Absolute Monarchs in Europe, 1500s – 1700s
France
Louis the XIV (14th) is the focus here as a true absolute monarch
Louis XIV’s grandfather, Henry IV, was the first in the Bourbon family line of rulers and married to Marie de Medici.
A Calvinist Huguenot turned Catholic, Henry IV enacted the Edict of Nantes in 1598 which guaranteed freedom of worship.
When Henry was murdered by a Catholic fanatic in 1610, his son, Louis XIII (13th) was only 8 years old, so his mother Marie de Medici and Cardinal Richelieu ran the country until he was older.
In 1643, Henry IV’s grandson Louis XIV, “The Sun King”, became king of France. He reigned for 72 years from 1643 to 1715, the longest in French history.
Louis’ palace Versailles was so expensive to build it almost bankrupted the country. It stands even today as an example of the monarchy’s power. Louis told all of his most important nobles to live at Versailles so he could control them. Everyone of importance in Europe loved coming to Versailles. France became the center of fashion and culture and entered its most influential time in history as Europe’s ultimate monarchy.
Louis believed in the Divine Right of Kings: “L’etat, c’est moi/I am the state”. In the 1680s he began discriminating against Protestants and in 1685 retracted the Edict of Nantes. He…
· excluded Protestants from office
· disallowed Protestant-Catholic intermarriages
· banned Protestant emigration (no Protestants could move to France)
· insisted all Protestants must convert to Catholicism
Between 300-400 thousand Protestants converted, and nearly 200, 000 left France.
Louis XIV’s Legacy
· He built France the most powerful army in Europe
· He fought 4 wars which strained the French economy
· La Salle sailed down the Mississippi under Louis’ rule and claimed the land for France, naming it Louisiana in the king’s honor.
· He brought France both financial disaster and great power. At the time, France was considered the most powerful country in Europe.
Russia
Russia westernizes and expands under Peter and Catherine is the focus
Although Russia is partly in Europe, Russia
· was entirely landlocked in the warmer parts of the country
· used a different alphabet than most of Europe’s Roman version, making it difficult to communicate
· was under Mongol rule for 200 years
In 1613 Michael Romanov became the first of the Romanov family dynasty that would last 300 years!
In 1682, at 10-years-old, Peter I became Tsar of Russia, also known as Peter the Great. He wanted to 1) expand Russia’s territory to include more ports and 2) learn from western European culture.
Disguised as a private citizen, Peter went to great lengths to learn about “Western” culture. He met with scientists, artists, and even worked! as a shipbuilder. This is a tsar we are talking about! To “westernize” Russia he also:
· improved his armies’ training and weapons
· built a new city, St. Petersburg, and moved the capital there from Moscow
· constructed cities with European architecture
· encouraged social changes
· encouraged women to play a greater role in the communities
· encouraged people to dress in European styles
· followed absolute monarch style of Louis XIV
Russia did not become completely westernized (thank goodness), but it did become a very powerful nation.
Peter died in 1725 and his second wife Catherine took over. Later, Peter’s grandson, Peter III took over but was murdered in 1762. His wife Catherine II became Empress of Russia from 1762-1796.
Catherine was a huge patron of the arts, the biggest in Russian history. She wrote books, plays and comedies. She was a fan of the Enlightenment philosophers, even though they challenged the authority of monarchs.
Catherine II, a.k.a. “Catherine the Great”, continued Peter I’s efforts to westernize and expand Russia. Under Catherine, Russia …
· seized much land from the Ottoman Empire (Turks)
· became the dominant power in southeastern Europe
· increased access to the Black Sea
· added 200, 000 sq. miles to Russian territory
England
The Tudor and Stuart families and Queen Elizabeth I are the focus
Henry VIII, a Tudor, had 6 wives, and also had two of them executed, Anne Boleyn (Elizabeth I’s mother) and Catherine Howard. Henry wanted a divorce from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, which started the Reformation and Anglican Church in England.
Henry’s oldest daughter through his first wife Catherine of Aragon was Mary I. She was not Protestant/Anglican like her father, but Catholic. She was the first reigning queen of England. Mary was also known as “Bloody Mary” for her treatment of non-Catholics during her reign. Mary also married Philip II of Spain.
When Mary died in 1558, her half sister, Elizabeth took to the throne. Elizabeth, “The Virgin Queen”, was a Protestant. Elizabeth was in touch with her people. Elizabeth defeated Philip II of Spain’s Armada in 1588.
Mary Stuart (Mary Queen of Scots) was Elizabeth’s cousin and a Catholic queen of Scotland until she fled Scotland for protection. Upon arrival in England, Elizabeth had her imprisoned fearing a Catholic takeover of the English crown. Mary Stuart was eventually charged with treason for conspiring with Philip II of Spain to take the throne away from Elizabeth. Mary Stuart was executed in 1587, giving Philip the religious and moral justification for his war with England the following year.
Religious separatists called Puritans thought Henry’s and Elizabeth’s Anglican Church was still too Catholic. Many left for the British colonies in America for religious freedom, only to practice some of the same religious intolerance to others that they sought to escape from in England.
When Elizabeth died in 1603, she had no heir to the throne. Mary Stuart’s son James VI of Scotland became King of England at only 13 months old. He was King James VI of Scotland and King James I of England, and Scotland and England were ruled by the same king.
James was not Catholic like his mother, Mary Stuart. In 1607, Jamestown was founded in his name. Also, the King James version of the bible was translated and is still used today by many Christians.
Miscellaneous
Know your Roman numerals enough to be able to make any number using I, V, and X.
There will be a question or two on Sir Walter Raleigh, the Spanish Armada’s defeat of 1588, and the movie Elizabeth: The Golden Age.
Dates to Know
1565 – Spain founds colony of St. Augustine in Florida, oldest European city in the U.S. today, meaning that Spanish has been spoken in our country nearly 50 years longer than English
1588 – Elizabeth I’s England defeats Phillip II’s Spanish Armada. Had this gone differently, we may very well be a primarily Spanish speaking country today.
1607 – England wastes no time after the Armada’s defeat. Less than 20 years later, she founds Jamestown, Virginia, the first English settlement in America. Today it is a National Park with only park rangers and deer as inhabitants.