Chapter 3 - Europe to 1763

The Age of Absolutism

• Absolutism: the acceptance of or belief in absolute principals in political, philosophical, ethical, or theological matters.

France: Absolutism on the Grand Stage

• Louis XIV (1643-1715): The epitome of the absolute monarch who came to power at the age of four years and eight months. Louis was not too fond of Parliaments or the French aristocracy. He saw himself as “divinely appointed”, meaning he thought God himself had appointed him to the throne.

• Jean Baptise Colbert: Luckily, Louis admitted when he needed help, which is why he appointed financial specialist Colbert to be his Comptroller General of Finance from 1665 to 1683. He greatly improved the wealth of France as well as the Kings wealth, eliminating a corrupt taxation system that had formed due to tax collector greed.

• Edict of Nantes: Legal protections gifted to the French protestants by King Henry IV. This allowed Hueguenots full civil rights, put pastors on state payroll, and allowed them to establish arsenals for their own protection. King Louis revoked this in 1685.

Prussia: Absolutism on a Budget

• Friedrich Wilhelm the Great Elector: Inherited an impoverished nation at the age of 20, and is most famous for building a strong, standing army embellished with an elite officer corps.

• King Friedrich I: transformed his country from a second rate power to an efficient and prosperous state.

England: Absolutism Rejected

• Charles I: The son of King James that frequently quarreled with with Parliament. He waged a civil war that eventually led to his execution, Parliament citing him as the “author” of all of their troubles. He was charged with high treason and sentenced accordingly.

• Long Parliament: First convened in 1640 and immediately ordered for the arrest of Laud and Wentworth, also executing them. This parliament was summoned when the King needed funds to fund a war between the Bishops and the Scots.

• Oliver Cromwell: Though he was originally selected as Chairman of the Council of State, he was tapped into the New Model Army after Sir Thomas Fairfax refused to lead them against the Scots. He dismissed Parliament at gunpoint and later formed his own self-serving Parliament, “Assembly of the Saints” which was entirely Puritan.

• The Restoration: The name used to refer to the reign of King Charles II. The Restoration saw further definition of the rights and duties held by the King and Parliament in relation to each other, and was ultimately a time of prosperity and peace for England.

• James II: Became the ruler of England when it was at the peak of its prosperity. The only issue was that he was Catholic, but Parliament was willing to suspend the Test Acts in order to support his reign; but James wanted them repealed entirely, and attempted to create a Catholic triump.

• Glorious Revolution: a series of events that led to James II being overthrown, and the acension of William of Orange and Mary to the throne to resume the Protestant agenda.

The Scientific Revolution

• “Geocentric” (Earth Centered) Universe Theory: a theory made by Roman astrologer Ptolemy that stated the Earth was fixated in the center of the Universe and therefore unmovable, and that objects such as the sun, moon, and other planets orbited around the Earth. He was very obviously incorrect.

• “Heliocentric” (Sun Centered) Universe Theory: a theory put together after the works of Kepler, Copernicus, and Galileo were released. This theory instead analyzes theory and reason rather than theology, and says instead of everything revolving around the Earth, the Sun was the center of the universe.

• Copernicus: a polish part time astronomer

• Tycho Brahe: a law student turned astronomer after an accurate solar eclipse prediction.

• Kepler: a mathematician that drew a map of the Heavens after Brahe’s death, utilizing his recordings to make an accurate mathematic hypothesis. Published his findings in “The New Astronomy”, citing the Three Laws of Planetary Motion.

• Galileo Galilei: An Italian polymath that was the first to point a telescope to the Heavens and record his findings. He published what he saw in “The Starry Messenger”.

• Isaac Newton: perhaps the most famous and known philosopher and mathematician, known for coming up with the concept of “gravity”.

The Enlightenment

• Thomas Hobbes, Levithian: Believed that sovereignty belongs to the people, but rejected the notion of democracy. Believed in a social contract that stated every human is born with God given rights, but that humans should not self govern as it would be disastrous. Instead, government is needed in order to allow the governed to live prosperously.

• John Locke, Two Treatises of Government: Advanced the notion of “social contract” - said government is an agreement between the governing power and the people created to secure natural rights of the individual.

• Montesquieu, Spirit of the Laws: Said an ideal government was one that was split into three governing branches, each with divided yet equal power. Very similar to the checks and balancing system in United States government today.

• Volitaire, Treatise on Tolerance: Called for religous freedom and said that all should be allowed to practice what they want without it having an impact on their political freedoms. Believed in a separation of church and state.

• Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations: said a country’s wealth is not defined by how much space it occupies, but instead the productivity of its people.

• Jean-Jacquest Rousseau, the Social Contract: Said there is a social contractin which the governed give up their liberty (god given rights) to the states in return for civil right protection.