- Wars of the 16th century pitted Protestants against Catholics across Europe from 1560 to 1650. Monarchs sought stability through absolutism and the divine right of kings. - In France, Calvinism and Catholicism had become militant religions fighting for converts, fueling the French Wars of Religion from 1560-1589. The Edict of Nantes in 1598 granted Huguenots religious freedom. - King Philip II of Spain strongly supported militant Catholicism and fought to prevent the spread of Protestantism, battling the English and Dutch. However, Spain's costly wars bankrupted the nation, and real power shifted to England under Queen Elizabeth I.

2. Chapter 14 Summary
• Wars of the 16th century pitted Protestants
against Catholics. 
• From 1560 to 1650, wars and economic
and social crises plagued Europe.
• European monarchs sought economic and
political stability through absolutism and
the divine right of kings. 
• The people become concerned with
order and power

3. The French Wars of Religion
• Calvinism and Catholicism had become
militant (combative) religions by 1560. 
• Their struggle for converts and
against each other was the main
cause
• The Huguenots were French Protestants
influenced by John Calvin. 
• Huguenots = 7% of the pop. But 50% of
nobility, including the house of Bourbon

4. Ultra Catholics
Vs.
Huguenots
(Calvinistic Protestants)

5. The French Wars of Religion (cont.)
• Townspeople were willing to help nobles
weaken the monarchy - became a base of
opposition against the Catholic king. 
• Civil war raged for 30 years until in 1589,
Henry of Navarre, leader of the
Huguenots, succeeded to the throne as
Henry IV.
• He issued the Edict of Nantes in 1598. 
• It recognized Catholicism as France’s official
religion, but gave the Huguenots the right to
worship

6. Coronation of Henry IV

7. Henry of Navarre
becomes Henry IV
French King – converts to Catholicism

8. Ferdinand and Isabella
Expelled Muslims Financed Amounts of gold,
in Grandada and Christopher silver and other
enforced religious Columbus on His precious jewels
unity. expeditions. came to Spain.

9. Wearing
Two
Crowns

10. Spain
By the 1500’s Spain had
become the first modern
European power.
Under Queen Isabella and
King Ferdinand, Spain had
expelled the last of the
Muslim rulers.
They had financed
Columbus’ voyages to the
new world.
Spain had led the conquest
of the Americas

11. Spain
By 1519, Spain was so
large and so difficult to
rule that King Charles V
divided it in half and went
off to live in a monastery.

12. Spain
He gave the Hapsburg empire of central Europe to his
brother, Ferdinand.

13. Spain
He gave Spain, the Netherlands, southern Italy and
Spain’s overseas empire to his son Philip.

14. King Philip of Spain
Under Philip, Spain became
the most powerful nation in
Europe.
Philip reigned as an absolute
monarch, a ruler with
complete authority over
the government and the
lives of the people.
He believed he ruled due to
divine right, authority given
him directly from God.

15. King Philip of Spain
From Spain he “defended” the Roman Catholic Church
against the spread of Protestantism and Islam.
He fought the Ottoman Empire to prevent the spread of
Islam in the Mediterranean.
He fought the English and the Netherlands to prevent
the spread of Protestantism in Northern Europe.
In 1588, the Spanish Armada was sunk in the English
Channel as they tried to invade England.

16. Spain’s siglo de oro or golden
century
From 1550 to 1650
Spanish artists and
writers produced
many brilliant works
of art.
Artists
El Greco
Diego Velazquez

17. The economic decline of Spain
By the late 1600’s, France had replaced
Spain as the most powerful European
nation.
Lack of leadership
Costly foreign wars
High taxes to pay for war
Expulsion of Protestants, Muslims and
Jews

18. Phillip II and Militant Catholicism
• King Philip II of Spain was the greatest
supporter of militant Catholicism. 
• He ruled from 1556 to 1598, period of
greatness in Spain.
• Strict adherence to Catholicism and
support for the monarchy. 
• Spain - the nation God chose to save
Catholic Christianity from the
Protestant heretics.

19. Philip II
of Spain
*
“The
Most
Catholic
King”

20. Philip –
tried to use
marriage as
a political
tool.
Married Mary
(England) –
Liz’s sister

21. 1554 Shillilng – Philip & Mary

22. Phillip II and Militant Catholicism
(cont.)
• Spain was the world’s most populous
empire when Philip’s reign ended in
1598. 
• It seemed a great power, but in
reality Philip had bankrupted the
country by spending too much on
war. 
• Real power shifted to England.

23. The England of Elizabeth
• Elizabeth Tudor ascended to the
throne of England in 1558. 
• During her reign, this small island became
the leader of the Protestant nations and
laid the foundation for becoming a world
empire.
• She tried to keep France and Spain
from becoming too powerful by
supporting first one and then the
other, balancing their power. 

24. Video: A princess becomes a queen

26. Page 433 –
Queen Elizabeth’s
Golden Speech

28. The Spanish Armada!

29. The England of Elizabeth (cont.)
• In 1588, Spain sent an armada–a
fleet of warships–to invade England. 
• Yet the fleet that sailed had neither the
manpower nor the ships to be victorious. 
• The Spanish fleet was battered in
numerous encounters and finally sailed
home by a northward route around
Scotland and Ireland, where storms
sank many ships.

31. Elizabeth I Defeats Spanish

32. The Defeat of the
Spanish Armada

33. Defeat of the Armada

36. What makes a King or
Queen Strong?
What makes them a
respected and powerful
ruler?