Religious wars & new order in science

Religious Wars and
State-Building 
 
1600 - 1715

Religious/Civil War – France
❖France had strong monarchy
under kings Francis I (1515-1547)
and Henry II (1547-1559).
❖Supported by the Catholic Church.
❖Henry II’s wife, Catherine de
Medici (1519-1589), dominated the
throne after her husband died –
resulting in a contest for authority.

❖All this was complicated by
religious matters.
❖Religiously, Calvinism was
growing in France (included
nobles and middle class).
❖French Protestants were called
Huguenots (named after an early
leader Besancon Hugues).

❖An estimated 40-50% of nobles
became Huguenots.
❖Mainly to demonstrate their
independence from Catholic
monarchy.
❖Thus, less than 10% of the
population of France was Huguenots,
but they became a very powerful
group in the 16th century.

❖Civil war began in 1562; central
government was weak and riots broke out.
❖The queen (Catherine de Medici) failed to
keep monarchy Catholic (even married a
Huguenot to King Charles IX to try and find a
compromise between the two groups).
❖August 24th 1572, at a celebration on St.
Bartholomew’s Day, authorities massacred
3000 Huguenots in Paris attending the
wedding.
❖Fifteen years of rioting and violence followed.

❖France suffered economically
and politically.
❖Agriculture was devastated,
commercial transactions
declined, and chaos prevailed.
❖In the midst of the conflict, a
small group of people called
politiques appeared.

❖Politiques were people from both
sides, who were tired of fighting/
conflict.
❖Sought political peace and a
strong/stable France that could live.
❖1589, as a result of assassinations,
Huguenot Henry IV (1589–1610)
came to the throne.

❖Troubled the pope
and Philip II of
Spain, both whom
viewed a Protestant
France with horror.
❖Spain sent troops to
support Henry’s
enemies.

❖Henry was popular and
decided to convert to
Catholicism and follow a
policy of toleration for the
Huguenots.
❖Soon the wars of religion in
France ended ☺

Philip II and Catholic Spain
❖Philip II came to throne (1556–
1598), its empire included most
of the Americas, Italian
possessions of Milan and
Naples, seventeen provinces in
the Netherlands, Burgundy, and
some Mediterranean islands.

❖Golden century of Spain, major
empire in the West, Spanish art
and literature flourished.
❖Philip was devoted to Catholic
Reformation.
❖Insisted on conformity, Spain
was viewed as the champion of
Catholicism against Protestants.

❖To consolidate his lands, he
organized a central bureaucracy, using
lesser nobles, thus making him less
dependent on the landed aristocracy.
❖His weakness was his excessive
attention to detail.
❖Spain’s bureaucracy became known
for its meticulousness and slow pace.

❖To symbolize Spain’s new state
and empire, its power and its
spirituality, Philip II build the
Escorial, a new palace, just
outside of Madrid.
❖It was a residence, a centre for
government, a monastery, and a
mausoleum for his ancestors.

❖Economy of Spain was dependent on
silver and gold of the New World and
other goods from its colonies.
❖To support wars, he resorted to heavy
loans and was constantly in debt.
❖By the end of Philip’s reign, the
majority of Spain’s income was spent on
debt payments, leaving his successor
with great financial difficulties.

❖Spain was largely
responsible for high
inflation in Europe.

Revolt of the Netherlands
❖Spanish throne had inherited the
Netherlands and 17 provinces
(today include Belgium,
Luxembourg, and Holland).
❖People living in these northern
regions spoke a dialect of
German; those in the south spoke
a dialect of French.

❖By 1560s, Calvinism and other
Protestant groups were becoming
more prominent in these regions.
❖They were important areas for
commerce.
❖Spain wanted to integrate these
areas into its empire and end
their local autonomy.

❖Spanish taxation was resented in the
Netherlands because the revenue went
mainly to Spain.
❖Nobles were worried about losing
authority and power.
❖Philip II tried to reorganize the
structure of the Dutch Catholic Church
and use Spanish methods of dealing
with heresy and religious pluralism.

❖Resistance grew, led by William of
Orange (William the Silent).
❖Compromise was reached, although
in 1566, Calvinist riots occurred
throughout the Netherlands.
❖Stained-glass windows, images, and
other Catholic symbols were
smashed.

❖Philip II sent the Duke of Alba
with an army of 10,000 troops to
the Netherlands to restore order.
❖New tribunal, Council of
Troubles, nicknamed the
Council of Blood by the
Netherlanders, was established
to rule the land.

❖Thousands were
sentenced to death and
nobles’ estates were
confiscated.
❖Opposition and resistance
continued to grow.

Pieter Bruegel (c. 1525-1569) painted Massacre of the
Innocents (1555-1558), which adapts the biblical tale
to contemporary life.

❖1576, all 17 provinces, led by William
of Orange, joined an agreement to
respect various religious beliefs and
demanded Spain withdraw from the
land.
❖William organized the northern,
Dutch-speaking provinces into a
Protestant union in opposition to
Spanish rule.

❖1579, Spain made
peace with 10
Flemish-speaking
provinces in the
south.
❖These Catholic
provinces accepted
Spanish control.

❖Spanish soldiers were finally
driven out of the northern
provinces in 1593.
❖In 1609, peace was finally
made with Spain.
❖The “United Provinces”
became the Dutch Republic.

England: Major Power
❖Elizabeth I (1558–1603),
daughter of Henry VIII.
❖During her long reign, England
became formidable power and
major Protestant state in Europe.
❖Developed sea power and an
empire.

❖Religion was not at the centre of
Elizabeth’s life.
❖She worked with parliament and
appointed strong administers to help
her govern.
❖1559, parliament repealed the anti-
Protestant legislation of her Catholic
predecessor, Mary Tudor (1553-1558).

❖Mary married Philip II of
Spain.

❖New Act of Supremacy was
passed, declaring that Elizabeth
was “the only supreme governor
of this realm.”
❖Some Catholics and a new
group, the Puritans, opposed
this.

❖Catholics also led several
assassination plots, which Elizabeth
treated as treason against the crown.
❖The association of Catholicism
with the enemy, Spain, and with
Philip’s Armada after 1588 lost the
Catholic Church adherents to the
Church of England.

❖Puritans were Protestants who
wished to “purify” the English
Church of its ceremonial connection
with Catholic practices and its
system of church government.
❖Elizabeth and her advisors did not
attack the Puritans, who remained
within the Church of England.

❖Elizabeth tried to avoid costly wars.
❖1570, Pope Pius V excommunicated
Elizabeth for heresy.
❖He hoped to encourage a European war
against England.
❖After the St. Bartholomew’s Day
Massacre, England more openly supported
French Huguenots and Dutch rebels
(anyone who supported Protestantism).

❖Philip II knew he would not be able to
control the Dutch if the English
continued to support them.
❖He also felt that defeating the English
would restore a Catholic to the English
throne and aid in Catholic reformation
throughout Europe.
❖He sent over the Spanish Armada (130
ships, 27 000 men, 2431 artillery pieces).

❖Armada encountered 200 English
ships in the English Channel
under the leadership of Sir Francis
Drake.
❖English ships were lighter and
faster.
❖Storm also came and blew the
Armada north to Scotland.

❖1/3 of the Spanish fleet never
returned.
❖England remained Protestant and a
powerful force against Catholicism.
❖Spain was weakened.

❖1618–1648.
❖Germany had over 300 political units ranging
from small duchies (under the rule of a duke or
duchess) and independent bishoprics (under the
charge of a bishop) and free towns to large
entities - Austria and Brandenburg-Prussia.
❖Divided religiously between Lutheranism and
Catholicism.
❖1555 Peace of Augsburg gave each state the
freedom to choose their religion.
The Thirty Years’ War

❖1608, Protestant states formed a union
against the enemies of Spain (England,
France, and Dutch Republic).
❖Catholic League, led by Bavaria, was
created in 1609 – supported by Spain.
❖Holy Roman Emperors, from the
Hapsburg House in Austria, wanted to
centralize authority with help from
Spain.

❖France did not want strong unified
Germany allied with Spain.
❖Though France was a Catholic state,
it pursued a policy that challenged the
mission of Catholic Reformation.
❖War broke out in 1618 in Bohemia.
❖Hapsburg Archduke Ferdinand
became King in 1617.

❖Bohemia = Protestant
❖Ferdinand = Catholic
❖He tried to turn the state back to
Catholicism by denying religious
freedom granted earlier in 1575.
❖May 1618, Protestant nobles in Prague
protested by throwing two emissaries
from the Hapsburgs out a window!

❖They landed in a pile of manure
and survived – but still resulted in
war!
❖Involved all continental Europe
from Portugal to Hungary.
❖Devastating for Germany.
❖Began as religious war but ended
up about power and the state.

❖Treaty of Westphalia (1648) ended the
Thirty Years’ War.
❖Changed the way countries dealt with
one another – national sovereignty was
respected for the first time!!!
❖England and France became the two
dominant powers of the 17th Century and
led the revolutions in science, philosophy
and political theory.

Europe during the Age of Absolutism

Scientific Revolution
❖Series of breakthroughs in our
understanding and interpretation of
the heavens and the Earth.
❖Took place mainly in the 17th century
and changed the way Europeans
viewed themselves, nature, and God.
❖Old view of the cosmos, mainly from
Aristotle and ancient Roman
astronomer Ptolemy.

❖Geographical centre of the
Earth was thought to be
Jerusalem – most holy city.

❖Medieval period, people
believed there were 10 spheres,
each “higher” or more perfect
than the previous one; the last
was home of God.
❖Cosmology was a hierarchy –
heavens were purer than Earth.

❖Motion of spheres was circular
(perfect).
❖Human beings were at the centre
of the universe and had a special
relation to God.
❖All things had a purpose, an end,
or goal that caused them to act as
they did.

Revolutions in Thought
❖Nicolaus Copernicus
(1473-1543), suggested a
cosmos that was heliocentric
(sun-centred) for one that had
previously been geocentric
(Earth-centred).

❖Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), arrived
at three universal laws:
1) Planets move in elliptical orbits, with
the Sun at the focus of the ellipses.
2) As a planet draws closer to the Sun,
it moves faster in its orbit.
3) The size of a planet’s orbit is
proportional to the time required for
one revolution around the Sun.

❖These laws proclaimed
that all the heavens were
bound by a single
mathematical
relationship.
❖To Kepler, the universe
was a lawful mechanical
system, expressed in
mathematics.

❖Galileo Galilei (1564-1642),
built a telescope in 1609.
❖Discovered 4 moons of Jupiter
(now there’s 67 confirmed!)
❖Found that the sun had
changing spots and the moon
seemed to have mountains.

❖Supported the
heliocentric view of
the solar system.
❖Theologians
disagreed with his
suggestion that the
world was different
than the one in the
Bible.

❖Galileo defended himself, saying
the Bible is open to interpretation:
❖“I think that in discussions of
physical problems we ought to
begin not from the authority of
scriptural passages, but from
sense-experiences and necessary
demonstrations;

❖“for the holy Bible and the phenomena of
nature proceed alike from the divine Word,
the former as the dictate of the Holy Ghost
and the latter as the observant executrix of
God’s commands…But I do not feel obliged
to believe that the same God who has
endowed us with senses, reason, and
intellect has intended to forgo their use and
by some other means to give us knowledge
which we can attain by them.”

❖1633, he was tried before
the Inquisition and
condemned for heresy.
❖Forced to publicly
acknowledge he was wrong
and recant his theories.
❖He was sentenced to life
imprisonment ☹

❖Galileo’s discoveries helped to develop the
modern understanding of the movement
of bodies.
❖His new hypothesis suggested that bodies
in motion would continue moving unless
some form of resistance was introduced.
❖His laws of terrestrial motion for the
Earth complemented Kepler’s laws of
celestial motion for the heavens.

The Scientific Revolution
❖Isaac Newton (1642-1727), developed Three
Laws of Motion (law of Gravity):
1) If no force acts on an object, it will remain
at rest or maintain its constant motion in a
straight line.
2) Every change of motion or acceleration is
directly proportional to the force that caused
the change and inversely proportional to the
object’s mass.
3) For every action force, there is an equal
reaction force in the opposite direction.

The Scientific Revolution
❖The picture of the world put forth by Newton
and his contemporaries was that the universe is
a machine.
❖God was still viewed as the creator of this
machine, the Prime Mover, who brought
lawfulness, regularity, and beauty.
❖God = master builder who created a perfect
machine and then let it run.
❖This view is known as Deism: God stands
aside form his work and does not directly get
involved with humanity (Newton rejected this!)

The Scientific Method and the
Birth of Modern Philosophy
❖For centuries it was believed that truths were
arrived at by studying the Bible.
❖The 17th century saw a rise in systematic
skepticism, experimentalism, and reasoning
based on observed facts and mathematical laws.
❖Francis Bacon – direct observation was
essential to ascertain truth.
❖Rene Descartes – applied mathematical
methods and reasoning to philosophy.

Francis Bacon (1596-1650)
❖Claimed the only way to
obtain reliable knowledge
was through experience
and observation
(empiricism).
❖Emphasized induction,
form of reasoning from
the particular to the
general.

Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
❖Advocated a theory of knowledge
based on humanity’s reasoning ability,
combined with intuitive powers.
❖This approach emphasized the
centrality of the human mind.
❖“Cogito ergo sum” (I think, therefore I
am).
❖Defined human beings as thinking
beings endowed with reason.

❖Developed rules of logic for achieving
certainty: 1) to seek clarity - “never
accept anything for true which I did
not clearly know to be such”; 2) to
strive for simplicity in complex matters;
3) to move from the simple to the
complex because of a belief that the
rules for the simple hold true for the
complex as well; 4) to be complete.

❖Rationalism: was based on seeking
clear self-evident truths, reasoning
those axioms, and obtaining solutions
through deduction, reasoning from
general to particular.
❖Descartes trusted proofs of
mathematicians because he believed
mathematical reasoning was the path
to a secure theory of knowledge.

John Locke (1632 – 1704)
❖English philosopher.
❖Challenged Descartes’
reliance on the mind by
proposing that we gain
knowledge only from
experience, rather than innate
ideas and reason.
❖The mind at birth is a
tabula rasa, blank slate, and
we are shaped through
education and society.

Absolutism in France
❖Absolutism was the claim to rule
by divine right.
❖The greatest threat to the
monarchy was the nobility.
❖Wanted to get away from
feudalism.
❖Monarchs created standing armies
for the first time.

❖Bourban monarchy of France, King
Louis XIV (1643 – 1715) became
archetypal absolutist.
❖Called “Le Roi soleil,” the Sun King.
❖Saw himself as the centre of all
affairs.
❖Believed he was God’s vice-regent
on Earth!

❖Louis created new
set of civil servants,
intendants who held
office at the
pleasure of the king.
❖Aim was to curb
authority of the old
nobility.

❖Usually from upper middle class
(not nobility), so they were
entirely dependent on the
authority of the monarch.
❖Responsible for collecting taxes
and administration of regions.
❖Louis collected land tax and
introduced head tax.

❖Had a standing army of over
300 000 by 1688!
❖Louis sought religious
conformity – Catholic!
❖Huguenots emigrated to
England, German states,
Holland, and America.

❖Visual symbol and architectural
manifestation of Louis XIV’s
absolutism.
❖Sun King believed he should be
surrounded with glory and ritual.
❖Located outside Paris, begun
construction in 1669 and was
completed in 1701.
Palace of Versailles

❖Finest architects, designers,
landscape gardeners, and
artisans were hired.
❖Some years consumed over
10% of yearly budget!
❖Up to 35 000 people worked
on it at any one time.

❖Symmetrical rooms, named after
classical gods and goddesses
(Venus, Diana, Mercury, Mars, and
Apollo).
Marie
Antoinette’s
Bedroom

Versailles Grande Gallerie
❖Ceiling painted
by Charles
Lebrun.
❖73 metres long.
❖Full of Venetian
mirrors.

Palace Gardens
Every aspect of life at Versailles was created to be grande beyond
compare

❖Louis lived and governed here.
❖Magnificent balls were held in
The Grand Hall of Mirrors
while conducting affairs of the
kingdom.
❖Absolutism resulted in nobility
losing political power.

Social System
❖Nobility kept social and
economic power.
❖In feudal era, loyalty was local
and distant to dynasty.
❖Under absolutism, loyalty was
directed to a state, symbolized by
a dynasty – beginnings of
nationalism!

❖Louis transformed territories that
make up area of France into the
state of France.
❖Finally becomes a republic in
1789.
❖Louis desired an order similar to
that of first Roman emperor
Augustus (classicism).
Social System

Louis XIV and Europe
❖Louis’ foreign policy was
designed to extend power, glory,
and authority of France.
❖Fought a series of wars.
❖Failed to achieve French
domination due to the War of
Spanish Succession (1701 – 1713).

❖Issue was whether the
crowns of France and Spain
should be united.
❖Both Catholic, both
colonial empires, both
powerful monarchies.

❖Peace of Utrecht (1713), agreed
that France and Spain were never
to be united under a single ruler.
❖Spain forced to give up Gibraltar
and Minorca to England and to
cede its possessions in Italy and
Netherlands to Austria.

❖Spain also ceded the right to
slave trading in Spanish America.
❖English received 2 North
American colonies –
Newfoundland and Acadia – and
France recognized English
control of Hudson Bay.

❖England gained settlements
but France still remained
major power.
❖Louis died in 1715 – left
France the most powerful state
in Europe, but also in great
debt!

Absolutism in Eastern Europe
❖After Thirty Years War, Frederick
William, the Great Elector (1640-1688)
ruled German state of Brandenburg-
Prussia.

❖Determined to build modern army.
❖Nobles (Junkers) supported him – he
exempted them from taxes and gave
them prominent positions in the army.
❖Habsburgs in Austria also wanted to
become absolutist – limited by the
nature of their empire (Italy,
Bohemia, Hungary and other areas).

❖Austria became powerful state
but difficult to rule due to various
areas and people it included.
❖Russia set apart by Orthodox
Church, growing force during
this time under reign of Peter the
Great (1689–1725).

❖Tsar Peter I (Peter the
Great) of Russia
❖Modernized Russia
through Westernization.
❖Taxed his subjects
heavily to pay for his
projects.
❖Killed 1000 members of
streltsy when they tried
to depose him.

❖Sent men to Europe
to learn western ways,
went incognito
himself.
❖Encouraged people
to learn many
languages.
❖Had Issac Newton
come to Russia.

17th Century England
❖England and Netherlands
became powerful empires –
rejected absolutism.
❖Evolved into constitutional
states, set of institutions and
laws, that limited royal authority
and provided certain rights for
subjects.

❖Constitutionalism implies a
state where authority is
distributed legally among various
levels of government.
❖Limitations to the monarchy
came after civil war, execution of
Charles I (1625-1649), and 2
revolutions.

❖Charles I (1625-1649) attempted to
govern by personal rule, avoided
parliament.
❖Showed sympathy to Catholicism –
Calvinist Puritans hated this!
❖Some left for America.
❖Scotland – Presbyterian Church rebelled
when Charles forced them to adopt
Anglican form of prayer.

❖Forced to call parliament to session to
repel Scottish.
❖Parliament decided to limit authority
of king.
❖Abolished taxes and a bill was passed
forbidding kings to dissolve
parliament.
❖Civil war broke out in 1642 between
parliament and king.

❖Parliament won and was reorganized
into New Model Army, led by Oliver
Cromwell (1599–1658).
❖Small group of parliamentarians
(called the Rump Parliament) put the
king on trial and decided he was a
“public enemy to the good people of
this nation.”
❖Charles I was executed in 1649.

❖England remained a republic for 11
years, citizens elected representatives
to manage government.
❖Parliament dissolved in 1653 and a
“Protectorate” under Cromwell was
established with written constitution
drafted by army.
❖Cromwell died in 1658 – how to rule
England now?

❖New parliament, 1660, restored limited
monarchy to Charles’ son (Charles II).
❖Both Charles II and James were
Catholic.
❖Parliament passed Test Act 1673
stating only those who supported state
religion, Anglicanism, could hold office.
❖England divided: Tories (support king)
and Whigs (support parliament).

❖James II (1685–1688) comes to throne,
appoints Catholics to prominent
positions and desires state religion to be
Catholic.
❖Alienated Tories (mainly Anglican).
❖Group of Whigs and Tories cross
English Channel to Holland and ask
William of Orange (Protestant husband
of Mary) for help.

The Glorious Revolution (1688)
❖William of Orange, the Dutch
monarch was asked by the English.
people to depose their king, James II
❖A bloodless coup ensued as James II
fled to France from England.
❖William and Mary took the throne as
joint monarchs.
❖The Bill of Rights (1689) outlined the
powers and rights of Parliament.

Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679)
❖English philosopher.
❖Wrote Leviathan during
English civil wars – life
began in a state of nature.
❖Man is inherently selfish
and aggressive.
❖Left on own, chaos and
conflict would rule.
❖Citizens need law and to
follow a sovereign to avoid
chaos.

Religious wars & new order in science

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