Chapter 18 - European Power and Expansion

Bill of Rights of 1689

A bill passed by Parliament and accepted by William and Mary that limited the powers of British monarchs and affirmed those of Parliament. Formulated in direct response to Stuart absolutism. Final destruction of the idea of divine-right monarchy.

republicanism

A form of govt in which there is no monarch and power rests in the hands of the people as exercised through elected representatives. The Dutch adopted this system. Made new changes in society and the country in general.

constitutionalism

A form of govt. in which power is limited by law and balanced between the authority and power of the govt. On the one hand, and the rights and liberties of the subject or citizen, on the other. It includes constitutional monarchies and republics. England and Netherlands evolved towards constitutionalism because of their current gov.

Thirty Years War

A large scale conflict extending from 1618 to 1648 that pitted Protestants against Catholics in central Europe. Also involved dynastic interests in notably of Spain and France. Exhausted both catholic and protestant parties and discredited their dreams of unified Christians.

absolutism

A political system common to early modern Europe in which monarchs claimed exclusive power to make and enforce laws, without checks by other institutions. This system was limited in practice by the need to maintain legitimacy and compromise with elites. Allowed rulers to have all the power.

Protestant Reformation

A religious reform movement that began in the early sixteenth century and split the Western Christian Church.The reformation was not only for religious reasons but also for political and social factors. This reform provided a source of power for many roles and shaped European colonial expansion.

mercantilism

A system of economic regulations aimed at increasing the power of the state derived from the belief that a nation's international power was based on its wealth, specifically its supply of gold and silver. Developed by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, a general under Louis XIV.

sovereignity

Authority of states that possess a monopoly over the instruments of justice and the use of force within clearly defined boundaries and in which private armies present no threat to central control. Seventeenth-century European states made important advances toward sovereignty. Allowed for states to gain more power and territories.

Cossacks

Free groups and outlaw armies living on the borders of Russian territory from the fourteenth century onward. By the end of the sixteenth century they had formed an alliance with the Russian state.

Puritans

Members of a sixteenth and seventeenth century reform movement within the Church of England that advocated purifying it of Roman Catholic elements, such as bishops, elaborate ceremonials, and wedding rings. One of the causes of a civil war in England because of their new government.

Jesuits

Members of the Society of Jesus, founded by Ignatius Loyola and approved by the papacy in 1540. Their goal was to spread the Roman Catholic faith through humanistic schools and missionary activity. Achieved phenomenal success for the papacy and the reformed catholic church.

Navigation Acts

Mid-seventeenth-century English mercantilist laws that greatly restricted other countries right to trade with England and its colonies. Englishman Oliver Cromwell establish the first series of navigation acts in 1651. Economic warfare against the Dutch.

divine right of kings

The belief propagated by absolutist monarchs that they derived their power from God and were only answerable to him. Brought forth ideas that only the absolutist were the ones that made the laws. Spread to other monarchy and increase expansion.

moral economy

The early modern European view that community needs predominated over competition and profit. Necessary goods should thus be sold at a fair price.