Absolute Rulers in Europe

Philip II of Spain

Devout Catholic  Drove Muslim Moors & Jews out of Spain  Tortured, killed or exiled thousands of Protestants  Attempted to aid a Catholic in regaining the throne of France

Philip II of Spain Devout Catholic  The Spanish Armada In attempt to re- Catholicize England, he attacked England with 130 ships & 19,000 soldiers. Spain loses in shocking defeat  Wars and Inquisition cost Spain tons of money

Philip II of Spain Escorial  Philip’s palace Unlike Louis XIV, his palace was bland & simple Each room only had a few pieces of furniture

Philip II of Spain Decisions…Decisions  Philip was indecisive Always ask advisors for help, but…  Frequently didn’t listen to them Often took a great deal of time to make decisions and on many occasions waited too long Legacy  Left Spain bankrupt Went from richest country in the world to one in bankruptcy

Peter the Great

A Renaissance Man Shipbuilding Served in military & navy Loved to wrestle Fascinated by architecture  Builds St. Petersburg Dabbled in carpentry

Peter the Great Westernize and Modernize  Peter believed Russia was years behind the rest of Europe  Invited European engineers, architects, artists, merchants, shipbuilders, and craftsmen to Russia in order to catch the country up to the rest of Europe

Peter the Great Reforms  Changed Russian calendar to coincide with rest of Europe  All noble children (ages ) had to be taught geometry and mathematics  Outlawed beards unless you paid a special tax  Created poll tax to build up manufacturing  Organized a Russian army and built a navy

The Enlightened Despots

Maria Theresa of Austria

Maria Theresa Reduced the power of local leaders and increased the power of the crown, but did so to benefit the people of Austria  Reformed the tax system Reduced taxes on peasants, while raising them on nobility  Opened public schools  Removed capital punishment from penal code  Outlawed torture  Decency police Cut down on quality of life crimes

Maria Theresa  Limited the amount of labor nobles could force peasants to do  Sent people to unlived rural areas to increase farm production  When poor weather left many hungry and starving, Maria Theresa ordered the wild animals of her private forest killed since they were eating the peasants food source

Joseph II Son of Maria Theresa Expanded many of his mother’s reforms Chose officials based on their talents and merits rather than status (meritocracy) Abolished feudalism Practiced religious tolerance

Frederick the Great King of Prussia Granted religious freedom Improved education Relaxed censorship laws “first servant of the state.”

Catherine the Great Empress of Russia Wrote letters to Enlightenment thinkers Built schools and hospitals Promoted education of women Tried to end torture After peasant revolts Catherine overturned many of her reforms