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Chapter Six—European Monarchies

Section One—Types of Monarchy As you most likely recall from Chapter Three, towards the end of

the Middle Ages in Europe, monarchs were gaining power, and

nobles and the Catholic Church were losing power. By the 1500s

and 1600s, the power of monarchs in some European countries

was so strong that they began to be referred to as ‘absolute

monarchs.’ In other countries, a more limited type of monarchy

developed.

Characteristics of Absolutism The absolute monarchs of the

16th and 17th centuries exhibited many or all of the following nine

characteristics:

Divine Right Becoming a monarch isn’t easy. One can’t just

Google ‘monarch certification’ and take a quick online course

and then suddenly start ruling a country. In order to be a

monarch, one must be born into a royal family. That’s hard

enough to do already, but to top it all off, the person must be born

the oldest male child of a royal family, and then wait until the

current king dies. So it’s all hereditary.

If you think about how strong Christian beliefs were in Early Modern

Europe, you can imagine how people of that time period would

explain hereditary monarchy. The king was born into the royal

family because God wanted him to be king. Since God made this

person the king, then God must want the people in his country to

obey the monarch. Therefore, if a citizen of the country disobeyed

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6.1 115

To exhibit is to

show.

This picture makes it look like God sent divine right to

kings as a sort of weirdly angled ray of sunshine.



6.1

the king (whom God had chosen),

it was like disobeying God.

This idea—that the monarch was

God’s representative on Earth, and

was specially chosen by God to

rule—is called ‘divine right.’ It was

not an entirely new idea. In fact,

the concept of divine right was

very similar to the Chinese idea of

the Mandate of Heaven.

Reduced Power of Nobles This

makes sense if you think about who

had the most power in the Early

Middle Ages: land-owning nobles.

So in order for the monarch to get

more power for himself, naturally

he would need to reduce the

power of the nobles.

Politics Considered More Important than Religion Don’t you love it

when the name of a characteristic makes it totally figure-outable?

Though absolute monarchs did not completely abandon religion,

they tended to consider it less important than achieving their

political goals. This also had the helpful effect of reducing the

power of the Church—that other pesky group that monarchs

needed to keep under control.

Large Standing Armies Remember

how Medieval European kings got

military assistance? Noble lords

who owed them military service

would come to help the monarch

when they were called. But the

army was not always there. And

since the army was made up of

nobles, the king couldn’t use the

army to take power away from

the nobles.

So, as monarchs gained power,

they began to employ

professional armies that were

always ready—called ‘standing

armies.’ Because these armies

were paid, and weren’t made up

of nobles, the monarchs could use

them to increase their own royal

power. 116

The Mandate of

Heaven was the

idea that a Chinese

ruling family was in

power because the

gods wanted them

to be.

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It’s hard to believe that such

froufy-looking people would have

power to take away, isn’t it?

Standing armies didn’t always just stand

there. Sometimes they played dice!



Expansionist Policies Mercantilism, which we learned about in

Chapter Five, was the prevalent economic theory in Early Modern

Europe. Since mercantilism emphasized the need to accumulate

gold and silver, and to take wealth away from other people, this

led monarchs to attempt to use their armies to expand their

borders. Additionally, 16th- and 17th-century kings wanted to gain

control of colonies, which could also help to expand the wealth of

their mother countries.

Centralized Government with Middle-class Bureaucracy Naturally,

in order to help him manage the country, even the most absolute

of monarchs would need government officials. In Medieval

Europe, most government officials were also nobles or members of

the clergy. But absolute monarchs were trying to take away the

power of those groups, so they hired middle-class people to work

for them instead.

Middle-class bureaucrats

tended to be much more loyal

than did noble bureaucrats.

Many nobles had inherited

large sums of money, so they

didn’t really need to work for a

living. Therefore, if they got

fired from their government job

for being disloyal to the king,

well, no big whoop. But

middle-class government

workers needed their salaries

to live on. As a result, they

generally did a better job

6.1 117

Bureaucrats are

government

officials.

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Louis XIV of France pursuing expansionism during the War of Devolution

17th-century Russian bureaucrats in hats

According to the

economic theory of

mercantilism,

wealth is limited, so

it must be taken

away from others.

The best measure of

wealth is gold and

silver, and

governments should

strictly control the

economy to

promote wealth.



6.1

because being fired would be more problematic for them.

Used Opulence to Display Power One way that monarchs gained

power over people was purely psychological: they impressed

everyone with their fancy stuff.

One way in which

monarchs dazzled

their subjects was by

building gigantic

palaces. They would

then require the

nobles to spend a

certain amount of

time each year ‘at

court—‘ visiting the

king in his palace.

While the nobles were

visiting the king, he

could keep a close

eye on them, which

made it harder for

them to plan

rebellions against him.

Also, why would

anyone want to rebel

when they were

sleeping in a luxurious

bed, eating wonderful food, hanging out with other nobles, and

peeing in a gold chamber pot?

Patronage of the Arts If monarchs were having nobles at court all

the time, they had to entertain them somehow. So they

patronized the arts—meaning they hired artists, writers, and

musicians to create paintings, plays, and music for entertainment.

Very High Taxes Hey, you gotta pay the bills for your army, fancy

crib, and bureaucrats’ salaries somehow, right?

Characteristics of Limited Monarchy How’s your hand

feeling? Hurty, because you’ve taken lots of notes? Well,

fortunately for you, there aren’t nine features of the other kind of

monarchy that developed in Europe in the 1600s—limited

monarchy. In a limited monarchy, something—either a

constitution or a representative body or both—limited the power of

the monarch. Sometimes this kind of monarchy is also called

‘parliamentary monarchy’ or ‘constitutional monarchy,’ making it

even more self-explanatory. Hooray!

118

Opulence is

extreme luxury,

usually done in kind

of a show-offy way.

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This picture of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I’s

wedding is the epitome of opulence. When something is

described as the

epitome

(pronounced ‘eh-

PIT-uh-mee’), it is the

perfect example of

a certain quality or

characteristic.

C’mon, kid.

CONTEXT CLUES!! If

someone pees in a

chamber pot, then it

must be some kind

of historical toilet.

No convenient

flushery in olden

times. P-U.



Section Two—Monarchs of Spain and France

In the 16th and 17th centuries, strong absolute monarchies

developed in Western Europe under Hapsburg dynasty of Spain

and the Bourbon dynasty of France.

Philip II of Spain Philip II, the

Hapsburg king of Spain, once wrote

the following in a letter to the Pope,

“Rather than suffer damage to religion

and God, I would lose all my states; for

I do not desire to be the ruler of

heretics.” This is a pretty good

summary of Philip II’s rule. Almost every

decision he made for Spain, Portugal,

the Netherlands, and the North

American colonies he ruled had to do

with upholding Catholicism.

Wait a minute! Didn’t we just read that

one of the characteristics of an

absolute monarch was that politics

were considered more important than

religion? Why yes, we did. But we also

read that absolute monarchs displayed

many or all of the nine characteristics.

Philip II possessed most of the other

characteristics, so he still counts as an

absolute monarch.

Spanish Hegemony Philip ruled from 1556 to 1598. Since he was

determined to preserve his absolute power, he personally

supervised all the workings of the government. He was also very

particular about documentation, and made his ministers and

bureaucrats record everything they did on paper.

Early in Philip’s reign, Spain became the hegemon of Europe. This

was due in part to the power of the Spanish navy, called the

Armada. Additionally, Spain also had gold and silver wealth from

its American colonies. This wealth helped to finance Spain’s

participation in various wars with the Turks, rebelling colonists in the

Spanish Netherlands, England, and France.

Near the end of Philip’s reign, however, Spain was nearly bankrupt.

This was because of inflation, a lack of industry in Spain, taxation

issues, and foreign debt. These problems, combined with Spain’s

defeat in wars with the English and French, caused Spain to

become a less powerful country in the 1600s.

6.2 119

Inflation is a rise in

prices that messes

up the economy.

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Philip II in his fancy-pants

Philip II should be

read as ‘Philip the

Second.’ Whenever

a monarch has a

Roman numeral

after his or her

name, it is read as

‘the Third,’ or ‘the

Fourteenth,’ or

whatever. That

means they are the

third, or fourteenth,

or whatever, person

with that name to

rule that country.

Heretics were

people who went

against the official

teachings of the

Catholic Church.

When a country has

hegemony (‘heh-

JIM-uh-nee’), it is

the dominant

country in an area.



6.2

Religion and Wars ‘Religion and Wars’ seems like an oxymoron,

doesn’t it? In the case of Philip II, though, war and religion went

hand-in-hand. Philip was a SuperCatholic, and was pretty much

determined to use his absolute power to force everyone else to be

a Catholic too, which tended to get him involved in wars with

areas in which Protestants ruled.

Most of Philip’s

religious wars did

not end well for

Spain. For example,

when Philip tried to

impose Catholicism

on his subjects in the

Netherlands, they

rebelled, eventually

gaining their

independence from

Spain. Later, Philip

fought with England

in 1588 and France

in the 1590s

because he disapproved of the Protestant policies their rulers were

pursuing. Both of these wars resulted in defeat for Spain and

contributed to its economic decline.

The Golden Century The Hapsburgs were great patrons of the arts.

As a result, Spain experienced a period of achievements in art,

architecture, and literature called ‘el Siglo de Oro—‘ the Golden

Century. The artist El Greco and the author Miguel de Cervantes

were part of this cultural flowering. Additionally, Philip

commissioned an architect to build a combination palace and

monastery called ‘El Escorial.’ This palace was designed to

celebrate Spain’s role as the center of Catholic Europe.

120

A combination of

two things that

seem like the exact

opposite of each

other is an

oxymoron (like

jumbo shrimp, or

sad clown).

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The English navy defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588.

A monk on a rock in front of El Escorial—pretty fitting

for a painting of a SuperCatholic’s palace.

Siglo de Oro is

pronounced ‘SEEG-

low day OR-oh.’



Louis XIV of France Louis XIV was the Bourbon king of France

from 1643 to 1715. He is frequently considered to be the

quintessential absolute monarch, since he possessed all nine of the

necessary characteristics. During his reign, France was one of the

most powerful countries in Europe. (England was the other one,

but that’s in Section Three. I know, I know—you’re hungry for

knowledge, but you’ll just have to be patient.)

The Sun King Louis became the king of

France at age five. Can you imagine the

laws that would be made in a country

under the rule of a five-year-old?

‘Cookies for every meal! All toys belong

to ME! Bedtime is NEVER!’ Yeah, that

probably wouldn’t work out so well. So

historically, whenever kings would inherit

the throne at a very young age, or

sometimes if the king was mentally ill or

unable to rule for some other reason, a

regent would rule the country in the king’s

name.

Louis’s regent, Jules Mazarin, worked to increase the power of the

monarchy. One way in which he tried

to do this was to reduce the power of

the nobles through taxation, which

caused a series of rebellions, called

the Fronde. This rebellion taught Louis

an important lesson—that if he was

going to increase his own power, he

would need to find a way to do so

while keeping the nobles happy.

When Mazarin died, Louis decided not

to replace him with another official

advisor. Instead, he would ruled

France all on his own. He started a sort

of PR campaign to promote himself as

the ultimate absolute monarch. He

called himself ‘the Sun King,’ because

the sun is the center of the universe,

and everything else revolves around it.

He is also famous for having said,

‘L’etat c’est moi,’ which means, ‘I am

the government.’ Essentially, Louis

was letting everyone know that his

word was law and that all

government actions could only occur

with his approval. 6.2 121

Louis XIV is read

‘LOO-ee’ the

Fourteenth.

Bourbon was the

last name of this

dynasty of French

kings. The drink and

the street in New

Orleans were both

named after their

family. (Btw,

underage drinking is

bad, m’kay?)

Jules Mazarin is

pronounced ‘JOOL

Mazz-uh-RAN.’

L’etat c’est moi is

pronounced ‘lay-

TAH say mwah.’

L’il Louis

Louis as the Sun King

(Wealthy seventeenth-century men

dressed in ribbons, lace, and other

girly-seeming stuff. Regardless of

his effeminate appearance, Louis

was extremely popular

with the ladies.)

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6.2

The Palace of Versailles Another way in which Louis promoted

himself as the supreme ruler of France was by using luxury to

display his importance. He had a fantastic palace built just outside

Paris, called Versailles, which served as his own home, a home for

thousands of nobles, and the center of France’s government.

Versailles was decorated in the Baroque style. This artistic style

glorified

extreme

amounts of

decoration.

Nearly

everything in

Versailles was

covered in

gold, silk, satin,

or embroidery,

had scenes

painted on it,

or was

dripping with

diamonds and

gemstones.

Louis used Versailles to reduce the power of the nobles. All nobles

of high rank were required to spend a certain amount of time at

Versailles each year. At Versailles, fancy clothes, shoes, and

jewelry were the norm, so in order to keep up with the fashions at

court, these nobles would have to spend huge amounts of money.

Additionally, Louis threw awesome parties and generously

provided the nobles with food, wine, and entertainment. Louis

sponsored artists, playwrights, and musicians who were responsible

for providing the nobles at court with fun stuff to look and listen to.

As a result, the nobles were broke, drunk, distracted, and right

under Louis’ nose—making it almost impossible for them to rebel

against him.

Louis’ Wars Louis got involved in numerous wars, such as the Nine

Years’ War and the War of Spanish Succession, all of which were

fought in an effort to expand France’s borders. None of these

wars worked out very well, however, because the other countries

in Europe got together to preserve the balance of power. This

happens frequently in history when one country gets too powerful.

Other countries get freaked out and worry that the powerful

country is going to try to take over more territory, so they make

alliances to fight back. You’ll see this happen again when we

study Napoleon, World War I, and World War II.

122

Versailles is

pronounced ‘VER-

sigh.’

the queen’s Baroque bedroom at Versailles

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Memory Trick: if

you decorated your

house in Baroque

style, you’d

probably go

ba-roke since

everything would

be all gold- and

diamond-covered.

When there is a

balance of power

on a continent, no

one country has

way more power

than any of the

other countries.



6.3—Tudor Monarchs of England

Development of Limited Monarchy In contrast to the

absolute monarchy that developed in other parts of Europe,

limited monarchy evolved in England. This was due in part to the

provisions of the Magna Carta, which was signed by King John in

1215.

The Magna Carta limited the king’s power, recognized the rights of

nobles, and provided for regular meetings of Parliament. It also

gave Parliament power of the purse, or power over taxation. This

gave Parliament a way to check the monarch’s power if

necessary—by cutting off the monarch’s funds.

the Tudors The Tudor dynasty began in 1457 with the reign of

Henry VII, and also included Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, and

Elizabeth I. The Tudor monarchs who made the most significant

contributions to monarchy in England were Henry VIII and

Elizabeth I. Though they were not true absolute monarchs, each

strengthened the power of the monarch, either through a change

in relations with the Catholic Church or skillful handling of

Parliament.

Henry VIII Henry VIII ruled from 1509-1547. When Henry ascended

the throne, the Protestant Reformation had not yet begun. Several

years later, Henry denounced Martin Luther and the other critics of

the Catholic Church. Eventually though, he changed his mind,

due to some trouble with the ladies.

6.3 123

Henry VII is read

‘Henry the Seventh;’

Henry VIII is ‘Henry

the Eighth;’ Edward

VI is ‘Edward the

Sixth.’

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In England, Parliament limited the monarch’s power by controlling taxation.

To ascend literally

means to climb

onto or to move

upward, so to

ascend the throne is

to begin one’s reign

as monarch.



6.3

Henry was married to a

Spanish chick, Catherine

of Aragon. Catherine had

had a daughter, Mary, but

had not managed to

produce a son to be the

heir to the throne. Now,

Henry was popular with

the ladies of the court,

and he had found an

alternative—Anne Boleyn.

He and his ministers asked

the pope to annul his

marriage to Catherine so

he could marry Anne and

make some new

(hopefully male) babies.

Unfortunately (for Henry,

anyway), the Pope said

no.

Henry then decided to embrace the Reformation (well, sort of). In

a very Machiavellian move, he denounced the Church and

declared himself to be the head of the Church of England

(basically saying that he would no longer obey the Pope). Since

Henry didn’t have any actual issues with the teachings of the

Church, the new Church of England was really not all that different

under Henry than it had been under Catholicism.

In addition to putting the church under state control, Henry VIII and

his ministers did several other things that increased the power of

the English monarchy. He expanded

the navy, built numerous palaces,

decreased the influence of nobles in

royal courts, and was adept at

getting Parliament to bend to his will.

These actions set up a strong

foundation for Henry’s daughter,

Elizabeth, to make England

prosperous.

Edward VI After Henry’s death in

1547, his son Edward ruled for six

years. Since he was a teenager, he

had regents who helped him rule,

and Edward’s regents were strongly

Protestant. These regents made

many Protestant reforms to the

Church of England. 124

An heir

(pronounced ’air’) is

a person who

inherits something

upon someone

else’s death.

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Henry VIII, Renaissance Baby Daddy

teenage dream Edward VI

Boleyn is

pronounced ‘bo-

LIN.’

Henry did have a

child with Anne

Boleyn—Elizabeth—

but did not get the

male heir he

wanted, so he had

her beheaded.

Eventually, Henry

had six different

wives, several of

whom he had

executed for

adultery after they

failed to produce

male heirs. Despite

the numerous

spouses, he only

had three

legitimate

children—Mary,

Elizabeth, and

Edward.



Mary I After Edward died in 1553, his

older sister, Mary I, became queen.

Just like her husband, Philip II of Spain,

Mary was a SuperCatholic who wanted

to force everyone else to be Catholic,

too. She persecuted Protestants

(including her own sister, Elizabeth,

whom she locked in the Tower of

London), earning her the nickname

‘Bloody Mary.’

Elizabeth I By the time Elizabeth I

became queen in 1558, England had

been kind of swinging back and forth

between Protestantism and

Catholicism. Elizabeth brought an end

to all that turmoil with what is called

‘the Elizabethan Compromise.’ As part

of this compromise, Elizabeth required

all of her subjects to attend the Protestant Church of England.

Then, she set up the Church of England as a sort of compromise

between Protestantism and Catholicism. This allowed for more

religious toleration in England. (Though not everyone was happy:

a group called the Puritans believed that the Church of England

was too much like the Catholic Church. They were called

‘Puritans’ because they believed the English church needed to be

purified.)

Elizabeth was a very skillful politician. Because she used creative

methods for funding the government, rather than lots of taxation,

and because she cultivated a positive relationship with Parliament,

she had very few problems

with its members. She

never married, but the

possibility of a marriage

alliance to England was a

tool that could be used to

negotiate political deals

with other countries.

(Remember, historically,

marriage was used to make

political and economic

deals, especially among

royals and nobles.) By the

time of her death in 1603,

Elizabeth had made

England stable and

prosperous.

6.3 125

Bloody Mary looks like she could

use a little more fiber in her diet.

Now you know why they call those collars

that dogs have to wear after they come

from the vet ‘Elizabethan collars.’

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6.4

6.4—Stuart Monarchs of England

Since Queen Elizabeth I never married, she did not have a direct

heir. So when she died, the throne passed to her cousins, the

Stuarts, who already served as monarchs of Scotland. In Scotland,

monarchs were allowed to rule absolutely, so when the Stuarts

assumed the throne of England, problems arose because they

tried to rule just as they had in Scotland, and did not respect the

rights of Parliament.

Causes of the English Civil War James I, the first Stuart monarch of

England, ruled from 1603 to 1625. Since

he was king of two countries, England

and Scotland, he wanted to legally

combine them into one country.

Parliament was against this, and then a

long series of disagreements began.

Finally, James got fed up and dismissed

Parliament in 1610. He ruled without

Parliament until 1621, when they again

argued over a potential marriage

alliance for his son, and a war against

the Holy Roman Empire. In general,

relations between James I and

Parliament were strained, creating a

bad situation which his son, Charles I,

made worse.

Charles I reigned from 1625 to 1649. He had strong Catholic

sympathies, which caused general distrust among the Puritan

majority in Parliament’s House of Commons. Then, in 1626, Charles

126

Parliament is

bicameral, which

means it has two

houses. The upper

house is the House

of Lords, and only

hereditary nobles

could be in that.

The lower house is

the House of

Commons, which

theoretically

represented regular

people (but

historically was

often controlled by

wealthy corrupt

dudes).

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DANG. That is some

tassel, James I.

Baby Charles II had a super stinky dirty diaper, so Charles I had to stand way over on the

other side of the room for this portrait. Everybody poops. Even princes.



declared war on Spain, in order to help his brother-in-law regain

some territory he had lost. Parliament disapproved, and placed

limits on the amount of money it was willing to allow Charles to

raise to pay for the war. Charles found creative ways to tax the

people without Parliament’s consent, and ruled without Parliament

until 1640, when a revolt broke out in Scotland. Charles had no

choice but to call Parliament back, and subsequent arguments

between monarch and Parliament regarding the Scots revolt and

another revolt in Ireland led to the outbreak of the English Civil War

in 1642.

the English Civil War From 1642 to 1649, Cavaliers fought

Roundheads in the English Civil War. The Cavaliers were the

supporters of Charles I, and got the nickname due to the fact that

many of his supporters were noblemen. (‘Cavalier’ refers to a

chivalrous gentleman.)

The Roundheads, led by Oliver Cromwell, supported the Puritan

forces of Parliament. Puritans were notoriously simple in their way

of dressing, and

usually wore plain

black clothes and

had very short

haircuts. Since their

hair was short, the

roundness of their

heads was visible—

hence the name

‘Roundheads.’

So, English Civil War =

Cavaliers vs.

Roundheads.

Roundheads won! In

1649, they had

Charles I executed

and declared that

England was now a

Commonwealth.

the Commonwealth If you look at the root words of

‘Commonwealth,’ it might make you think it’s some kind of

communist set-up. Don’t be led astray, Young Scholar!

Communism hadn’t been invented yet. In theory, the

Commonwealth was supposed to be a republic led by the House

of Commons. In fact, some historians refer to the period from 1649

to1660 (when the Commonwealth ruled) as ‘the Kingless Decade.’

6.4 127

‘Cavalier’ and

‘Charles’ both start

with a C, so you can

remember that

Cavaliers were

supporters of King

Charles. Or maybe

just think about

Cavalier King

Charles Spaniels.

Guess who those

were named after?

‘Oliver’ starts with

an O, which is a

round letter, so that

will remind you that

Oliver Cromwell led

the Roundheads.

Puritans were English

supporters of John

Calvin who thought

the Church of

England was too

much like the

Catholic Church.

They wanted to

purify it—hence the

name ‘Puritans.’

Some of the Puritans

got fed up and

moved away to

America, where

they were called

‘Pilgrims.’

Ch

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s; Se

ctio

n F

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r—Stu

art M

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arc

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f En

gla

nd

SPOILER ALERT!! Ollie C. peeking at Charles I in his coffin.

If Thing B is

subsequent to Thing

A, then Thing B

came after Thing A.



6.4

But what really happened was that Oliver Cromwell ran England as

a sort of funless theocratic Puritan dictatorship until he died in 1558.

After Ollie’s death, his son, Richard, tried to take over. Richard

wasn’t a great leader, which led to all kinds of chaos. So in 1660,

Charles II, the son of Charles I, was restored to the throne.

the Restoration Charles II was

known as ‘the Merrie Monarch,’

which indicates that many English

people felt great relief at the end of

all of the Puritan restrictions on fun

that had been put in place during

the Commonwealth. Charles II did

clash with Parliament on some

matters of religion—he wanted

religious toleration, and Parliament

wanted to pursue anti-Catholic

policies. Generally, though, Charles

II backed down and got along okay

with Parliament. For example,

during his reign, Parliament passed

the Test Act, which made it

practically impossible for Catholics

to work as government officials.

Charlie also got along very nicely with the ladies! Though he had

no legitimate heir, he had at least fourteen recognized ‘natural

children.’ When Charles II died in 1685, his brother, James II, took

the throne.

James II was openly Catholic, which worried some Englishmen, but

at first he got along okay with Parliament. Shortly after James II

became king, two rebellions occurred, and he began building a

standing army to protect himself from future rebellions. No English

monarch had ever kept a standing army before, so this really

freaked people out.

James II then succeeded to do a variety of

things to promote Catholics (without the

approval of Parliament). Then, in 1688, he

ordered all English ministers to read a law that

removed all restrictions on Catholics, and

arrested any ministers who refused to do so.

Shortly thereafter, his Catholic wife gave birth

to a son, who would presumably also be a

Catholic, and the English had had enough

with what they called ‘popery.’ They just

couldn’t stomach the idea of a long dynasty

of Catholic monarchs.

128

A theocracy is a

religiously ruled

country or city.

Pirate + Giraffe = Charles II

James II

Ch

ap

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s; S

ec

tio

n F

ou

r—Stu

art

Mo

na

rch

s o

f En

gla

nd

‘Merrie’ is an old-

fashioned spelling of

‘merry.’ Spelling

wasn’t standardized

until the early 1800s,

so people just

spelled words

however they felt

like it.



the Glorious Revolution So, in order to get rid of their Catholic

king, some noblemen got in touch with William III of Orange,

James’ Protestant son-in-law. They arranged for him and his wife

(James’ daughter, Mary) to bring troops to England to overthrow

James II. When James found out the troops were coming, he ran

away to France. Since he left the country, he was considered to

have abdicated, and William and Mary were all set to take the

throne. Since there was no battle (which is totally glorious, right?),

this event is called the Glorious Revolution.

the English Bill of Rights But Parliament wanted to be sure that

William and Mary (and all future monarchs) would respect the

traditional rights of Parliament. Before they could take the throne,

in 1689, they were required to sign the English Bill of Rights.

Like the Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights asserted that

Parliament had power of the purse, and promoted habeas corpus.

Other provisions were that the monarch could not have a standing

army in peacetime without Parliament’s permission, that there

would be freedom of speech in Parliament, and that all English

citizens could bear arms to defend themselves.

Hmmm… that sounds kind of like the

American Bill of Rights! But that was

written in 1789, a hundred years later.

Golly. It’s almost as if the English Bill of

Rights influenced the American Bill of

Rights. That sounds important. Store

that away in your memory, please.

6.4 129

Orange is a

province in the

Netherlands.

Though the

Netherlands was a

republic, the House

of Orange had tons

of political power

there in the 1600s &

1700s.

Ch

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ter S

ix—

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n M

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s; Se

ctio

n F

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r—Stu

art M

on

arc

hs o

f En

gla

nd

William of Orange’s troops setting out to overthrow James II. So glorious.

William and Mary

To abdicate is to

give up the throne.

It’s kind of like

resignation for

monarchs.



6.5

6.5—Monarchs of Russia and Prussia

Just as they had in Western Europe, absolute monarchies

developed in Eastern Europe in the 1600s & 1700s. However, since

this area tended to be more agrarian and less modern than

Western Europe, Eastern European rulers used slightly different

methods to gain absolute power.

Russia Here is what we know about Russia so far: it was settled by

Slavs and Rus in Roman times, and centered around the city of

Kiev. Russians liked to copy Byzantine culture in the early Medieval

period, especially in areas of religion. Then, in the 1200s, Mongols

invaded, cutting Russia off from Western Europe.

Ivans, Good and Bad And now, a little info to connect what we

know with what we’re about to learn: in the late 1400s, rulers from

the Rurik dynasty re-

established Russian rule. A

prince of Moscow, Ivan the

Great, succeeded in ousting

the Mongols and establishing a

new Russian government

centered around Moscow.

Ivan the Great’s grandson,

Ivan the Terrible, was the first

ruler of Russia to claim the title

of ‘czar.’ ‘Czar’ is the Russian

form of ‘caesar,’ so the use of

that nomenclature implied that

the czar was a successor to the

Roman and Byzantine

emperors. Ivan the Terrible

established a sort of terror-

oriented dictatorship in which

the czar had absolute power.

(Czars don’t get called ‘the

Terrible’ for nothing!) After Ivan

the Terrible’s death, in the early

1600s, Russia entered what is

called ‘the Time of Troubles.’

This was a period of extreme

famine and economic

problems.

Peter the Great The Romanov dynasty began ruling Russia in 1613,

bringing an end to the Time of Troubles. Peter the Great, one of

the most powerful Romanov czars, ruled Russia from 1682 to 1745.

130

To oust people is to

kick them out.

Ch

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of

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an

d P

russ

ia

Once, Ivan the Terrible was visiting his

daughter-in-law while she was

sick, and he thought her nightgown was

inappropriate, so he got into a fight with

his son about it , and KILLED HIM. That

was only one of about a bazillion terrible

things Ivan the Terrible did. He totally

deserved that name (though no one

called him that to his face, I’m sure).

Nomenclature refers

to the naming of

things.

A famine is a time

period during which

there is not enough

food.



Peter Pursued a Passel of Ports As czar, Peter the Great was sort of

obsessed with gaining naval power for Russia. When he gained

the throne, Russia only had one major port. Peter thought it’d be

nice to have ports along the Black Sea, which was controlled by

Ottoman Turks, and the Baltic Sea, which was controlled by

Sweden. In pursuit of his port-goals, Peter captured the Ottoman

fort of Azov in 1696.

Peter wanted to modernize

his navy further before he

got to work stealing ports

from Sweden, so he went

on an ‘incognito’ trip to

Western Europe to learn

about ships ‘n’ stuff. (He

felt that if everyone knew

who he was, he wouldn’t

learn very much, so he was

disguised as a peasant.

Peter made everyone call

him ‘Your Royal Serfness’

though, and he was

freakishly tall to boot, so

the disguise probably

didn’t work too well.) In

1698, there was a rebellion

among the streltsy, so he

6.5 131

Incognito literally

means ‘unknown,’

and refers to

someone who is in

disguise.

Ch

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ter S

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s; Se

ctio

n F

ive

—M

on

arc

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f Ru

ssia a

nd

Pru

ssia

His Royal Serfness workin’ on a ship in Holland

Russian expansion during Peter the Great’s reign

Streltsy were elite

Russian military

officers.



6.5

had to cut his trip short to deal with that.

After Peter put down the streltsy rebellion, he got busy with his

port-gettin’ project once again. In 1700, he attacked Sweden,

starting the Great Northern War. This war lasted until 1721, and

eventually involved many major European countries. As a result of

the Great Northern War, Russia gained lots of territory along the

Baltic Sea and became a major European power.

West is Best Due to his travels in

Western Europe, Peter realized

that Russia was culturally

backward, and made many

attempts at Westernization.

During the Great Northern War,

Peter captured some land along

the Neva River, which he

decided to turn into a Western-

style city. He called the city ‘St.

Petersburg’ and moved his

capital there in 1712. He also

instituted a beard tax in hopes of

getting boyars to look more

Western. Other Westernizing

reforms included the adoption of

mercantilist economic policies

and the establishment of

scientific academies.

Increasing and Displaying Power Like other absolute monarchs,

Peter needed to take power away from the nobles and the

Church in order to increase his own power. He created the Table

of Ranks, which assigned levels of power to nobles based on what

was best for the state (rather than based on heredity). In order to

bring the Russian

Orthodox Church

more firmly under his

control, he left the

office of patriarch

vacant. In order to

pay for improvements

to St. Petersburg and

Peterhof (his palace),

he introduced new

forms of taxation,

which forced serfs and

peasants to bear a

larger tax burden.

132

Boyars were Russian

nobles.

Ch

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n F

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—M

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d P

russ

ia

At first glance, this may look like a

picture of a levitating child barbering a

man in front of a flying carpet and a

floating table—but really it’s Peter the

Great cutting off a boyar’s beard.

Peterhof Palace

To levitate is to float

above the ground.



Prussia: a Northern European State, not a Misspelling of

Russia Prussia was originally a part of the Holy Roman Empire,

and was made up of land ruled by dukes who belonged to the

Hohenzollern family. In 1701, one of these dukes earned the right

to the title ‘King in Prussia’ after helping the Holy Roman Emperor in

a war. The lands originally controlled by the Prussian kings were

not contiguous, which was kind of a pain. So the Hohenzollerns

built up the Prussian military in order to conquer more land to

round out their territory. As a result, they created a strong

militaristic state, which Frederick the Great used to make Prussia a

dominant European power.

Frederick the Great Frederick the

Great ruled Prussia from 1740 to 1786.

Like his ancestors (who were all

confusingly named Frederick or

Frederick William), Frederick the

Great wanted to acquire territory

that he could use to unite all of the

scattered parts of his kingdom. As a

result, he got Prussia involved in lots

and lots of wars.

Frederick’s Wars The first war

Frederick got involved in was the War

of Austrian Succession, which began

in 1740. This war began because

Maria Theresa inherited the throne of

Austria (which was kind of unusual for

a female in that area).

Opportunistically, Frederick refused

to acknowledge her inheritance, and

invaded and captured the Austrian

province of Silesia for himself.

Then, in an effort to preserve the balance of power in Europe,

Frederick invaded part of the Holy Roman Empire in 1756. This

started the Seven Years’ War, in which Prussia was allied with Great

Britain against other European countries. By its end in 1763, the

Seven Years’ War resulted in a huge empire for Britain. Though

Prussia didn’t get any new territory out of the war, it did result in a

beneficial alliance between Prussia and Russia.

Modernization of Prussia In order to transform Prussia into a

modern European state, Frederick made many reforms to the

economy. In gaining control of Silesia, Prussia got access to

natural resources, which could then be turned into manufactured

goods. He also made changes to the currency system which

benefitted the economy.

6.5 133

Today, Prussia is in

northwestern

Germany.

Ch

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n F

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—M

on

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f Ru

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nd

Pru

ssia

Frederick the Great

‘Hohenzollern’ is

pronounced ‘HO-in-

zoll-urn.’

An opportunist takes

advantage of a

situation to get

something for

himself.



6.0

To depict something

is to draw, paint, or

otherwise make a

picture out of it. For

example, here is a

depiction of a

geometry class

cube, drawn using

linear perspective:

Ch

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russ

ia



http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0080xph

http://popartmachine.com/item/pop_art/FASF-FASF.53533/JACOB

-BINK-SOLDIERS-PLAYING-DICE-16TH-CENTURY

http://www.siue.edu/COSTUMES/PLATE63BX.HTML

http://www.henrydarthenay.com/2-categorie-10256648.html

http://www.seiyaku.com/customs/crosses/boyar.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hochzeit_friedrich_I._tiepolo.jpg http://www.allartclassic.com/pictures_zoom.php?p_number=129&p=&number=TIT009

http://listverse.com/2010/03/12/10-battles-that-turned-the-tide-of-war/

http://www.reproarte.com/picture/Michel-Ange_Houasse/

View+of+the+Monastery++El+Escorial/13361.html

http://www.louis-xiv.de/index.php?id=66

http://babylonbaroque.wordpress.com/2010/09/11/the-sun-king-by-way-of-cathaythe-chinoiserie

-tapestries-of-beauvais/

http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/tudorpictures.htm http://www.marileecody.com/temporary/

images.html

http://wps.ablongman.com/long_kishlansky_cw_5/0,6472,268318-

,00.html

http://artmight.com/Artists/Il-ya-Repin-1844-1930/Ivan-the-Terrible-

and-His-Son-dt1-23606p.html

http://www.superstock.com/stock-photos-images/900-128246

http://staff.kings.edu/cristoferscarboro/

6.0

If something is

described as

quintessential, it is

the best example or

representative of a

group of things of

that type.

Ch

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ix—

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ctio

n F

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f Ru

ssia a

nd

Pru

ssia

http://www.allartclassic.com/pictures_zoom.php?p_number=129&p=&number=TIT009

http://listverse.com/2010/03/12/10-battles-that-turned-the-tide-of-war/

http://www.reproarte.com/picture/Michel-Ange_Houasse/View+of+the+Monastery++El+Escorial/13361.html

http://www.reproarte.com/picture/Michel-Ange_Houasse/View+of+the+Monastery++El+Escorial/13361.html

http://www.louis-xiv.de/index.php?id=66

http://babylonbaroque.wordpress.com/2010/09/11/the-sun-king-by-way-of-cathaythe-chinoiserie-tapestries-of-beauvais/

http://babylonbaroque.wordpress.com/2010/09/11/the-sun-king-by-way-of-cathaythe-chinoiserie-tapestries-of-beauvais/

http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/tudorpictures.htm

http://www.marileecody.com/temporary/images.html

http://www.marileecody.com/temporary/images.html

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