Absolutism in Europe

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England Under Tudors

1485 - 1603

Henry VIII

1509 - 1547

was powerful and serious. He removed himself from Rome after he had a disagreement with them over his divorce. 1533 created the Act of Supremacy so he could form the Anglican Church. He had 6 wives

Act of Supremacy

1533

Edward VI

1547 - 1553

tried to move England to a Protestant nation.

Mary I

1553 - 1558

She tried to make England Catholic again and she persecuted heretics. Under her rule England got along with Spain bc of their Catholicism beliefs.

Elizabeth I

1558 - 1603

she struggled to gain possession of the thrown because Edward 6 took her out of line of succession. England became protestant. Elizabethan settlement is the compromise between Protestant and Catholics, keep Catholic rituals, and in the Church they used English instead of Latin. The spanish Armada was Spanish troops attempting to invade England but a storm pushed them back so England won in 1588. This helped England rise to power and she also built an empire and control parliament. During the time Shakespeare was the face of literature and in art they determined you cannot worship an image. She never married so thrown pass to Stuarts of Scotland.

England holds off Spanish Armada

1588

Henry IV of France

1589 - 1610

he converted to Catholicism so he could remain in power
Edict of Nantes: this stopped religious persecution of Huguenots in France

Thirty Years' War

1618 - 1648

King Ferdinand wanted to suppress Protestants and enforce royal power. Protestant officials threw royal officials out of castle in Prague, war war protestant revolution against Holy Roman Empire. Ferdinand used Catholic support and the goal was to undo the Catholic reformation. They had early success against Protestants then Netherlands. Sweden sent troops to Germany and the political alliances shift. Catholic France goes with protestant Sweden bc they don't like the Catholics. Then there were series of treated btw European con tries that resulted in peace in Europe. France was the overall winner in war and all countries became independent states.

Long Parlaiment

1640 - 1653

Parliament was on and off for this period of time

England Civil War

1642 - 1649

was a civil war in England between the Parliament (Roundheads) and the Royalists (Cavaliers) over how the government should be operated

Louis XIV

1643 - 1715

became king at 4 and was called “The Sun King” because sun is a symbol of power. The Fronde was a series of results due to govt. issues in 1649-1652
The parisian Parliament hoped to limit the power of the monarch and people were unhappy with taxes. There was chaos until a compromise was reached. He also believed in divine right. the Estates General was something similar to Parliament under Louis XIV, but he didn't go to their meetings to show he didn't need their advice. Versailles was method for controlling nobles by keeping them entertained and their attention was not on revolting against Louis XIV. Later on he revoked against the Edict of Nantes which stopped religious persecution and the result of this was 100,000 Huguenots exiting the country. This hurt the economy. His grandson, Louis XV, inherited the thrown after him.

Peter the Great

1648 - 1725

did not have full power till 1696. He traveled to western European cities like England, Austria, Prussia, Netherlands, and Poland to make advancements in their technology. He learned western technology, home life of people, factories/ art galleries, anatomy, in west he was impressed by the Parliament in England and shipbuilding. Policy of Westernization is adapted western ides, technology, and culture as a model of change to make russia stronger. He wanted to strengthen military expand Russian borders, centralize royal power. Water ports provided people warm water throughout the year, but Peter the Great could not establish these in Russia and Catherine the Great did afterwords. St. Petersburg was made capital, was near water and artists ad architects fled there for work.

The Fronde

1649 - 1652

French, series of results/ civil wars due to govt. issues

Pragmatic Sanction

1713

an edict that was issued in 1713 by charles VI. The purpose of the edict was to allow his daughter to be capable of ruling the empire after him.

Frederick II

1740 - 1786

his father instilled military activity to him instead of the other activities he was doing. He used his military powers to threaten other countries, so he earned himself the nickname.

Maria Theresa

1740 - 1786

She Strengthened hapsburg power forced nobles and clergy to pay taxes, recognized the bureaucracy, improved tax collection. During her rule, vienna became a center for music and art.

War of Austrian Succesion

1740

Frederick II (from Prussia) invaded Silesia so Maria went to Hungary for help but ended up getting help from Britain and Russia but she could not force them out.

Catherine the Great

1762 - 1795

came to Russia when she was 15 to marry heir to Russian thrown. Husband killed by Russian Army officers but some believe she killed him, so she could take the thrown. She reorganized government, sponsored education for both sexes, accepted western ideas, encouraged French language got warm water ports and gained part of Poland with Partition of Poland in 1772. She did not treat the serfs well though. She created charter that emphasized important rights and she had no tolerance for uprisings.

Partition of Poland

1772

Polish rulers could not centralize power and the Polish gov’t was not ready to compete with Russia, Prussia, and Austria. So those countries decided Poland into three parts to avoid fighting and Poland lost its independence. Catherine the Great: East, Others: west.