AP European History: Political Centralization, 1450-1648

The New Monarchies: Holy Roman Empire

Following in Charlemagne's footsteps, Otto I reestablished the Holy Roman Empire in 962. Decentralized collection of small kingdoms, bishoprics, republics, and Free Imperial Cities. Incorporated most of central Europe. The population was primarily German. The Imperial Diet, an assembly of princes, burghers, knights, and clergy, convened periodically in different cities for common concerns. Seven prince-electors (bishops of Mainz, Trier, and Cologne, and rulers of Bohemia, Palatine, Saxony, and Brandenburg) elected the emperor. The emperor hailed from Austrian Hapsburg family after 1438 (with single exception). He had to negotiate powers with leading princes and was only as strong as his army and alliances.

The English Civil War: Causes

Stuart King James I (r. 1603-1625) joined England, Scotland, and Ireland in personal union, survived the Gunpowder Plot (1605), and authorized the King James Bible (1611). Belief in divine right and absolutism irked Parliament. Charles I (r. 1625-1649) believed in divine right, employed excessive royal prerogative,married French Catholic Bourbon, and tried to force Scottish Presbyterians to adopt Anglicanism. Parliament passed Petition of Right (1628) limiting the king's power to tax. Charles I dismissed and ruled without Parliament (1629-1640) while generating revenue from unpopular Ship Money tax (1634).

The Military Revolution

1300s: Infantry routed cavalry in key battles of the Hundred Years' War. Armored knights on horseback gradually became obsolete. 1400s: Gunpowder introduced artillery. Methods of Italian condottieri mercenaries spread to France, Spain, and beyond. 1500s: Well-designed star forts led to lengthy sieges. 1560-1660: Infantry transitioned from using pikes to muskets in linear tactic of volley fire. Dutch Maurice of Nassau professionalized soldiering with increased training and improved logistics. Swede Gustavus Adolphus used superior strategy in the Thrity Years' War, particularly at Breitenfeld victory. Increased investment led to large, permanent standing armies supported by heavier taxation and a larger administrative bureaucracy.

The New Monarchies: France

1328-1453: French Valois dynasty defeated the English Plantagenet claim to the throne in the Hundred Years' War. Cunning, humble Louis XI the Spider (ruled 1461-1483) squashed rebellious vassals, reformed taxes, encouraged trade, absorbed most of rival Charles the Bold's Duchy of Burgundy (Franche-Comte and modern Belgium passed to the Hapsburgs), and established royal roads and post. Francis I (r. 1515-1547) rivaled Hapsburg Charles V and English Henry VIII, patronized the French Renaissance, sponsored the exploration of Canada, and established an alliance with the Ottoman Empire that lasted to 1798. Concordat of Bologna (1516) gave the king power to appoint clerics granting enormous power over Catholic Church in France.

Swedish Golden Age: Rise

1397-1523: Kalmar Union joined Denmark, Sweden, and Norway under a common monarch. Christian II of Denmark massacred separatist Swedish nobles in the Stockholm Bloodbath (1520). Elected king Gustav I (r. 1523-1560) led Sweden to independence, broke Hanseatic trade power, and laid the foundations of the modern state. "Lion of the North" Gustavus Adolphus (r. 1611-1632) dominated Baltic and northern Germany making Sweden a great power. He was killed leading Protestants in the Thirty Years' War.

The New Monarchies: Spain

1400s: Iberia was divided between Christian kingdoms of Portugal, Castile, Aragon, and Navarre and the Muslim outpost of Grenada. 1469: Trastamara dynasty - Marital union of Isabella I of Castille and Ferdinand II of Aragon, Naples, and Sicily (the "foremost king in Christendom" wrote Machiavelli) led to politically unified Spain. 1478: Papal bull authorized sovereigns to create the inquisition to root out heresy and unify Spain religiously. Torture was routine in confession. Up to 8,000 burned at stake in auto-da-fe from 1480 to 1504. 1492: Isabella sponsored Columbus. The capture of Grenada completed the Christian Reconquista. Up to 800,000 Sephardic Jews were expelled from Spain. The remaining 200,000 Muslims and 70,000 Jews became conversos monitored by Inquisition. 1512: Navarre was conquered and absorbed into Spain.

Ottoman Expansion

1453: Mehmed II conquered Constantinople's walls with a massive cannon that was able to fire 600-pound stone balls over a mile. Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 1520-1566) dominated the eastern Mediterranean, conquered Siberia at Belgrade (1521), formed an anti-Hapsburg alliance with France (1526), slaughtered Hungary at Mohacs (1527), but was repulsed at Vienna (1529). He took much of the Middle East from Persia and captured North Africa west to Algeria. Spanish Philip II smashed Turks at the Mediterranean naval Battle of Lepanto (1571), a massive blow to Turkish power. Polish John III Sobieski fended off the last major Ottoman advance at Siege of Vienna (1683).

The New Monarchies: England

1455: English social and financial turmoil after defeat in Hundred Years' War led the House of York (white rose) to battle the House of Lancaster (red rose) for the throne in the War of the Roses. 1485: Maligned Yorkist King Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Lancastrian Henry Tudor was crowned Henry VII (r. 1485-1509), married Elizabeth of York to unify nation, and established the Tudor dynasty, which lasted to 1603. Henry VII used Court of the Star Chamber to break the influence of landed nobility. Henry VIII (r. 1509-1547) used it to prosecute opponents of his policies.

Swedish Golden Age: Decline

1630s-1660s: Swedish colonies in Delaware and West Africa lost to the Dutch and Danes. Christina I (r. 1632-1654) defied gender roles; sponsored scientists, artists, and musicians to turn Stockholm into "Athens of the North;" and was tutored by Rene Descartes. She refused marriage and abdicated the throne, whereupon she converted to Catholicism, moved to Italy, and was buried at the Vatican. Charles XII (r. 1697-1718) lost the Great Northern war (1700-1721) to Russia ending Sweden's great power status.

Noble Revolts: The Fronde

1648-1653: French parlements (high appellate courts), nobility, and bourgeoisie revolted against the high taxes during the Thirty Years' War and monarchical infringement of local traditions and feudal rights and privileges. Frondeurs rebelled, seeking to limit the king's power. The Fronde was the final revolt of French nobles against the monarchy. Victory of the royal army led to increased absolutism under Louis XIV.

Noble Revolts: Catalan Revolt

Aragon and Castile maintained separate assemblies, languages, and feudal traditions after Spain unified. Aragonese province of Catalonia was exempt from supporting Spanish imperial war. Catalans resisted the Union of Arms (1625), which would have imposed war burden sharing. 1639: Catalonia was ravaged in the Spanish war against France during the final phase of the Thirty Years' War. Catalan priests led anti-Castilian peasant revolt and sought French aid against Philip IV. 1641: Pau Claris declared Catalan Republic under French protection. 1652: Spanish retook Catalan capital of Barcelona, but Philip IV offered rebels amnesty and preserved separate Catalan law.

The English Civil War: Conflict

Charles I called Short Parliament session (1640) to raise funds to suppress Scottish Presbyterian rebellion. MP John Pym led refusal of funds without reform. Parliament dismissed by Charles I after three weeks. Long Parliament session (1640-1660) reconvened to grant war funds when Irish rebelled, too. Parliament instead accused royal allies William Laud and Thomas Wentworth of treason. Charles I failed in attempt to arrest Parliamentary leaders, fled London, and raised army. 1642-1646: Royalist Cavaliers fought Roundheads of Parliament's New Model Army led by Puritan Oliver Cromwell. Charles I was imprisoned by Scottish Presbyterians and turned over to Parliament.

Spanish Hapsburgs

Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire/Charles I of Spain (r. 1519-1556), heir to Hapsburg, Trastamara, and Burgundian Valois dynasties, ruled Spain, Austria, Netherlands, and Naples; was elected Holy Roman emperor; reigned over the conquest of the Caribbean, Mexico, and Peru. He abdicated and partitioned holdings between son Philip II and brother Ferdinand I of Austria. Philip II (r. 1556-1598), forerunner to absolutism and patron to the Catholic Reformation, enjoyed the flow of New World gold and silver, but overspending led to five state bankruptcies preceding Spanish decline. As a staunch anti-Protestant, he fought the Dutch Revolt and sent the doomed Spanish Armada to England. He soundly defeated the Turks at Lepanto (1571) and expelled Moriscos. Charles II (1665-1700), inbred and disabled, was the last Spanish Hapsburg. His death without an heir led to War of Spanish Succession.

Diplomacy

Diplomacy emerged in Renaissance Italy. Francesco Sforza of Milan established embassies with other Italian city-states and sent a representative to France in 1455. Diplomacy spread as France and Spain were drawn into Italian politics. Spain sent a permanent representative to England in 1487. Permanent missions were found through western Europe by the late 1500s. Ambassadors were nobles. Higher ranked nobles were sent to more prestigious countries. Standards were developed for residences, lavish parties, and ambassador's role at host's court. Universities prepared future professional embassy staff in international law, languages, and history.

The Spanish Golden Age (El Siglo de Oro)

El Escorial palace/monastery was built by Philip II as a Catholic Counter-Reformation center and held a marvelous 40,000 volume library. Ignatius de Loyola founded the Jesuit Order. El Greco, a Greek artist in Spain ("View of Toledo"), uniquely merged Italian Mannerism with Byzantine style for fantastic color and form. "Fifth Seal" influenced Picasso's cubist "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon." Diego Velasquez ("Las Meninas") was a leading Baroque painter at court of Philip IV. Miguel de Cervantes satirized chivalry in the first modern novel, "Don Quixote" (1605-1615). Lope de Vega wrote around 500 plays for Baroque theatre and many other works.

Tsardom of Russia

Grand Prince Ivan III the Great of Moscow (r. 1462-1505) stopped paying Mongol tribute, tripled the size of Muscovy by annexing neighboring principalities, and laid the foundations of centralized, autocratic, orthodox Russian state. Ivan IV the Terrible (r. 1533-1584) crowned the first tsar. He used Oprichnina to brutally crush boyar nobles and increase absolute power, notably during the Sack of Novgorod (1570). He established trade with England via the Arctic route, expanded east into Siberia, and began a rivalry with Ottomans for control of Black Sea region. The Time of Troubles (1587-1613) saw a power struggle after the end of the Rurik dynasty, a devastating invasion by Poland-Lithuania, and a famine that killed 1/3 of the population. Troubles ended when Michael Romanov was elected tsar (1613) and established the Romanov dynasty.

Emergence of the Secular State

Italian Niccolo Machiavelli offered realistic rather idealistic advice to rulers in "The Prince" (1513), a work dedicated to Lorenzo Medici the Magnificent. He rejected traditional Christian ethics in pursuit of greater power. "The Prince" was the first great work of modern political philosophy. French Jean Bodin advocated divine right during the French Wars of Religion (1576): "The sovereign Prince is only accountable to God." Dutch Hugo Grotius ("On the Law of War and Peace," 1625) developed theories of moral government and international order based on natural law during the Wars of Religion. He influenced Thomas Hobbes and John Locke.

The Development of French Absolutism

Louis XIII (r. 1610-1643): Advised by Cardinal Richelieu. Ordered all fortified castles razed to deny strongholds to rebellious French nobles, centralized state administration through appointment of intendants, patronized the arts, and founded Academie Francaise. Louis XIV (r. 1643-1715): Advised by Cardinal Mazarin. Consolidated royal power after the Fronde (1648-1653) by forcing nobles to attend the luxurious Palace of Versailles.

The English Civil War: Consequences

Pride's Purge (1648) removed Puritan New Model Army opponents in Long Parliament leaving small Rump Parliament. Charles I tried and beheaded for treason (1649). The Commonwealth of England was established. Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell crushed Scottish and Irish rebellions, fought a trade war with the Dutch, conquered Jamaica, and enforced Puritan beliefs. Thomas Hobbes's "Leviathan" (1651) reflected results of English Civil War by opposing divine right but defending absolutism stating the state receives absolute sovereignty from the social contract of individuals surrendering rights in exchange for security. Charles II (r. 1660-1685) ended Puritan rule upon his Restoration.

Ottoman Culture

Results of fall of Constantinople: Byzantine Empire fell 1,000 years after Western Roman Empire. Byzantine scholars fled to Italy fueling Renaissance. Hagia Sophia converted to a mosque. Russia became self-proclaimed Third Rome as new seat of Orthodox Christianity. Trade routes with Asia severed prompting search for new sea routes via Atlantic Ocean. Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 1520-1566) supported the arts and oversaw the Ottoman Golden Age. The Sultan led the Islamic theocracy and owned all land so there was no hereditary aristocracy. Ethnically and religiously diverse empire ruled through self-governing millets of religious minorities. Christian boys taken and trained as Janissary slave-soldiers became part of the imperial administration and ruling class.

The Dutch Golden Age

Shipbuilding, fishing, trade, finance, and agriculture led to Europe's highest standard of living. Dutch East India company dominated the spice trade, and the Bank of Amsterdam was early central bank. The Dutch were primarily Calvinists but tolerated Jews and Catholics. The Universities of Leiden and Groningen, Hans Lippershey (telescope), Antonie von Leeuwenhoek (microscope), and Christiaan Huygens (Saturn's rings, pendulum clock) advanced science. The paintings of Rembrandt ("Night Watch"), Frans Hals ("Laughing Cavalier"), and Jan Vermeer ("Girl with Pearl Earring," "Geographer," "View of Delft") demonstrated the Protestant work ethic and the understated luxury of the successful Dutch middle class.

The Italian Wars (1494-1559)

The Italian Wars are also known as the Hapsburg-Valois Wars (1494-1559). Rich, weak Italian city-states fell prey to three invasions by French Valois kings. Unable to field armies equal to feudal monarchies, city-states sided with either Valois or Hapsburgs in shifting alliances. Francis I took Leonardo da Vinci and "Mona Lisa" to France. The sack of Rome by unpaid Catholic Spanish and Protestant Swiss/German Hapsburg mercenaries (1527) ended the High Renaissance. The use of artillery and early firearms represented a military revolution. The wars ended in French defeat with the Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis. Italian city-states were reduced to second-rate powers with much of Italy under Spanish control.

The Peace of Westphalia (1648)

Treaties between the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, France, Sweden, and the Dutch Republic ended the Thirty Years' War and Dutch Revolt. The treaties established a modern diplomatic structure based on principles of sovereign states, international law, balance of power, and noninterference in domestic affairs. They extended the Peace of Augsburg (1555) principle of cuius regio, eius religio to choice of Catholicism, Lutheranism, or Calvinism. They recognized independence of the Netherlands and Switzerland. The Holy Roman Empire and Hapsburg Spain were greatly weakened. Bourbon France and Sweden reached great power status. They set a precedent for diplomatic peace congresses (Vienna, 1815; Paris, 1919).

Elizabethan England

Tudor monarch Elizabeth I (r. 1558-1603) was advised by spymaster Francis Walsingham and Treasurer William Cecil. The Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity established Anglican tenets reaching English Religious Settlement. Elizabeth I imprisoned and executed her rival, the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots. After his circumnavigation (1557-1580) laden with Spanish treasure, pirate Francis Drake was knighted. Elizabeth supported the Dutch Revolt and defended England against the Spanish Armada (1588). Walter Raleigh sponsored the North Carolina lost colony of Roanoke. William Shakespeare ("Hamlet") and Christopher Marlowe ("Doctor Faustus") wrote pensive plays.

Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania

Wladyslaw II Jagiello founded the Jagiellonian dynasty (1386), which ruled in Poland, Lithuania, Hungary, and Bohemia until 1572. Treaty of Lublin (1569) united Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This large, heavily populated multi-ethnic state had modest religious toleration for Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, and Jews. Monarchical power limited by Sejm (legislature) of Polish szlachta (nobility) who could veto the king. By the 1600s, Sejm voting required unanimous decisions making government weak and ineffective.