1. Bellwork
What was the effect of the discovery of the Americas on the wealth and status of people in Europe?
Why did people accept the rulership of kings (or nobility in general)?
Everyone is also going to need a card that says either “absolute monarch” or “constitutional monarch”.

2. Section 5, Unit 4 Absolutism in Europe 1550-1800 AD
World History
Section 5, Unit 4
Absolutism in Europe AD

3. Objectives Analyze the concept of divine right to rule
Discuss and examine the reforms under the Peter the Great
Compare how monarchs came to power
Compare and contrast the changes in royal power between England and various other European nations

4. Absolutism
In a previous lesson, we discussed that in some nations, monarchs had their powers limited, such as in England where Parliament and the Magna Carta both limited the monarchy.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, many European monarchs attempted to claim authority to rule without limits.
However, monarchs grew increasingly powerful after the Middle Ages.

5. Absolutism
These rulers wanted to be absolute monarchs– kings or queens who believed that all power in their states boundaries rested in their hands.
Absolute monarchs believed in divine right– the idea that God created the monarchy and that the monarch represented God.

6. Absolutism
Monarchs usually gained much support from the middle class, since they wanted a peaceful, supportive climate for business that a monarch could provide.
As well, when the Church became weak after the reformation, monarchs took this as an opportunity to gain power.
Question: What was the protestant reformation?

7. Absolutism
As well, the 17th century proved to be a period of turmoil for Europe.
Between wars, territorial conflicts, and religious disputes, governments needed strong armies and strong leaders.
One of the most famous monarchs to use his power was Louis XIV of France.

8. Louis XIV
Prior to Louis XIV’s rule was Cardinal Richelieu (rish-uh-loo).
Cardinal Richelieu came to power during Louis XIII’s reign, as a minister.
Louis XIV came to power at the age of 5 in 1643.
However, the true ruler of the time was Richelieu’s successor, Cardinal Mazarin.

9. Louis XIV
However, many people in France– especially the nobles-- hated Mazarin.
From 1648 to 1653, violent riots tore France apart and even threatened Louis XIV’s life.
Remembering this, Louis was determined to make sure they would never threaten him again.

10. Louis XIV
When Mazarin died in 1661, Louis– who was 23– took control of the government.
Louis’ first action was to weaken the power of the nobles through excluding them from his councils.
Louis devoted himself to helping France attain economic, political, and cultural brilliance.

11. Louis XIV
To increase the economic power of France, Louis has his minister of finance, Jean Baptiste Colbert do three things:
Make France self-sufficient by manufacturing it’s own goods.
Incentivize companies to produce more by lowering their taxes.
Protect the industries of France

12. Louis XIV
Aside from managing the economy, Louis also surrounded himself in luxury.
His meals were always a feast. He had 500 cooks, waiters, and other servants available to satisfy his tastes.

13. Louis XIV
Louis also controlled the nobles by making them live in his palace.
When Louis awoke, outside his bed stood 100 nobles, hoping to help him dress– few would get the opportunity to help him.
Nobles attempted to get as much notice from him as possible. Any nod or glance of approval could be the different between a noble succeeding or failing.

14. Louis XIV Having nobles at the palace increased authority in two ways:
It make the nobility completely dependent on Louis.
It took nobles from their homes, making it so that his intendants could manage their affairs (and, in turn, report back to Louis).
Louis made hundreds of nobles live with him in his palace in Versailles.

15. Versailles The Versailles palace showed the power of Louis XIV.
The palace itself stretched for a distance of 500 yards and whole of the palace complex cost around $2 billion in 1994 dollars and took around 36,000 laborers to complete and maintain.

16. Versailles
Aside from the palace itself, the exterior of the palace included 15,000 acres of gardens, lawns, and woods.
There are also 1,400 fountains on the complex, which use so much water that they could only be used on rare occasions.

17. End of Louis
Despite such power, Louis XIV died leaving France in a horrid state.
Louis left a mixed legacy to his country. While France was powerful, Louis left his nation with staggering debts and memories of royal abuse.
While this would ultimately lead to Revolution, other monarchs also began to experiment with their own forms of absolute monarchy.

18. Russia
In Russia, the people had dealt with struggles for power for decades.
However, in 1613, a family known as the Romanov’s came to power and restored order in Russia.

19. Russia
The Romanov’s strengthened the government by passing legal codes and putting down a rebellion against them.
They paved the way for absolute rule by Peter I.
At first, Peter shared the crown with his brother, but in 1696, became the sole ruler of Russia and became known as Peter the Great.

20. Peter the Great
When Peter I came to power, Russia was a land of boyars– Russian nobles– and serfs.
Serfdom in Russia lasted much longer than in the rest of Europe.

21. Peter the Great Russia was geographically isolated.
Its only port town, Archangel, was choked with ice much of the year and the few travelers who visited Moscow had to stay in a separate part of the city.
As well, religious differences widened the gap.
Question: If Russians looked to Constantinople for guidance, then were they Catholic?

22. Peter the Great
Because Russians turned to Constantinople for guidance, most were Eastern Orthodox Christians and viewed Catholicism and Protestantism as heresy. However, Peter would change much of this.
Peter was fascinated by western items, such as modern tools and machines.
He believed that Russia’s future lied in having a warm-water port.

23. Peter the Great
When Peter became Czar– ruler– of Russia, he was only 24 years old.
In 1697, he embarked on the “Grand Embassy” which was a long trip to Western Europe.
Peter’s goal was to learn about western customs and industrial techniques.
Peter working in a Dutch wharf incognito– in secret

24. Peter the Great
Peter visited the Netherlands, England, and Austria before returning to Russia.
Inspired by his trip, Peter wanted to westernize Russia– to model it after western Europe- and make it stronger.
Peter as a ship’s carpenter

25. Reforms
Peter knew that Russia needed to change, but his people disagreed.
The only way to get change was to force it, and to do that, Peter would have to be an absolute ruler.

26. Reforms
Peter’s first step was to bring the Russian Orthodox church under state control and abolish the office of the patriarch.
He set up a group called the Holy Synod to run the church under his direction.
Question: What was a “patriarch”?

27. Reforms
To modernize his army, Peter hired European officers, who drilled his soldiers in European tactics with European weapons.
Being a soldier became a lifetime job.
However, to afford this military, Peter imposed heavy taxes.

28. Reforms To westernize Russia, Peter: Introduced potatoes
Started Russia’s first newspaper
Raised women’s status by having them attend social gatherings
Ordered the nobles to give up their traditional clothes and grooming fashions for Western fashions (such as removal of beards)
Promoted education, which he believed was key to Russia’s progress

29. Reforms
To promote education and growth, Peter wanted a seaport that would make it easier to travel to the West.
In that, Peter fought Sweden to gain a piece of the Baltic coast and, after 21 years of war, Russia won.
Port of St. Petersburg

30. Reforms
In 1703– before the war ended- Peter ordered the building of a swampy location for a new city.
The locale of this city would allow ships to sail down the Neva River into the Baltic Sea and then reach Western Europe.
He named this city Saint Petersburg, after his patron saint.

31. Legacy
For better or for worse, Peter the Great had tried to reform the culture and heritage of Russia.
To an extent, he succeeded and, by the time he died in 1725, Russia was a power to be reckoned with.

32. Elsewhere
While Russia was growing, another European power, England, was developing a form of government that limited the powers of monarchs.

33. Recall What was “parliament”? What was the “Magna Carta”?
Parliament was the representative body in England that the king turned to to request funds or take various other actions.
The Magna Carta was the document that King John was forced to sign that gave more rights to the nobility (and later the commoners), such as a jury trial, equal protection under the laws, and no taxation without representation.

34. England's Monarchs
Queen Elizabeth I had frequent conflicts with parliament– usually over money.
Parliament could not afford to pay for the queen’s expenses and when Elizabeth died in 1603, the debt she left behind made it so that no English monarch could become an absolute monarch.

35. James I
Elizabeth had no children, so her cousin, James Stuart became King James I of England in 1603.
James inherited many problems.
James believed that he has absolute authority, and he bitterly fought with Parliament for more money to pay for his wars and expenses.
Because James was also king of Scotland, both England and Scotland had the same ruler, despite their not being united until 1707.

36. Charles I
When James I died in 1625, his son Charles I took the throne.
Charles always needed money because he was constantly at war.
They refused to give him money until he signed the Petition of Right, which:
He would not imprison subjects without due cause
He would not levy taxes without Parliaments consent
He would not house soldiers in private homes
He would not impose martial law (military law) in peacetime.

37. Charles I In 1641, Parliament passed laws to limit royal authority.
Furious, Charles tried to arrest Parliament’s leaders but they escaped.
In response, a mob of Londoners raged outside his palace. Charles fled and raised an army in the north, where people were loyal to him.

38. English Civil War
From 1642 to 1651, Royalists- those who supported Charles- fought those who opposed Charles, the Puritans, a religious group who wished to purify the church.

39. English Civil War
In 1644, the Puritans found a general who could win– Oliver Cromwell.
In 1646, Cromwell’s army defeated the Royalists and, in 1649, sentenced Charles to death.
His death was revolutionary, as no king had ever faced a public trial and execution.

40. Oliver Cromwell
As the new ruler, Cromwell abolished the monarchy and established the commonwealth– a republican form of government.
He also had a constitution drafted, but he eventually tore the document up and ruled as a military dictator.

41. Restoration
When Cromwell died in 1658, his government collapsed a new Parliament came to power.
Charles II came to power in 1660, starting a period known as the restoration.

42. Restoration Under Charles II, Parliament also passed habeas corpus.
This law gave every prisoner the right to obtain a writ or document order that the prisoner be brought before a judge.
Habeas corpus made it so that no king could unjustly imprison someone without a trial.

43. James II
In 1685, Charles II died and James II was chosen by Parliament.
Almost immediately, he offended his subjects by flaunting his Catholicism.

44. James II
James’ oldest daughter, Mary, was a Protestant and married to William of Orange, of the Netherlands.
Seven members of Parliament invited William and Mary to overthrow James for the sake of Protestantism.

45. Glorious Revolution
When William led his army into London in 1688, James fled to France.
This bloodless overthrow became known as the Glorious Revolution.

46. Glorious Revolution
At their coronation, William and Mary vowed to “govern the people… according to the statutes in Parliament”.
William and Mary recognized Parliament as their partner in government and, unlike other European nations, became a constitutional monarchy, in which royal power was limited (and rule is at the consent of the governed).
Question: What does “consent of the governed” mean?

47. Constitutional Monarchy
Overtime, the details of this government system became hammered out as the royalty and Parliament became linked in their rulership.
Even today, this system of government continues.

48. Changes
While European monarchs were changing their powers– becoming more powerful and sacrificing others– new thoughts in Europe and began to spread quickly and ushered in an age of thought that Europe had not experienced since the Renaissance.

49. Closure
Imagine for a moment that you are a monarch of Europe. Consider the following:
In this nation you control, you can either be an absolute monarch or a constitutional monarch. Which are you? Explain your choice.
How do you justify your power? What gives you the right to rule?
What would you do with your power? How would you wield your power? Remember, you’re a European monarch, so you should take into consideration what Europeans specifically did with their power.

50. Review Objectives Analyze the concept of divine right to rule
Discuss and examine the reforms under the Peter the Great
Compare how monarchs came to power
Compare and contrast the changes in royal power between England and various other European nations

51. Questions
If you have a question, please ask now.

52. Next lesson
In the next lesson, we are going to discuss the Enlightenment.

53. Project
Following this lesson, we are going to begin the “Age of Absolutism Project”.
In it, you and a team (5 groups max) are going to research a particular European monarch during this time. You will receive a handout will full instructions.