Religious Wars and Monarchies

France

The Valois dynasty was founded in 1328 by Philip VI and lasted until 1589

Louis XI (1461-1483) helped France recover from the Hundred Years’ War. He expanded France and filled the treasury

Charles VIII’s Italian Wars lasted 65 years and proved disastrous for France. He borrowed money, sold offices, and raised taxes

Francis I (1515-47) expanded royal power, patronized the arts and increased the influence of France

Henry II (1547-59) only interested in hunting and his elderly mistress.

Catherine de Medici was his wife

Henry had three rival:
a) the Guises - strongest and Catholic
b) the Montmorencys - great landowner, large army
c) the Bourbons - their land was held by Spain

Henry was killed in an jousting accident in 1559

1559 The Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis ended the Habsburg-Valois War

More of a victory for Spain - France was still surrounded by Habsburgs

France and Spain could now focus on the Protestants

From 1559-89 the queen mother Catherine de Medici was the most important figure in French politics

Francis II (1559-69)
Charles IX (1560-74)
Henry III (1574-89)
All feeble and neurotic, ruled by their mother

The French Protestants wanted an agreement similar to the Peace of Augsburg (1555)

1562 The duke of Guise ordered the murder of worshipping Protestants. (Massacre at Vassy)

In 1572 the Huguenot leadership met in Paris for the Bourbon prince Henry of Navarre to Margaret, the sister of King Charles IX - proof of Huguenot influence

August 24, St. Bartholomew’s Day killed the Huguenots while they slept

Henry escaped by promising to convert

By 1572 10,000 Huguenots were massacred

1588-89 the War of the Three Henries
Guise v Valois v Navarre

Spain paid Guise to revolt in Paris
to help his Armada and kill the king

Henry fled Paris

1588 the king’s bodyguard killed Guise

1589 Henry III was assassinated
by a deranged Catholic monk

Henry believed religious peace was necessary for a strong nation

He converted to Catholicism claiming, "Paris is well worth a Mass"

The Catholic League led by Philip II of Spain stopped pressuring France

1598 Henry issues the Edict of Nantes which allows religious freedom in specific places

This stopped the internal problems and
helped strengthen France

1598 Henry and Philip II made peace

Henry’s son Louis XIII became king in 1610 at 9

His mother Marie de Medici ruled as regent until 1617 when she was exiled by her son

Later he recalled her and gave power to one of her advisors - cardinal Richelieu

Richelieu realized he needed to reduce the power of the Huguenots and the nobles

Richelieu wanted to make France the strongest country in Europe

He established the French Academy and sponsored the arts

When Richelieu died he was replaced by Cardinal Mazarin

Louis XIV

Powerful Bourbon monarch

Became king at 5, the country was ruled by his mother Anne of Austria and Cardinal Mazarin

After Mazarin’s death in 1661, Louis announced he would rule alone

He reigned for 72 years

He was an absolute ruler known as the Sun King

"L’etat c’est moi!"

Versailles

The German States

The site of the Thirty Years’ War which involved all of Europe except England

It was a conflict between Catholics and Protestants

The Protestant princes of Germany resisted the Catholic Habsburg monarchs

The war started in 1618 in Bohemia

Ferdinand of Styria became king of Bohemia in 1617 and started prosecuting Protestants

Defenestration of Prague - 1618

Ferdinand was the Habsburg heir to the throne of the Holy Roman Empire

When the Protestants rebelled war started

Philip III of Spain sent help to Ferdinand

The Czechs were soon suppressed and forced to become Catholic

Protestant Denmark helped Bohemia in hope of gaining German land

The Danes were soon defeated, Protestant Sweden entered the war

Now religion was not as important as politics

In 1635 Cardinal Richelieu of Catholic France joined the war against the Habsburgs to prevent Spain from becoming too powerful

In 1648 the war ended with Germany devastated and France Europe’s leading power.

The Peace of Westphalia (1648)

a) acknowledged Calvinism as a major religion

b) each German prince was sovereign

c) independence of the United Provinces of the Netherlands was acknowledged

d) France acquired the Alsace region

e) the pope could not participate in German affairs

f) North German State became Protestant
South German states remained Catholic

England

Henry VII

Became the first Tudor in 1485 after the War of the Roses

He rebuilt England’s commercial ventures and expanded the wool trade to Europe

Improved tax collection

Avoided costly foreign wars

Had two sons: Arthur and Henry

Prince Arthur

Older brother to Henry VIII

Married Catherine of Aragon

He dies in 1502, just six months after his marriage to Catherine

Henry VIII

Received the throne at 18

Married his brother’s widow, Catherine

Had 6 wives

Separated Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church

Dissolved the monasteries in England

He waged war in Europe, broke from the church, but was and is one the most popular monarchs

Henry never considered himself a heretic and kept many of the Catholic Church rituals

Catherine of Aragon

Daughter of king Ferdinand and Queen Isabella

First married to Prince Arthur

Arthur dies and she marries Henry VIII

Henry divorced Catherine

She still remained loyal to him and the Catholic faith

Anne Boleyn

Maid of honor to Catherine

2nd wife and most famous wife

Secretly married

Bore him a daughter - Elizabeth I

In 1536, charged Anne with adultery

Beheaded on 1536

Jane Seymour

Henry’s third wife

Died shortly after giving birth to his son

King Edward VI

Anne of Cleves

Henry’s fourth wife

A German princess

Urged by Cromwell, Henry married her

"Flander’s mare"

Cromwell was disgraced and executed

Marriage annulled

Catherine Howard

Henry’s fifth wife

In 1542, convicted of adultery

Henry had her executed

Catherine Parr

Henry’s sixth and final wife

Brought order and unity to the disturbed family

Outlived Henry

Catherine of Aragon: divorced: Mary

Anne Boleyn: beheaded: Elizabeth

Jane Seymour: died: Edward

Anne of Cleves: divorced: ugly

Catherine Howard: beheaded

Catherine Parr: survived

Edward VI

Only son of Henry

Became king at nine

Died from several sicknesses in 1553

Mary Tudor

Queen after Edward died

Devoted Catholic

Nicknamed "Bloody Mary"

Married Philip II of Spain

Very unpopular

Elizabeth of York

Became queen of England in 1558

Highly educated

Used her authority for the common good of her people

"Virgin Queen"

Armada

THE DUTCH REPUBLIC

In 1581 seven provinces formed the United Provinces

Philip II tried to crush the Dutch but Philip III was forced to agree to a truce

The peace of Westphalia confirmed the Republic’s independence

The "Golden Age" of the Netherlands

Each province was ruled by a wealthy oligarch

The Dutch had a republic not a monarchy

Holland had the most wealth and the largest navy and so they dominated

The success of the Dutch rested upon their commercial interests and religious toleration

Amsterdam became the commercial capital of Europe

The Habsburgs of Austria were left devastated after the Thirty Years’ War

Austria was the most powerful of the German States

Ferdinand III centralized government of German-speaking provinces

1683 the Ottomans laid siege to Vienna

The Catholic Habsburgs conquered parts of the Ottoman Empire - but there was a continual struggle with the Ottomans

Habsburg Empire had three parts: Austria (Germans), Hungary (Magyars), Bohemia (Czechs)

Women were not allowed the claim the throne of Austria

1711 Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI - Pragmatic Sanction (1713) - persuaded Europe’s rulers to accept a female monarch and to never divide the Habsburg lands

Maria Theresa became queen of Austria

1740 Frederick II became king of Prussia and rejected the Pragmatic Sanction

He attacked the Austrian province of Silesia

This started the War of Austrian Succession (1740-48)

Great Britain, and the Dutch supported Austria; France and Spain supported Austria

1748 the war ended with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle

Frederick kept Silesia and Austria gained the Spanish Netherlands and parts of Italy

Russia

Ivan IV "the Terrible"

Became czar at 3

Killed thousands even his own son

1598-1613 Time of Trouble

1613 Russian nobility (boyars) elected Michael Romanov as tsar

Romanov family rules until 1917 (Nicholas II)

Peter I (the Great) - (nearly 7ft tall)

Established stability after the Times of Troubles (1584-1613)

Peter was fascinated by geography and spent 18 months touring Europe

Moscow garrison (steltsi) rebelled in 1618 - Peter brutally suppressed the revolt

He force the boyars to accept western ways including shaving and allowing women to attend social functions

Forced boyars to serve the state by enlisting in the civil or military service

1722 - issued the Table of Ranks - provided social position and privileges

He built a new capital called St. Petersburg the "window to the West"

Forced China to accept Russia’ claim for Siberia

To make the Russian Orthodox Church more secular he abolished the office of patriarch - established the Holy Synod

1762 Catherine seized the throne form her weak husband

Allowed nobles to treat serfs as they pleased

Defeated the Ottomans and expanded Russia’s southern border to the Black Sea

Divided Poland with Austria and Prussia. Poland ceased to exist until 1919

Catherine was the last of great absolute monarchs

She died in 1796 when Europe was challenging the idea of the monarchy

Prussia

1415 - Hohenzollern family began to rule as electors of Brandenburg

Gradually increased the size of their land until they were second only to the Hapsburgs

Frederick William (the Great Elector) - started to rule Germany after it had been devastated by the Thirty Years' War (1618-48)

He reduced the power of the landed aristocracy (Junkers)

Used military and civil service to control the state - top jobs went to the Junkers

Did not interfere with Junker control of the serfs

Hohenzollern family formed an alliance with the Junkers (unlike the monarchy of France)

They practiced religious toleration

Frederick I - supported the Hapsburgs in the war of Spanish Succession - given the title of king of Prussia

Frederick William (Sergeant King) doubled the size of the army to 80,000 - but avoided wars

Army officers became a privileged class

1740 - Frederick II (Frederick the Great) - Enlightened despot - invaded Silesia and started the War of Austrian Succession

1772 - participated in the first partition of Poland

Improved the economy, abolished torture, reorganized the tax system, imposed tariffs to protect Prussian industry, made more land available for agriculture