2. French Religious wars of the 16th century pitted
Protestant Calvinists against Catholics
From 1560 to 1650, wars and social crises
plagued Europe
European monarchs sought economic and
political stability through absolutism and the
divine right of kings
Concern with order and power was reflected in
the writings of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke
3. By 1560, both Catholics and Calvinists were
becoming more militant; that is, they were
combative against other religions, aggressive in
trying to convert people and worked to
eliminate the authority of other religions.
The French Wars of Religion had a devastating
affect on France
The Catholic French king prosecuted Protestants,
but were unable to stop the spread of
Protestantism
4. The Huguenots were French Protestants
influenced by Calvin that made up about 7% of
the French population
About half of the nobility were Huguenots,
including the house of Bourbon, who ruled
southern France (in Navarre)
Because so many nobles were Huguenots, the
crown felt threatened
Catholics still outnumbered Huguenots; they also
could recruit and pay for large armies
5. The Catholics and Huguenots fought for 30 years
Huguenot nobles wanted to weaken the monarchy
Towns and provinces resented the power of the monarchy
and sided with the Huguenot nobles
In 1589, Henry of Navarre, a Huguenot, succeeded to
the French throne as Henry IV
He converted to Catholicism
He was crowned king in 1594, which ended the religious
wars
He issued the Edict of Nantes (1598) that recognized
Catholicism as the official religion of France, but gave the
Huguenots the right to worship and to enjoy political
privileges previously denied to them, like holding public
office
6. Philip II was a militant Catholic
who ruled Spain from 1556 to
1598
He consolidated conquered
territories, including the
Netherlands, parts of Italy, and
parts of the Americas; he
strengthened his control by
insisting on strict conformity to
Catholicism and his authority
He was a champion of Catholic
causes, and fought battles to
regain lands taken over by the
Turks
7. The Spanish Netherlands were important to
Philip II, as they provided great wealth to Spain
The nobles of the Netherlands resented Spain
and Philip II as they lost privileges and were
persecuted for practicing the Protestant
religion
In 1566, Calvinists in the Netherlands destroyed
statues in Catholic churches; Philip sent 10,000
troops to crush the rebellion
8. William the Silent, the
prince of Orange,
Netherlands resisted
Philip II’s rule
They battled until 1609,
when Spain signed a truce
with him (the truce only
lasted 12 years)
The northern provinces
began to call themselves
the United Provinces of the
Netherlands, which
became the core of the
modern Dutch state
9. Philip’s reign came to an end in 1598
Spain was bankrupt from spending too much on
war
His successor spent excessively on his home and
court
After Philip’s death, power in Europe shifted to
England and France
10. Elizabeth ascended the English
throne in 1558; she was the
daughter of Henry VIII, who created
the church of England
During her reign, England became
the leader of the Protestant nations
of Europe
She used diplomacy to keep Spain
and France from fighting; the
Spanish sent an armada (fleet of
ships) to attack her, but she
prevailed and most of the fleet was
destroyed; what was left were
damaged by storms on their way
back to Spain
11. From 1560 to 1650, Europe witnessed severe
economic and social crises
One critical problem was inflation, or rising prices.
This was brought about because of the influx of
gold and silver into Europe
An economic slowdown occurred when the amount
of silver imported from the Americas was reduced
due to failing mines and pirates
Population growth also caused economic problems
12. During the 16th and
17th centuries, a
hysteria about
witchcraft affected
Europe (and parts of
America)
More than 100,000
people were charged
with witchcraft; 75% Those who were found
were women guilty were often put to
Those accused were death, usually by being
tortured into burned alive
confessing
13. This war was a result of religious conflicts
throughout Europe
It began in 1618 as a struggle between the Holy
Roman emperor and Protestant nobles in
Bohemia.
The conflict became political and Denmark,
Sweden, France, and Spain entered the conflict
Most of the battles were fought on German soil;
this was the most destructive war Europe had
seen to this point in history
14. Germany was plundered and destroyed for 30
years
Rival armies roamed the German countryside,
sacking towns and fighting battles
The Peace of Westphalia officially ended the
war in 1648
The major players gained new territories
France emerged as the dominant nation after the
war
The peace treaty declared that the German states
could choose their own religion
The war brought an end to the Holy Roman Empire
15. After Queen Elizabeth’s death in 1603, James I took the throne
James believed in the divine right of kings – the belief that kings receive
their power from God and are responsible only to God
Parliament disagreed strongly with James, which would cause problems
in the future
The Puritans were alienated by James I, who wanted to
strengthen the Church of England
Parliament had a strong contingent of Puritans holding office, which
created conflict with the king
James’ son Charles held the same beliefs as his father, but he
had more conflicts with Parliament
Parliament passed a tax law that prohibited the king from imposing
taxes without their consent
He also alienated the Puritans further, causing many of them to flee to
the Americas
16. The English Civil War started in 1642; the supporters of
the king (called Cavaliers or Royalists) fought against
supporters of the Parliament (called Roundheads)
Parliament won, largely due to the army of Oliver
Cromwell
Cromwell purged Parliament of anyone who did not support
him
Charles I was executed on January 30, 1649
Parliament abolished the monarchy and the House of Lords
and declared England a republic, or commonwealth
Cromwell found it difficult to deal with
Parliament and eventually replaced it with a
military dictatorship
17. After Cromwell dies, the Parliament restored
the monarchy and put Charles II (Charles I’s son)
on the throne
Parliament kept most of its power and passed
laws favorable to the Church of England
In 1685, James II became king; he was a
Catholic, which caused conflict with Parliament
James appointed Catholics to prestigious
positions and Parliament worried about a
Catholic monarchy
18. English nobles who feared a Catholic monarchy asked William of
Orange (married to James’ daughter Mary) to invade England
William and Mary raised an army in 1688 and “invaded”
England; James and his wife fled to France
In January of 1689, Parliament offered the throne to William and
Mary
They accepted it, along with a Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights allowed Parliament to make laws and levy taxes
It did not allow the monarch to raise an army without Parliament’s
consent
It also allowed citizens to keep arms and have a jury trial
It created a system of government based on the rule of law (instead of the
divine right of kings)
Parliament passed the Toleration Act of 1689, which gave
Puritans the right to free public worship
It did not protect Catholics, but citizens were no longer persecuted for
their religious beliefs
19. One response to the crises all over Europe was to make
the monarch stronger by increasing his/her power.
The result was called absolutism, a system in which the
ruler holds total power.
Tied to the “divine right of kings”.
It was thought rulers received their power from God and were
responsible to no one except God
Absolute monarchs had extensive powers
They could make laws, levy taxes, administer
justice, control the state and determine foreign
policy
20. Louis XIV is considered
the best example of the
practice of absolutism
The French king
dominated the political
affairs of western and
central Europe; his
court was imitated
throughout Europe
21. Prior to Louis XIV taking the throne, France was
in a period of struggle, as government forces
fought to keep the state from breaking down
This situation was difficult because Louis XII and
Louis XIII were boys when they came to the throne
Both were strongly influenced by advisors and
ministers
Two ministers played an important role in
preserving the authority of the monarchy:
Cardinal Richelieu and Cardinal Mazarin
22. Cardinal Richelieu was Louis XIII’s chief minister; he
strengthened the power of the monarchy
Richelieu took away the political and military rights of the Huguenots,
but preserved their religious rights
Richelieu used a network of spies to keep the nobility in line
Louis XIV came to the throne a the age of four; Cardinal Mazarin
was his chief minister and took control of the government
Mazarin maintained the power of the monarchy
Mazarin crushed a revolt led by nobles who were unhappy with the
growing power of the monarch
When Mazarin died in 1661, Louis XIV took over as supreme power (he
was 23)
He established a strict routine and fostered the myth of himself as the
Sun King – the source of light for all his people
23. The Royal Court at Versailles served three purposes:
Louis’ personal household
Chief offices of the state located there
Subjects came to find favors & offices
Louis removed high nobles & princes from his court to
remove their threat; he invited them to court to keep
them busy
Louis expected ministers to obey his every wish; this
gave him complete authority over France
Louis did not run day-to-day life in towns and cities,
local governments did
Louis attempted to convert Huguenots to Catholicism;
many fled France out of fear when Louis closed their
churches and schools
24. Finances were a crucial issue for Louis; he had Jean-
Baptiste Colbert as controller-general of finances
Colbert followed the ideas of mercantilism
He granted subsidies to new industries
He built roads and canals
He decreased imports and raised tariffs
The king developed a standing army; he waged four
wars between 1667 and 1713
Louis died in 1715
He left debt and enemies on all sides
His great-grandson became king at five years old
25. After the Thirty Years’ War, Germany was no longer
unified, instead there were over 300 independent
states; Prussia & Austria emerged as strongest powers
Prussia gained power by building a standing army; Frederick
William the Great Elector ruled Prussia through a General
War Commissariat that ran the army and eventually the civil
bureaucracy
Frederick’s son became King Frederick I of Prussia
Austria was ruled by the Hapsburgs (who used to run
the Holy Roman Empire)
Austria took control of Hungary, Transylvania, Croatia, and
Slavonia
The monarchy avoided absolutism; the Austrian empire was
a loose collection of territories held together by the
Hapsburg emperor
26. A new Russian state emerged under the
leadership of Muscovy and its dukes
Ivan IV became the first Czar in the 16th century
Ivan expanded the territories eastward; he crushed
the power of the Russian nobility
He was known as “Ivan the Terrible” because he
was so ruthless
After his death, there was a period of anarchy
that lasted until 1613, when Michael Romanov
became the new Czar; the Romanov’s ruled
until 1917
27. Peter the Great was one of the most prominent
members of the Romanov family
He was an absolutist monarch
He was determine to “westernize” Russia after a trip to
Europe
Under Peter, Russia became a great military power
Peter reorganized the army
He divided Russia into provinces
He introduced Western customs, practices, and
manners
Peter fought Sweden to gain access to the Baltic Sea
He built St. Petersburg as a western city
It remained Russia’s capital until 1918
28. In the 1520s and 1530s, a new
movement called Mannerism emerged
in Italy
Deliberate breaking down of Renaissance
principals;
Proportion and harmony were deliberately
ignored
Elongated figures used to show suffering,
emotion, and religious ecstasy
El Greco was considered a master of
Mannerism; his use of elongated and
contorted figures depicted the mood of
religious upheaval felt in the
Reformation
29. Mannerism was eventually replaced by the
Baroque movement.
Again, this movement began in Italy
Catholic reform movement adopted this style of art
for churches and cathedrals
Baroque art brought together the classical
ideals of Renaissance art with the spiritual
feelings of religious revival
Used dramatic effects to arouse emotions
Art and architecture was magnificent with rich
details
30. Bernini is considered one of the greatest figures of the Baroque
period; note the emotional detail in the face and the rich detail
in the clothing and furniture of the Ludovica:
Bernini’s Ludovica
31. England experienced a cultural flowering called
the Elizabethan Era, because so much of it
occurred during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I
William Shakespeare is the most famous of this
era’s writers
London theater was very successful, with multiple
venues and playwrights
Shakespeare wrote and acted in plays; he also
owned part of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, a
theater company
32. Spain also produced great literature during this
period
Miguel de Cervantes wrote his greatest work, Don
Quixote, which examined the dual nature of the
Spanish character
It examined the conflict between religious ideals and
reality
Lope de Vega was a Spanish playwright who wrote
over 1500 plays
33. Hobbes wrote Leviathan, a work on political thought that
addressed the disorder of the 17th century
He believed that before society was organized, humans were solitary,
poor, nasty, and brutish
He wrote about the social contract, wherein people agreed to be ruled
by a king in order to maintain a civil society
Locke wrote about government and was against the rule of one
person
Locke believed in natural rights – the rights which people were born
with, like life, liberty, and property
Locke believed it was difficult for people to protect their natural rights
against an absolute ruler
He believed government should protect these rights, and then people
would act reasonably toward the government
Locke was writing about the aristocracy, not the poor; he did not
advocate democracy
