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Henry IV, a Bourbon prince and Huguenot Leader inherits the throne as king of France. Knowing that France was a largely Catholic land, he became Catholic in order to avoid the problems he would face as a Protestant ruler.
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Henry IV issues the Edict of Nantes, granting religious toleration of Huguenots, in order to protect Protestants.
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Queen Elizabeth of the Tudors dies with no heir. The throne is passed to James I, of the Stuarts of Scotland, whom were not very popular. James I, who is a strong believer in the divine right of kings, soon dissolves Parliament and collects taxes on his own.
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War breaks out between the Catholics and the Protestants after Bohemian Protestants throw two Catholic officials out of a window, an event known as the Defenestration at Prague.
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The Catholic's dominate the first of four phases of the Thirty Years War, at the Battle of White Montain in 1620.
In the second phase of the war, Catholic start to believe they might be able to reassert their dominace and stamp out Protestantism after more victories on their part.
In the third phase, the Swedish helps turn the war in favor of Protestants.
In 1635, France entered the War, marking the beginning of the international phase. -
In 1624, Henry VI's son Louis XIII appoints Cardinal Armand Richelieu as his chief minister. Richelieu is set on destroying those who stood against royal authority, the nobles and the Huguenots.
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In the countryside outside of Paris, Louis XIV turned his father's old hunting lodge into an extravagent palace known as the Palace of Versailles, which became the most magnificentt building in all of Europe. Versailles housed at least 10,000 people (nobles, officials, and servants).
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Charles I comes to power in 1925, also, like his father, acting as an absolute monarch, imprisoning foes without trials, and squeezing the country for money. Charles, however, is forced to bring Parliament back when he needs to raise taxes.
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Before allowing King James I to raise taxes, Parliament insists he sign the Petition of Right, which prohibits the king from raising taxes without the consent of Parliament or imprisoning anyone without a just cause. Soon after however in 1629, he has Parliament dissolved again, and ignores the petition.
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In order to supress a Scottish rebelion Charles I summons Parliament again in 1640. This Parliament, however, launched its own revolt against Charles. Lasting on and off until 1653, this Long Parliament triggered the greatest political revolution in English history. They tried and executed all the kings chief ministers and further declared that Parliament could not be dissolved without their own consent.
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A Civil War breaks out between forces of Parliament, known as the roundheads, and the supporters of King Charles I, known as the Cavaliers.
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A skilled general, Puritan Oliver Cromwell, organizes the "New Model Army", which went on to defeat the Cavaliers.
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This agreement brought back the Peace of Augsburg, which gave the rulers within the Holy Roman Empire the choice between Luteranism and Catholicism, only this time, Calvanism was added to the choices, and the leaders of the different states had complete independence.
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By 1648, all sides of the war grew tired of the hostilities. Soldiers were dying more often from diease than from actual fighting. Also, most armies were undisciplined and lacked uniforms. The War began because of religion, but by the end, most soldiers found themselves fighting against those of their own religion. With the signing of the Treaty of Wesphalia, the Thirty Years War ended.
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Charles I is captured by Parliamentary forces, put on trial and found guilty by the public.. This would be the first time a ruling monarch would be tried and executed by his own people, sending a clear signal from Parliament that no ruler could claim absolute power and ignore the law.
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After Charles I is executed, the House of Commons abolishes the monarhy and England becomes a republic as the Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell.
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After the king is catprured, tried, and beheaded, the English Civil War ends. Parliament makes it known that no ruler could step in and take absolute control of England.
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Five year-old Louis XIV inherits the thrown in 1643, with Cardinal Jules Mazarin as his chief minister. Soon after Louis XIV becomes king, the nobility rebelled against him and ran him out. When Mazarin died in 1661, Louis decied to take over the government himself, believing in his divine right as a king.
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In 1660, Charles II, the brother of Charles I comes back to power a very popular ruler. Charles II restores the Church of England.
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Peter I is made Tsar of Russia in 1682 when his brother Ivan dies of natural causes.
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As part of hiss persecution of Huguenots, Louis XIV revokes the Edict of Nantes and 100,000 Huguenots flee France, taking all of France's economic production with them.
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When Charles II's son James II took the thrown in 1685, the people feared that James II would restore the Roman Catholic Church. Parliament asks his daughter Mary, a Protestant to rule England with her husband William, also Protestant. Mary and William forced James to flee France, which was known as the Glorious Revolution.
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Before William and Mary became king and queen, they had to accept Parliaments English Bill of Rights, which ensured Parliaments superiority over the manarchy. The English Bill of Rights limited the English monarchy, prohibiting monarchs from interfering in Parliaments debates or suspending laws. It also created trial by jury, abolished excessive fines and unjust punishments, and reaffirmed haeas corpus so that nobody could be held in jail without being charged with a specific crime,
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Rather than taking a permanent residence in Moscow, Peter I chooses to travel to Europe and gain knowledge of Western technology and culture from the English and Dutch. When Peter returns home to prevent a rebellion started against him by his half sister, he brings with him many new ideas aabout how Russia should develop.
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Peter the Great captures Swedish territory, gaining new lands along the Baltic Sea. St Petersburg was built along the Neva river through forced labor in horrible conditions. Over 50,000 workers died during its consttruction. Once the city is finished, Peter orders the Russian nobility to live in St Petersburg, and makes it the captial of Russia in 1712.
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Louis XIV ruled for 72 years, longer than any other monarch at the time.
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By the time Peter the Great died in 1725, he had expanded Russian terriitory, gained ports on the Baltic Sea, and created a mighty army.
