World History 10A Spain’s Empire & Absolutism

Charles V Devout Catholic Inherited Spain and it’s American colonies, parts of Italy and Austria, the Netherlands, and much of Germany Unwillingly agreed to Peace of Augsberg Ended fighting between him and Protestants Divided his empire and retired to a monastery

Philip II’s Empire Son of Charles V, inherited Spain, the Spanish Netherlands, and colonies in the Americas Seized Portuguese throne in 1580 after his uncle died without an heir This included Portuguese land in Africa, India, and the east Indies Became incredibly wealthy from gold/silver from American mines Used wealth to build a big army

Defending Catholicism When Philip took power there were many religious wars in Europe The Reconquista – drive the Muslims out of Spain The Inquisition – drive out heretics Philip believed he should defend Catholicism from Muslims in the Ottoman Empire and Protestants in Europe In 1571 the pope asked all Catholic princes to take up arms against the Ottoman Empire Philip sent 250 ships They defeated a large Ottoman fleet in a battle near Lepanto Philip sent the Spanish Armada to England because they were Protestant; he was defeated

The Golden Age of Spanish Art Monarchs were patrons of the arts El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) Name means “the Greek” because he was born in Crete Used brilliant (sometimes) clashing colors Distorted human figures and expressed emotion symbolically Painted saints and martyrs to show deep Catholic faith of Spain

The Golden Age of Spanish Art Diego Velázquez showed the Spain’s monarchy (and their pride) Painted 50 years after el Greco Court painter to Philip IV of Spain Best known for paintings of the royal family and court life using rich colors

Don Quijote de la Mancha Publication in 1605 was the birth of the modern European novel Before watching explain: Don Quijote is a little messed up in the head because he read so many adventure books Has a squire called Sancho Panza The two of them go off on adventures and get themselves into trouble His horse is named Rosalinda Don Quijote’s great love is Dulcinea, but she doesn’t return his love (he doesn’t realize this)

Inflation and Taxes Causes were the growth of Spain’s population, also as silver flooded the market its value dropped Spain expelled Muslims during the Reconquista in the 1500’s and lost many artisans and business people Spain’s nobles didn’t have to pay taxes and the burden fell upon the lower classes, therefore they never developed a middle class

Rich Enemies (of Spain) Guilds from the middle ages, making things more expensive than goods made elsewhere Spain had to buy what they needed from other places Spanish kings had to borrow money from German and Italian bankers to finance wars

Dutch Revolt Occurred in the Spanish Netherlands Had to maintain and army to keep the Dutch under control Dutch had little in common with Spain In 1556 angry Protestant mobs swept through Catholic churches, destroying things This was done in response to Philip raising taxes Philip sent an army under the Spanish Duke of Alva to punish them

Dutch Revolt William of Orange emerged as a great leader for the Netherlands He wanted to free the Netherlands from Spain In 1574 the Spanish took control of the city of Leiden The Dutch opened a big dike that held water back (much of the land is below sea-level) and flooded lands, driving out the Spanish In 1579 the seven northern provinces of the Netherlands united and declared Independence Known as the United Provinces of the Netherlands

The Independent Dutch Prosper The United Provinces were different from other European states They practiced religious tolerance They were a republic, not a kingdom A stable government allowed the Dutch to concentrate on economic growth Dutch had the largest fleet of ships in the world Atlantic trade routes became important to them Great artists emerged such as Rembrant van Rijn and Jan vermeer

Rembrant (top), Vermeer (bot)

Absolutism in Europe Philip was a forceful ruler and tried to control every aspect of his empire’s affairs Rulers like this were called absolute monarchs Kings and queens who believed all power in their state’s boundaries was theirs They believed in divine right The idea that God created the monarchy and that the monarch acted as God’s representative on earth Absolute monarchs answer only to God (not their subjects) These ideas were not new, however rulers had been weak since the decline of the Roman empire

Growing Power of Monarchs Monarchs grew increasingly powerful Growing middle class supported monarchs The crises we have previously discussed led to absolutism Religious and territorial conflicts caused almost continuous warfare, requiring strong rulers