Age of Absolutism

THE EMERGENCE OF POWERFUL RULERS

I Rule!!!

Questions to Consider

• What was Absolutism?
• Why did Europe’s monarchy gain such �vast power?
• What was the impact of the �Protestant Reformation?
• What was the impact of the �Age of Exploration?

Where did this power come from?

The Divine Right Theory

• God had chosen the Monarch to rule
• The Monarch was accountable to nobody but God
• If you questioned the Monarch, you were really questioning God

England: Elizabeth I (1533-1603)

• Daughter of Henry VIII
• “The Virgin Queen”
• Ruled 44 years
• Navy defeated Spanish Armada, 1588
• Built England into a world power
• Established English Protestant Church – She became Supreme Governor
• Elizabethan Era (Shakespeare)
• Last of the Tudors; After her death rule passes to the Stuarts

Queen Elizabeth I

Spain: Charles V (1519-1556)

1500s: Spain is most powerful nation in Europe

Charles V = King of Spain AND Holy Roman Emperor

- Largest European kingdom since Charlemagne �(red, pink, green, purple areas are under his control)

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Spain: Charles V (1519-1556)

Gives up Empire in 1556 and divides it.

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Spain: Philip II (1556-1598)

Philip expands his power, and that of the Catholic Church.

Believes he rules by divine right.

Promotes a golden age in Spain

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After his reign, in the 1600s, Spanish power declines

• Costly overseas wars
• Over-reliance on gold/silver from colonies
• Loss of support of the middle class

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France: Louis XIV – “The Sun King” – 1638-1715

1600s: France overtakes Spain as most powerful European nation

French kings increase royal power by increasing their influence and reducing that of nobles.

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Louis XIV Mini Bio

France: Louis XIV – “The Sun King” 1638-1715

Inherits throne at age 5. Rules for 72 years. Sun is symbol of power. Demands complete loyalty from subjects.

Centralized Power

- Gained from prolonged foreign wars (HRE, the Dutch, Spain) and domestic strife (Catholic: all Protestants were rebels)

- Gradually took control of finances, the legal system, the military

- Rule strengthened through Bishop Jacques Bossuet, who argued that as God’s representative, Louis should have unquestioned obedience

France: Louis XIV – “The Sun King” 1638-1715

Tremendous patron of the arts

Encyclopedia Britannica: He knew well how to make use of [the writers and artists around him]. He was the protector of writers, notably Molière and Jean Racine, whom he ordered to sing his praises, and he imposed his own visions of beauty and nature on artists. Thoughts?

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Commissioned the construction of the Palace of Versailles - considered extravagant then and now

France: Louis XIV – “The Sun King” 1638-1715

Admired and… had share of critics abroad and at home.

Multiple wars strengthen France’s borders, but expensive. Wars + parties = debt

Religious policy led to persecution.

Isolates the nobility from the people� - problem?

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Local History Connection

Protestant religious group fleeing Catholic persecution in France. Hasbrouck, DuBois

Louis XIV quotes

"I am the state." (Remark, probably apocryphal, made to the Parlement de Paris, 1655)

"There are some nations where the majesty of kings consists for the great part in not allowing themselves to be seen, and this may be reasonable among minds accustomed to servitude, people who can only be governed by fear and terror; but such is not the genius of our Frenchmen. . . . These social pleasures which give the people at Court a proper familiarity with us touches and charms them more than one can say."

European Colonial Powers at their height

England

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Spain

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France

Russia: Peter the Great 1672-1725

- Czar of Russia

- Absolute power is tradition

- Expand Russia #1 Goal

- Modernize/Westernize his country

- Built St. Petersburg after seeing western Europe (incognito)

- Increased absolute power: keep masses down, develop secret police

*Also likes wild excess and has a cruel side (like torturing and executing an 800 member elite military unit you think might overthrow you)

Russia: Peter the Great 1672-1725

More Great stuff…

• Encouraged science and technology
• Encouraged education
• Modernized russian alphabet along European lines
• Established first newspaper

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Discovery: Peter the Great

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Russia: Peter the Great 1672-1725

• Critics - Traditional Russians disliked his “Westernization”
• Peasants increasingly crushed by tax burden
• Many Russians disliked him, saw him as violent and cruel
• Dies 1725; Empress Elizabeth (daughter) is ruler
• Leads to Catherine II (Catherine the Great) who reigned 1762-1796

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Russia: Catherine the Great 1729 - 1796

• German born, at 14 she is chosen to marry Peter the Great’s grandson
• Smart, she builds alliances, and when he is removed from power she ascends as Catherine II (Catherine the Great) who reigned 1762-1796
• Support of both the military and “enlightened” society

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Russia: Catherine the Great 1729 - 1796

• Dedicated to Russia
• Believed in order, justice, education, national culture
• Liked many enlightenment reform ideas (Montesquieu, Rouseau) but difficult to integrate into Russia (serfs, medieval structure)
• Terrirtory grew (Poland, Ukraine)
• Build & Renovate towns (100+ new towns)
• Could be harsh, unscrupulous ruler

Russia

Peter the Great & Catherine the Great

• Expanded Russian State, using an Absolutist government
• Westernization (Making Russia part of Europe)
• Created a country that was a European power
• Created a country filled with internal tensions

* Roots of 1917…...

Coming Soon!!!