Contents: |
|
During the 1500�s Spain emerged as the first European power. Spain, which was under the power of Isabella and Ferdinand, kicked out the Muslim rulers and enforced religious unity. In the year 1492, Isabella supported Columbus�s voyage to seek out the new world. This lead to the Spanish conquest of the Americas.
The next monarch was Charles I. He ruled from the year 1519-1556. He was the grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella. Charles I was also the heir to the Hapsburgs, the Austrian rulers of the Holy Roman Empire. Because he was ruling two empires, Charles always faced warfare. He continued the Hapsburgs war with France over Italy. Since Charles was a Catholic he also fought to destroy the Protestant movements in the German states. But sadly he was forced to allow the Germans to make their own religion. Charles�s enemy was the Ottoman Empire which was under the ruling of Suleiman. The ottomans occupied most of Hungary.
Charles could not keep on ruling the two empires so he gave up his title and went to the monastery. Charles divided his empire. He left the Hapsburgs in central Europe in the hands of his brother Ferdinand and he gave Spain to his son Phillip
King Phillip of Spain was hard working and determined, he ruled from the year 1556-1598. He wanted to strengthen the Catholic Church and make his power absolute. Phillip devoted almost all of his time to government work. Like Ferdinand and Isabella, Phillip wanted to centralize the royal power. He became an absolute monarch. This meant that he had all the authority over the government and the lives of all the people. Nobody can tell him what to do or how to rule. Phillip also believed in divine right. This meant that he believed his authority to rule came from god. Phillip saw himself as the guardian of the Catholic Church. The great undertaking of his life was to defend the Catholic reformation and turn back the Protestant tide in Europe. In Spain, he enforced religious unity and turned the Inquisition against Protestants and others (heretics).
In the year 1571 was the battle of Lepanto which was Spain + Italian allies who defeated the ottomans fleet. The war in the Netherlands was also a religious war. He battled the Protestants. In 1580 Phillip saw England�s Queen Elizabeth I as his Protestant enemy. Elizabeth encouraged sea dogs to steal from the Spanish treasure ships, she also supported the Dutch against Spain. Why? Because Spain guarded the Catholic Church, and Elizabeth I was a Protestant. The most famous sea dog was Sir Frances Drake, he looted Spanish cities in the Americas. Elizabeth knighted Sir Frances Drake, this angered Phillip because he felt that Drake should have been punished because he was a pirate.
In 1588 the Spanish Armada tried to end the English attacks (sea dogs) and also tried to suppress the Dutch uprising (fighting in Netherlands because they didn�t want to become Catholics, they wanted to remain Protestant). The Armada consisted of slow moving Spanish ships which took many loses in the English Channel because of the storm which arose. The English ships however, moved faster and defeated the Spanish. This ended Phillip�s plan to invade England. In the 1600�s Dutch, English, and French fleets challenged Spanish power in Europe and around the world.
1550-1650 Spain�s Golden Century. Brilliant art and literature arose during this time. Phillip founded many schools of science and math. Famous painters consisted of Ell Greco who painted religious art. Diego Velazquez was a court painted to king Phillip IV he painted Spanish royalty. There were also many writers who arose. Lope de Vega, Servantes who wrote Don Quixote. It pokes fun at chivalry.
Spanish power begins to decline, successors of Phillip II were less able to rule than he. Many economic problems drained the wealth out of Spain. Because treasure was coming from the Americas, Spain neglected their farming. Spain kicked out the Muslims and the Jews therefore depriving the economy of artisans and merchants. American gold and silver caused prices in sprain to rise higher than anywhere else in Europe. By the late 1600 France replaced Spain as the most powerful European nation.
France under Louis XIV
Henry IV, he was a Bourbon prince and a Huguenot leader who inherited the French throne. Since he was a Protestant he knew he would face many problems ruling a catholic land, so he converted and became catholic. However he still wanted to protect the Protestants, so he created the Edict of Nantes which granted the Huguenots the right to religious toleration. It allowed them to strengthen their own towns and cities.
Under his rule, roads improved, bridges were built and agriculture was revived. In 1610, Henry IV died and his son Louis XIII became king. Louis XIII appointed Cardinal Richelieu as his chief minister. He spent the next 18 years strengthening the central government. Richelieu wanted to destroy the Huguenots and the power of the nobles because they didn�t obey royal authority. He defeated the armies of the nobles. Richelieu then tied the nobles to the king by giving them high positions at court or in the royal army. He then destroyed the cities of the Huguenots and outlawed their armies. However, he still allowed them to practice their religion (Protestant).
Louis XIV inherited his throne when he was only five years old. When he became king, an uprising known as the Fronde, nobles, merchants and peasants rebelled. Like his great grandpa, Louis also believed in divine right. He took the sun as the symbol of his power. Just as the sun is the center of the Solar System, the Sun King was the center of the French nation. His quote was �L�etat, C�est moi� which meant, �I am the state�.
Louis spent endless hours in effort to strengthen the government affairs. To do this he followed the policies of Cardinal Richelieu. He expanded bureaucracy and appointed intendants, which were royal officials who collected taxes. By doing this, Louis strengthened ties between the middle class and the monarchy. Under Louis XIV, the French army became the strongest in Europe.
Louis the XIV built the palace of Versailles. It was so beautiful and very large. Its halls had paintings and statues. It had immense gardens with millions of flowers. But the most significant was the hall of mirrors. He paid for all of this with the money of the tax payers.
Every day, when Louis XIV woke up, high ranking officials would compete in the honor of holding the royal wash bin, or handing Louis his diamond buckle shoes. At night, this was reversed.
Louis XIV enjoyed music and sponsored musical entertainment and commissioned plays by the best writers. Women of the court acted and played music for the king and danced in pageants. The age of Louis XIV was also the age of French drama. Jean Racine wrote tragedies on ancient Greek myths. In painting, music, architecture and decorative arts, French styles became the model for almost all of Europe. Louis XIV sponsored the French Academies which set high standards for the arts and sciences.
Louis XIV ruled France for 72 years. This was longer than any other monarch. During that time, French culture and customs replaced those of the Italian Renaissance. However, Louis�s policies were very expensive failures.
Louis XIV wanted to expand French borders and dominate Europe. First he did gain territory. However, his later wars were very bad because the rival rulers joined forces to check French ambitions. These alliances fought to maintain the balance of power, which was a distribution of military and economic power that stops the nations from taking over Europe.
In the 1700�s. Louis�s son Phillip V inherited the throne of Spain. Louis wanted to reunite Spain with France, but in the end Phillip vowed never to unite with the two.
Louis XIV hated the Huguenots, he saw the Protestants as a threat to religious and political unity. He revoked the Edict of Nantes and 10,000 Huguenots ran away from France. This was bad because the Huguenots were the hard working and prosperous subjects of Louis. Now that they are gone, the French economy suffered even more.
Louis XIV outlived his sons and grandsons. He died in the year 1715 and his five-year-old great grandson became King Louis XV. Louis XV was far too weak to deal with the problems of the heavy taxes and poor harvests. He neglected his duties and instead, danced and hunted. Meanwhile the need for reformation was great.
Return to Freshman Review Sheets
Review Sheets Central 2003
www.reviewsheetscentral.com