Spain’s Empire and European Absolutism

 The Habsburgs ruled a great deal of Europe.  The throne of the Holy Roman Empire was continuously occupied by the Habsburgs between 1438 and The house also produced emperors and kings of the: › Kingdom of Bohemia, Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Germany, Kingdom of Hungary, Kingdom of Croatia, Kingdom of Ireland, Kingdom of Portugal, and Habsburg Spain, as well as rulers of several Dutch and Italian principalities.

 Following the Peace of Augsburg in 1555, King Charles abdicated his throne and split up his kingdom before retiring to a monastery. › Ferdinand received HRE and Austria › Philip inherited Spain, Spanish Netherlands, and the American colonies (Florida and Mississippi…)  Each region could choose their own religion.  In 1580, Philip takes over Portugal and its territories in Africa and India

 His empire provided him with great wealth including gold from America.  Devout Catholic  Saw himself as defender of faith against Ottoman Muslims and European Protestants  Sent his Armada against England and lost.

 In addition to building palaces and supporting the navy, the great wealth of Philip and other nobles was the basis of patronage of the arts in Spain.  Two great Spanish painters: › El Greco › Diego Velazquez  Emphasis on faith and Spanish culture

 Don Quixote: Published in 1605, it is often called the beginning of the modern European novel. Written by Miguel Cervantes, it is about a poor Spanish nobleman who becomes a little crazy after reading about heroic knights. Don Quixote by Pablo Picasso

 The influx of gold and silver from America caused severe inflation in Spain. › Population growth and rising costs of goods  Spain had removed most of the Jews and Muslims from the country leaving it without good businessmen and artisans  Spain’s nobles did not have to pay taxes.  Burden on poor, limited growth and no middle class.

 Because of outdated guilds and poor economic structure many goods were bought from the French and English (Spain’s enemies).  Spain had to borrow from Italian and German bankers › Spain declared bankruptcy 3x

 Philip needed to maintain an army to keep control. › The Dutch had little in common with Spanish rulers.  Spain= Catholic, poor  Dutch= Calvinist, strong middle class  Dutch rebel against Catholic churches, Spain responds with raids – 1500 killed in one day.  Dutch split between 7 northern provinces that were Protestant and 10 southern that were Catholic – present day Belgium

 Religious toleration practiced.  Republic not a kingdom › Elected governors fro each province  This peace and stability allowed Dutch to concentrate on trade and economic growth.  The Dutch will grow to have the largest merchant fleet in the world: › 4500 ships in 1600’s  Dutch will replace Italians as bankers of Europe

 The Netherlands will match in 1600s what Florence was in 1400s  Wealthy merchants will become the patrons of the Dutch art world.  Rembrandt van Rijn › Paints portraits of wealthy middle-class merchants  Jan Vermeer › Chooses domestic, indoor settings

 Those who wanted to be Absolute Monarchs believed that all power within their state’s borders rested in their hands.  They believed in the theory of DIVINE RIGHT – the idea that God created the monarchy and the monarch acted as God’s representative on earth. › An Absolute monarch answered only to God not his or her subjects.

 Monarchs grew increasingly powerful after the Middle Ages and as feudalism declined and cities rose this helped with the centralization of power.  The continuous warfare and upheaval of the 17 th century led to growth of militaries and an increased tax burden on the people.  Peasant revolts led to harsh penalties and more control by the monarchs. › Their goal was to free themselves from limitations of nobility. The goal was absolute power…