Modern World History – Chapter 5: Absolute Monarchs in Europe – Flashcards
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Philip II
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This person was the King of Spain and considered himself the defender of Catholicism against Muslims and Protestantism. While he was king, he inherited the throne of Portugal. During his reign, Spain became very wealthy due to colonization. His Spanish Armada was defeated by England but his wealth gave him the appearance of strength.
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Absolute Monarch
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Kings or queens who held all the power within their nation's boundaries and had a goal of controlling every aspect of society. They believed in divine right.
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Divine Right
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The idea that God created the monarchy and that the monarch acted as God's representative on Earth. The monarch only has to answer to God, not their subjects.
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Peace of Augsburg
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Allowed German princes to choose the religion for their territory.
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Escorial
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Palace and Monastery of Philip II
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What led to the Golden Age of Spanish Art and Literature?
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Spain's great wealth allowed monarchs and nobles become patrons of artists.
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El Greco
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"The Greek" who lived his life in Spain. His art used brilliant clashing colors, distorted human figures and expressed emption symbolically in his paintings. His work expressed the deep Catholic faith of Spain.
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Don Quixote
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A book written by Miguel de Cervantes about a poor Spanish nobleman who went crazy after reading too many books about heroic knights and who traveled in a rusty suit of armor on a weak horse. At one point , the knight mistook windmills for giants.
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What weakened the Spanish Empire?
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Severe inflation and lack of a middle class.
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Inflation
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A decline in the value of money accompanied by a rise in the prices of goods and services.
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What caused inflation in Spain?
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A rise in population which caused the demand for food and other goods to rise, and silver flooded the market so its value dropped.
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Why didn't Spain have a middle class?
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When Spain ousted the Jews and Moors (Muslims), it lost artisans and business people. Since the nobles didn't pay taxes, only the lower classes were paying. As a result, the lower class was unable to start their own businesses so the middle class was gone.
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How did Spain make their enemies rich?
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Spaniards bought what they needed from France, England, and the Netherlands because it was cheaper than Spanish goods.
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What action bankrupted the Spanish?
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They borrowed money from Germany and Italian bankers so shiploads of silver had to be sent abroad to repay debts.
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What led to the Dutch revolt from Spanish rule?
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The Dutch had little in common with their Spanish rulers. Spain was Catholic and the Netherlands had many Calvinists. Philip II had raised taxes on the Netherlands because they had a prosperous middle class. He also tried to crush Protestantism. The revolt lasted 11 years and ended with seven Protestant provinces untied and declared their independence from Spain.
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What strengthened the United Provinces of the Netherlands?
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Religious tolerance and the republic system of government where each province had an elected governor whose power depended on the support of merchants and landholders.
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Rembrandt va Rign
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The greatest Dutch painter who painted portraits of wealth middle-class merchants and groups. He used sharp contrasts of light and shadow.
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Jan Vermeer
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Painter who chose domestic, indoor setting for his portraits. he often painted women doing familiar activities.
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What caused the Dutch to become stable and take over banking
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The government was stable and smart. The merchants bought surplus grain in Poland and when they heard about poor harvests in southern Europe, they used their fleet (largest in the world at the time) and sold it at high prices.
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Why did monarchs become more powerful during this time?
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It happened because of the decline of feudalism, the rise of cities, the growth of national kingdoms, the support of the middle class because they wanted a peaceful supportive climate for business, and the church's authority was breaking down.
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What crises lead to absolutism in the 17th century?
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There was great upheaval - religious and territorial conflicts, governments who built huge armies, heavy taxes, and peasant revolts. Monarchs tried to impose order by regulating everything including religion, government, and social gatherings.
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Edict of Nantes
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A declaration of religious tolerance issued by Henry IV and canceled by Louis XIV
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Cardinal Richelieu
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This person was the minister to Louis XIII who took steps to strengthen the power of the monarchy at the expense of the Huguenots and the nobility.
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skepticism
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The idea that nothing can ever by known for certain. The belief that one must doubt old ideas in order to take the first step towards finding truth.
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Louis XIV
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Was the "Sun King" who increased the power of the intendants at the expense of the nobility.
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Intendents
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These people were government agents who collected taxes and administered justice.
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Jean Baptiste Colbert
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The Minister of Finance for Louis XIV who believed in mercantilism and prevented wealth from leaving France by encouraging that France manufacture everything it needed instead of relying on imports (goods from other countries).
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War of Spanish Succession
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Was a conflict that was waged to prevent the union of the French and Spanish throne.
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Henry IV or Henry of Navarre
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He became the first king of the Bourbon dynasty and was a Protestant prince who became a Catholic King.
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Versailles
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The magnificent palace and monastery built for and by Louis XIV.
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Michel de Montaigne
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He was a writer who became a skeptic and developed essay form.
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Huguenots
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This group fought against Catholics in eight wars in France between 1562 and 1598.
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Cardinal Mazarin
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He was the minister to Louis XIII who took steps to strengthen the power of the monarchy at the expense of the Huguenots and the nobility.
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Louis XIII
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A weak king who appointed a strong minister who made up for his weaknesses - Cardinal Richelieu.
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Rene Descartes
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French philosopher and writer who examined the ideas of skepticism, influenced modern thinkers, and helped to develop the scientific method.
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Thirty Year's War
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A conflict over religion (Catholic League vs. Protestant Union) and territory for power among European ruling families.
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Treaty of Nijmegan
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This ended France's attempt to invade the Spanish Netherlands . The Dutch beat the French at one point by opening the water dikes and flooding the countryside. In the end, France gained substantial land.
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French Intellectuals
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Believed in skepticism or that nothing can ever be known for certain.
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What created chaos in France?
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Wars between the Huguenots (Protestants) and the Catholics.
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How did Louis XIV support the arts?
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He made the palace of Versailles the center of the arts. He encouraged the opera, ballet, plays centered in French literature, and had art focus of glorifying the king and promoting values that supported absolute rule.
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Why did Louis XIV fail in his attempts to expand the French Empire?
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A European-wide alliance had formed to stop France. Weaker countries banded together to match France's strength. France had been weakened by poor harvests, high taxes, and constant warfare.
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What was the legacy of Louis XIV?
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Louis left a mixed legacy • France was a huge power, ranked above all others in art, literature, and statesmanship, considered the military leader in Europe. • France was in severe debt due to the wars and construction of the Palace of Versailles, resentment over the tax on the poor, and a reputation for abuse of power by the Absolute Monarch - led to revolution
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Maria Theresa
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This person's land was the center of the "The War of the Austrian Succession" as they were the heir to the Hapsburg territories which included Austria, Hungry, and Bohemia.
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Frederick II
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He was known as "The Great" and was the King of Prussia after his father "The Great Elector" finished ruling. He believed a ruler should act like a father to his people and softened some of his fathers strict laws, brought legal reform and religious tolerance to Prussia.
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Seven Years' War
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Ended with part of Germany belonging to France, German princes became independent of the Holy Roman Empire, Germany's population declined and their economy was ruined, and the Hapsburg states of Spain and Austria were weakened.
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How did the Hapsburgs become more powerful
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They conquered Bohemia, wiped out Protestantism and created a new group of loyal Czech nobility, centralized their government, and retook Hungry from the Ottoman Empire.
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Hapsburgs
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They won most of the battles of the Thirty Years' War.
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Causes of the Thirty Years' War
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Lutherans formed a Protestant Union and the Catholic Princes formed the Catholic League to deal with threats of religious freedom and territory.
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Peace of Westphalia
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This ended the Thirty Years' War.
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Western Europe.
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In the mid-1600's, this group was the LEAST dependent of the labor of serfs.
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Prussia
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Under Maria Theresa, this country was Austria's greatest enemy.
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Two reasons why central European empires were weak
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Thirty Years' War ended absolute rulers and the German states and the Ottoman Empire declined.
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What did the Hohenzollerns do to build up their state?
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Built a strong army, built and absolute monarchy, introduced permanent taxes to pay for the military.
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Ferdinand II
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Head of the Hapsburg Family and future leader of the Holy Roman Empire. He ruled the Czech kingdom of Bohemia. He was not trusted by the Protestants in his country because he was a foreigner and Catholic so a revolt began. German Princes helped fight the Catholics but Ferdinand sent an army. This started the Thirty Years' War.
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Hohenzollerns
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This group was the ruling family of Prussia
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Fredrick William
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"The Great Elector" of Brandenburg in Prussia who built up a strong army and took on the role of an absolute monarch.
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Ivan the Terrible
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The first Russian ruler to adopt the title "czar", meaning "Caesar". His cruelty was aimed at the nobles.
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boyars
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Russian landowning nobles who Czar Ivan did not trust and punished for trying to control of him when he was a child and for poisoning his wife by creating a police force to hunt down and murder boyars, their families, and peasants.
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Peter the Great
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He decided to be an absolute ruler and westernize Russia, by taking control of the Russian Orthodox Church, reducing the power of landowners, raising taxes to pay for a huge army that he had trained by European officers, introducing potato crops, starting a Russian newspaper, raising women's status, and ordering the nobles to dress in western clothing, and advanced education
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westernization
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Means to use western Europe as a model for change within another society. Peter the Great decided to westernize Russia because its society was still behind Europe, dependent on serfdom for to grow large crops.
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Russian Serfs
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This group was the most essential part of the Russian economy at the time that Peter the great took the throne.
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Saint Petersburg
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A city that Peter the Great had built near the water routes to Europe, to give Russia a warm-water port.
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Why did Peter the Great travel to Western Europe?
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To see firsthand the modern tools and machines.
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How did Peter the Great weaken the Russian Orthodox Church?
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He brought the church under state control, abolished the office of patriarch and set up the Holy Synod to run the Church under his direction
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How did Peter the Great take power away from the landowners?
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He recruited men from lower-ranking families and promoted them to positions of authority and rewarded them with grants of land.
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How did Peter the Great help the Russian untrained and outdated army?
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Hired European officers who drilled the solders in European tactics with European weapons and made being a soldier a lifetime job.
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How did Peter the Great help Russian society to change so they could compete with the modern states of Europe?
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Introduced the potato, started the first newspaper, raised women's status by having them attend social gatherings, ordered nobles to give up traditional clothing for Western fashions, and advanced education by opening a school of navigation and schools for the arts and sciences.
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How did Peter the Great believe get a seaport for travel to the West?
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He fought Sweden to gain a piece of the Baltic coast in a war that took 21 years.
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How did Peter the Great build the new area on the Baltic coast?
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He had the army force thousands of serfs to work building the city of St. Petersburg. The conditions were terrible and disease was a major problem, between 25,000 and 100,000 people died.
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How did Peter the Great get Russians to move to St. Petersburg?
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He ordered many Russian nobles to leave Moscow and settle in St. Petersburg.
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Charles I
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Money was the worst struggle because England was at war and needed funds for the military. He dissolved Parliament after they refused to give him funds. He called Parliament back together to resolve the funding and the Petition of Right was signed as a compromise. The document limited the king in the areas of imprisoning subjects without due cause, levying taxes, housing soldiers in private homes, and not allowing martial law in peacetime. After receiving the funds, Charles ignored the compromise under the theory of absolutism. He eventually started the English Civil War when he upheld the rituals of the Anglican Church, forced Scots to follow one religion, and a rebellion erupted.
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English Civil War
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A conflict where the supporters of Charles I (Royalist or Cavaliers) fought against the Puritan supporters of the English Parliament (Roundheads) fought for control of England. In the end, Oliver Cromwell lead the Puritan Roundheads to victory when Charles I was captured, found guilty of treason and put to death.
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Oliver Cromwell
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A great Puritan leaders who opposed Charles I during the English Civil War, who eventually brought Charles to trial for treason against Parliament who found him guilty and sentenced him to death. He abolished the monarchy and the House of Lords and established a commonwealth or republic. Later he became a military dictator.
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Restoration
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A period in English history where Charles II restored the monarch after Oliver Cromwell had dissolved it and created a military dictator.
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habeas corpus
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Meaning "to have a body". This law gave prisoners the right to receive written notification ordering them to be brought before a judge to specify the charges and to be tried or set free by a judge.
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Glorious Revolution
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A bloodless revolution in England whereby James II's daughter and her husband, William the Orange of the Netherlands, came to England with troops to overthrow James II in the name of Protestantism and James II fled to France.
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constitutional monarchy
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A form of government where by laws limit the power of a ruler.
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cabinet
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A group of government ministers, or officials who acted in the ruler's name but really represented the major party of Parliament.
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James I and Parliament
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Money was the worst struggle. James offended Puritan Parliament members because he would not support their desire to purify the English church of Catholic practices.
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Charles II and Parliament
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He restored the monarchy and started the English period of "Restoration". Parliament passed habeas corpus (to have body) which guaranteed prisoners' rights to a trial, to know the specific charges against them, and to have a judge determine the punishment. Parliament debated who should succeed Charles II because he had no sons. The debate divided Parliament into two political parties - Whigs opposed James, Charles brother. Tories supported James.
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James II and Parliament
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He was a Catholic who appointing several Catholics to high office. Parliament protested and James dissolved it. The Glorious Revolution was a bloodless war where James II oldest daughter, who was Protestant, who was married to William the Orange (Netherland Prince) was invited by seven members of Parliament to overthrow James II in the name of Protestantism. When William arrived with an army, James II fled to France.
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William and Mary and Parliament
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Vowed to recognize Parliament as their partner in governing England changing England to a constitutional monarchy where laws limited the ruler's power. A Bill of Rights was developed and accepted, a cabinet system was developed.
