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
Stability
• The ruler stays in power until death
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 in France
Religious Wars and Power Struggles
• Henry of Navarre-converted to
Catholicism
Survived the 1572 St. Bartholomew’s Day
Massacre (of Huguenots)
• Edict of Nantes (1598)
Henry’s declaration of religious toleration
Allowed Catholics and Huguenots to live in
peace
Henry of Navarre
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
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
Making them dependant on the King
Forced them from their homes
Patronage of the Arts
• Palace was the center of European arts
The Palace at Versailles
The Palace at Versailles
Bedroom of Louis XIV
Death of Louis XIV and Legacy
Louis died in 1715
• Positive Legacy
France much more powerful
At the top of art, literature
Military leader of Europe
• Negative Legacy
Constant warfare and construction
Deep debt
Unfair tax system
Central Monarchs Clash
The Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648)
• Fought between Protestants (Hapsburgs) and
Catholics in the Holy Roman Empire
• Naval warfare expanded its destruction
• Helped to shape colonial formation of future
nations
• First 12 years, Protestants are successful
• Next 18 years, Catholics eventually gain the
advantage
Hapsburg Crest –
Dual Headed Eagle
Spain
Austria
The Thirty Years’ War
The Peace of Westphalia
Ends the Thirty Years’ War
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Hapsburgs of Spain and Austria weakened
France was strengthened
Religious wars in Europe ended
German princes were independent of HRE
Peace negotiation to end war started
Beginning of Modern States
• Ended the idea of a Catholic empire
Russian History
Russia Contrasts with Europe
• Economically
Still heavily reliant on serfdom
• Socially
Mongols kept Russia isolated from
Renaissance and Age of Exploration
• Geographically
Ports froze during winter
Size of Russia was a problem
• Religious differences
Europe: Catholic or Protestant
Russia: Orthodox
The Absolute Rulers of Russia
The First Czar
• Ivan IV (“The Terrible”)
became czar in 1533
Took control over the
nobles
• Rule by Terror
Police force organized to
track down and murder
“traitors” to Ivan
Killed many nobles
(boyars) and gave the
land to new, more loyal
nobles
The Absolute Rulers of Russia
(cont)
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 Rules Absolutely
Peter’s Reforms
• Russian Orthodox Church under state control
• Reduced the power of landowners
• Hired European military officers
Westernizing Russia
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Introduced potatoes
Women’s status increased
Nobles had to give up traditional dress
Advanced education
Peter Rules Absolutely
Establishing St. Petersburg
• Wanted to establish a seaport
Make it easier to get to Europe
Warm water port – would not freeze in
winter
• Built on a swamp
• 25-100K people died to build the city
• Became a very important port city
St. Petersburg
The Cathedral of the Spilled Blood
The English Civil War
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
Tried, convicted and executed Charles I
• Never had a monarch been tried and executed
English Civil War (cont)
Oliver Cromwell’s Rule
• General during the war who now led the
country
• Established a republican government
• Had to squash a rebellion in Ireland
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
The Restoration and Revolution
King Charles II
• Restored the Monarchy
of England
• Reformed the legal
system
King James II
• King James offended
many b/c of his
Catholicism
• Parliament worried of a
Catholic line of Kings
The Restoration and Revolution
King James II and the Glorious Revolution
• Parliament asked James’s Protestant daughter
Mary and her husband William to overthrow James
• William invaded, and James fled
• It was a Bloodless Revolution
Known as the Glorious Revolution
Limits on Monarch’s Power
Bill of Rights
• William and Mary established a constitutional
monarchy
• Limits on royal power increased
• Establishment of the English Bill of Rights
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
English Bill of Rights
Ruler cannot:
• Suspend Parliament’s
laws
• Levy taxes without
permission
• Interfere with
freedom of speech
• Penalize a citizen
who criticizes the
King
• THE END