Absolutism in France, England, Dutch, Spain, and Russia

By aplouff14
  • Period: Jan 1, 1500 to

    Rise of Absolutism in Europe

  • Jan 1, 1519

    Spanish king Charles V becomes ruler

    Grandsom of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella
    Supreme ruler of Spain and Holy Roman Empire
    Constantly at war with France, Protestants, and Ottoman Empire
    Later became a monk
  • Oct 9, 1534

    Affair of Placards

    King Francis I of France stops tolerating Protestants
  • Oct 9, 1538

    Truce of Nice

    Peace agreement French king FRancis I and HOly Roman Emperor Charles V
    Broken in Habsburgs and the Valois
  • Oct 9, 1555

    Peace of Augsburg

    • Settled dispute between Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and his Protestant princes
    • Recognizes Lutheran church and establishes principle that all Catholic or Lutheran princes enjoyed the sole right to determine the religion of their lands and subjects
  • Jan 1, 1556

    Reign of Spanish King Charlves V ends

  • Oct 1, 1562

    Massacre at Vassy

    -Duc de Guise's servants got into scuffle with Huguenots
    - Guise faction had fired on the unarmed Huguenots, set the church on fire, and killed a number of the congregation
  • Oct 4, 1562

    First of the French Wars of Religion begin

    -Provoked by the Massacre at Vassy in '62
  • Oct 6, 1563

    Duc de Guise was killed by an assassin

  • Oct 4, 1566

    Revolt of Calvinists in the Netherlands against Spain begins

  • Oct 4, 1569

    Formation of commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania

  • Oct 4, 1571

    Battle of Lepanto marks victory of West over Ottomans at sea

  • Oct 4, 1572

    St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of French Protestants

    Source-Eyewitness description De Thou (1553-1617)

  • English defeat of the Spanish Armada

  • French Wars of Religion end with Edict of Nantes

  • William Shakespeare's Hamlet

  • James I of England takes throne

    Quickly alienated Parliament
    Alientated the Puritans when he defended the Anglican Church

  • The Gundpowder Plot

    -The attempt by Catholics to kill King James I and most of the Protestant aristocracy
    -Blew up the House of Lords during the state opening of Parliament
    -Becomes know and celebrated as Guy Fawkes Day

  • Reign of French king Louis XIII begins

  • Thirty Year's War begins

  • Hugo Grotius publishes The Laws of War and Peace

  • End reign of James I of England

  • Jean Domat born

    Source-Made it his life's task to explain the theory behind this absolutism by setting French law and social structure into the wider context of the law of nature and the law of God
    -Louis XIV regarded Domat's work so highly that he assigned him a pension, and in effect the royal government sponsored his publications
    -Wrote Necessity and the Origin of Government, The Duties of the Governed, and The Power, Rights, and Duties of Sovereigns

  • Charles I of England takes rule

    Imposed uniformity of church for both England and Scotland by a church court
    Believed to be pro-Catholic by the Puritans
    Constantly at war with Spain and France

  • Petition of Rights

    In return for money to fund Charles I's wars, he agreed to: No imprisonment without due cause, no taxation without Parliament's consent, no putting soldiers in private homes, no marital law during peacetime
    He signed and then ignored by dissolving Parliament

  • Edict of Restitution

    Ferdinand of Spain outlawed Calvinism in the empire and reclaimed Catholic church properties confiscated by the Lutherans

  • Galileo Galilei is forced to recant his support of heliocentrism

  • French join the Thirty Years War

    Joined war by declaring war on Spain

  • France forged alliance with the Calvinist Dutch

    -To aid them in their ongoing struggle for official independence from Spain

  • "Long" Parliament

    -In session from 1640-1660
    Triennial Act: Stated that Parliament must be called into session at least once every 3 years
    -Charles I attempts to arrest 5 MPS and fails

  • Frederick William of Hohenzollern begins reign

    The Great Electr of Brandenburg-Prussia who brought his nation through the end of the Thirty Years' War and then succeeded in welding his scatterred lands into an absolutist state

  • English Civil War begins

    -1642 to 1649
    - Between Royalists and Parliamentarians
    - Royalists: belonged to the House of Lords, from North and West England, mostly aristocracy and landowners, church officials, mostly rural
    -Parliamentarians: known as Roundheads, mostly from the House of Commons, South and East England, Puritans, Merchants, townspeople and more urban
    - Oliver Cromwell was officer f the Parliamentary Army, and led the army that defeated royal forces and controlled the government

  • French king Louis XIII dies

    Louis XIII laid foundation for French Absolutism. He reduced power of nobility, restricted local authorities, and created intendants (individuals given to government officials, especially administrators of state afairs)

  • Reign of Tsar Alexei of Russia begins

    -To extend his power and emulate his western rivals, Tsar Alexei wanted a bigger army, exclusive control over state policy, and a greater say in religious matters
    0By 1630s, army had increased in size from 35000 to 220000

  • English Civil War ends

  • The Fronde

    -A political/religious structure controlled by Cardinal Richelieu until Louis XIII comes to power
    -Organized and controlled peasant class

  • Pride's Purge

    -Cromwell purges the House of Commons of moderates
    -Result of Purge was the "Rump" Parliament
    -Charles I was beheaded
    -The vote by the Rump Parliament was a vote of 68-67

  • Thirty Years War ends

  • Peace of Westphalia

    • Settlement of Thirty Years' War
    • Established enduring religious divisions in the Holy Roman EMpire by which Lutheranism would dominate the north, Calvinism in the area of the Rhine River, and Catholisism in the south

  • Ukranian Cossacks rebel

    -Against the king of Poland Lithuania

  • Dutch Republic recognized as independent

    (formally recognized by SPain)

  • Charles I of England beheaded

    Ends his reign

  • End of English Civil War

  • The Commonwealth begins

    Part of the "Interregnum" period
    -Cromwell ruled the Rump Parliament
    -Constitutional Republic
    -Created constitution - Instrument of Government
    -Created a Council of State that was annually elected from the committee of Parliament
    -No Monarch
    -Most of Europe does not recognize the new government

  • New Russian legal code

    Assigns all to hereditary class

  • Serfdom and the Code of 1649

    -Immediate response to Tsar Alexei trying to extand state authority by imposing new administrative structures and taxes in 1648 where Moscow and other cities erupted in bloody rioting

  • Thomas Hobbes publishes Leviathan

    • Evaluates human beings in state of nature, does not favor divine right of kings and believed it would lead to anarchy
    • Authoritarian

  • The Commonwealth ends

    Cromwell dissolved the Rump Parliament in 1653

  • The Assembly of Land's last time meeting

    -Once important source of noble consultation
    -Tsar Alexei brought end to assembly

  • Commonwealth Instrument of Government adopted

    Source-Adopted by Cromwell
    -England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging

  • The Protectorate begins

    Part of the "Interregnum" period
    -"Rump" Parliament already dissolved by Cromwell in 1653
    -Declares martial law
    -Establishes a Military dictator
    -Religious tolerance for all except for Catholics
    -Crushes a rebellion in Scotland
    -Crushes a rebellion among the Catholics of Ireland - killed 40% of all ethnic Irish

  • Start of First Anglo - Dutch War

  • The Protectorate ends

  • "Long" Parliament session ends

  • Monarchy restored in England

  • Cardinal Marazin dies

  • Louis XIV takes power

  • "Cavalier" Parliament

    -Filled with Royalists
    -Disbanded the Puritan army and pardoned most Puritan rebels
    -Restored the authority of the Church of England

  • Barbados

    Institutes slave code

  • Clarendon Code [Act of Uniformity]

    -All clergy and church officials had to conformm to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer
    -Forbade "non-conformists" to worship publicly, teach their faith, or attend English universities

  • End of First Anglo - Dutch War

  • Start of Seond Anglo - Dutch War

  • Tsar's role as God's direct representation affirmed by church council

  • End of Second Anglo - Dutch War

  • War of Devolution begins

    First of Louis XIV's many wars
    Enemies: SPain, Dutch Republic, England, Sweden

  • Stenka Razin

    • Head of a powerful band of pirates and outlaws in southern Russia who led a rebellion that promised liberation from "the traitors and bloodsuckers of the peasant communes" - the great nobel landowners, local governors, and Moscow courtiers
    • Some peasants resisted enserment given to them in Serfdom and the Code of 1649

  • War of Devolution ends

    Ended by Treaty of Aiz-la-Chapelle, with FRnace gaining towns inSpanish Netherlands (Flanders)

  • Treaty of Aiz-la-Chapelle

    Ends war of Devolution

  • Razin captured by tsar's army

    -Taken to Moscow and publicly dismembered

  • Dutch War begins

    -Louis XIV's war
    -Enemies: Dutch Republic, Spain, Holy Roman Empire

  • Test Act

    -Parliament excluded all but Anglicans from civilian and military positions
    -Puritans were considered "radicals" and Catholics were seen as "traitors"

  • Start of Third Anglo - Dutch War

  • Marie de Sevigne, LEtter Describing the French Court

    • Most famous letter writer of her time
    • Noblewoman born in Paris
    • Wrote about her experiences in court

  • Reign of Tsar Alexei of Russia ends

  • End of Third Anglo - Dutch War

  • Madame de Lafayette, The Princess of Cleves

    -Published annonymously

  • Dutch War ends

    -Ended by Treaty of Nijmegen (1678-1679), which gave several towns in Spanish Netherlands and Franche-Comte to France

  • Treaty of Nijmegen

    Ended Dutch War

  • Habeas Corpus Act

    -Any unjustly imprisoned persons could obtain a writ of habeas corpus compelling the government to explain why he had lost his liberty.

  • Austrian Habsburgs break Turkish seige of Vienna

  • Louis XIV revokes the Edict of Nantes

    "One king, one law, one faith"

  • King James II of England begins rule

    -A bigoted convert to Catholocism without any of Charles II's ability to compromise
    -Alientated the Tories
    -Provoked the revolution that Charles II had avoided
    -Surrounded himself with Catholics
    -Claimed the power to suspend or dispense with Acts of Parliament
    -Delcaration of Liberty of Conscience - extended religious toleration without PArliament's approval

  • King James II of England ends rule

  • War of the League of Augsburg

    -Louis XIV's war
    -Enemies: Holy Roman Empire, Sweden, Spain, England

  • Frederick William of Hohenzollern ends reign

  • The Glorious Revolution

  • William and Mary of England crowned

    Parliament deposes JAmes II and invites his daughter, Mary, and her husband, WIlliam of Orange, to take the throne

  • English Bill of Rights

    -Settled major issues between the King and Parliament
    -Served as a model for the US Bill of Rights
    -Formed a base for the steady expansion of civil liberties in the 18th and early 19th C in England

  • Locke publishes Two Treatises of Government and Essay Concerning Human Understanding

  • Jean Domat dies

  • Peace of Rijswijk

    Ends War of the League of Augsburg

  • War of the League of Augsburg ends

    Ended by Peace of Rijwijk, 1697, with Louis returning all his conquests made since 1678 except Strasbourg