Chapter 15 - Absolutism and Constitutionalism

absolute rule

believe in divine right monarchy, God ordains government so the king rules as God would. One ruler has sovereignty, or supreme power over a state and claims divine right. Creation of standing armies, glorification of the state, and expansionism.

Louis XIII

Limited the power of Huguenots and took away their political and military rights but kept their religious ones. State finances were corrupt and the Taille (tax) increased. Debt increased but no one tried to fix it.

Cardinal Richelieu

Louis XIII minister, broke the power of nobility by using spies to uncover noble plots and introduced the intendant system, where France was divided into districts and intendants, or royal officials were in charge of each.

Louis XIV (the Sun King)

Cardinal Marazin was originally in charge and kept Richelieu's policies. After the Fronde happened and Mazarin died, Louis XIV took over at 23. He creates a grand, majestic, fancy court at Versailles which set a precedent for monarchies everywhere. The Palace became the king's house and location of all government workings. He distracted the nobility with court life and was able to do most of the things himself. He issued the Edict of Fontainebleau which revokes he Edict of Nantes and many Huguenots left France because of it. The more his finance minister, Jean Baptiste Colbert made through Mercantilism and tariffs, the more Louis spent which put them in debt.

Fronde

The nobles didn't like the tax and revolted, the first Fronde was led by the nobles and ended in compromise. The second Fronde was led by the nobles of the sword who were interested in overthrowing Mazarin but they ended up fighting each other instead. The French realized their best hope for stability was in the crown.

Wars of Louis XIV

absolutists were expansionists, and so Louis built up his army and led 4 major wars, which brought famine and depression and very little territorial change.

strategies used by absolutists to consolidate power (examples from France, Prussia, Russia)

France: court life was in Versailles and nobles were distracted by it so Louis XIV had those loyal to him run the country

Prussia: agreement with the Junkers to let him rule by himself while they had high offices, no taxes, and control over serfs and peasants

Russia: Strict class hierarchy and reorganized the government like the West.

how successful various absolutist rulers were consolidating power (examples from France, Prussia, Russia, Poland, Austria)

France: Louis XIV was very successful

Prussia: Frederick William the Great Elector and Frederick the Ostetnatious were both very successful since they had their agreement with the Junkers

Russia: Peter the Great was successful but oppressive

Poland: not successful at all, aristocrats had too much power

Austria: not very successful since it was full of different nationalities

War of Spanish Succession

After Charles II of Spain dies with no heir, the throne went to Philip, the grandson of Louis XIV. No one wanted France to have rule over Spain and themselves, and so England, the Netherlands, and Austria fought France and Spain. The War ended after the Peace of Utrecht, with Philip V (the grandson) on the throne but the French and Spanish thrones must be kept separate.

Decline of Spain

spain seemed like a great power since they had a huge population and controlled most of South America and some parts of Asia and Africa, but in reality their treasury was empty. Philip II went bankrupt and his son did the same after he spent so much money on his court. There army was also outdated, their government was inefficient, and their merchant class was weak. Their involvement in the Thirty Years War also hurt them financially and caused internal revolts.

Prussia

led by Frederick William the Great Elector, who built an efficient standing army. the state became bureaucratic, with the administrative system governing a large institution. he had an important relationship with the landed aristocracy, or the Junkers. he would run the government with no trouble from them, they wouldnt question his authority and instead they would get top military offices, control over their peasants and were exempt from taxation. Then, Frederick III the Ostentatious aided the HRE in the War of the Spanish Succession. He was given title of King of Prussia.

Hohenzollerns

the dynasty that ruled Prussia, including Frederick William the Great Elector and Frederick the Ostentatious.

Frederick William the Great Elector

He created Prussia's standing army and the deal with the Junkers.

bureaucracy

an administrative system with a hierarchy of officials and a division of labor

Junkers

the landed aristocracy, who had top military offices, total control over peasants and serfs, and were exempt from taxation. They would not question the Electors authority because of this.

Frederick III the Ostentatious

Helped HRE in the war of Spanish Succession and was given the official title King of Prussia. Because of this Prussia became an important player in the big stage of Europe.

Austria

Hapsburgs lost Germany and turned Eastward, towards Austria. Leopold I counterattacked and defeated the Turks, giving them contorl over Hungary, Transylvania, Croatia, and Slovenia. They gained the Spanish Netherlands and parts of Italy, a big empire. They were not successfully absolutist, because there were too many nationalities to control

Peter the Great

Tsar who went to the west and came back determined to Westernize Russia, since it was pretty behind. He reorganized the military so men served 25 years and formed the first navy. Reorganized the government like the west but it was ineffective, promoted western culture and forced nobles to shave their beards and cut their coats. Women could intermingle with men, marry of their own free will, and they didn't have to cover their faces. Built St. Petersburg. Desired warm water ports controled by Sweden and during the Great Northern War, Russia dominated the Baltic. Policies were good to upper classes and harsh on peassants.

St. Petersburg

The capital that Peter built which cost thousands of lives but what completed during his time. It was the "window to the west"

social structure in Russia

Peter created the Table of Ranks, where people could move up in nobility status so non nobles could serve in the the government. No one continued this. He gave women more rights and forced western culture on the nobles. Nobles taxed peasants harshly who were also forced to serve in the army for 25 years

westernization of Russia

Reached mostly upper classes, wanted to gain acceptance by western powers so Peter promoted its culture. Forced nobles to shave their beards and dress Western European, anyone who didn't shave and cut their coats were "beaten without mercy". This made them resent him.

Great Northern War

A struggle for Baltic dominance and Russia won, diminishing Swedish power.

limited monarch in Poland, the Sejm

Poland was weak and decentralized, because the king had to share power with the Sejm, which was similar to the House or the Senate and filled with nobles. They were interested in making sure the central authority didn't mess with local power and introduced the LIberum veto where if one member of the Sejm disagreed they would stop the whole meeting. It became a battleground for foreign powers, easy to invade but hard to rule because of the too-powerful and plentiful nobles

Golden Age of the Dutch Republic

The 17th century, where republican forces were in control, no monarch and purely a representative government. They had economic prosperity, Amsterdam became the commercial center of Europe.

Dutch Calvinist burghers

Burghers were at the top of Amsterdam society, very successful manufacturers, shipyard owners, merchants. They controlled the government and the States General because of their wealth.

commerce in Amsterdam

Amsterdam was the commercial center of Europe. Canals were used for transportation and growth, and houses were built around commerce. Narrow tallfront houses as business and residence. Merchants had big fleets of ships, such as the Fluyt which were shallow draft ships with large capacity. They often carried goods for other countries, making it a crossroad of trade for chief products. Their industries turned raw materials into goods including military, making them the principal supplier of military goods in Europe. Obviously the main port for the DEIC and the DWIC. A financial cneter too because they had the Exchange Bank of Amsterdam, greatest public bank of Northern Europe. Lots of trading profits and capital for investment.

Bank of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Stock Exchange

Bank of Amsterdam was the greatest public bank of Northern Europe. The Stock Exchange was created to trade shares of the DEIC.

James I

His mother was catholic but he was protestant. He was also from Scotland, so he was unused to the customs of England. James believed in the divine right of kings, where they answer to no one except God. Parliament was not to used to this because Elizabeth I had worked with Parliament more. Parliament didn't like him and used their "power of the purse" where they refused his requests for money to run the government. His religious policies also angered them. Anglican Protestants wanted James to change the church so that the power was with presbyters (ministers and elders) instead of bishops, but he didn't want to do this because bishops supported the monarch. However, the English gentry (landowners, non-noble) were Puritans and an important part of the House of Commons.

English Parliament

Had the House of Lords and House of Commons that rivaled with the King over who held ultimate authority.

Anglican Church

power was with bishops but anglican protestants wanted it to be with presbyters (ministers and elders)

Charles I

James' son, agreed to the Petition of Right, where the king had to have parliament's consent to tax people. They would not fund Charles' projects if he didn't sign it, so he did but then said haha I won't work with you so no meetings for you. He began to collect ship money in his phase of Personal Rule. He had bad religious policy since he married the CATHOLIC sister of Louis XIII of France, and then tried to introduce more rituals into the Anglican church which was very Catholic. Tried to make Scottish Presbyterians adopt the Anglican Book of Common Prayer who revolted and needed to call Parliament because no money no troops. Then Long Parliament happened. Civil war breaks out after he tries to arrest some puritans, captured by Oliver Cromwell, then executed.

Petition of Right

kind of like the Bill of Rights, which acknowledged the rights of Parliament and the people. The king must tax with Parliament consent, no cruel/unusual punishment, no quartering of troops, no marital law during peacetime.

Ship money

a tax used by medieval monarchs to coastal communities to pay for ships for the Royal navy to ward off priates and enemies. Charles used this money for other purposes.

Personal rule

Charles phase where he ruled without Parliament after he dissolved it. Very bad for him and he ended up running out of money.

Long Parliament

Charles called Parliament because he needed to put down the revolt in Scotland, and Long Parliament began for TWENTY YEARS. they placed severe limits on his power, again no more taxes without Parliament's consent and they must meet every 3 years.

English Civil War

Charles tried to arrest some Puritans in parliament but his plan backfired and Civil War broke out: the Roundheads (Parliament) vs the Cavaliers (Royalists. Split into two phases, the first led by Oliver Cromwell and the New Model Army. They captured Charles. In the second phase, Parliament split into the Presbyterians and Independents, who wanted to restore Charles or march on London to negotiate respectably. Charles tried to flee to Scotland and is recaptured, moderate Presbyterians were purged and radical Puritans were left, called "Rump Parliament" since there were only 53 members. They charge Charles of treason and execute him by chopping off his head. This was not common.

Roundheads vs. Cavaliers

Parliament vs Royalists, the opposing sides in teh English Civil War

Rump Parliament

The radical puritans after Presbyterian members were purged in Parliament, made up of only 53 members. Ended the civil war by executing Charles during the second phase.

Oliver Cromwell

Led the New Model Army, and then ruled England as Lord Protector after the civil war. He abolished the monarchy and the House of Lords, now just him and Parliament. Power goes to whoever controls the army and he was extremely puritan, so his society was too. Declared England a republic and crushed and uprising in Ireland and Scotland with stunning brutality. He crushed the Levellers, thought it was too hard to work with Rump Parliament and dismissed him and was more tyrannical than Charles I ever war. England decided that having a king wasn't so bad after all after he died.

New Model Army

Led by Oliver Cromwell, made of extreme Puritans called the Independents. Provided regular pay so people wanted to join. Well disciplined and trained in new tactics.

Puritans

English Calvinists who had more power during Oliver Cromwell's rule

Levellers

A radical group who pushed for scandalous ideas such as freedom of speech, religious tolerance, and a democratic republic for all male householders over 21. Crushed by force by Cromwell.

Restoration

The process after tyrannical Cromwell died to restore the monarchy through Charles II and James II. Parliament retains taxation control and most of its power.

William and Mary (of Orange)

Invited by Parliament to invade England because they'd had enough of the Catholic mess. James II and his family fled to France. They established a firm role for parliament and William was made king by Parliament, not God which ended divine right theory. A Constituational Monarchy was eestablished through the English Bill of Rights.

Charles II and James II

Sympathetic towards catholics and made the Declaration of Indulgence, which tolerated Catholics. He dismissed it after Parliament made him and they passed the Test Act, saying only Anglicans could hold military and civil offices. James II was an open and devout Catholic and again made the Declaration of Indulgence. Parliament worried but they knew he was old and hoped his Protestant daughters would take over. But somehow he had a catholic son right before he died and Parliament went wtf.

Declaration of Indulgence (#1 and #2)

Toleration for Catholics, made by Charles II and James II. Parliament did not like this.

Glorious Revolution

Established a firm role for parliament, ended divine right theory, established a Constitutional Monarchy, the Toleration Act allowed Puritans free public worship (not Catholics) and put an end to most religious persecution in England. Act of Settlement said only an Anglican can be ruler of England and head of the church.

Act of Settlement

Only an Anglican can be the ruler of England and the Head of the Church

John Locke

Said people had inalienable, natural rights: life, liberty, and property. There is a mutual agreement between the government and the people have the right to revolt and overthrow the government if necessary. Optimistic and origins of enlightenment thought. Obviously only applies to gentry and nobles.

Thomas Hobbes

Said people form a commonwealth with no right to rebel. People are natrually bad and life is nasty, a strong authoritarian is needed to keep people civil. Pessimistic.

Mannerism (art movement)

Exaggeration or alteration of proportions, posture, and expression. Breaks away from the balance, harmony, and moderation of the High Renaissance and reflects the anxiety following it, especially in Italy since it started in italy and spread. Sense of suffering and darkness with intense emotions, distorted proportion, elongated bodies, distorted human forms, sour color pallets. religious themes

El Greco

Greek painter, sculptor, and architect of the Spanish Renaissance

Baroque Art

Replaced Mannerism and had very dramatic ornamentation. Heavy and ornate, emotional and moving. Details are used to produce drama, exuberance, grandeur. Rejection of Renaissance restraint but not themes since religion and classics were prevalent. Harmony of Classical ideals of Renaissance art and religious revival and popular in Catholic courts, they embraced it during the Catholic reform movement.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Famous Baroque artist

Shakespeare

Playwright under the Greatest age of English literature during the Elizabethan era.

Lope de Vega

Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist

French Classicism

rejected baroque style and commited to classical values. Emphasis on clarity, simplicity, balance, and harmony. Grand portrayal of noble subjects

Dutch Realism

Realistic portrayal of every day life and secular. Commissioned by burghers and reflects their interests: self-portraits, group portraits, military companies, landscapes, still lifes, house interiors.

Rembrandt van Rijn

Most famous Dutch Realist artist.