Transcript Bell Work

Chapter 7
Crisis and Absolutism in Europe
Sec. 1
Calvinism and Catholicism had become militant
religions by 1560. Their struggle for converts led
to the religious wars in the 16th century.
 The French civil wars are known as the French
Wars of Religion.
 The Huguenots were French Protestants and
made up only 7% of the population. However,
they made up 50% of the nobility.
 The house of Bourbon, which ruled Navarre was
next in line for the Valois dynasty.
 The Valois monarchy was Catholic.
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Another group in France, called the ultraCatholics, also opposed the Huguenots.
 Many of the townspeople wanted to weaken the
monarchy, so they helped with the opposition
of the Catholic king.
 France had 30 years of civil war before Henry of
Navarre, leader of the Huguenots, succeeded
the throne as Henry IV.
 He converted to Catholicism because he knew
he wouldn’t have the support of the French
Catholics.
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He issued the Edict of Nantes in 1598. It
recognized Catholicism as France’s official
religion, but gave the Huguenots the right to
worship and have all political privileges.
King Philip II of Spain was the greatest
supporter of militant Catholicism.
 Philip II wanted to have complete control over
his lands in Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, and
the Americas.
 He did this by insisting on strict adherence to
Catholicism and support for the monarchy.
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Spain saw itself as the nation God chose to save
the Catholics from Protestant heretics.
 The Calvinist in the Netherlands resented Philip
II. They began destroying church statues, so
Philip II sent ten thousand troops to stop the
rebellion.
 A Dutch prince, William the Silent kept resisting
Philip and in 1609 a truce was reached.
 When Philip’s reign ended in 1598, Spain was
the world’s most populous empire. It had also
been one of the strongest.
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However, Philip had bankrupted the country
by spending too much on war. The real power
now shifted to England.
Elizabeth Tudor ascended to the throne in
1558. During her reign, this small island
became the leader of the Protestant nations.
 She quickly tried to resolve religious conflicts.
She repealed laws that favored Catholics.
 She also tried to keep France and Spain from
becoming too powerful. She did this by
supporting one then the other.
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Even though she tried to avoid conflict with
Spain, Philip II had long wanted to invade
England and return it to Catholicism.
 In 1588, Spain sent an armada to invade
England.
 Armada: a fleet of warships.
 The Spanish fleet did not have the manpower or
the ships to be victorious. They eventually had
to return to Spain through a storm that sank
many of their ships.
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Class Work
What do you think the U.S. would be like if the
government decided what religion you were? Would
you speak out even though you know you would be
put to death? (Two paragraphs) Essay will be turned
in on the table.
Sec. 2
From 1560 to 1650, Europe experienced economic
and social crises.
 One problem was inflation. (Rising prices)
 This was due to the influx of gold from the
Americas and the demand for food as the
population grew.
 Another reason demand for goods were increasing
was because of piracy.
 By 1620, the population began to decline in central
and southern Europe. This was due to warfare,
plague, and famine.
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A belief in witchcraft had been part of traditional
village life for centuries.
The Inquisition soon focused on witchcraft and many
people in Europe were seized.
More than 100,000 people were charged with
witchcraft. 75% of the accused were women. Of
those most were single, widowed, or over 50.
The accused were tortured and usually forced to
confess their allegiance with the devil.
By 1650, the witchcraft hysteria lessened. As
governments strengthened, they were less tolerant of
having the witchcraft trials disrupt society.
Religious disputes continued in Germany after
the Peace of Augsburg in 1555 principally
because the peace did not recognize Calvinism.
 Religion, politics, and territory all played a role
in the Thirty Years’ War. This was called the
“last of the religious wars.”
 The war began in the Holy Roman Empire in
1618 as a fight between the Hapsburg Holy
Roman emperors and Protestant nobles in
Bohemia.
 All major European countries but England
became involved.
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The most important was between France on
one side and Spain and the Holy Roman Empire
for European leadership.
 The battles took place on German soil and
lasted 30 years.
 The Peace of Westphalia ended the war in 1648.
 Some countries gained territory and France
emerged as the dominant nation in Europe.
 The Peace of Westphalia said all German states
could determine their own religion.
 The states that made up the Holy Roman
Empire became independent.
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The Thirty Years’ War was Europe’s most
destructive war to date.
 New weaponry and increased mobility on the
battlefield meant armies had to be better trained.
 Government began to support standing armies.
By 1700, France had a standing army of
400,000.
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Bell Work
Pg 218 Read The Changing Face of War and
answer the question at the bottom.
Sec. 2 continued
The 17th century saw England’s civil war, which
became known as the English Revolution.
 This was a struggle between the Parliament and
the king to determine the power of each.
 The Tudor dynasty ended with the death of
Elizabeth in 1603. The Stuart king of Scotland,
James I ascended to the throne.
 He believed in the divine right of kings. (Kings
receive their power from God and are
responsible only to God.)
 Parliament wanted an equal role in ruling.
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Religion was also an issue. Puritans disagreed
with the king’s defense of the Church of
England.
 Many Puritans served in the House of
Commons, which gave them power.
 Conflict came to a head under James I’s son
Charles I.
 In 1628, Parliament passed a petition
prohibiting passing taxes without Parliament’s
consent.
 At first the king agreed, then changed his mind.
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Charles also tried to add ritual to the Protestant
service, which to the Puritans seemed a return
to Catholicism.
 Thousands of Puritans went to America rather
than adhere to Charles I’s religious policies.
 Civil war broke out in 1642 between supporters
of the king (Cavaliers or Royalist) and those of
Parliament (Roundheads).
 Parliament won because of their military leader,
Oliver Cromwell.
 Cromwell’s army was made up of Puritans and
believed they were doing battle for God.
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Cromwell purged Parliament of anyone who
had not supported him and executed Charles I
in 1649. King Killer
 Parliament abolished the monarchy and the
House of Lords and declared a republic, or
commonwealth.
 Cromwell soon dismissed Parliament and set up
a military dictatorship. He ruled until his death
in 1658.
 Parliament then restored the monarchy and
Charles II took the throne.
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Under the restored Stuart monarchy,
Parliament kept much of the power it had
gained previously.
 It restored the Church of England as the state
religion and restricted some rights of Catholics
and Puritans.
 In 1685 James II became king. He was a
devout Catholic and named Catholics to high
positions causing conflict again.
 Parliament did not want James II’s son to
assume the throne, so they invited William of
Orange to invade England.
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William was the husband of Mary, the daughter
of James I. William and Mary raised an army
and invaded England.
 James and his family fled and without almost no
violence, England underwent its “Glorious
Revolution.”
 After all this, Parliament had managed to
destroy the divine right theory of kingship and
gained tremendous power.
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Bell Work
At the time of his father’s death, the 4 year old Louis
XIV was, according to the laws of his kingdom, the
owner of the bodies and property of 19 million
subjects. Nonetheless, he once narrowly escaped
drowning in a pond because no one was watching
him.
Do you think it would be a good thing for a government
to be ran by a child? Why/Why not?
Sec. 3
One response to the crises of the 17th century
was to seek stability by increasing the
monarchy’s power.
 Absolutism: a system in which the ruler has total
power. It also includes the idea of the divine
right of kings.
 Louis XIV was one of the best examples of an
absolute monarch.
 Louis XIII and Louis XIV were only boys when
they came to power. A royal minister held
power for each up to a certain age.
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Cardinal Richelieu was the royal minister for
Louis XIII and Cardinal Marazin for Louis XIV.
These two helped preserve the monarchy.
 Richelieu took military and political rights from
the Huguenots and thwarted a number of plots
by nobles through spies. He would then have
them executed.
 Louis XIV took power at age 23 and fostered
the myth of himself as the Sun King, the source
of light for his people.
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The royal court Louis established at Versailles
served 3 purposes.
 It was the king’s household, the location of the
chief offices of the state, and a place where the
powerful could find favors and offices.
 Louis was anti-Huguenot. He destroyed
Huguenot churches and schools. 200,000
thousand Protestants fled France.
 Louis developed many enemies during his reign
and spent too much money on his court and
military.
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After the Thirty Years’ War, two German states,
Prussia and Austria, emerged in the 17th & 18th
centuries as great powers.
 Frederick William the Great Elector laid the
basis for the Prussian state. He built an army of
40,000 men, the 4th largest in Europe.
 Frederick’s son became King Frederick I in
1701.
 The Austrian Hapsburgs, descendants of the
Holy Roman Emperors, set up a new empire in
modern day Austria, Czech Republic, and
Hungary.
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The Austrian monarchy was never an absolute
and centralized monarchy. It was made up of
several national groups held together by the
Hapsburg emperor.
 Ivan IV became the first Russian ruler to take
the title of czar. He was known as Ivan the
Terrible.
 He crushed the boyars (nobility) and expanded
eastward.
 After his death, Russia experienced a time of
anarchy.
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It ended when the national assembly chose
Michael Romanov as czar in 1613.
 The Romanov dynasty lasted until 1917.
 Peter the Great: an absolutist, became czar in
1689. He traveled to Europe and return to
Russia determined to Europeanize Russia.
 To uphold his army he drafted peasants for 25
year stints.
 Peter also introduced Western customs and
etiquette, such as shaving beards and wearing
shorter coats. Women could also remove their
veils and mingle with men at gatherings.
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