Absolute Monarchs in Europe

Spain’s Empire  Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire  In addition to Germany, he controlled Spain, Spain’s colonies, Italy, Austria and the Netherlands  agreed on the Peace of Augsburg  Divided his empire among his brother and son, then joined a monastery  Ferdinand- Austria and HRE  Philip II- Spain, Netherlands and colonies

Religious Conflicts  Philip II believed it was his duty to defend Catholicism from the Muslims and Protestants  Launched the Spanish Armada to punish Queen Elizabeth (England)  defeated by the English Navy, was a huge setback  Owned a palace that demonstrated his wealth and power (Escorial)

Spain’s Golden Age  Spain’s wealth allowed it to support the arts  El Greco- painted with bright colors, showed Catholic subjects, expressed emotion  Velazquez- showed pride of Spanish monarchy

Spain’s Golden Age  Don Quixote- considered the first modern European novel  written by Miguel Cervantes

The End of the Spanish Empire  Wealth from the Americas made Spain prosper, but it caused long-term economic problems  inflation- value of money declines, price of goods increases  expelling Jews and Muslims meant the loss of artisans and businessmen  Spanish-made goods were expensive because of their guild system, so people bought goods from other countries instead

The Dutch  Netherlands were a part of Philip II’s empire  was prosperous even when Spain’s economy was failing  revolted multiple times  fought over religion (Dutch were Calvinist)  Eventually, the northern region of the Netherlands became the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and the south remained under Spanish control (modern-day Belgium)

The Dutch  The Netherlands set up a democracy  other European countries had monarchies  religious freedom  Stable government meant the Dutch could focus on the economy  bought up surplus grain, and then sold it for profit  had a huge fleet of ships, and were able to dominate trade in the Indian Ocean  Became extremely wealthy, became patrons of the arts  Rembrandt  Vermeer

Absolutism  European monarchs wanted to rule with no limits  absolute monarchs  Believed they had the “divine right” to rule  God created the monarchy, and the monarch was God’s representative on Earth, and therefore the monarch answered only to God

Absolutism  the decline of feudalism and rise of national kingdoms led to a centralizing of power  absolute monarchs were backed by middle class because they promoted business

Absolutism  Religious and territorial conflicts led to constant warfare  governments built up their armies and raised taxes  peasants often revolted, and monarchs tried to impose order  Monarchs created new bureaucracies to keep the nobility and Parliaments from limiting their power

Absolutism Activity  Complete the organizer on the worksheet  use pp in textbook  Then complete the questions on examples of absolutism  Homework: Vocab! Sections 5.1, 5.2 & 5.3

Louis XIV and France

Louis XIV

Versailles

Death of Louis XIV

Thirty Year’s War