Post-reformation Europebecoming early-modern
1. Religious differencestheological and national/ethnic
2. New politics:Theories of Rule: Constitutional monarchies
AbsolutismRun by: expanding bureaucraciesCritiqued by: political/intellectual
theorists
3. Expanding economies: more efficienttechnology makes effectiveproto-industrialization and
social stratification
Europe post-reformation
Need to know the names, differences:
Roman Catholic
LutheranCalvinistAnglican
(Church of England)
And, two governmental systems1. Constitutional states
a. Republicb. Constitutional Monarchy
2. Absolutism
The Dutch Republic• King Philip II of Spain attempted to suppress
protestants (Calvinists) in Netherlands, 1566 and in addition, the Huguenots [France to Netherlands]
• large-scale rebellion followed• by 1581 Netherlands declared
independence
• based on a representative,parliamentary system
• successful joint-venture commerce
Constitutional States• England: constitutional monarchy
government is ‘the Crown’, + Houses of Parliament
• Netherlands: a Republic
• Not an easy process: English Civil War, 1642-1649• royal taxes• religious elements • King loses, was beheaded in 1649
The Glorious Revolution (1688-1689)• England under Cromwell (d. 1658)
• Glorious Revolution
• Charles II restored 1660• b. King James II deposed • 1688 d. Mary and husband – no heir
** no Catholics **• William of Orange took throne
concept of shared governance
To this day
Recently changed the law regarding primogeniture
Will not remove the in juncture against having a Catholic monarch
The ideal and problems of governing
Frontispiece for Leviathan- Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
John Locke (1632-1704)
Essay on Toleration (1667) Essay on the Human
Understanding (1690) Treatise on Government
But a voice – for whom?Popular sovereignty • John Locke • theories of contractual government• sovereignty in the people – but who are the
people?Freedom and Equality • religious toleration and freedom of expression • condemned legal and social privileges of
aristocrats • limit aristocratic privileges
• not to share political rights with: ???
Qualified citizenshipeg: British (Irish) citizens
Ireland: ‘a dependent and subordinate kingdom’• series of penal laws that enshrined exclusion of Catholics
from political, social and territorial power
• by 1703: less than 20% population Protestant (English and Scottish descent)
owned 86% of the land
• In 1691: all MPs in Irish parliament took an oath: repudiating the Pope’s authority to dispose
any monarchdenying transubstantiation
Next 15 years: penal codesschools, horses, land, weapons, clerics
Effects: political, economic, legal, psychological** exam q.
Absolute Monarchies• Political theory: Divine Right of Kings
• the model: French Cardinal Richelieu King Louis XIII, 1624-1642)
• practical application: destroy aristocratic power i.e. ‘fronde’
create royal service intendents= meritocracy= effective management= power taken from nobility
ruthlessly attacked Calvinists
The Sun Kingroyal absolutism
Louis XIV (1673) Mignard
Louis XIV (Hyacinth) ‘L’etat c’est moi’r. 1654
Geography of Power:
symbol and practice
Versailles
Power Politics in the 17Cdeveloping the European states system
• no overarching imperial authority
• Balance of Power tenuous
• military innovations(expensive)
Conclusion:this is ‘top down’ history – much else is happening• Significant population growth
• Effect: urbanizationProto-capitalismchanging social orderAdam Smith and John Locke
intellectual innovation: Copernicus universe
Isaac Newtonthe
Enlightenmenthumanistic moral challenge écrasez l’infame
A Village in ProvençeFriday everyone will be assigned the identity of someone
from a small, fictional community in Provençe in the late 17C
Traditionally ‘our’ community has been fairly isolated, with the result that
• the local land holders exercise a great deal of power
There is in our community:• a local bishop • a growing (but still small) commercial and professional
class of people (who will become the bourgeoisie) • the majority of the population in this region
works on the land
• the central authority of the king reaches into the region, in the person of a local intendent
Will you survive? Some will receive prizes…