Transcript The Early Modern States

The Early Modern States
England

Elizabethan England
– Elizabeth I
(r. 1558-1603)
 Very powerful monarch
 “Virgin Queen”
– “Golden age” for
culture
– Established Church of
England
– Victorious against
Spain (1588)
England
1998
Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth
2007
England

The House of Stuart
(1603-1714)
– Proponents of ABSOLUTE
MONARCHY
– Authority of Parliament had
been growing
– Charles I (r. 1625-1649)
and Parliament
Charles I
 Expensive foreign wars 
needed $ to fund them
 Demanded loans from
gentry, threatened
imprisonment
 Parliament protested 
dissolved
England

Charles I
Prelude to Civil War
– By 1640, forced to
summon Parliament
again
– Parliament drew up list
of grievances against
king
– Arrests attempted 
escaped!
– Charles fled London 
raised an army
– Civil war!
England

The English Civil War
(1642-49)
– Parliamentarians vs.
Royalists
– Parliament defeated
royalists
– Charles beheaded for
“treason”! (January
1649)
– No king until 1660
Execution of Charles I
England

The Restoration (1660-1688)
– Parliament restored monarchy to former power
– Charles II (r. 1660-1685)
 Initially careful not to provoke Parliament
 Favorable to Catholicism, French monarchy
 Granted general toleration to those not in Anglican Church
– Parliament’s response: Test Act (1673)
– James II (r. 1685-89)
 Open convert to Roman Catholicism
 Acted contrary to Test Act  appointed Catholics to
influential positions
 Son was born, baptized Catholic  Catholic heir?!
England

William III and Mary II
The Glorious
Revolution (1688)
– James’s daughter
Mary, and husband
William, offered throne
– William invaded
England (November
1688)  James fled
– Mary and William were
co-rulers (r. 16891702)
England
England

English Exploration and
Colonization
– John Cabot (1450?-1499?)
 Explored coastline from
Labrador to Maryland
(1497-98)
– First colony: Roanoke
Islands, Carolinas
(1585-88)
– First permanent colony:
Jamestown, Virginia (1607)
 Tobacco
England

Further Colonization
– Religious dissidents in
England  more
emigration
 Pilgrims  Plymouth
(1620)
 Puritans  New
England (1630-1640)
 Catholics  Maryland
– All 13 colonies except
Georgia were
established before
1700
England

Questions?
France

France after Religious
Wars
– Religious division 
violence!
– French looked more and
more to king for answers
– Henri IV (r. 1589-1610)
Henri IV’s triumphal entry into Paris
 Converted to Catholicism
(1593)
 EDICT OF NANTES (1598)
 toleration for
Protestants
 Ended religious wars 
France’s recovery
 Never summoned Estates
General
France

Louis XIV
(r. 1643-1715)
– Third king of Bourbon
dynasty
– Reign of Louis was “age
of Louis XIV” in Europe
 French culture became
standard in Europe
– Louis the Man
 The “Sun King”
 Brilliant court life
 Most renowned absolute
monarch
France

Palace at Versailles
– Begun 1669
– Once a hunting lodge
 grandiose palace!
– One of the age’s great
building projects
– Center of government
offices
France
“Hall of Mirrors,” Versailles
France
Garden, Versailles
France

Louis XIV and the State
– “L’état , c’est moi”
– Not bound to Estates
General
– Claimed monopoly over
legislation, military
– Nobles attended to his
affairs at Versailles
– Administration
 Councils of State
 King’s reps were present
throughout districts
– Provided order and security
for France
France
1998
France

Exploration and
Expansion
– Jacques Cartier
(1491-1557)
 Commissioned 1534 to
locate northern passage to
East
 Discovered, sailed up St.
Lawrence River
– Activities of Early 16th
Century
 Established fishing villages
 Engaged in fur trade
France

Exploration and
Expansion
– Settlements of “New
France” planted near
mouth of St. Lawrence
 Quebec City (1608)
 Montreal (1642)
– Relations with Natives
 French befriended Indians
 Few women in settlements
 Indian mistresses
 Jesuit missionaries
France
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Questions?
The Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire
– Thirty Years War (16181648)  devastation
– Political situation
 300 independent,
sovereign states!
 Emperor with limited
authority
– Prominent German powers
 Austria
 Prussia
The Holy Roman Empire

Austria
– Consisted of Austria,
Bohemia, Hungary
– Ruled directly by
Habsburgs
– Catholic
– Capital: Vienna
The Holy Roman Empire

Prussia
–
–
–
–
Territories ruled by electors of Brandenburg
Capital: Berlin
Protestant
Military!
The Holy Roman Empire

Questions?
Russia

The Rise of Russia
– Ivan the Great
(r. 1462-1505)
 Threw off Mongol
overlords (1480)
 Married into family of last
Byzantine emperor
 Annexed surrounding
territories
– Constantinople fell 1453 
Moscow the “Third Rome”
– Still not involved in
European affairs
Russia

The Rise of the Tsars
– Princes took title “tsar”
– IVAN “THE TERRIBLE”
(r. 1533-1584)
 First ruler to routinely
use title of tsar
 Ruled as autocrat
 Tortured and murdered
subjects
 Centralized government
Russia
St. Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow (1554-60)
Russia

The Rise of the Tsars, Conditions in Russia
– THE ROMANOVS
 Came to power in 1613 with Michael Romanov
 Established absolute monarchy
– Serfs
– Russians had negative reputation
Russia
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Peter the Great
(r. 1682-1725)
– Mixed with Europeans
– Learned navigation
from English and
Dutch
– Visited Western
Europe (1697-98)
– Determined to
“westernize” and
modernize Russia
Russia
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Internal Reform under
Peter the Great
– Government
 Vestiges of local selfgovernment faded away
 State Service
– Built fleet on Baltic 
mercantilism
– Demanded education for
aristocrats
– Russian Orthodox Church
secularized
Russia

Military Reform and
Expansion
– Russia must be able to
defend itself!
– Reformed military
 Peter appointed officers
 Soldiers recruited by
districts
 Troops uniformed by state
 Artillery
– Expansion  Russian
empire!
Russia

St. Petersburg
– Constructed on
territory won from
Swedes (1703)
– Able to “face West” in
St. Petersburg
– Government offices
located there
Russia

Questions?
The Early Modern States
Common themes?
 Differences?
