1. The Struggle for political modernization.
   1. A question of sovereignty ---- absolutism vs. constitutionalism ----See McKay, 531-532
   2. "Religion is 16th century word for nationalism."
      1. Religion seems to be the issue in the upheavals in Netherlands, France and England.
      2. Religion as a "cloak" covering a complex of factors.
         1. Reactionary
         2. Modernization
         3. Sometimes both
         4. Proto-national character.
2. Spain under the last Habsburgs.
   1. The emergence of Spain as a new/absolute national monarchy. See Centennia, compare 1000 with 1470 with 1550
      1. Reconquista
      2. Consolidation or royal vs. aristocratic power:
         1. Hermandades
         2. Royal bureaucracy
         3. Royal army
         4. National Church
   2. A world empire: why?
      1. "While other nations wage war; you, happy Austria, you marry." Click here for chart on for the background of Habsburg Hausmacht, e.g. Centennia, 1475, 1527
      2. Cortez, Pizzarro, Magellan
   3. The division of Habsburg Hausmacht.
      1. Philip II 1556-1598:
         1. Click on the photo of Escorial.
         2. "Most Catholic King" and his crusade ---- parallel to internal upheaval in England, France and HRE
      2. Decline under Philip III (1598-1622),
      3. Philip IV (1622-1665). See summary in McKay, p. 548
      4. Charles II (1665-1700) unleashes the War of Spanish Succession, 1701-1714 with the ultimate result of a Bourbon monarchy
3. The Dutch Revolt against Spanish Absolutism.
   1. A division:
      1. 17 Provinces divided by economics, religion, language, culture and political rule
      2. Political unity came only through the union of Burgundy and Habsburg. Click on Maximilian for a chart.
   2. The revolt was a blend of religion, economics and politics.
      1. William the Silent (Orange) and the "Beggars" 1566-- a revolt against Philip II's grasp at political and economic modernization under the "cloak" of Spanish Catholicism.
      2. Philip's Response
         1. Alba (1567-73).
            1. Council of Troubles
            2. Calvinism became germ of a kind of modern, political nationalism
         2. . 1573-78 -- Alba replaced by a series of governors.
         1. Spanish atrocities.
         2. Pacification of Ghent 1576
         3. Duke of Parma --- 1578 brought a reconciliation with the Catholics that split the resistence.
   3. The Birth of the Dutch Republic in the north and the reconsolidation of the Catholic South. For a map history of the progression of the Dutch Revolt, click here. See also Centennia, 1578-1580.4.

      1. League of Arras, 1579 --- united loyal Catholics with the Spanish crown

      2. Union of Utrecht, 1579---military union of 7 provinces of the North ---- began population transfers.

      3. Act of Abjuration, 1581: Implict constitutionalism. What is constitutionalism? See McKay, 548.

2. Effective Independence by the 1580's

1. Together with the English against Philip.
1. Mary Queen of Scots, 1587
2. The "Sea Hawks," the Armada, 1588 and its consequences.
2. A New Nation: The Dutch Republic as a reflection of its history.
1. Government.
   1. Confederation to 1618.
   2. The impact of the Thirty Years War, 1618-1648.
   3. Patrician Regency, 1648-1672.
2. Preeminence in commerce and banking ---- world-wide empire. See map in McKay, 559.
   1. Religious Tolerance and Economic Prosperity.
   2. "A Golden Age."
• Dutch language became a literary vehicle in the hands of Grotius. FYI: click here and Spinoza.
• Art: Rembrandt, Rubens, Vermeer, Hals.
3. Decline and transition towards monarchy.
1. The Navigation Wars: 1652-74
2. The French War 1672-78

4. France from Anarchy to Divine Right Monarchy.
1. The struggle for . "New Monarchy" 1453-1559
   1. Significance of the 100 Years War 1337-1453. Compare Centennia 1423 with 1500
      1. Joan of Arc: "national crusade on behalf of "French king" Charles VII. FYI click here.
      2. Estates General and the taille, 1439
   2. The Church
      1. Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges. 1439. For description and summary of text click here.
      2. Concordat of Bologna, 1516.
   3. Structural feudalism still in evidence. See W-R-W, p. 39.
      1. Aristocratic spheres of influence.
      2. The Protestant Reformation as a cloak for other motives.
      3. Persistence of regional identities.
2. The Religious Wars 1559-1589.
   1. Era of weak monarchs after the death of Henry I in 1559
   2. Manipulation of Catherine d' Medici
      1. . E.g.St. Barthomew Day Massacre, August 1572. Click here for a painting and a florid description with dramatically exaggerated historical parallels.
      2. War of Three Henries (1574-1589)
3. Absolutism as a solution for anarchy.
1. The Politiques.
2. Jean Bodin. Read: W-R-W, 42, 46-47.
   1. What is sovereignty? See McKay, 531.
   2. For Bodin, what is its principle function? (W-R-W, 46) Who should exercize it? (W-R-W, 47)
4. The Trend Towards Absolutism: 1589-1643
1. The Brilliance of Henry IV (1589-1610)
1. The Edict of Nantes, 1598 made Catholicism the state religion, but granted privileges to the Hugonots. See articles 6, 7, 8, 9, 16, 27 in the excerpts accessible here.
2. Estates General never called.
3. Economic policy under Henry and Sully, McKay, 534.
4. Absolutism as a positive experience under Henry.
2. Louis XIII 1610-1643
   1. The Regency of Marie d' Medici 1610-1617.
2. The three policies of Richelieu Read the following links:
1. Aristocracy.
2. Huguenots.
3. The Habsburgs
3. The last gasp of the feudal aristocracy --- the Fronde 1648-1652
3. Young Louis XIV and Reconsolidation under Mazarin, 1643-1661
5. The Age of Louis XIV 1643-1715
   1. Hegemony in Europe
      1. Political: weakness in Central Europe and Civil War in England
      2. Economic: mercantilism successful in pre-industrial age.
      3. Cultural:-- Academie francais founded by Richelieu, standardization of language.
   2. Child King: 1643-1661
      1. The reactionary revolt of the Fronde (1648-52)
         1. Who had lost power under Richelieu? See links above.
         2. Failure: ---- see McKay, p. 537.
      2. Mazarin and the restoration of the legacy of Richelieu
3. Louis, "The Sun King."
   1. What does this portrait and the description by St. Simon in W-R-W, 49-53 about the ceremony with which he surrounded his person tell us about Louis' view of government? In a passage not in the readings, Bossuet wrote: "The prince, as prince, is not to be regarded as a private individual; he is a public personage; all the State is in him; the will of all the people is contained in his." L' etat c'est moi, said Louis.



4. Contrast the justification for royal sovereignty put forth by Jacques Bossuet. Read: W-R-W, 47-49 with that of Jean Bodin and applied by Henry IV.
   1. What is the purpose for the existence of the King as the sovereign in contrast with that of Bodin?
   2. What are the three essential characteristics of royal authority?
5. The Pageant of Versailles and its political purpose. Click on the photo below for a photo-tour.



For additional examples click Versailles

 

6. Colbert and economic policy. Read mercantilism and McKay, 539-540.
7. Religious policy: The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 1685
8. The Wars of Louis XIV.
1. Devolution, 1667-1668 ---- against Spanish Netherlands. ----
2. Against Spanish Netherlands and Holy Roman Empire, 1672-1679.
3. War of the League of Augsburg, 1688-1697 against Austrian and Spanish Habsburgs, Sweden, Bavaria, Saxony, the Palatinate and, after 1689, England ---- aiming at consolidation of French territory up to the Rhine..
4. The Spanish Succession, 1701-1713 (Queen Anne's War in North America) --- against England, Austrian Habsburgs, Netherlands and Prussia was one of the first "balance of power" wars.
5. The Consequences:
   1. Territorial consolidation. See Centennia 1672-1714.
   2. Financial Crisis as one cause of the Revolution of 1789.
   • Poll tax imposed on all ---- combined with bad harvests 1688-94 produce wide resentment.
   • Weaknesses of mercantilism

5. England from feudal monarchy to "New Monarchy" to Constitutionalism.
1. Medieval constitutionalism to New Monarchy.
   1. The "golden age" of feudal constitutionalism and the 100 Years War --- opposite impact than in France.
   2. The construction of a "new monarchy" in response to feudal chaos of the War of the Roses, 1453-1485.
2. The Tudors and the onset of "New Monarchy
1. Henry VII (Tudor).(1485-1509)
   1. Frugality --- avoidance of war ---- flourishing of commerce.
   2. Sparing use of parliament.
      1. Royal Council prepared laws ---- then just registered by Parliament
      2. Council (Star Chamber) applied Roman Law
      3. Shire (iffs) --- applied royal law
2. Henry VIII (1509-1547): Reformation ----
   1. The Church as an element of "New Monarchy."
   2. Nationalization of Church lands and the creation of a new, dependent aristocracy --
   3. The Irish Settlement. .
3. Elizabeth (1558-1603) -- "velvet glove" absolutism.
   1. The Elizabethan Settlement (39 Acts of 1563) provided the environment for the "golden age" of the English Renaissance.
1. A kind of national unity requiring conformity with the Anglican Church under the monarch as its titular head.
2. Actual toleration.
2. In Scotland, Calvinist John Knox won the support of the Scottish barons against the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots, ended papal authority and made the monarchy (James VI) subject to their parliament.
4. The Tudor Legacy.
1. The survival of Parliament.
2. The religious situation on the eve of the 17th century. Diversity!
   1. The factions.
   2. Religion as a cloak for two conflicting versions of modernization.
3. The economic situation.
   1. Acceleration of commercial capitalism ---- resultant social change and desires for political power.
   2. Social-Economic Situation: Read McKay, 549-550.
      • The Enclosure Movement
      • Transformation of the gentry.
      • Impact on the yoemen farmers
3. The Constitutional Crisis of the Stuarts: 1603-1649.
1. Monarchy vs. Parliament -- two conflicting concepts of modernization.
2. James I (1603-1625). From "honeymoon" to "irreconcilable differences"
   1. James' view of monarchy. Read: "The Trew Law of Free Monarchies."
   2. Parliament's view of monarchy.
   3. Clash made inevitable by the rampant inflation of the price revolution.
      1. Foreign policy blunder
      2. Parliament's "Great Protestation" of 1621 asserted the traditional right of power over the purse-strings. -- fiscal demands --- James' response.
3. Charles I (1625-1649)
1. Petetion of Right. 1628.
2. Charles' grasp at absolutism 1628-1640. A fusion of political, economic and religious issues.
   1. E.g. Ships Money.
   2. Archbishop Laud. --- revolt in Scottland, 1639.
3. The "Short Parliament" 1640
4. The "Long Parliament" and the Civil War 1640-49.
5. Painting of the execution of Charles I, January 30, 1649.
4. The English Commonwealth 1649-1660.
1. FYI: Hobbes and the Leviathan, 1651: the issue of sovereignty. Read: McKay, 551.
2. Cromwell --- republicanism into dictatorship.
4. "The Restoration" 1660-1688
1. The religious settlement -- The Test Act of 1673.
2. Property legislation.
   1. Modernization
   2. Confiscations of Interregnum
      1. Some restoration
      2. Recognition of seizures ----- basis of Whig Party
5. The Reign of Charles II, 1660-1685.
   1. "CABAL" and the roots of cabinet government.
   2. Secret Treaty of Dover (1670) with France against the Netherlands was a source of hostility and one of the origins of the power of impeachment in the U.S. Constitution.
   3. The Catholic Question
6. James II (1685-1688) and the "Glorious Revolution"
   1. Declaration of Indulgences, 1687
   2. The succession issue and the "whispering campaign."
7. Constitutional Monarchy and the "Whig Oligarchy."
   1. FYI: The Bill of Rights, 1689. See McKay, 554.
   2. Read McKay, 554. FYI John Locke and the Second Treatise on Civil Government, 1690.
   3. Act of Settlement, 1701..
   4. The Battle of Boyne, 1690 -- the last serious threat of the "Jacobites."
   5. Formation of the United Kingdom, 1707.
   6. The "Georges" (I -1714-27; II-1727-1760; III-1760-1820) and Walpole (1721-1742): The development of cabinet government and responsible ministry under Walpole, see, McKay, 554.

The Baroque and the Age of Absolutism. Video: "The Baroque, 1545-1715. Click here for the text. For access to web reproductions of many of the paintings shown in the video, click here.