AP Euro Module 3 Study Guide (Exploration - Louis XIV)

Section 1: Exploration, Global Trade, and the New World

• Michel de Montaigne & Skepticism

  • Popularized skepticism ("Que sais-je?" / "What do I know?") and created the essay form (Essais).

  • Challenged European assumptions of cultural superiority following contact with Americas, pioneering early cultural relativism.

• The Three "G’s"

  • God: Desire to convert indigenous populations to Catholicism and counter Islam.

  • Gold: Pursuit of direct trade routes to Asian spices, precious metals, and economic profit.

  • Glory: Personal prestige for explorers and territorial/dynastic expansion for monarchs.

• Key Portuguese Explorers & Figures

  • Prince Henry the Navigator: Established navigation schools and sponsored early Atlantic exploration down the West African coast.

  • Bartolomeu Dias: Rounded the Cape of Good Hope (1488).

  • Vasco da Gama: Reached Calicut, India (1498), opening direct maritime spice trade.

  • Pedro Álvares Cabral: Claimed Brazil for Portugal (1500) before reaching India.

• Prester John

  • Legendary mythical Christian monarch in Africa/Asia; inspired Portuguese voyages to locate his kingdom and form an anti-Islamic alliance.

• Impact of the Fall of Constantinople (1453)

  • Ottoman control over Byzantine lands cut off European overland routes to Asia, driving Atlantic nations to seek maritime routes.

  • Blocked access to Black Sea Slavic slave markets, causing Europeans to turn to West Africa for forced labor.

• European Role in World Trade Prior to Columbus

  • Minor player in Indian Ocean trade, which was dominated by Arab, Indian, and Chinese commercial networks.

  • Europe produced few high-value manufactured goods, resulting in trade deficits balanced by sending precious metals eastward.

• Columbian Exchange Impact

  • Native American Populations: Catastrophic decline (up to 80–90%) due to Afro-Eurasian epidemic diseases (smallpox, measles, influenza).

  • European Populations: Significant demographic boom caused by nutrient-rich New World crops (potatoes, maize, tomatoes).

• Economic Effects of Spanish Silver

  • Influx of silver from Potosí and Zacatecas funded Spanish military ventures.

  • Caused the Price Revolution (widespread long-term inflation across Europe).

  • Fueled global trade networks, such as trading silver to Ming Dynasty China via the Manila Galleons.

• Geography (Ptolemy’s Geography)

  • What it got right: Introduced coordinates (latitude and longitude) and a spherical Earth model.

  • What it got wrong: Significantly underestimated Earth's circumference and omitted the Americas and Pacific Ocean, making Asia seem closer across the Atlantic.

• Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)

  • Papal agreement dividing non-Christian lands along a meridian line: Spain gained rights to lands west (Americas), Portugal to lands east (Brazil, Africa, Indian Ocean).

• Main Spanish Conquistadors & Explorers

  • Christopher Columbus: Reached the Caribbean (1492).

  • Hernán Cortés: Conquered the Aztec Empire (1521).

  • Francisco Pizarro: Conquered the Inca Empire (1533).

  • Ferdinand Magellan: Led the expedition achieving the first global circumnavigation (1519–1522).

• Colonial Systems & Resistance

  • Encomienda System: Royal grant giving conquistadors native labor and tribute in exchange for protection and conversion; devolved into forced labor.

  • Viceroyalty System: Administrative divisions (New Spain, Peru) governed by Viceroys representing the Crown, monitored by judicial councils (Audiencias).

  • Bartolomé de las Casas: Dominican friar who exposed Spanish atrocities (A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies), leading to the New Laws of 1542.

• Commercial Developments & Slavery

  • Joint-Stock Companies: Commercial enterprises where investors pooled capital and shared financial risk (e.g., Dutch East India Company / VOC).

  • Commercial Empires: Portugal (15th–16th c. maritime trading posts) and Spain (16th c. territorial empire) yielded commercial leadership to the Dutch Republic in the 17th century.

  • Destination of Slaves: Over 85% ended up in Brazil and the Caribbean due to labor demands on sugar plantations and high mortality rates.

Section 2: Constitutionalism and the Dutch Golden Age

• Constitutionalism

  • System of government where state power is limited by law and balanced between government authority and subjects' liberties.

• The Bourgeoisie

  • Wealthy urban middle class (merchants, bankers, professionals) whose status grew through commerce.

• Dutch Political & Social Structure

  • Political Structure: Decentralized republic of seven provinces led by wealthy merchant oligarchs (Regents) in the States-General.

  • Stadholder: Executive military leader appointed by individual provinces, typically held by the House of Orange.

  • Society: High urbanization, standard of living, and religious toleration (welcoming Jewish refugees and French Huguenots).

  • Dutch Baroque Art: Focused on secular subjects, domestic interiors, portraits, landscapes, and still lifes (e.g., Rembrandt, Vermeer, Frans Hals).

  • House of Orange: Princely family favoring central monarchical power and military strength, often in conflict with republican merchant Regents.

  • Causes of Decline: Financial strain from Anglo-Dutch Wars and prolonged wars against Louis XIV, leading to commercial supremacy shifting to Great Britain.

Section 3: The English Civil War and Constitutionalism

• Stuart Views on Royal Authority

  • James I and Charles I advocated divine right absolutism (The Trew Law of Free Monarchies), asserting kings answer only to God.

• Conflict with House of Commons

  • House of Commons was dominated by the Gentry (landowning non-nobles), many of whom were Puritans.

  • Conflicts centered on royal taxation without parliamentary consent and religious policies.

• Religious Tension & Archbishop Laud

  • Archbishop William Laud enforced High Anglican rituals and uniformity.

  • Persecuted Puritans and sparked the Scottish Bishops' Wars by imposing the Book of Common Prayer on Presbyterian Scotland.

• Escalation to Civil War

  • Long Parliament (1640–1660): Restricted royal power and passed the Triennial Act (mandating Parliament meet every three years).

  • Crisis of the Five Members (1642): Charles I entered Parliament with armed guards to arrest five opposition leaders, triggering war.

• English Civil War (1642–1651)

  • Sides: Cavaliers (Royalists/King) vs. Roundheads (Parliament/Puritans).

  • New Model Army: Professional, disciplined force led by Oliver Cromwell that defeated the Royalists.

  • Outcome: Charles I executed in 1649; monarchy and House of Lords temporarily abolished.

• Interregnum & Restoration

  • Interregnum (1649–1660): Commonwealth period that turned into a Puritan military dictatorship under Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector.

  • Cromwell in Ireland: Brutal military suppression of Irish Catholic rebellions, confiscating land for Protestant settlers.

  • The Restoration (1660): Return of Charles II to the throne, restoring the monarchy and Church of England.

  • Test Act (1673): Excluded non-Anglicans and Catholics from holding civil or military office.

• Glorious Revolution & Impact

  • Glorious Revolution (1688): Overthrow of Catholic King James II; Protestant William III of Orange and Mary II invited to rule.

  • Shift in Government: Ended divine right monarchy in England; established parliamentary supremacy and constitutional monarchy anchored by the English Bill of Rights (1689).

  • Act of Settlement (1701): Restricted royal succession strictly to Protestants.

  • Jacobitism: Support for restoring the exiled Catholic Stuart line to the throne.

• Political Philosophy: Hobbes vs. Locke

  • Thomas Hobbes (Leviathan): Humans in a state of nature live in perpetual conflict; an absolute monarch is necessary to maintain order.

  • John Locke (Two Treatises of Government): Humans have natural rights (life, liberty, property); government's duty is to protect rights, and failure to do so justifies revolution.

Section 4: French Absolutism and Louis XIV

• Centralization of Power

  • Paulette: Royal tax allowing officeholders to make their administrative positions hereditary.

  • Cardinal Richelieu: Chief minister to Louis XIII who consolidated royal control by suppressing Huguenot political privileges, destroying noble castles, and creating Intendants (royal commissioners replacing local noble power).

  • The Fronde (1648–1653): Noble-led rebellions against royal authority that traumatized young Louis XIV, reinforcing his determination to centralize power.

• The Reign of Louis XIV

  • Palace of Versailles: Used to tame the nobility by requiring their presence at court, replacing political rebellion with court etiquette (lever/coucher).

  • Jean-Baptiste Colbert & Mercantilism: Promoted state-regulated trade, self-sufficiency, manufacturing subsidies, protective tariffs, and colonial expansion.

• Foreign Policy and Wars

  • Goals: Pursued personal glory (gloire), expansion to France's "natural borders," and hegemony in Europe.

  • War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714): Caused when Charles II of Spain willed his empire to Louis XIV's grandson (Philip of Anjou), threatening to unite the French and Spanish crowns.

  • Treaty of Utrecht (1713): Preserved the balance of power; Philip V kept the Spanish crown but French and Spanish crowns were forbidden from uniting; Britain gained Gibraltar and the slave trade contract (asiento).