Transcript Chapter 7: Crisis and Absolutism in Europe

Chapter 7: Crisis and Absolutism in
Europe
7.1 Europe in Crisis: The Wars of
Religion
French Wars of Religion
By 1560, Calvinism and Catholicism had become
militant – aggressive in trying to win converts
and in eliminating each others authority
French Wars of Religion (Civil War) – Between the
Huguenots and the Catholics
Huguenots (Bourbons) minority but made up 4050% of nobility
Catholics make up majority; party- ultraCatholics: recruit and pay for large armies
• War goes on 30 years, 1589 Henry of Navarre
(Bourbon) succeeded to he throne; realizes a
Protestant would never be accepted as king;
converts to Catholicism; fighting comes to an
end
• Edict of Nantes: recognized Catholicism as the
official religion of France but allowed
Huguenots the right to worship and the right to
enjoy all political privileges
Philip II and Militant Catholicism
–
Philip II inherited Spain, the Netherlands, and
possessions in Italy and the Americas from his father
Charles V
–
Phillip insisted absolute rule and strict conformity to
Catholicism
–
Phillip tried to crush Calvinism in the Spanish
Netherlands; 1566, Calvinist destroyed statues in Catholic
churches; Phillip sent 10,000 troops to put down the
rebellion; resistance continued until 1609 under the
leadership of William the Silent; after the truce the
northern provinces began to call themselves the United
Provinces of the Netherlands
–
1598, Phillip’s reign ended; treasury was bankrupt from
fighting wars; government inefficient; armed forces out of
date; result: power in Europe shifts to England and
France.
Philip II
The England
of Elizabeth
–
Elizabeth Tudor became the leader of protestant
nations in Europe.
–
Elizabeth I repealed laws favoring Catholic;
allowed religious tolerance, but the Church of
England remained protestant.
–
Phillip II prepared to attack England and restore
Catholicism; the armada that set sail in 1588
was too small and ill equipped to be able to
defeat the English; after a few encounters with
the English the Spanish retreated; many
Spanish ships sank in a storm
Spanish Armada
Section 7.2: Social Crisis, War, and
Revolution
4. Economic and Social Crisis:
A. major problem was inflation; caused
by:
1) gold and silver coming from the
Americas and
2) population increase causes an
increase in demand for all goods –
both drive prices up
5. The Witchcraft Trials:
A. The same religious zeal that led to the hunt
of heretics also led to the hunt of witches.
B. 16th and 17th Centuries, approximately
100,000 people were charged with witchcraft
in Europe.
The Accused
People who were poor and without
property were most
often accused. 75% were women;
single or widowed; over 50 yrs. Under
intense torture, they confessed
C. By 1650, witchcraft hysteria begun to
lessen because people found it
unreasonable to believe in the old view
of a world haunted by evil spirits.
The Witchcraft Trials
Tombstones of the Victims
“I have no hand in witchcraft.”
“I am no witch!”
“I am innocent!”
“I know nothing of it!”
“…I am wronged! “It is a
shameful thing that you
should mind these folks
that are out of their wits.”
“If it was the last
moment I was to
live, God knows I
am innocent!”
Village of Salem
The house at 'Olde Burying Point'
The House of Seven Gables
Judge Corwin’s House
“The house at the “Old Burying Point”
Gallows Hill
6. The Thirty Years’ War:
A. Takes place in the Holy Roman Empire;
several small separate states; states paid
little attention to their emperor; Ferdinand,
inherited from brother Charles V
B. War starts over religion; Northern states
protestant; Southern states Catholic; led by
the Hapsburgs
C. Soon the war turned political:
- France joins Sweden in fighting the
Catholic Hapsburgs
D. Peace of Westphalia ends the war. Terms:
- all German states could choose their
own religion
- 300+ states of the Holy Roman Empire
are recognized as independent; ends Holy
Roman Empire
- France gains territory from Germany and
Spain; the Netherlands wins independence.
7. Revolution in England
A. The Stuarts and Divine Right:
- Elizabeth I dies; no heir; throne
passes to her cousin James I of England
(James VI of Scotland); He joins crowns –
calls them Great Britain
James believed in divine right; parliament
assumed they ruled England with the king
or queen; Tudor’s had
James I of England
The Puritans wanted to make The Church
of England more protestant; problem
begins in James I reign, but becomes a
conflict in Charles I reign
Charles believes in divine right; parliament
passes a petition the king raising taxes
without the consent of Parliament; put limits
on the king’s power; he doesn’t accept
petition
Charles tries to impose more rituals on the
Church of England; Puritans who could not
accept these religious policies chose to go to
America
B. Civil War and the Commonwealth:
- Civil War: fought between the Cavaliers\Royalist –
supporters of the king and the Roundheads – they
were led by Oliver Cromwell; parliament
Cromwell was a military genius; put together the New
Model Army; made up mostly of puritans; soldiers
were well disciplined and trained in new military
tactics; result: Roundheads win the war
Cromwell purged parliament of members who did not
support him; had Charles I executed; made England
a commonwealth; eventually set up a military
dictatorship
Oliver Cromwell
C. Restoration:
Cromwell dies in 1658, parliament restores the throne to
Charles II
Charles II (sympathetic) and his brother James
(outright) were catholic; therefore parliament debated
the Exclusion Bill: barred professed Catholics from
the throne; created two political groups: 1. the Whigs
– wanted to excluded James and 2. the Tories – did
not want to interfere with lawful succession to the
throne; later they become political parties
Charles dismisses parliament in 1861; dies in 1865;
James II a devout Catholic becomes king; James
appoints Catholic to all top positions
Charles II
D. A Glorious Revolution:
A. A group of English noblemen invited
William of Orange to invade England and
take the throne because they are protestant;
William’s wife, Mary is James II daughter;
they raised an army and invaded England;
took the throne with almost no bloodshed;
James and his family fled to France –
Becomes known as the Glorious Revolution
Parliament offered William and Mary the
throne only if they would accepted the
English Bill of Rights; they do; destroys
the divine-right theory of kingship
Bill of Rights:
- Parliament has the right to make laws
and levy taxes (Amendment #16)
- armies could only be raised by
parliament (Legislative Branch)
- citizens had the right to bear
arms and the right to a jury trial
(Amendment #2 and #6)
- created a limited monarch; king
rules with laws and parliament is
elected. (Executive Branch)
Toleration Act of 1689: granted puritans,
not Catholics, the right of free
worship