Chapter Overviews

Chapter 14: Crisis and Absolutism in Europe

Chapter Overviews

Out of the wars of the sixteenth century, absolutist rulers emerged in many parts of Europe, while England laid the groundwork for a constitutional monarchy. Art, literature, and political thought were heavily influenced by changes in the wake of the Reformation.

Section 1 Europe in Crisis: The Wars of Religion
Wars between Catholics and Protestants plagued Europe in the 1500s. Economic, social, and political forces also played a role. Catholic Spain appeared to be at the height of its power. However, Philip II was bankrupting Spain with costly wars. Meanwhile, the United Provinces of the Netherlands, a heavily Protestant region of the Spanish Empire, emerged as a great power in its own right. The English monarch, Elizabeth, sought to placate both Protestants and Catholics at home while balancing the power of France and Spain. Hoping to restore Catholicism to power, Philip tried to invade England and met with disastrous results. For 30 years, the French Wars of Religion pitted Catholics against Protestant Huguenots. The violence finally ended in 1598 when Henry IV extended full political privileges to Huguenots while making Catholicism the official religion.

Section 2 Social Crises, War, and Revolution
From 1560 to 1650, Europe was filled with economic and social crises. Witch-hunts were common. Religious disputes in Germany left over from the Peace of Augsburg led to the Thirty Years' War. The war evolved into a much larger European struggle. The Peace of Westphalia, which ended the war in 1648, split up the Holy Roman Empire and left German states free to choose their religion. A year later, King Charles I of England was executed by Oliver Cromwell, a Puritan and military genius who had led parliamentary forces against the monarch's Cavaliers. The monarchy was later restored, but conflicts between Catholics and Protestants simmered. In 1688, the Glorious Revolution occurred. King James II, a Catholic, fled to France when the Dutch rulers, William and Mary of Orange, marched toward London. With little bloodshed, the monarchy changed hands. In exchange for the crown, William and Mary accepted a Bill of Rights, laying the groundwork for a constitutional monarchy.

Section 3 Response to Crisis: Absolutism
In the wake of the crises of the 1600s, a number of powerful new rulers emerged in Europe. The French king, Louis XIV, is regarded as the best example of a seventeenth century absolutist ruler. Louis used all means at his disposal to keep power firmly in his own hands. In the absence of a centralized German state, Prussia and Austria emerged as great European powers. Prussia built the fourth-largest army in Europe. The Hapsburgs, formerly rulers of the Holy Roman Empire, built a loosely governed Austrian Empire that included today's Austria, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. The Russian state emerged in the fifteenth century. The Romanov dynasty, established in 1613, produced a series of Russian absolutists. To make Russia a great power, the Romanov czar Peter the Great undertook military reforms, introduced western practices, and went to war with Sweden.

Section 4 The World of European Culture
The Reformation's revival of religious values renewed artistic interest in matters of the spirit. The Mannerism movement abandoned many principles of the High Renaissance in an effort to convey the conflicting emotions brought on by religious turmoil. The baroque style tried to merge the ideals of Renaissance art with spiritual concerns. Many magnificent and highly detailed baroque churches and palaces were built. Writing and drama reached new heights in England and Spain. Writers from this period, especially England's Shakespeare and Spain's Cervantes and Lope de Vega, are considered among the greatest writers ever. Political thought also evolved during this period. Thomas Hobbes argued in favor of absolutism. Hobbes's fellow Englishman, John Locke, countered that governments were formed by a contract to protect people's natural rights. Locke's ideas became important to both Americans and French in the eighteenth century.