Monarchy

Power limited by Parliament, rule of law, shared governance established over time.

Causes of English Civil War

Conflict between king and Parliament over taxes, religion, and authority.

Results of English Civil War

Charles I executed; monarchy abolished; short republican period under Cromwell.

Cromwellian Protectorate

Military dictatorship; strict Puritan rule; closed theaters and controlled press.

Policies of Charles II

Restored monarchy; encouraged culture; worked with Parliament but maintained royal influence.

Glorious Revolution (1688)

Bloodless overthrow of James II; William and Mary invited to rule.

English Bill of Rights

Guaranteed Parliament’s power, free elections, trial by jury, no cruel punishment.

Act of Settlement (1701)

Ensured Protestant succession; limited monarch’s power further.

Act of Union (1707)

Unified England and Scotland into Great Britain.

Treaty of Utrecht (1713)

Ended War of Spanish Succession; balanced power in Europe; Britain gained trade advantages.

Reign of Queen Elizabeth I

Strengthened Protestantism; balanced Parliament and crown; defeated Spanish Armada.

Origins of Scientific Revolution

Renaissance learning, printing, exploration, and challenge to church authority encouraged observation and questioning.

Empiricism

Knowledge comes from experience and observation instead of tradition.

Copernicus

Heliocentric model: Earth revolves around the sun.

Kepler

Laws of planetary motion; elliptical orbits.

Galileo

Improved telescope; proved heliocentrism; tried by church.

Hooke

Identified cells; work foundational in biology and microscopy.

Newton

Laws of gravity and motion; universe operates under natural laws.

Descartes

"Reason is the source of truth"; dualism; deductive method.

Francis Bacon

Scientific method; experimentation and observation.

Enlightenment

Movement using reason to understand government, rights, economics, and society.

Hobbes

People are naturally selfish; strong government needed; supported absolute rule.

Locke

People have natural rights: life, liberty, property; government protects rights; people can overthrow tyranny.

Rousseau

Social contract; government ruled by general will; society corrupts natural goodness.

Montesquieu

Separation of powers; checks and balances.

Voltaire

Freedom of speech and religion; criticized church and absolutism.

Beccaria

Reform criminal justice; no torture or cruel punishment.

Diderot

Created Encyclopedia; spread Enlightenment ideas.

Wollstonecraft

Argued for women’s education and equality.

Kant

Reason and morality combined; “dare to know”; freedom to think.

Natural Rights

Rights given at birth and not from government.

Constitutionalism

System where ruler’s power is limited by law and shared with representative bodies.

Enlightened Monarchs

Rulers who adopted some Enlightenment ideas: tolerance, legal reform, education, limited absolutism.