Transcript Spain’s Empire and European Absolutism

Spain’s Empire and
European Absolutism
Chapter 21 Section 1
Pg 513
What is a Dynasty?
• Why have the New York Yankees been
referred to as a dynasty?
• They kept winning…..
year, after year, after year,
after year….
So…What is a dynasty?
• A line of hereditary rulers
• Much of European
political history is
dominated by dynasties
such as the Carolingians,
the Capetians, the
Bourbons, the
Habsburgs, the
Hohenzollerns and the
Romanovs.
• Can the US be described
as having a dynasty?
Hapsburg Dynasty
• is one of the most important royal houses
of Europe
• and is best known for being an origin of
all of the formally elected Holy Roman
Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as
well as rulers of the Austrian Empire
and Spanish Empire and several other
countries.
Charles V
• As part of the Hapsburg
family, inherited:
• *Spain
*Spain’s American colonies
*parts of Italy
* lands in Austria and the
Netherlands
• He was the elected Holy
Roman Emperor so he
ruled much of Germany
• 1st time since
Charlemagne that
European ruler controlled
so much territory
You may remember…
• Charles V was a devout Catholic, fought
Muslims, opposed Lutherans, unwillingly signed
the Peace of Augsberg letting German princes
choose religion for own territory, and was the
nephew of Catherine of Aragon (Henry VIII’s 1st
wife that he divorced)
• 1556 Charles divides up empire and retired to a
monastery
-gave brother Ferdinand: Austria and the Holy Roman
Empire
-gave son Philip II: Spain, Spanish Netherlands, and
American colonies
Ferdinand’s Territory
Holy Roman
Empire
Austrian territory
Philip’s Territory
Philip II
• Deeply religious, like father
• Could be aggressive for the sake of the
empire
• Was married to Mary, Queen of England
and Henry VIII’s oldest daughter (mother
was Catherine of Aragon)
A Large Empire
• In 1580, king of Portugal died without an
heir
• Philip was king’s nephew, so he seized the
Portuguese kingdom
• With Portuguese strongholds in Africa,
India, and East Indies, he now had an
empire circling the globe
Money
• The empire provided Philip with wealth, he
claimed 1/4 - 1/5 of every shipload of
treasure from the American mines
• Spain was able to afford a large army of
50,000 soldiers
Religion
• When Philip took over, Europe was going
through religious wars caused by the
Reformation
• Religious conflict not new to Spain, Philip’s great
grandparents were Ferdinand and Isabella who
drove out Jews and Muslims from Spain during
the Inquisition
• Philip saw himself as part of a tradition and duty
to defend Catholicism against the Muslims of the
Ottoman Empire and Protestants
Philip- Defender of Catholicism
• Philip called on all Catholic princes to fight
and defeated a large Ottoman fleet
• In 1588, Philip launched the Spanish
Armada in attempt to punish Protestant
England under rule of Queen Elizabeth but
was defeated
• Although the defeat weakened Spain, its
wealth gave the appearance of strength
The Escorial
• Philip’s massive palace had huge gates
and walls including a monastery that
reflected the great power and faith of
Spain
Golden Age of Spanish Art
• Spain’s wealth did more than support
great navies and build palaces
• Allowed monarchs to become patrons of
the arts as Spain entered a golden age in
the arts
• The works of two great painters show the
faith and pride of Spain during this period:
El Greco and Diego Velazquez
El Greco
• “El Greco” means “the Greek”
• Born in Crete, but spent most of his life in
Spain
• Real name Domenikos Theotokopoulos
• Used clashing colors, distorted the human
figure
• Although unusual, his paintings reflected
the deep catholic faith of Spain
Diego Velazquez
• Painted 50 years after El Greco
• Paintings showed pride of monarchy
• Known for his portraits of Spanish royal
family and scenes of court life
• Like Greco, used bright colors
Problems Weaken Spanish Empire
• Gold and silver from the America’s made
Spain temporarily wealthy but caused
some economic problems as well
• Severe inflation set in because:
1) Spain’s growing population demanded
more food, and merchants raised prices
2) as silver flooded the market, value
dropped and it took more and more silver
to buy things
Adding to Economic Problems
• When Spain expelled the Jews and
Muslims, they lost valuable business
people
• Nobles didn’t pay taxes which meant that
lower class had to pay all of the taxes
• Lower class couldn’t accumulate enough
wealth to start a business and make
money= Spain had no middle class
• To finance wars, Spanish Kings borrowed
money from German and Italian bankers
• Had to repay debts with silver coming in
from colonies
• Spain’s economy became so pathetic that
Philip had to declare Spain bankrupt 3
times
Spain and the Netherlands
• The Netherlands,
called the Spanish
Netherlands, had been
controlled by Spain
from the 16th century
The Dutch Revolt
• In Spanish
Netherlands, Philip
used an army to keep
his subjects under
control
• Dutch had little in
common with Spanish
rulers:
-Dutch were Calvinists and
they were Catholics in
Spain
-Spain had weak
economy, Dutch had
strong trade and middle
class
• Philip raised taxes in the Netherlands
and tried to crush Protestantism
• In response, angry Protestants swept
through Catholic churches, destroying
religious paintings and statues
• Philip sent in an army under Spanish
duke Alva to punish them
-the duke executed 1500 Protestants in 1
day
William of Orange
• Emerged as the great leader against the
Spanish
• Motives for fighting Spain were political,
not religious
• Wanted to free the Netherlands from
Spanish rule
• Lost battle after Battle
Desperate Measures
• 1574, Dutch took a drastic step
• Lands were called the Low Countries
because much of the land was below sea
level
• Only great dikes kept seawater from
flooding the fields
Te…He…He…He!!!
• The Dutch opened the floodgates, flooding
the land with water driving out the Spanish
troops from their camps
United Provinces of the
Netherlands
• In 1579, the 7 northern provinces of the
Netherlands (which were mainly
Protestant) became the United Provinces
of the Netherlands
• The 10 southern provinces (present day
Belgium) were Catholic and remained
under Spanish control
Independent Dutch Prosper
• United Provinces of Netherlands (UPN)
different from rest of Europe
-had religious tolerance
-wasn’t a kingdom, but a republic
• Each province had elected governor
whose power depended on support of
merchants and landholders
Dutch
• Stability of government allowed Dutch to
concentrate on economic growth
• Had largest fleet in the world- almost 5000
ships in 1636
• Gradually replaced Italians as bankers of
Europe- one reason: trade routes of the
Atlantic became more important than
routes of the Mediterranean
Tulip Mania
•
•
•
•
Between 1633-1637, tulip mania reached a peak
Supply of Tulips couldn’t meet the demand
One man traded his mansion for just 3 bulbs
Soon people were spending life savings or
taking out loans to buy tulips
• Prices eventually sank, and families lost
properties over tulip craze
• Even so, tulips remained popular in the
Netherlands, and is still one of the biggest
exporters of tulip bulbs today
Dutch Art
• Many of the best artists of the world lived
in the Netherlands
• Rembrandt van Rijn painted portraits of
wealthy middle class merchants and group
portraits
• In famous painting, The Syndics,
portrayed a group of city officials
• Used sharp contrast of light and shadow to
draw attention to his focus
The Syndics
Vermeer
• Jan Vermeer chose
domestic, indoor settings
for portraits
• Often painted women
doing day to day
activities
• Didn’t become popular
until the 19th century
Absolutism in Europe
• Even though Philip lost Spain’s possession of
the Dutch, he was a forceful ruler in many ways
• Tried to control all aspects of empire’s affairs
• During next few centuries, many European
monarchs try to claim authority to rule without
limits
• They wanted be absolute monarchs, and
believed all power within their boundaries rested
in their hands
• Goal was to control every piece of society
Divine Right
• Monarchs believed in divine right- the idea
that God created the monarchy and they
were to act as God’s representatives on
earth
• An absolute monarch answered only to
God- not his or her subjects
Growing Power of Europe’s
Monarchs
• As Europe came out of the Middle Ages,
monarchs grew more powerful due to:
- the decline of feudalism
- the rise of cities
-growth of national kingdoms
• All these helped to unify authority
• In addition, the middle class usually backed the
monarchy, because they supported business
• Church authority also broke down during the
Reformation, opening a way for monarchs to
gain even more control
• 17th century was a period of disorder
• Religious and territorial conflicts led to
continuous war
• This caused governments to build
huge armies and raise taxes
• This led to widespread fighting
• Monarchs tried to impose order by
increasing their own power
Absolute Rulers
• As absolute rulers they regulated everything
from religious worship to social gatherings
• To seem more powerful, they increased the size
of their own courts and created more
government bureaucracies
• Goal was to free themselves from limitations
imposed by the nobility and Parliament
• Only with such freedom could they rule
absolutely, as did Louis XIV of France
Political Cartoon (A)
Political Cartoon (B)
Political Cartoon (C)
Answer the following questions:
1. What is the message behind these
political cartoons?
2. Do you think absolute power has to be
corrupt? Why or why not?
3. What does it mean regarding absolute
power- “you’ve got to use it, or lose it”?
4. Will absolute power corrupt someone?
Why or why not?