Early Modern Europe: Reformation, Wars, and Absolutism

Protestant Reformation

A religious movement that began as efforts to reform the Roman Catholic Church (by Martin Luther, John Calvin, and others) and resulted in the creation of Protestant churches. It challenged papal authority, emphasized justification by faith and the authority of Scripture, and produced lasting political, social, and religious change across Europe.

Wars of Religion

A series of conflicts in the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe, rooted in the Reformation, most notably the French Wars of Religion and the Thirty Years' War, in which religious tensions combined with dynastic, political, and territorial rivalries to create military violence and political realignment.

Henry VIII / Church of England

Henry VIII (reigned 1509-1547) established the Church of England when he broke with the papacy (formalized by the 1534 Act of Supremacy) in order to secure a royal annulment and consolidate royal control over religious institutions; the monarch became the supreme head of the national church, blending political and religious authority.

Thirty Years' War — Danish Phase

The Danish Phase (1617-1629) of the Thirty Years' War saw Protestant Denmark intervene in northern Germany to support Protestant princes; it ended with defeats for the Protestants and the strengthening of Habsburg and Catholic influence in the Holy Roman Empire.

Thirty Years' War — Swedish Phase

The Swedish Phase (1630-1635) featured intervention by Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, whose well-trained Protestant forces achieved major battlefield successes in Germany and shifted momentum away from Habsburg dominance, introducing modern combined-arms tactics into continental warfare.

Thirty Years' War — Franco-Swedish (Franco-Swedish/Franco-Swedish) Phase

The Franco-Swedish (often called the Franco-Swedish) Phase (1635-1648) saw Catholic France enter the war against the Habsburgs for geopolitical reasons, subsidizing and allying with Protestant Sweden and German states; it transformed the war from a primarily religious conflict into a broader European struggle for balance of power.

Peace of Westphalia

The set of treaties concluded in 1648 (the Peace of Westphalia) that ended the Thirty Years' War and reorganized political authority in Europe by recognizing the sovereignty of states, confirming rulers' rights to determine the religion of their territories (and offering protections for minority confessions), and establishing principles that limited external intervention in domestic affairs.

English Civil War

A series of armed conflicts and political machinations (1642-1651) between Royalists (supporters of King Charles I) and Parliamentarians (supporters of Parliamentary authority) over governance, religion, and taxation; it resulted in the defeat of the king, the execution of Charles I, and a temporary republic under Oliver Cromwell.

Absolute monarchy

A system of government in which a monarch holds concentrated, centralized political power with few or no legal or institutional checks, often justified by doctrines such as the divine right of kings; in practice absolute monarchs controlled taxation, foreign policy, and administration.

James I

James I (James VI of Scotland; reigned in England 1603-1625) was the first Stuart king of England who advocated the divine right of kings, frequently clashed with Parliament over taxation and prerogative, and whose policies and style intensified tensions that later contributed to the English Civil War.

Charles I

King of England, Scotland, and Ireland (reigned 1625-1649) whose insistence on royal prerogative, controversial religious policies, and repeated conflicts with Parliament over taxation and authority led to the outbreak of the English Civil War and ultimately to his trial and execution in 1649.

Parliamentarians

The faction in the English Civil War (commonly called "Roundheads") that supported Parliamentary authority and sought to limit the powers of the king; dominated by Puritans, gentry, and commercial interests, they ultimately defeated the Royalists.

Royalists

The faction in the English Civil War (commonly called "Cavaliers") that supported the traditional authority of the king and royal prerogative, drawing strength from aristocratic, Anglican, and rural constituencies.

Oliver Cromwell

The leading Parliamentarian general who played a central role in defeating Royalist forces, became dominant in post-war politics, and ruled England (and later the British Isles) as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth (1653-1658) in a quasi-military republican regime.

Restoration

The 1660 reestablishment of the English monarchy with the return of Charles II to the throne after the collapse of the Protectorate; the Restoration also restored the Church of England and a reconstituted Parliament while leaving new political and religious tensions.

Bill of Rights (1689)

The English Bill of Rights (1689) is a parliamentary statute that limited the powers of the monarch, affirmed parliamentary supremacy in legislation and taxation, established certain civil liberties (such as protections against royal suspension of laws and cruel and unusual punishments), and formed a constitutional foundation for a Protestant constitutional monarchy.

William of Orange (William III) and Mary II

The joint sovereigns who ascended the English throne after the Glorious Revolution (William III of Orange and his wife Mary II, who reigned jointly from 1689); their accession was conditional on accepting parliamentary limits on royal power and the Bill of Rights.

Glorious Revolution

The largely bloodless overthrow of James II in 1688 when Parliament invited William of Orange to take the throne; the revolution established parliamentary supremacy over the monarchy and secured Protestant constitutional rule in England.

Long Parliament

The English Parliament convened in 1640 that remained in some form until 1660; it challenged royal policies, prosecuted royal ministers, and set in motion events that led to civil war and the eventual temporary abolition of the monarchy.

Rump Parliament

The remainder of the Long Parliament after Pride's Purge (1648), composed of MPs sympathetic to the trial of Charles I; the Rump abolished the monarchy and House of Lords and governed England during the Commonwealth until it was dissolved in 1653.

Parliamentary Sovereignty

The constitutional doctrine that Parliament is the supreme legal authority in a state — it can create or end any law and is not bound by prior legislatures or by the monarch — and that courts and other bodies must defer to Parliament's enacted statutes.

Constitutional Monarchy

A form of monarchy in which the monarch's powers are limited and regulated by a constitution, law, and representative institutions (such as a parliament), so that political authority is shared and rule of law prevails over autocratic rule.

Dutch Independence / Dutch Revolt (United Provinces of the Netherlands)

The late-16th and early-17th-century revolt (often dated from 1568) of the northern Low Countries against Habsburg (Spanish) rule, driven by religious, economic, and political causes; it culminated in the de facto independence of the United Provinces (Dutch Republic) and the establishment of a commercial maritime state.

Stadholder

A provincial chief executive or governor in the Dutch Republic—often drawn from the House of Orange—who held military and executive duties; the stadholder's power varied over time and between provinces and could be balanced by republican institutions.

States General

The federal assembly of the United Provinces (Dutch Republic), composed of representatives from each province, which managed common foreign policy, war, and trade regulation while leaving many powers to provincial estates.

Amsterdam (financial capital of the world)

By the 17th century Amsterdam had become Europe's leading financial and commercial center—hosting a dominant merchant class, an active stock market, international trade networks, and institutions (banking, exchanges, insurance) that facilitated global commerce.

Amsterdam urban expansion

Rapid 16th-17th century growth of Amsterdam driven by trade and capital accumulation, characterized by canal construction, planned urban development, new housing for merchants and artisans, and significant commercial infrastructure.

Dutch East India Company (VOC) / Dutch merchants

The Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC), founded in 1602, was a state-chartered trading company of Dutch merchants that held monopolies, could wage war, negotiate treaties, and establish colonies—central to Dutch commercial supremacy in Asia.

Joint-stock company

A business organization in which investors pool capital by buying shares, thereby sharing profits, risks, and losses; joint-stock structures (like the VOC) enabled large overseas ventures and were foundational to modern capitalism.

Bank of Amsterdam (Exchange Bank of Amsterdam)

Established in 1609, the Bank of Amsterdam provided a stable and widely trusted clearing and deposit institution that standardized currency exchanges, facilitated international payments, and helped make Amsterdam the financial hub of Europe.

Balance of power

A diplomatic and strategic principle in which states form shifting alliances or adopt policies to prevent any single state from achieving overwhelming dominance in a region; in early modern Europe it shaped alliances, wars, and treaties intended to preserve an equilibrium among great powers.

Divine right (of kings)

The political and religious doctrine that a monarch's authority is granted directly by God, making the sovereign accountable primarily to divine judgment rather than to earthly institutions like parliaments or courts.

Gustavus Adolphus

The Swedish king (reigned 1611-1632) who transformed early modern warfare through military innovations and led Protestant forces effectively during the Swedish Phase of the Thirty Years' War, enhancing Sweden's role as a major European power.

Dutch Revolt

(See "Dutch Independence") — the prolonged uprising of the Low Countries against Spanish rule that produced the independence of the northern provinces and major shifts in European commerce and political balance.

Fronde

A series of civil wars and aristocratic/parliamentary rebellions in France (1648-1653) during the minority of Louis XIV, arising from noble resistance to centralized royal authority and fiscal policies; the Fronde's failure reinforced royal centralization thereafter.

Cardinal Mazarin

The Italian-born cardinal and chief minister to the young Louis XIV (minister 1642-1661) who continued Richelieu's centralizing policies, managed the state during the Fronde, and helped consolidate royal authority in France.

Cardinal Richelieu

Chief minister to Louis XIII (1624-1642) who strengthened the French monarchy by subduing internal nobility and Huguenot power, centralizing administration, and pursuing a foreign policy to check Habsburg influence in Europe.

Louis XIV

King of France (reigned 1643-1715), the archetypal absolute monarch who centralized power in the crown, promulgated a court culture at Versailles to control the nobility, pursued aggressive foreign policy, and patronized arts and administrative reforms under the ideology of royal prerogative.

Versailles / life of the nobility & Louis XIV

The Palace of Versailles became the political and cultural center of Louis XIV's absolutist state; by concentrating the nobility at court through elaborate ceremony, pensions, and offices, Versailles reduced regional noble power and made aristocratic status dependent on royal favor.

Edict of Fontainebleau

The 1685 royal decree (revocation of the Edict of Nantes) by Louis XIV that withdrew legal toleration for Huguenots, outlawed Protestant worship in France, and triggered emigration and economic and social consequences for the French state.

Jean-Baptiste Colbert

Louis XIV's finance minister who implemented mercantilist economic policies—centralizing fiscal administration, promoting state-sponsored industry and trade, improving tax collection, and attempting to increase state revenue and economic self-sufficiency.

Sun King

The royal sobriquet for Louis XIV (le Roi Soleil), used to symbolize the king's centrality to the state and to promote his image as the source of political light and order for France.

Battle of Vienna (1683)

The 1683 battle in which a Christian coalition (notably Polish king John III Sobieski and Habsburg forces) relieved the Ottoman siege of Vienna; the battle marked a turning point that halted Ottoman expansion in central Europe.

Dutch War (Franco-Dutch War)

The Franco-Dutch War (1672-1678) in which Louis XIV sought to expand French territory and influence at the expense of the Dutch Republic; the conflict drew in multiple European powers and was part of the larger struggle over the continental balance of power.

War of the Spanish Succession

A major European conflict (1701-1714) triggered by the death of the childless Charles II of Spain and rival claims to the Spanish throne; a grand coalition opposed Bourbon consolidation of Spanish and French power, and the war ended with territorial readjustments to preserve the European balance.

Peace of Utrecht

The series of treaties (1713-1715) that ended the War of the Spanish Succession; they redistributed territories among great powers, affirmed Philip V as King of Spain while preventing a Franco-Spanish union, and codified changes to maintain the balance of power.

Hohenzollern

The ruling dynasty of Brandenburg and later of Prussia (the Hohenzollerns), whose territorial consolidation and administrative reforms transformed Brandenburg-Prussia into a major European power.

Frederick William I (Frederich William I)

The "Soldier King" of Prussia (reigned 1713-1740) who centralized Prussian administration, built a strong standing army and disciplined bureaucracy, promoted fiscal reform, and established the militarized, efficient state that his successors expanded.

General War Commissariat

The Prussian administrative institution originally created to organize, supply, and finance the army that evolved into a key instrument of state administration and fiscal extraction, strengthening central authority under the Hohenzollerns.

Frederick the Great (Frederick II)

King of Prussia (reigned 1740-1786) noted for military skill, territorial expansion (notably in Silesia), enlightened-absolutist reforms in law and administration, patronage of the arts, and the strengthening of Prussia as a European great power.

Austrian Monarchy

The Habsburg-ruled composite monarchy of Central Europe (the Austrian Monarchy), encompassing diverse lands and peoples under imperial rule and engaged in dynastic, military, and diplomatic struggles to maintain Habsburg influence.

Philip II

King of Spain (reigned 1556-1598) who centralized royal authority, staunchly defended Catholic orthodoxy (against Protestants and Ottoman expansion), and oversaw a vast transatlantic empire whose defense and governance required extensive taxation and military commitments.

Czar / Tsar

The title used by Russian monarchs (derived from Caesar) denoting autocratic imperial authority; in early modern Russia the czar embodied centralized political, military, and religious power.

Peter the Great

Russian tsar (reigned 1682-1725) who pursued far-reaching westernizing and modernization reforms—reorganizing the army and government, promoting industry and education, reforming social customs, founding St. Petersburg, and transforming Russia into a major European power.

Streltsy

Elite Russian military corps and personal guards who played significant political roles and staged rebellions (notably against Peter the Great); their suppression by Peter was part of his military and social reforms.

Cultural reforms in Russia (Peter the Great)

Reforms instituted by Peter to westernize Russian society and institutions: modernization of clothing and grooming (e.g., beard tax), introduction of Western education and technical expertise, reorganization of the bureaucracy and military, and promotion of secular learning.

Grand Embassy

Peter the Great's diplomatic and technical mission to Western Europe (1697-1698) during which he traveled incognito to study shipbuilding, military technique, and administrative practices to import Western knowledge for Russian modernization.

Great Northern War

The conflict (1700-1721) in which an alliance led by Russia, Denmark-Norway, and Saxony challenged Swedish dominance in the Baltic; Russian victory (culminating in 1721) ended Swedish supremacy and elevated Russia as a major power.

Russian Academy of Sciences

An institution founded (formally established under Peter's patronage in the early 18th century) to promote scientific learning, research, and the diffusion of technical knowledge as part of Russia's modernization project.

Catherine the Great

Empress of Russia (reigned 1762-1796) who pursued territorial expansion, patronized the arts and education, corresponded with Enlightenment thinkers, and implemented some administrative and legal reforms while consolidating noble support and serfdom's social order.

Absolutism (comparison)

A system in which sovereign rulers claim near-total authority over the state and society (see Absolute monarchy): in comparative terms, absolutism centralized decision-making in a monarch and relied on professional bureaucracies, standing armies, and court culture to control elites.

Constitutional Monarchy (comparison)

A regime in which the monarch's powers are limited by law or a constitution and balanced by representative institutions (parliaments, courts); compared with absolutism, constitutional monarchies distribute political authority and protect legal rights against arbitrary rule.

Divine-right Monarchy (comparison)

The form of monarchy that grounds royal authority in a theological claim that the monarch rules by God's appointment; as a political theory it was used to legitimize absolutist rulers, though its practical expression varied by country and period.