Transcript 17 th Century`s Search for Order

th
17
Century’s Search for
Order
Absolutism in France and Eastern
Europe
Constitutionalism with the English and
Dutch
The 17th Century
• Revolutionary transformation
– Crisis in agriculture and industry
• Spain, France, Germany, England
– Armies grew to the biggest point since Rome
• Burden fell to the population- taxation
– Urban disorder and peasant revolts
– Princes struggled to free themselves from obstacles to
gain sovereignty
• Freedom from church interference
• Freedom from competition with private armies
• Ultimate authority resting with the State
– Two systems emerge: absolutism and constitutionalism
The Absolutist State
• Sovereignty is embodied in the ruler
– Ruled by divine right and answered to God
– “L’etat, c’est moi!” Louis XIV
– Controlled rivaling authorities
• Rooted out feudal legacies
• Regulated religious sects
• Abolished some traditional liberties
– Unlike medieval kings who bargained with nobles for
financial support, they established bureaucracies that
found alternative financing
– Armies became the symbol of the absolutist state
Absolutism vs. Totalitarianism
• Totalitarianism is a 20th century phenomenon
– Seeks to direct all aspects of culture (art, education,
religion, economy, politics, etc.) toward the state’s
interests
– Total regulation
• Absolutism foreshadowed Totalitarianism in 2
ways:
– Glorification of the state over all aspects of culture
– Use of war and expansionist foreign policy to divert
attention from domestic ills
France: Henry IV, Sully, Richelieu
• Henry IV inherited an enormous mess
– Starvation, war, pillage and plunder
– Henry promised a “chicken in every pot”
– Tried to gain protestant support by appointing
protestant Maximilien de Bethune, duke of
Sully as chief minister
– He tried to keep France out of war
• Brief but successful war with Savoy in 1601
– He and Sully helped France get back on its
feet
The King is Dead
• Henry was assassinated in 1610 by a “crazed fanatic”
• Queen-regent Marie de Medici ruled for their son
Louis XII
• Feudal lords and princes began to assert control
• Marie appointed Cardinal Richelieu to the council of
ministers who eventually became the prime minister
and had tremendous influence over the young king
– Pressed for total subordination to the monarchy
• Leveled castles to put down feudalism
• Beheaded rivals (duke of Montmorency, Godson of Henry
• Appointed royal commissioners to each of the 32 districts
– Appointed by and answer to the king
– Were not locals from the district
– Became the eyes and ears of the king
Strengthening the Monarchy
• Henry had drawn up the Edict of Nantes which
allowed protestants to maintain heir religions and their
own garrisons
• Louis saw this as a state within a state and called for a
unification of faith
• Battle ensues- LaRochelle
– Protestant district with ties to the English and Dutch
– The city fell and the Catholic liturgy was reinstated
• First mass was celebrated by the cardinal himself
• “Where the interests of the state are concerned, God
absolves actions which, if privately committed, would
be a crime.”
• Richelieu was succeeded by the regent for Louis XIVCardinal Jules Mazarin
The Fronde
• Mazarin was not as strong as Richelieu
• Period of civil wars
• 3 results:
– Government would have to compromise with
the social elites and the bureaucracy
– Economy was devastated
– Was a traumatic experience that left a mark
on the young Louis XIV
Louis XIV: The Sun King
• Longest reign in European history (1643-1715)
• Responsible for the “complete domestication of the
nobility”
• Built the Royal Court of Versailles
– The Great Hall of Mirrors
• Candles illuminated the ceiling which contained allegorical paintings
of the king’s victories
– Kept the nobility close at hand
– Never called an estates general
• Nobility had no means of united expression
• Appointed Jean-Baptiste Colbert the controller general
of finances
Mercantilism
• Rigorously applied to France by Colbert
• A nation’s international power was based on the
amount of gold they possessed
– To accomplish this he insisted that France sell
everything abroad and buy nothing in return
• Required self-sufficiency
– Subsidized and granted royal privileges to industry
– Created a powerful merchant marine
• Invested tremendous funds in shipbuilding and the
training of sailors
• Helped make Canada and eventually Louisiana part of
the French empire
The Edict Revoked
• Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes in
1685
– Destruction of Huguenot churches, closing of
schools, baptism of Huguenots and the exile
of pastors
• French Religious toleration was never meant to be
permanent
• Toleration was never a popular policy among the
aristocrats
Eastern Europe
• Serfdom had been reinstated between 1400 and
1650
• Tragic reversal of trends
– Peasants were losing their free status
– Lords began taking over peasant land and imposing
stiffer labor obligations
• Up to 6 days a week with no pay
– Prior to this they were paying fairly negotiated rents
– Local lord took over the legal system
– In Poland, nobles could legally inflict the death
penalty at will
– Subjugation became hereditary again
Possible Reasons
• Can you imagine ay reason why this may
have happened at this time?
– Consider the depression of the 14th and 15th
centuries
– Consider the prosperity in the 16th and 17th
Austria and Prussia
• Strong kings began to emerge in the 17th
• War and the threat of war aided their
consolidation
• Eventually the political power of the nobles was
reduced but the power over their peasants was
their compensation
– First rulers began imposing taxes indiscriminately
– Second they created permanent standing armies
– Third they conducted relations with other states
The Hapsburgs in Austria
• Came out if the thirty years war impoverished
• Their effort to get rid of the protestants and turn the HRE
into a real state was a failure
• While the family retained the ancient title the power was
broken up among 300 separate political jurisdictions
• Ferdinand II defeated the protestant bohemians and
gave their land to Catholic nobles
• This helped him establish absolutism
• Ferdinand III further consolidated the provinces
• Suleiman the magnificent and the Ottoman Empire
• Promoted a sense of unity in the Hapsburg Empire
• Yet the absolute rule was on shaky ground
Quiz
• Describe the transition to absolute rule in
Prussia.
Constitutionalism
• Limitation of government by law
– Balance between authority and power of the
government
– And of rights and liberties of the people
• Constitution may be written, unwritten, or partly
written
• Constitutionalism is not the same as a
democracy
• Could be a monarchy or a republic
– Could be seen as a step toward democracy
England’s Decline of Absolutism
• Elizabeth I had incredible personal power
• 17th century was different
– Little political stability
• Civil war, executed king, military dictatorship, restored son of
murdered king
– James Stuart, cousin of Liz and King of Scotland
became James I and set the century off to a bad start
• Lacked the diplomacy and mystique of the Tudors
• Lectured the house of commons on the divine right of kings
• Gentry owned the majority of the nation’s wealth and had
gained considerable liberty under the Tudors
– James and his son Charles I tried to tighten reigns on
the house of commons and the gentry in general
Religious Issues
• Puritans posed a problem because they pushed for
further reform or “purification.”
– Vestments, stained glass, lavish ceremonies
• Many Englishmen were attracted to the tenets of
Calvinism’s social strategy
– The protestant ethic
• James and Charles were both Calvinist in philosophy but
were sympathetic to Roman Catholicism
– People feared the country would return to Catholicism
• The Book of Common Prayer was revised to include
things that seemed Roman to the Scottish Presbyterians
– They revolted and Charles had to call parliament in session to
get cash to raise an army
English Civil War
•
•
•
•
Ireland remained Catholic
Scotland remained Presbyterian
England was Anglican with Catholic sympathy
Charles’ hands were tied because he had no
army and parliament didn’t trust him
– History of bad taxes, Ship money, etc.
• 1649 he was beheaded for treason
• A commonwealth was established and puritan
Oliver Cromwell became the protectorate
Military Absolutism
• Cromwell becomes head of government
• He gives parliament new powers
• Granted religious toleration to all Christians
except Catholics
– Considered Irish Catholicism as sedition
• Crushed rebellions there and granted land to Scots
• Navigation Acts
– English goods on English ships
– Colonial trade
– Aimed at the Dutch
• Cromwell died in 1658
The Restoration
• After Cromwell’s death the English were fed up
with military rule
• They recalled Charles II from exile
• He was a relaxed guy and allowed parliament to
handle doctrinal matters
– English had to receive communion in the Anglican
church
• Hard to enforce
• He agreed to work with parliament and convene
it regularly
The Secret Deal
• 1670 Charles entered secret agreements with
Louis XIV
• Charles had his name put on the French Payroll
to the tune of 200,000 pounds per year
– Charles had to relax laws against the Catholics, join
the French against the Dutch, and convert to
Catholicism
• The deal leaked out and England was resentful
toward the French and the Catholics
– Parliament passed a bill precluding a Catholic
successor
– Charles dissolved parliament
James II
• Charles’ brother James succeeded him
• Louis’ Revocation of the Edict of Nantes
instilled fear in the English
• James then appointed Catholics to
positions in the army, in the universities,
and the government
• He then issues a declaration of religious
tolerance to everyone
– Including Catholics and protestant dissenters
Almost a Catholic Dynasty
• James’ wife gave birth to a son (baptized
Catholic)
• The English knew that this meant the restoration
of Catholicism
• They offered the throne to James’ daughter
Mary and her husband the Dutch Prince William
of Orange
• James and his wife and son went to live with
Louis
• William and Mary were crowned in 1689
The Glorious Revolution
• By accepting their crown from parliament Bill
and Mary accepted their authority
– The king would rule with the consent of the people
• A bill of rights was enforced
• John Locke’s Second Treatise of Civil
Government
– Life, Liberty, and Property
– When these are no longer protected the
government has failed and the people have the
right to overthrow it.
Quiz
• Answer #1 and chose either #2,3, or 4
– 1. Saint Simon faulted Louis for encouraging
the nobles extravagance. Is that a justifiable
criticism?
– 2. Using 3 examples from the reading, how
did absolutism decline in England in the 17th?
– 3. Using 3 examples from the book, describe
Puritanical Militarism.
– 4. Describe the rule of the Stuarts citing three
of them in particular.