Transcript Document

Absolute Monarchs in
Europe
Chapter Five
What is absolutism?

Period of time when Europe’s
monarchs got stronger
• Monarchs ruled with absolute power

Divine Right Theory
• Idea that God had chosen the monarch to rule
 Everyone believes the theory during this
period
 If you question the king, you question God
Europe During the
Age of Absolutism
Strengths of Absolute Monarchies

Efficiency
• Decisions are made by one person

Nationalism
• Promoted a common culture and
identity
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Stability
• The ruler stays in power until death
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Wealth
• No resistance means a large and
powerful empire
Weaknesses of Absolute
Monarchies

Undemocratic
• No collaboration of ideas

Individual rights
• Often violated

Stability
• If the ruler was poor, it could affect the
country for decades
How to achieve more power?

Monarchs gained power generally in
one of two ways:
• Raising taxes

Increased their overall wealth and treasuries
• Waging war

Victory often led to riches
Absolute Monarchy-Spain

Phillip II (reign: 15541598)
• Fought to protect and
expand Catholicism
• Took control of Portugal
when its king died
without an heir
• Created an army of
about 50K soldiers
The Fall of the Spanish Empire

Inflation and Taxes
• Spain suffered from a severe economic
decline
• Wars cost Spain too much money

Had to declared bankruptcy
Absolute Monarchy in France

Religious Wars and Power Struggles
• King Henry of Navarre-converted to
Catholicism
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Survived the 1572 St. Bartholomew’s Day
Massacre (of Huguenots)
Henry’s declaration of religious toleration
-Allowed Catholics and Huguenots to live in
peace
• Louis XIII and Richelieu

After Henry died, his son took over…
Louis XIII
Henry of Navarre
Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu

Louis XIII was a weak King
• Had an extremely powerful minister for
support-Cardinal Richelieu
Who…
• Moved against the Huguenots and all
Protestants
• Weakened the Nobles power and relied
on the middle class instead
Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu
Louis XIV Comes to Power

Louis XIV, the Boy King (1643)
• Was not the true leader until 1661
• Cardinal Marazin ran the country

Louis Weakens the Noble’s Authority
• Excluded the Nobles from his council
• Loses his influence over the same
people who gave the Monarchy its true
power
The Sun King’s Grand Style

King Louis spent much money on his
personal life (servants, food, etc.)
• Especially the Palace at Versailles

Louis Controls the Nobility
• Forced Nobles to be at the palace
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Making them dependant on the King
Forced them from their homes
Patronage of the Arts
• Palace was the center of European arts
Louis XIV
“The Sun King”
The Palace at Versailles
The Palace at Versailles
Bedroom of Louis XIV
Death of Louis XIV and Legacy
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Louis died in 1715
• Positive Legacy
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France much more powerful
At the top of art, literature
Military leader of Europe
• Negative Legacy
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Constant warfare and construction
Deep debt
Unfair tax system
States Form in Central Europe

Economic Contrasts with the West
• Serfdom still strong in eastern Europe

Weak Empires
• Ottoman Empire
• Holy Roman Empire

The rise of Austria and Prussia
• Due to the end of the Holy Roman
Empire
Ottoman Empire
HRE
Prussian
Empire
AustrianHungarian
Empire
States Form in Central Europe

Weak Empires
• Ottoman Empire
• Holy Roman Empire

The rise of Austria
and Prussia
• Due to the end of
the Holy Roman
Empire
States Form in Eastern Europe

Austria Grows Stronger
• Gains Hungary and
Bohemia
• Wiped out Protestantism

Maria Theresa Inherits
the Throne
• Fought constantly with
Prussia
• Limited the labor that
nobles could force
peasants to do
States Form in Eastern
Europe
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Austria Grows
Stronger
• Gains Hungary
and Bohemia
• Wiped out
Protestantism
Prussia Challenges Austria
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The Rise of Prussia
• Became a rigidly controlled, highly
militarized society
• Controlled by the King and the Junker
class – landowning nobles
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Frederick the Great
• Very practical leader – ruler as father
• Atheist- established religious toleration
• Very aggressive in foreign affairs
Prussia Challenges Austria
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War of Austrian
Succession
• War between Prussia
and Austria (1740)
• Fought for control of
Silesia (iron, textiles)
• France helped Prussia,
England and Austria
• Prussia wins in 1748,
becoming a major
European power
The Absolute Rulers of Russia
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The First Czar
• Ivan IV (“The Terrible”)
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became czar (caesar) in 1533
Took control over the nobles
• Rule by Terror
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Police force organized to track down and
murder “traitors” to Ivan
Killed many nobles (boyars) and gave the
land to new, more loyal nobles
Ivan IV
The Absolute Rulers of Russia
(cont)
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Rise of the Romanovs
• After Ivan IV’s death (1584), there was
a power vacuum
• “Time of Troubles” – nobles struggling
for power
• 1613 Michael Romanov was chosen as
the next czar

Romanov Dynasty 1613-1917
Peter the Great Comes to Power
1689-1725
Peter visits the West
• Wanted to learn about European
customs and manufacturing techniques
Peter the Great
St. Petersburg
The Cathedral of the Spilled Blood
Parliament Limits the English Monarchy
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Monarchs Defy Parliament
• King James’s Problems
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Offended Puritan members of Parliament
Fought over money
• King Charles I Fights Parliament
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Wanted money, Parliament refused each
time – he dissolved Parliament
Parliament forced him to sign the Petition of
Right – took power from King
• He did, but then just ignored it
On a side note…
The Magna Carta
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1.
Henry II’s
son, Richard the LionHearted assumed the
throne after his death
2. Richard’s brother
John, an unpopular
king, followed him and
fights a costly &
unsuccessful war with
France
3. People don’t like to
lose money
4. Those with money (
the English nobles)
rebelled & forced John
to grant guarantees of
The Magna Carta
…presented their demands to him in written form as the
Magna Carta (Great Charter).

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Served as the major source
of traditional English
respect for individual
rights & liberties…
served as a contract
between the king & nobles
of England
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It implied the idea that
monarchs had to govern
according to common law
not divine law
King James then King Charles

As king, James I continued to ignore parliamentary
courts, which used common law. because of this…
The people began to accuse the king of tyranny.
Then came King Charles
Parliament Overthrows the King
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The troubles under James became explosions under
his son, Charles I, who became king in 1625.
He asked Parliament for money in 1628.

In return for money, Parliament tried to limit royal power
further with the Petition of Right ( document against theories
of absolute monarchy).
It demanded an end to
• taxing without Parliament’s consent
• imprisoning citizens illegally
• housing troops in citizens’ homes
• maintaining military government in peacetime
The End of Charles I
1.
2.
3.
4.
Charles agreed to sign the petition.
Then, he ignored the commitments secured in the
document.
Charles dismissed Parliament in 1629 and refused to
convene it again.
Parliament passed laws to reduce the power of the
monarchy, angering the king. Grievances continued to
grow.
5.
In 1642, the English Civil War broke out; Royalists, who
upheld the monarchy, were opposed by antiroyalists,
who supported Parliament.
English Civil War
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War Topples a King
• Parliament tried to limit the powers of
King Charles I – starts a war instead
• English Civil War (1642-1649)
• Royalists (Cavaliers) vs. Roundheads
• Puritan Roundheads won
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Tried, convicted and executed Charles I
• Never had a monarch been tried and executed
English Civil War (cont)
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Oliver Cromwell’s Rule
• General during the war who now led the
country
• Established a republican government
• Had to squash a rebellion in Ireland
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Puritan Morality
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•
•
•
Sought to reform society
Abolish sinful activities – sports, theater
Religious toleration for all except Catholics
Cromwell ruled until death, gov’t collapsed
Charles I
Commanded by their leader Oliver Cromwell, antiroyalists won
control of the government…
Soon after
…Charles was condemned as a “tyrant, murderer, and public
enemy” and, in 1649, was executed.
Establishment of Constitutional Monarchy
1.
After Charles’s execution, Cromwell established a republic
called the Commonwealth of England.
After failing to gain full support from Parliament…
2.
In 1653 he dissolved Parliament and created a government
called the Protectorate. He named himself Lord Protector, in
effect becoming a military dictator.
3. Cromwell’s son Richard is a failure leading to him resigning
and in 1660, a new Parliament restored the monarchy and
invited Charles Stuart, the son of Charles I, to take the
throne.
Oliver Cromwell
Restoration and Revolution
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Charles II Reigns
• Restored the Monarchy of England
• Reformed the legal system
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James II and the Glorious Revolution
• King James offended many b/c of his
Catholicism
• Parliament worried of a Catholic line of Kings
• James’s Protestant daughter Mary and her
husband William were asked by Parliament to
overthrow James
• William invaded, and James fled – Bloodless
Revolution known as the Glorious Revolution
King Charles II and King James II
England’s Legacy & Influence
Parliament had established its right to limit the English
monarch’s power and to control succession to the
throne, making it a constitutional monarchy, in which
the powers of the ruler are restricted by the
constitution and the laws of the country.
This was done through the…
English Bill of Rights
In 1689, William and Mary accepted from Parliament a
The English Bill of Rights which limited the
monarchy’s power and protected free speech in
Parliament.
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Ruler cannot:
• Suspend Parliament’s
laws
• Levy taxes without
permission
• Interfere with freedom of
speech
• Penalize a citizen who
criticizes the King
Limits On A Monarchs Power
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Bill of Rights
• William and Mary established a
constitutional monarchy
• Limits on royal power increased

Cabinet System Develops
• Became the link between the King and
Parliament - advisors to the King
• Leader of the majority party heads the
cabinet – Prime Minister
Why This Is Important?
1.
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2.
The United States adopted many of the government
reforms and institutions that the English developed in this
period. including…
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Habeus corpus
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freedom of speech
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freedom of worship
strong executive and legislative governments checking each
other
From Magna Carta to Bill of Rights, these legal and
political developments, along with the ideas of the
Enlightenment, would give rise to democratic revolutions
in America and France in the late 18th century.