Unit 4. Age of Absolutism

Stuart Dynasty

Monarchs of England, Scotland, & Ireland, 1603-1714. James I → Queen Anne.

Charles I of England

Belief in divine right, struggle with Parliament starts English Civil War. Captured and executed.

Personal Rule of Charles I (1629-1640)

Parliament suspended, Charles as an aristocratic monarch. Illegal taxation.

Puritans

Radical English protestants, saw Anglicanism as too close to Catholicism, wanted to further 'purify' the Church of England.

Petition of Right (1628)

Parliament orders Charles to return taxation to Parliament, end imprisonment without trial. Charles accepts it, but ignores it, and begins Personal Rule.

'Power of the purse'

The right of Parliament to legislate taxes.

Ship Money

Tax by Charles I to fund military, affected coastal cities.

Book of Common Prayer

Charles I attempts to extend Anglicanism to Scotland through this book.

Long Parliament (1640-1660)

Parliament during the English Civil War. Led to the execution of Charles I. Only dissolved by agreement of members.

Cavaliers

Royalist aristocrats, nobles, and clergymen who allied with Charles I.

Roundheads

Parliamentarians who supported Parliament. Cromwell as leader.

New Model Army

Parliamentary Puritan army during English Civil War, defeated Loyalists.

Oliver Cromwell

English general, executed Charles I, authoritarian Lord Protector of England.

Putney Debates (1647)

Generals (Cromwell) meets with New Model Army (wanted monarchy) and Levellers (expanded suffrage, equality under law), political future of England.

The Commonwealth

England without a Monarch. Cromwell rule → Charles II returns.

Lord Protector

Oliver Cromwell's title as dictator of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

The Levellers

Radical parliamentarians, 'leveling' hierarchies. Religious tolerance, expanded male suffrage, equality under law.

The Diggers

Radical Christian socialists, offshoot of Levellers. Agrarian communes.

James II (r. 1685-1688)

Catholic King, son of Charles II. Wanted to reestablish absolute monarchy and catholicism, ruled without Parliament.

'Glorious Revolution' of 1688

English Noblemen invite William of Orange to invade England. James II flees to France. Parliament has authority over King.

William and Mary (William III and Mary II)

King and Queen of England after Glorious Revolution. Protestant, signed Bill of Rights.

English Bill of Rights (1689)

Parliament limits authority of Monarch, guarantees powers to legislate, tax, fair trials, and right to petition.

Act of Toleration (1689)

Freedom to practice for non-Anglican Protestants (ex. Baptists, Presbyterians), excludes Catholics.

Triennial Act (1694)

Ensures the King convenes Parliament at least every 3 years.

Protestant Succession (1701)

After the Glorious Revolution, all English monarchs must be Protestant.

Act of Union (1707)

England and Scotland form Great Britain.

The Fronde

Aristocrats revolt at time of royal weakness (Louis XIV young, Habsburg mother and Italian prime minister is power, both foreign).

Louis XIV

Grandson of Henri VI, Sun King, French Golden Age, Absolutism. Devout French Catholic, built Versailles to centralize government.

'I am the state'

From Louis XIV, 'l'état, c'est moi!' Absolute power, Louis as the government.

Divine Right of Kings Theory

Monarchs are granted absolute authority from God.

Bourbon Dynasty

Royal Family originating in France. Henry VI, Louis XIII, Louis XIV (peak of Bourbon power).

Palace of Versailles

Built by Louis XIV, extreme wealth and glamor, centralized gov. Used by Louis to control nobles, economy, all parts of government.

Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685)

Louis XIV outlaws French Huguenots.

Ottoman Empire

Large Islamic empire, Southeastern Europe, Middle East, North Africa. Major enemy of European Christians.

Ottoman Siege of Vienna (1683)

Ottomans against weak HRE. Both sides (Christian vs. Muslim) believe God is on their side. Holy League alliance army defeats Ottomans in turning point of Ottoman power.

King John III Sobieski of Poland

Won victory against Ottomans in Vienna.

Habsburg 'Hereditary Lands'

Core original territories of Habsburg dynasty (around Austria), passed down by inheritance.

Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania

Ethnically diverse nation, extremely powerful nobles, weak elected king.

Szlachta

Polish nobles, held significant power over the king.

Sejm (Polish Diet)

Polish-Lithuanian parliament, elected king, extremely weak.

Liberum Veto

Practice in Sejm where a single member can 'explode' the diet by vetoing legislation.

Brandenburg-Prussia

Territory of HRE elector that became the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701.

Hohenzollern dynasty

Royal family of Prussia, eventually the German Empire.

Frederick William, the 'Great Elector' (r. 1640-1688)

Restored Hohenzollern territory after Thirty Years' War. Created a strong military and central bureaucracy, foundations of Prussia.

Junkers

Landed Prussian nobility, held political and military power.

Frederick II (the Great) (r. 1740-1786)

Won War of Austrian Succession and Thirty Years' War, responsible for turning Prussia into a great power.

Romanov Dynasty (1613-1917)

Ruling Russian family from Peter to the execution of Nicholas II. Modernization and westernization, turning Russia into a world power.

Peter the Great (r. 1689-1725)

Extensive military, government, and social reforms to westernize Russia. Northern War to build St. Petersburg and establish a Navy.

Great Northern War (1700-1721)

Peter the Great defeats Sweden, builds St. Petersburg on land.

St. Petersburg (1703)

New Russian capital, built by Peter the Great to Westernize Russia and have a European port city.

Russian serfdom

Peasants were bound to the land they worked, property of landowners. Forced labor, feudal slavery.

'Beard Tax'

Men must pay to keep their beards, Peter the Great's desire to westernize.

Table of Ranks

Peter the Great organizes Russian bureaucratic hierarchy, by merit and service.

France's 'Natural Frontiers'

Louis XIV sees the Rhine River and Alps as a 'natural' expansion of France's territory.

John-Baptiste Colbert

Minister of Finance under Louis XIV, a strong mercantilist.

Mercantilism

Economic system, if you are not winning, you are losing. Maximize exports, limit imports.

Grand Alliance

Limited Louis XIV's power. England, Dutch Republic, Austrian Habsburgs.

War of Spanish Succession (1702-1714)

Inbreeding, Spain without an heir. House of Bourbon (France) vs. Habsburgs (Austria, Britain, Dutch Republic). Ends with Treaty of Utrecht.

Treaty of Utrecht (1713)

Philip V as king of Spain, cannot unite with France (grandfather is Louis XIV). Britain gains territories. The Spanish empire loses territory.

Balance of Power

European nations ally to prohibit one nation from dominating the rest.

Sir Robert Walpole

First British Prime Minister, built Parliamentary power.

Seven Years’ War (1756-1763)

Global conflict between European powers. France, Austria, Russia vs. Prussia, Great Britain. Great Britain (Global superpower) and Prussia (European power) win.

Silesia

Austrian Habsburg territory, taken by Frederick the Great of Prussia.

Diplomatic Revolution (1756)

Major reversal in European alliances. France with Austria, Prussia with Britain. Leadup to Seven Years’ War.

Treaty of Paris (1763)

Ended Seven Years’ War between Britain, France, Spain. Power in North America shifted to Great Britain.

War of the Polish Succession (1733)

Augustus II’s death causes civil war, France/Spain vs. Austria/France. Augustus III takes the throne → solidifies Russian dominance.

Plantation Economies

Economy based on agricultural mass production (cash crop) through slave labor.

Sugar

Major influence of European trade and colonization, grown on large slave plantations.

East India Companies

British and Dutch to trade and colonize India and East Asia. Dutch dominates trade, and the British colonized India.

Enclosure Acts

British laws, common land → private property, peasant farmers → landowners. Early capitalism.

Potato

Introduced from America, fed the growing peasant population and supported imperialism.

Old Regime

Pre-Revolutionary French political and social structure.

Nobles of the Robe

French aristocrats, status by holding bureaucratic/judicial positions.

Nobles of the Sword

French aristocrats, status by military service and land.

Corvee

French system of unpaid feudal labor.

Pugachev’s Rebellion

Failed Russian peasant rebellion. Crushed by Catherine the Great.

Game Laws

English laws, only aristocrats could hunt freely. Strict punishments.

Agricultural Revolution

New farming techniques that allowed for increased food production, precursor to the Industrial Revolution.