CHAPTER 21 - Absolute Monarchs in Europe (1500-1800) - World History: Patterns of Interaction (Atlas by Rand McNally 2009)

CHAPTER 21.1: Spain’s Empire and European Absolutism

Charles V’s son, Philip II, inherited Spain, left the Spanish Netherlands, and the American colonies
1580: the king of Portugal died w/o an heir and Philip seized the Portuguese kingdom because he was the king’s nephew

Philip now had an empire that circled the globe b/c of Portuguese strongholds in Africa, India, and the East Indies

Philip’s empire provided him with incredible wealth

Spain was able to support a large standing army of about 50,000 soldiers b/c of this wealth

When Philip assumed the throne, Europe was experiencing religious wars caused by the Reformation

Religious conflict familiar to Spain (Reconquista/Inquisition)

Philip believed it was his duty to defend Catholicism against the Muslims of the Ottoman Empire/Protestants of Europe
1571: the pope called on all Catholic princes to take up arms against the mounting power of the Ottoman Empire
1588: Philip launched the Spanish Armada in an attempt to punish Protestant England/ Elizabeth I

Elizabeth had supported Protestant subjects who had rebelled against Philip
His fleet was defeated

The setback seriously weakened Spain, but their wealth continued to give it the appearance of strength for a bit
The Escorial: Philip II’s palace that demonstrated his power/reflected his faith. Held a monastery as well as a palace inside
El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos)

Born in Crete, spent much of his adult life in Spain
Chose brilliant, sometimes clashing colors, distorted the human figure, and expressed emotion symbolically in his paintings
His techniques showed the deep Catholic faith of Spain
Painted saints/martyrs as huge, long limbed figures w/ a supernatural air

Diego Velázquez:

Paintings reflected the pride of the Spanish monarchy
Best known for his portraits of the royal family/scenes of court life
Also noted for using rich colors

Don Quixote de la Mancha often referred to as the birth of the modern European novel

About a poor Spanish nobleman who went crazy after reading too many books about heroic knights
Sometimes believed that Cervantes was mocking chivalry/others believe that it’s about an idealistic person who longs for the romantic past b/c he is frustrated w/ his materialistic world

Gold/silver made Spain temporarily wealthy, but provided long-term economic problems:

Severe inflation along w/ a rise in the prices of goods/services

Inflation in Spain had 2 main causes:

Spain’s population had been growing

As more people demanded food and other goods, merchants were able to raise prices

As silver bullion flooded the market, its value dropped

People needed more and more amounts of silver to buy things

Economic decline in Spain had other causes:

Spain expelling Jews/Muslims in approx. 1500 → the loss of many valuable artisans/businesspeople
Spain’s nobles did not have to pay taxes → tax burdens fell on lower classes → prevented them from accumulating enough wealth to start their own businesses

As a result, Spain never developed a middle class

Guilds that had emerged in the Middle Ages still dominated business in Spain/still employed old-fashioned methods → Spanish cloth/manufactured goods were more expensive than those made elsewhere

As a result, Spaniards bought much of what they needed from France, England, and the Netherlands

Spain’s wealth went into the pockets of foreigners, mostly Spain’s enemies
Spanish kings borrowed money from German/Italian bankers to finance wars
The economy was so feeble that Philip had to declare the Spanish state bankrupt 3 times
In the Spanish Netherlands, Philip had to maintain an army to keep his subjects under control

The Dutch had little in common w/ their Spanish rulers

The Netherlands had many Calvinist congregations
Spain had a sluggish economy, while the Dutch had a prosperous middle class

Philip raised taxes in the Netherlands/took steps to crush Protestantism
1566: angry Protestant mobs swept through Catholic churches

Philip sent an army under Spanish duke of Alva to punish rebels

1,500 Protestants/suspected rebels executed

The Dutch continued to fight the Spanish for another 11 years
1579: The 7 northern provinces of the Netherlands (largely Protestant) united/declared independence from Spain (the United Provinces of the Netherlands)
The ten southern provinces (present-day Belgium) were Catholic and remained under Spanish control
1600s: the Netherlands were similar to Florence during the 1400s

Had the best banks/many of the best artists in Europe

Wealthy merchants sponsored many of these artists

Rembrandt van Rijn:

The greatest Dutch artist of the period
Painted portraits of wealthy middle-class merchants
Produced group portraits
Used sharp contrasts of light/shadow to draw attention to his focus

Jan Vermeer:

Like other Dutch artists, chose domestic, indoor settings for his paintings
Often painted women doing familiar activities (pouring milk from a jug, reading a letter, etc.)

The work of both Rembrandt/Vermeer reveals how important merchants, civic leaders, and the middle class in general were in 17th-century Netherlands
The stability of the government allowed the Dutch people to concentrate on economic growth
The merchants of Amsterdam bought surplus grain in Poland/shoved it into their warehouses

When they heard about poor harvests in southern Europe, they shipped the grain south while prices were highest

The Dutch had the largest fleet of ships in the world

This fleet helped the Dutch East India Company to dominate the Asian spice trade/Indian Ocean trade

Gradually, the Dutch replaced the Italians as the bankers of Europe
Many European monarchs would claim authority to rule w/o limits on their power during the next few centuries
Absolute monarchs: kings or queens who held all the power within their states’ boundaries with a goal to control every aspect of society
Absolute monarchs believed in divine right: the idea that God created the monarchy/that the monarch acted as God’s representative on Earth

An absolute monarch answered only to God, not to his or her subjects

As Europe emerged from the Middle Ages, monarchs grew increasingly powerful
The decline of feudalism, the rise of cities, and growth of national kingdoms helped to centralize authority

The growing middle-class often backed monarchs because they promised a peaceful, supportive climate for business

Monarchs used the wealth of colonies to pay for their ambitions
Church authority also broke down during the late Middle Ages and the Reformation → Monarchs are able to assume greater control
Religious and territorial conflicts between states led to almost continuous warfare → Governments built huge armies/levied heavier taxes on an already suffering population

These pressures in turn brought about widespread unrest/peasants revolting sometimes

In response to these crises, monarchs tried to impose order by increasing their own power

They regulated everything from religious worship to social gatherings/created new government bureaucracies to control economic life
Their goal was to free themselves from the limitations imposed by the nobility/by representative bodies such as Parliament

CHAPTER 20.2: The Reign of Louis XIV

Many Catholics (including the people of Paris) opposed Henry IV
Henry chose to give up Protestantism/became Catholic for the sake of his war-weary country
1598: Henry declared that Huguenots could live in peace in France/set up their own houses of worship in some cities (Edict of Nantes)
Henry devoted his reign to rebuilding France/its prosperity

Restored the French monarchy to a strong position

Most French people welcomed peace, but some hated him Henry for his religious compromises

1610: Fanatic leaped into royal carriage/stabbed Henry to death

Louis XIII reigned after Henry

He was a weak king, but in 1624, he appointed a strong minister that made up for all of his weaknesses

Cardinal Richelieu became in effect, the ruler of France

A hard-working leader of the Catholic church in France
Lead according to moral principles, but was also ambitious/exercised authority

Richelieu took 2 steps to increase Bourbon monarchy power:

Moved against Huguenots

Believed that Protestantism often served as an excuse for political conspiracies against the Catholic king
Didn’t take away Huguenots’ right to worship, but forbade Protestant cities to have walls

He did not want them to be able to defy the king/withdraw behind strong defenses

Sought to weaken noble power

Ordered nobles to take down their fortified castles
Increased the power of govt agents who came from the middle class
Reliance on agents → less need to use noble officials

Richelieu also wanted to make France the strongest state in Europe

Believed that the greatest obstacle to this was the Habsburg rulers (their lands surrounded France)
The Hapsburgs ruled Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, and parts of the Holy Roman Empire

To limit Habsburg power, Richelieu involved France in the Thirty Years’ War
Skepticism: the idea that nothing can ever be known for certain

Resulted because of French thinkers witnessing horrific religious wars
Skeptic thinkers expressed doubt towards churches that claimed to have the only correct set of doctrines
Doubting old ideas was the 1st step towards finding truth

Michel de Montaigne:

Lived during the worst years of the French religious wars
Developed a new form of literature (the essay: a brief work that expresses a person’s thoughts/opinions)

Montaigne pointed out that whenever a new belief arose, it replaced an old belief that people once accepted as truth
The new belief would also probably be replaced by some different idea in the future

Therefore, Montaigne believed that humans could never have absolute knowledge of what is true

René Descartes

Meditations on First Philosophy: Descartes examined the skeptical argument that one could never be certain of anything

Used his observations/his reason to answer such arguments
Created a philosophy that influenced modern thinkers/helped develop the scientific method

Became an important Enlightenment figure

Louis XIV: the most powerful ruler in French history

Efforts of Henry IV/Richelieu paved the way for him
Was 14 years old when he began his reign

The true ruler of France after Louis became king in 1643 was Richelieu’s successor, Cardinal Mazarin
Mazarin’s greatest triumph was the ending of the Thirty Years’ War in 1648
Many ppl in France (nobles especially) hated Mazarin b/c he increased taxes/strengthened the central govt
1648-1653: Violent anti-Mazarin riots tore France apart
Louis never forgot his fear/anger at nobility/sought to become so strong that they couldn’t threaten him again
Nobles’ rebellion failed for 3 reasons:

Its leaders distrusted one another even more than they distrusted Mazarin
The govt used violent repression
Peasants and townspeople grew weary of disorder and fighting

For many years afterward, the people of France accepted the oppressive laws of an absolute king

They were convinced that rebellion was even worse

Mazarin died in 1661, Louis took control of the govt himself

Weakened the power of the nobles by excluding them from his councils

Louis increased the power of intendants, government agents that collected taxes/administered justice

To keep power under central control, he made sure that local officials communicated regularly with him

Louis devoted himself to helping France attain economic, political, and cultural brilliance

Jean Baptiste Colbert assisted Louis in achieving these goals

Colbert believed in mercantilism
To prevent wealth from leaving the country, Colbert tried to make France self-sufficient/wanted it to be able to manufacture everything it needed instead of relying on imports
Colbert gave government funds and tax benefits to French companies

Placed a high tariff on goods from other countries to protect France’s industries
Also recognized the importance of colonies (they provided raw materials/market for manufactured goods)

The French govt encouraged people to migrate to France’s colony in Canada

The fur trade added to French trade/wealth

After Colbert’s death, Louis announced a policy that slowed France’s economic progress
1685: he canceled the Edict of Nantes

In response, thousands of Huguenot artisans/business people fled the country
Louis’ policy robbed France of many skilled workers

Louis spent a fortune to surround himself with luxury

Had luxury meals, nobles to help him dress, and lesser nobles waiting outside of his palace halls waiting to be noticed by Louis

Having nobles at the palace increased royal authority in 2 ways:

Made the nobility totally dependent on Louis
It also took them from their homes, thereby giving more power to the intendants

Louis required hundreds of nobles to live w/ him at the palace in Versailles

Versailles was immense:

Faced a huge royal courtyard dominated by a statue of Louis XIV
So big that it was equivalent to a small city
Rich decoration/furnishings showed wealth/power to everyone who showed up

Versailles was a center of the arts during Louis’s reign
Louis made opera/ballet more popular
No European monarch supported the arts as much as Louis since Augustus of Rome
Chief purpose of art under Louis was no longer to glorify God/human potential

Purpose of art was to glorify the king/promote values that supported Louis’ absolute rule

1667: Louis invaded the Spanish Netherlands in an effort to expand France’s boundaries

Gained 12 towns through this campaign

1672: Personally led an army into the Dutch Netherlands
The Dutch saved their country by opening the dikes and flooding the countryside

This was the same tactic they had used in their revolt against Spain a century earlier

The war ended in 1678 with the Treaty of Nijmegen

France gained several towns and a region called Franche-Comté

By the end of the 1680s, a Europeanwide alliance had formed to stop France

By banding together, weaker countries could match France’s strength
This defensive strategy was meant to achieve a balance of power, in which no single country or group of countries could dominate others

1689: Dutch prince William of Orange became the king of England

He joined the League of Augsburg, which consisted of the Austrian Hapsburg emperor, the kings of Sweden/Spain, and the leaders of several smaller European states
These countries equaled France’s strength

France at this time had been weakened by a series of poor harvests/constant warfare/new taxes that Louis imposed to finance his wars
French people longed for peace, but got another war instead
1700: Charles II died after promising his throne to Philip of Anjou
Other countries felt threatened by this increase in the Bourbon dynasty’s power
1701: England, Austria, the Dutch Republic, Portugal, and several German and Italian states joined together to prevent the union of the French and Spanish thrones
The long struggle that followed is known as the War of the Spanish Succession
The costly war dragged on until 1714
The Treaty of Utrecht was signed in that year
Under its terms, Louis’s grandson was allowed to remain king of Spain so long as the thrones of France and Spain were not united
The big winner in the war was Great Britain

From Spain, Britain took Gibraltar, a fortress that controlled the entrance to the Mediterranean

Spain also granted a British company an asiento, permission to send enslaved Africans to Spain’s American colonies

This increased Britain’s involvement in trading enslaved Africans

In addition, France gave Britain the North American territories of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, and abandoned claims to the Hudson Bay region
The Austrian Hapsburgs took the Spanish Netherlands and other Spanish lands in Italy
Prussia and Savoy were recognized as kingdoms
Realizing that his wars had ruined France, Louis regretted the suffering he had brought to his people

Died in bed in 1715

France ranked above all other European nations in art, literature, and statesmanship during Louis’s reign
In addition, France was considered the military leader of Europe
This military might allowed France to develop a strong empire of colonies, which provided resources and goods for trade
On the negative side, constant warfare/construction of the Palace of Versailles plunged France into major debt

CHAPTER 21.3: Central European Monarchs Clash

Lutheran/Catholic princes tried to gain followers

Both sides felt threatened by Calvinism, which was spreading in Germany

Lutherans united in the Protestant Union in 1608
The following year, the Catholic princes formed the Catholic League
1618: Ferdinand II (future Holy Roman emperor) was head of the Hapsburg family

He ruled the Czech kingdom of Bohemia
Protestants in Bohemia didn’t trust Ferdinand b/c he was a foreigner/Catholic
When he closed some Protestant churches, the Protestants revolted
Ferdinand sent an army into Bohemia to crush the revolt
Several German Protestant princes took the chance to challenge the emperor

This resulted in the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), a conflict over religion/territory/power among European ruling families
The war can be divided into 2 main phases:

Hapsburg triumphs:

Hapsburg armies from Austria/Spain crushed the troops hired by Protestant princes
Succeeded in putting down the Czech uprising/defeated the German Protestants who supported the Czechs
Ferdinand II paid his army of 125,000 men by allowing them to plunder German villages

Hapsburg defeats:

Protestant Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden/his disciplined army of 23,000 drove Hapsburg armies out of northern Germany

1632: Adolphus was killed in battle

Cardinal Richelieu/Cardinal Mazarin of France dominated the remaining years of the war, they feared the Hapsburgs more than the Protestants

They did not want other European rulers to have as much power as the French king

1635: , Richelieu sent French troops to join the German/Swedish Protestants in their struggle against the Hapsburg armies

The war greatly damaged Germany

The population dropped from 20 mil → 16 mil
Both trade/agriculture was disrupted/German economy was ruined
Germany had a long, difficult recovery from the war

The Peace of Westphalia (1648) ended the war

The treaty had the these important consequences:

weakened the Hapsburg states of Spain/Austria
strengthened France by awarding it German territory
made German princes independent of the Holy Roman emperor
ended religious wars in Europe
introduced a new method of peace negotiation whereby all participants meet to settle the problems of a war/decide the terms of peace (method still used today)

The treaty abandoned the idea of a Catholic empire that would rule most of Europe

It recognized Europe as a group of equal/independent states
Marked the beginning of the modern state system/was the most important result of the 30 Years’ War

Strong states formed more slowly in Central Europe than western Europe
The major powers of this region were the kingdom of Poland, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire

None of them were very strong in the mid-1600s

The economy of central Europe developed different than western Europe

During the late Middle Ages, serfs in western Europe slowly won freedom/moved to new towns

They joined middle-class townspeople, who gained economic power because of the commercial revolution/development of capitalism

The landowning aristocracy in central Europe passed laws restricting serfs’ ability to gain freedom/move to cities

The nobles wanted to keep them on land, where they could produce large harvests/sell the surplus crops to western European cities at great profit

Landowning nobles in central Europe not only held down serfs but blocked the development of strong kings

The Polish king was allowed little income, no law courts, and no standing army

As a result, there wasn’t a strong ruler who could form a unified state

The two empires of central Europe were also weak

Although Suleyman the Magnificent had conquered Hungary/threatened Vienna in 1529, the Ottoman Empire could not take its European conquest any farther
From then on, the Ottoman Empire declined from its peak of power

The Holy Roman Empire was seriously weakened by the 30 Years’ War

They were no longer able to command the obedience of German states (no longer had real power)
These old, weakened empires and kingdoms left a power vacuum in central Europe

The Hapsburgs of Austria tried taking advantage of the power vacuum by becoming absolute rulers:

During the 30 Years’ War, they reconquered Bohemia
They wiped out Protestantism there/created a Czech nobility that pledged loyalty to them
After the war, the Hapsburg ruler centralized the govt/created a standing army
By 1699: the Hapsburgs had retaken Hungary from the Ottoman Empire

1711: Charles VI became the Hapsburg ruler

His empire was difficult to rule:

Czechs, Hungarians, Italians, Croatians, and Germans all lived within the borders
Only the fact that one Hapsburg ruler wore the Austrian, Hungarian, and Bohemian crowns kept the empire together

Charles VI spent his entire reign trying to figure out how to continue his rule over all of his lands

He persuaded other leaders of Europe to sign an agreement that declared they would recognize Charles’ eldest daughter (Maria Theresa) as the heir to all his Habsburg territories

1740: Theresa succeeded her father five months after Frederick II became king of Prussia
Frederick wanted the Austrian land of Silesia, which bordered Prussia

Silesia produced iron ore, textiles, and food products

Frederick underestimated Maria Theresa’s strength/assumed that because she was a woman, she would not be forceful enough to defend her lands

1740: he sent his army to occupy Silesia, beginning the War of the Austrian Succession

Maria Theresa went to Hungary after recently giving birth/asked the Hungarian nobles for aid

Even though the nobles resented their Hapsburg rulers, they pledged to give Maria Theresa an army
Great Britain also joined Austria to fight its longtime enemy France, which was Prussia’s ally
Although Maria Theresa did stop Prussia’s aggression, she lost Silesia in the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748
The acquisition of Silesia led to Prussia becoming a major European power

Maria Theresa decided that the French kings were no longer Austria’s chief enemies/made an alliance w/ them, which led to a diplomatic revolution
When Frederick heard of her actions, he signed a treaty with Britain (Austria’s former ally)
Austria, France, Russia, and others were allied against Britain and Prussia

Austria/Prussia switched allies, but Russia was playing a role in Euro. affairs for the first time

1756: Frederick attacked Saxony, an Australian ally
Every great European power was soon involved in the war
The Seven Years’ War was fought in Europe, India, and North America. Lasted until 1763

The war didn’t change the territorial situation in Europe

CHAPTER 21.4: Absolute Rulers of Russia

Ivan the Terrible (Ivan IV) came to the throne in 1533

His young life was disrupted by struggles for power among Russia’s landowning nobles, known as boyars, who sought to control the young Ivan
Ivan was the first Russian ruler to use the title of “czar” officially

1547-1560 are often called Ivan’s “good period”

He won great victories, added lands to Russia, gave Russia a code of laws, and ruled justly

His bad period began in 1560 after Anastasia died

Ivan turned against the boyars, accusing them of poisoning his wife
He organized his own police force, whose chief duty was to hunt down and murder people Ivan considered traitors
Using these secret police, Ivan executed many boyars, their families, and the peasants who worked their lands
Ivan seized the boyars’ estates and gave them to a new class of nobles, who had to remain loyal to him or lose their land

1581: Ivan killed his oldest son/heir
When Ivan died three years later, only his weak second son was left to rule
Ivan’s son proved to be physically and mentally incapable of ruling
After he died w/o an heir, Russia experienced a period of turmoil (Time of Troubles)

Boyars struggled for power, and heirs of czars died under mysterious conditions
Several impostors tried to claim the throne

Finally, in 1613, representatives from many Russian cities met to choose the next czar
Their choice was Michael Romanov, grandnephew of Anastasia → the Romanov Dynasty, which ruled Russia for 300 years (1613-1917)
Over time, the Romanovs restored order to Russia

They strengthened govt by passing a law code/putting down a revolt
This paved the way for the absolute rule of Czar Peter I (Peter the Great), who was one of Russia’s greatest reformers/continued the trend of increasing the czar’s power

When Peter I came to power, Russia was still a land of boyars and serf
Serfdom in Russia lasted into the mid-1800s, much longer than it did in western Europe
Russian landowners wanted serfs to stay on the land/produce large harvests

The landowners treated the serfs like property
Landowners could give serfs away as presents or to pay debts
It was also against the law for serfs to run away from their owners

Most boyars knew little of western Europe
In the Middle Ages, Russia had looked to Constantinople, not to Rome, for leadership
Mongol rule had cut Russia off from the Renaissance/Age of Exploration
Geographic barriers isolated Russia

Its only seaport, Archangel in northern Russia, was surrounded with ice much of the year
The few travelers who reached Moscow were usually Dutch or German, and they had to stay in a separate part of the city

Religious differences widened the gap between western Europe/Russia

The Russians had adopted the Eastern Orthodox branch of Christianity
Western Europeans were mostly Catholics or Protestants, and the Russians viewed them as heretics and avoided them

Peter believed that Russia’s future depended on having a warm-water port, only then could they compete w/ more modern states of Western Europe
1697: Peter embarked on the “Grand Embassy”, a long visit to Western Europe

One of Peter’s goals was to learn about European customs and manufacturing techniques
A czar had never traveled among Western “heretics” before Peter

Inspired by his trip to the West, Peter resolved that Russia would compete with Europe on both military/commercial terms
Peter had a goal of westernization, of using western Europe as a model for change
Although Peter believed Russia needed to change, he knew that many of his people disagreed

To force change upon his state, Peter increased his powers as an absolute ruler

Peter brought the Russian Orthodox Church under state control/abolished the office of patriarch (head of the Church)

He set up a group called the Holy Synod to run the Church under his direction

Like Ivan the Terrible, Peter reduced the power of the great landowners

He recruited men from lower-ranked families/promoted them to positions of authority/rewarded them w/ grants of land

To modernize his army, Peter hired European officers, who drilled his soldiers in European tactics with European weapons

By the time of Peter’s death, the Russian army numbered 200,000 men
Peter imposed heavy taxes to pay for the huge army

Part of Peter’s attempts to westernize Russia:

Introduced potatoes → became a staple of Russian diet
Started Russia’s first newspaper/edited the first issue himself
Raised women’s status by having them attend social gatherings
Ordered the nobles to give up their traditional clothes for western fashion
Advanced education by opening a school of navigation/introducing schools for the arts/sciences

Peter believed that education was a key to Russia’s progress

In former times, subjects were forbidden under pain of death to study the sciences in foreign lands

To promote education and growth, Peter wanted a seaport that would make it easier to travel to the West

Peter fought Sweden to gain a piece of the Baltic coast
After 21 years of war, Russia won a “window” on Europe that Peter wanted

Peter had actually secured the window many years before Sweden officially surrendered
1703: he began building a new city on Swedish lands occupied by Russian troops
Ships could sail down the Neva River into the Baltic Sea and on to western Europe

When St. Petersburg was finished, Peter ordered many Russian nobles to leave the comforts of Moscow and settle in his new capital

In time, St. Petersburg became a busy port

CHAPTER 21.5: Parliament Limits the English Monarchy

Elizabeth I didn’t have a child, her nearest relative was her cousin, James Stuart
Stuart became King James I of England in 1603
James inherited the unsettled issues of Elizabeth’s reign

His worst struggles with Parliament were over money
James offended the Puritan members of Parliament by upholding rituals of the Anglican church

Puritans hoped that he would enact reforms to purify the English church of Catholic practices
He agreed to a new translation of the Bible but refused to make Puritan reforms

1625: James I died
Charles I, his son, took the throne
Charles always needed money partly b/c he was at war with both Spain/France
Several times when Parliament refused to give him funds, he dissolved it
By 1628, Charles was forced to call Parliament again, but this time they refused to grant him any money until he signed a document (Petition of Right)
The petition had the king agree to 4 points:

He would not imprison subjects without due cause
He would not levy taxes without Parliament’s consent
He would not house soldiers in private homes
He would not impose martial law in peacetime

Charles ignored the petition even after agreeing to it
The petition was still important because it set forth the idea that the law was higher than the king, which contradicted theories of absolute monarchy
1629: Charles dissolved Parliament/refused to call it back into session
To get money, he imposed all kinds of fees/fines on the English people → Charles’ popularity decreasing
1637: Charles tried to force the Presbyterian Scots to accept a version of the Anglican prayer book

He wanted both his kingdoms to follow one religion

The Scots rebelled, assembled a huge army, and threatened to invade England

Charles needed money that he could only get by calling Parliament into session to meet this danger

This gave Parliament a chance to oppose him

During the autumn of 1641, Parliament passed laws to limit royal power
Charles tried to arrest Parliament’s leaders in January 1642, but they escaped
A mob of Londoners raged outside the palace, Charles fled London and raised an army in the north of England, where people were loyal to him
1642-1649: supporters/opponents of King Charles fought the English Civil War

Those who remained loyal to Charles were called Royalists/Cavaliers
On the other side were Puritan supporters of Parliament

At first, neither side had a lasting advantage, but by 1644, the Puritans relied on General Oliver Cromwell, whose New Model Army in 1645 began defeating the Cavaliers
1647: they held the king prisoner
1649: Cromwell/Puritans brought Charles to trial for treason against Parliament

They found him guilty/sentenced him to death

Cromwell now held the reins of power

1649: he abolished the monarchy/House of Lords

He established a commonwealth, a republican form of government
1653: Cromwell sent home the remaining members of Parliament. Cromwell’s associate John Lambert drafted a constitution, the first written constitution of any modern European state

However, Cromwell eventually tore up the document and became a military dictator

Cromwell almost immediately had to put down a rebellion in Ireland
English colonization of Ireland had begun in the 1100s under Henry II
Henry VIII/his children had brought the country firmly under English rule in the 1500s
1649: Cromwell landed on Irish shores with an army and crushed the uprising

He seized the lands and homes of the Irish and gave them to English soldiers

Fighting, plague, and famine killed hundreds and thousands of people
Cromwell/Puritans sought to reform society

They made laws that promoted Puritan morality and abolished activities they found sinful, such as the theater, sporting events, and dancing

Even though he was strict Puritan, Cromwell favored religious toleration for all Christians except Catholics

He allowed Jews to return (they were expelled from England in 1290)

After Cromwell’s death the govt collapsed/a new Parliament was selected

The English people were sick of military rule

1659: Parliament voted to ask the older son of Charles I to rule England
Charles II reign/the restoration of the monarchy is referred to as the Restoration
Under his reign, Parliament passed habeas corpus, which gave every prisoner the right to obtain a writ or document ordering that the prisoner be brought before a judge to specify the charges against the prisoner

The judge would decide whether the prisoner should be tried or set free
Because of Habeas Corpus, a monarch could not put someone in jail for simply opposing the ruler
Prisoners could not be held indefinitely without trials

Parliament debated who should inherit Charles’s throne

Because Charles had no legitimate child, his heir was his brother James, who was Catholic
A group called the Whigs opposed James, and a group called the Tories supported him

1685: Charles II died, James II became king

His Catholicism offended his subjects

Violating English law, he appointed several Catholics to high office

When Parliament protested, James dissolved it

1688: James’ second wife gave birth, English Protestants became terrified at the idea of a line of Catholic kings
James had an older daughter, Mary, who was Protestant

7 members of Parliament invited William and Mary to overthrow James for the sake of Protestantism

When William led his army to London in 1688, James fled to France
The Glorious Revolution: The bloodless overthrow of King James II
William and Mary vowed to recognize Parliament as their partner in governing
England had become not an absolute monarchy but a constitutional monarchy, where laws limited the ruler’s power.
Parliament drafted a bill of rights in 1689:

no suspending of Parliament’s laws
no levying of taxes without a specific grant from Parliament
no interfering with freedom of speech in Parliament
no penalty for a citizen who petitions the king about grievances