17th Centurys Search for Order

1
17th Centurys Search for Order

• Absolutism in France and Eastern Europe
• Constitutionalism with the English and Dutch

2
The 17th Century

• Revolutionary transformation
• Crisis in agriculture and industry
• Spain, France, Germany, England
• Armies grew to the biggest point since Rome
• Burden fell to the population- taxation
• Urban disorder and peasant revolts
• Princes struggled to free themselves from
  obstacles to gain sovereignty
• Freedom from church interference
• Freedom from competition with private armies
• Ultimate authority resting with the State
• Two systems emerge absolutism and
  constitutionalism

3
The Absolutist State

• Sovereignty is embodied in the ruler
• Ruled by divine right and answered to God
• Letat, cest moi! Louis XIV
• Controlled rivaling authorities
• Rooted out feudal legacies
• Regulated religious sects
• Abolished some traditional liberties
• Unlike medieval kings who bargained with nobles
  for financial support, they established
  bureaucracies that found alternative financing
• Armies became the symbol of the absolutist state

4
Absolutism vs. Totalitarianism

• Totalitarianism is a 20th century phenomenon
• Seeks to direct all aspects of culture (art,
  education, religion, economy, politics, etc.)
  toward the states interests
• Total regulation
• Absolutism foreshadowed Totalitarianism in 2
  ways
• Glorification of the state over all aspects of
  culture
• Use of war and expansionist foreign policy to
  divert attention from domestic ills

5
France Henry IV, Sully, Richelieu

• Henry IV inherited an enormous mess
• Starvation, war, pillage and plunder
• Henry promised a chicken in every pot
• Tried to gain protestant support by appointing
  protestant Maximilien de Bethune, duke of Sully
  as chief minister
• He tried to keep France out of war
• Brief but successful war with Savoy in 1601
• He and Sully helped France get back on its feet

6
The King is Dead

• Henry was assassinated in 1610 by a crazed
  fanatic
• Queen-regent Marie de Medici ruled for their son
  Louis XII
• Feudal lords and princes began to assert control
• Marie appointed Cardinal Richelieu to the council
  of ministers who eventually became the prime
  minister and had tremendous influence over the
  young king
• Pressed for total subordination to the monarchy
• Leveled castles to put down feudalism
• Beheaded rivals (duke of Montmorency, Godson of
  Henry
• Appointed royal commissioners to each of the 32
  districts
• Appointed by and answer to the king
• Were not locals from the district
• Became the eyes and ears of the king

7
Strengthening the Monarchy

• Henry had drawn up the Edict of Nantes which
  allowed protestants to maintain heir religions
  and their own garrisons
• Louis saw this as a state within a state and
  called for a unification of faith
• Battle ensues- LaRochelle
• Protestant district with ties to the English and
  Dutch
• The city fell and the Catholic liturgy was
  reinstated
• First mass was celebrated by the cardinal himself
• Where the interests of the state are concerned,
  God absolves actions which, if privately
  committed, would be a crime.
• Richelieu was succeeded by the regent for Louis
  XIV- Cardinal Jules Mazarin

8
The Fronde

• Mazarin was not as strong as Richelieu
• Period of civil wars
• 3 results
• Government would have to compromise with the
  social elites and the bureaucracy
• Economy was devastated
• Was a traumatic experience that left a mark on
  the young Louis XIV

9
Louis XIV The Sun King

• Longest reign in European history (1643-1715)
• Responsible for the complete domestication of
  the nobility
• Built the Royal Court of Versailles
• The Great Hall of Mirrors
• Candles illuminated the ceiling which contained
  allegorical paintings of the kings victories
• Kept the nobility close at hand
• Never called an estates general
• Nobility had no means of united expression
• Appointed Jean-Baptiste Colbert the controller
  general of finances

10
Mercantilism

• Rigorously applied to France by Colbert
• A nations international power was based on the
  amount of gold they possessed
• To accomplish this he insisted that France sell
  everything abroad and buy nothing in return
• Required self-sufficiency
• Subsidized and granted royal privileges to
  industry
• Created a powerful merchant marine
• Invested tremendous funds in shipbuilding and the
  training of sailors
• Helped make Canada and eventually Louisiana part
  of the French empire

11
The Edict Revoked

• Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685
• Destruction of Huguenot churches, closing of
  schools, baptism of Huguenots and the exile of
  pastors
• French Religious toleration was never meant to be
  permanent
• Toleration was never a popular policy among the
  aristocrats

12
Eastern Europe

• Serfdom had been reinstated between 1400 and 1650
• Tragic reversal of trends
• Peasants were losing their free status
• Lords began taking over peasant land and imposing
  stiffer labor obligations
• Up to 6 days a week with no pay
• Prior to this they were paying fairly negotiated
  rents
• Local lord took over the legal system
• In Poland, nobles could legally inflict the death
  penalty at will
• Subjugation became hereditary again

13
Possible Reasons

• Can you imagine ay reason why this may have
  happened at this time?
• Consider the depression of the 14th and 15th
  centuries
• Consider the prosperity in the 16th and 17th

14
Austria and Prussia

• Strong kings began to emerge in the 17th
• War and the threat of war aided their
  consolidation
• Eventually the political power of the nobles was
  reduced but the power over their peasants was
  their compensation
• First rulers began imposing taxes
  indiscriminately
• Second they created permanent standing armies
• Third they conducted relations with other states

15
The Hapsburgs in Austria

• Came out if the thirty years war impoverished
• Their effort to get rid of the protestants and
  turn the HRE into a real state was a failure
• While the family retained the ancient title the
  power was broken up among 300 separate political
  jurisdictions
• Ferdinand II defeated the protestant bohemians
  and gave their land to Catholic nobles
• This helped him establish absolutism
• Ferdinand III further consolidated the provinces
• Suleiman the magnificent and the Ottoman Empire
• Promoted a sense of unity in the Hapsburg Empire
• Yet the absolute rule was on shaky ground

16
Quiz

• Describe the transition to absolute rule in
  Prussia.

17
Constitutionalism

• Limitation of government by law
• Balance between authority and power of the
  government
• And of rights and liberties of the people
• Constitution may be written, unwritten, or partly
  written
• Constitutionalism is not the same as a democracy
• Could be a monarchy or a republic
• Could be seen as a step toward democracy

18
Englands Decline of Absolutism

• Elizabeth I had incredible personal power
• 17th century was different
• Little political stability
• Civil war, executed king, military dictatorship,
  restored son of murdered king
• James Stuart, cousin of Liz and King of Scotland
  became James I and set the century off to a bad
  start
• Lacked the diplomacy and mystique of the Tudors
• Lectured the house of commons on the divine right
  of kings
• Gentry owned the majority of the nations wealth
  and had gained considerable liberty under the
  Tudors
• James and his son Charles I tried to tighten
  reigns on the house of commons and the gentry in
  general

19
Religious Issues

• Puritans posed a problem because they pushed for
  further reform or purification.
• Vestments, stained glass, lavish ceremonies
• Many Englishmen were attracted to the tenets of
  Calvinisms social strategy
• The protestant ethic
• James and Charles were both Calvinist in
  philosophy but were sympathetic to Roman
  Catholicism
• People feared the country would return to
  Catholicism
• The Book of Common Prayer was revised to include
  things that seemed Roman to the Scottish
  Presbyterians
• They revolted and Charles had to call parliament
  in session to get cash to raise an army

20
English Civil War

• Ireland remained Catholic
• Scotland remained Presbyterian
• England was Anglican with Catholic sympathy
• Charles hands were tied because he had no army
  and parliament didnt trust him
• History of bad taxes, Ship money, etc.
• 1649 he was beheaded for treason
• A commonwealth was established and puritan Oliver
  Cromwell became the protectorate

21
Military Absolutism

• Cromwell becomes head of government
• He gives parliament new powers
• Granted religious toleration to all Christians
  except Catholics
• Considered Irish Catholicism as sedition
• Crushed rebellions there and granted land to
  Scots
• Navigation Acts
• English goods on English ships
• Colonial trade
• Aimed at the Dutch
• Cromwell died in 1658

22
The Restoration

• After Cromwells death the English were fed up
  with military rule
• They recalled Charles II from exile
• He was a relaxed guy and allowed parliament to
  handle doctrinal matters
• English had to receive communion in the Anglican
  church
• Hard to enforce
• He agreed to work with parliament and convene it
  regularly

23
The Secret Deal

• 1670 Charles entered secret agreements with Louis
  XIV
• Charles had his name put on the French Payroll to
  the tune of 200,000 pounds per year
• Charles had to relax laws against the Catholics,
  join the French against the Dutch, and convert to
  Catholicism
• The deal leaked out and England was resentful
  toward the French and the Catholics
• Parliament passed a bill precluding a Catholic
  successor
• Charles dissolved parliament

24
James II

• Charles brother James succeeded him
• Louis Revocation of the Edict of Nantes
  instilled fear in the English
• James then appointed Catholics to positions in
  the army, in the universities, and the government
• He then issues a declaration of religious
  tolerance to everyone
• Including Catholics and protestant dissenters

25
Almost a Catholic Dynasty

• James wife gave birth to a son (baptized
  Catholic)
• The English knew that this meant the restoration
  of Catholicism
• They offered the throne to James daughter Mary
  and her husband the Dutch Prince William of
  Orange
• James and his wife and son went to live with
  Louis
• William and Mary were crowned in 1689

26
The Glorious Revolution

• By accepting their crown from parliament Bill and
  Mary accepted their authority
• The king would rule with the consent of the
  people
• A bill of rights was enforced
• John Lockes Second Treatise of Civil Government
• Life, Liberty, and Property
• When these are no longer protected the government
  has failed and the people have the right to
  overthrow it.

27
Quiz

• Answer 1 and chose either 2,3, or 4
• 1. Saint Simon faulted Louis for encouraging the
  nobles extravagance. Is that a justifiable
  criticism?
• 2. Using 3 examples from the reading, how did
  absolutism decline in England in the 17th?
• 3. Using 3 examples from the book, describe
  Puritanical Militarism.
• 4. Describe the rule of the Stuarts citing three
  of them in particular.