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Henry IV Becomes King
In 1589, Bourbon prince Henry IV inherited the throne in France. Before he became king, he was a Huguenot leader, and from the 1560’s to the 1590’s there were religious wars between the Huguenots and Catholics in France. -
Edict of Nantes
Henry knew that being a Protestant in a largely Catholic France, he became a Catholic, but he also wanted to protect Protestants. He issued the Edict of Nantes, which granted Huguenots religious toleration in France. -
James I becomes King
After Elizabeth died, the Stuarts of Scotland came to power, and James I was their first monarch. James I wanted absolute power, so he dissolved Parliament and collected taxes himself. -
Defenestration at Prague
Religious differences in the Holy Roman Empire caused tension in Germany. The Peace of Augsburg declared that each region could choose Catholicism or Lutheranism as their religion, but the religion of a region often changed. When tension between Protestants and Catholics built up, Bohemian Protestants threw two Catholic officials out of a window, which is known as the Defenestration at Prague. -
30 Years War Begins
The Defenestration at Prague caused war to finally break out, which later became known as the 30 Years War, which became known as one of the most destructive wars out of all of the religious wars. -
Cardinal Richelieu Strengthens Monarchy
When King Louis XIII appointed Cardinal Richelieu as his chief minister in 1624, Richelieu’s main goal was to destroy the power of the nobles and Huguenots, who would not obey authority. He defeated the armies of the nobles and at the same time smashed the walls of the Huguenot cities. -
Charles I becomes King
When Charles I came to power he wanted to be an absolute ruler. His need to raise texes forced him to summon Parliament. -
Charles Signs Petition of Right
Before Charles could get his funds from Parliament they wanted Charles to sign the Petition of Right, which would prohibit him from raising taxes without the consent of Parliament. He signed the Petition, but then dissolved Parliament in 1629. -
Long Parliament
When Charles needed funds to end a Scottish rebellion, he finally had to summon Parliament in 1640. Parliament became known as "Long Parliament" because it lasted on and off until 1653. Long Parliament tried to execute Charles' chief ministers, which led to the English Civil War. -
English Civil War Begins
A civil war broke out between the cavaliers, who supported Charles, and the roundheads, who wanted revolution in England. -
Louis XIV Becomes King
Louis XIV ruled France for 72 years. He put a lot of time, money, and resources into wars to expand France. Later on his life, he was not as successful in his wars because European nations came together to stop France’s domination of Europe. The War of Spanish Succession dragged on until 1713, when France decided to end the war and gained nothing. -
Oliver Cromwell creates New Model Army
Oliver Cromwell was a skilled general and became a leader for the Roundheads. He created the New Model Army and it became a disciplined fighting force, and defeated the Cavaliers in many battles. -
30 Years War Ends
After 30 years of fighting in Europe, fighting lasted until 1647 when all parties involved agreed to end the hostilities. The German states were devastated because of the war, with many people dying from disease, towns being burned in the fighting, and enemy soldiers torturing civilians. -
Treaty of Westphalia
In May of 1648, the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia officially ended the Thirty Years War. The treaty reaffirmed the Peace of Augsburg but added Calvinism to the religious choices. From that point on religion was not the main role of European affairs. Europeans essentially fought for nothing, as things went back to the way they were before 30 years before. -
Charles I Executed
When Parliamet caught Charles I in 1647, they put him on trial. They found him guilty and condemned him to death. Charles' beheading was the first monarch to be tried and executed by his own people. -
English Civil War Ends
The English Civil War ended with a Parliamentary win at the Battle of Worcester. -
Creation of the Commonwealth
The Commonwealth was designed to make Sunday a day of religious observance. Oliver Cromwell was the head of the Commonwealth. Cromwell encouraged education for all, wanted marriage to be based on love, and made strict rules that the people opposed. -
Restoration of the Stuarts
Charles II returned to England and gained power in 1660. He believed in absolute monarchy and felt sympathy for Catholics. He avoided the mistakes that his father made in dealing with Parliament. James II came to power in 1685, but flaunted his Catholic faith. Parliamentary leaders invited William and Mary to rule in 1688. -
Creation of Versailles
Louis XIV turned a hunting lodge into the palace of Versailles. The king’s home and seat of government housed at least 10,000 people, including nobles, officials, and servants. The magnificent palace was a symbol of Louis’ wealth and power. -
Peter I becomes Tsar
When Peter and his half-brother Ivan were appointed co-Tsars, Peter's half-sister Sophia wanted Ivan to rule alone so Peter left Moscow. Six years later Ivan died of natural causes and Peter became Tsar. -
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes
In October of 1685 In October of 1685, Louis revoked the Edict of Nantes and declared Protestantism illegal. Throughout his time as king he frequently killed Huguenots and after the revocation, 100,000 Huguenots fled France and took their economic production with them. -
The Glorious Revolution
When William and Mary arrived in England, James II fled to France, and this bloodless overthrow was known as the Glorious Revolution. -
Signing of the English Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights made England a limited monarchy, where a legislative body limits the monarch's power. It also created trial by jury, abolished excessive fines, cruel and unusual punishment, and reaffirmed habeus corpus. -
Peter the Great Travels to Europe
Peter wanted to westernize Russia so he travelled around Europe disguised and gained knowledge of Western culture that he brought back to Russia. When he returned to Russia, he banned traditional dress, created technical schools, changed to a European calendar, declared himself Emperor and brought many more changes to Russia. -
Creation of St. Petersberg
When Peter the Great captured Swedish territory on the Baltic Sea, he decided to turn that territory into a new city. The building of St. Petersburg resulted in the death of 50,000 workers. Peter made Russian nobles live there and made it capital in 1712. -
Death of Louis XIV
Louis outlived his sons and grandsons and when he died in 1715 his five year old great-grandson Louis XV inherited the throne. France was the strongest country in Europe at the time of Louis XIV's death, but he left Louis XV many problems to fix. -
Peter the Great Dies
Peter the Great died in 1725 and left a mixed legacy. He expanded Russia, gained ports, built St. Petersburg, and increased Russia’s army, but after his death many nobles ignored his policies.
