…or as Mel Brooks said, “It’s good to be the King.”

 Absolute monarch – has total control over all aspects of life within their kingdom  Divine right – belief that their power comes from God, because God “chose” them to be the king through birth  What allows “absolute monarchs” to gain power?  decline of feudalism – no more nobles to fight with for power  growth of cities – lots of people in one place are easier to control  growth of middle class – merchant class liked kings because they kept the peace and wouldn’t disrupt trade

 King of a Protestant nation, but has a Catholic wife and alliances with Catholic countries  Country is losing money as a result of numerous wars  Parliament refuses to give Charles more money unless he gives up some of his power  ENGLISH CIVIL WAR (1642)

 Chased out of the country by Cromwell  After Cromwell’s death, Charles II is asked to return and be king (after they just fought a war to get rid of a king!!!)  The “Restoration”  Forced to support Anglicanism (doesn’t really care)  Known as the “merry monarch”  lots of parties and no “legitimate” children

 Charles II was secretly Catholic…James II is OPENLY Catholic…how’s that work in England?  The English people and Parliament are distrustful of a Catholic monarch in England demand that he resign as king.  James has a daughter named Mary  Mary has a husband named William, who is King of the Netherlands (the Dutch)  Parliament asks William and Mary to invade England and take the throne.

 Lead the “Glorious Revolution” to overthrow James II (her dad!!!)  Ensure that England remains Protestant (Anglican)  Sign the English Bill of Rights  Founded the College of William and Mary in 1693!!

 Louis XIII & Cardinal Richelieu (1610 – 1643)  Louis XIII is a weak king who relies on Richelieu for advice  France is divided between Catholics and Huguenots (French Protestants)  Richelieu makes the decision to attack the Huguenots in order to protect the Catholic monarchy  France gets involved in 30 Years War to weaken the Hapsburgs’ power and make France stronger

 Spain starts the 30 Years War against Protestants in Germany  Close Protestant churches and send in the army  1 st half of war (12 years) goes well for Spain  Hapsburgs win victory after victory  Allow army to pillage conquered towns instead of paying them  2 nd half of war (18 years) goes really badly for Spain  German Protestants form alliance with France (Catholic) and defeat Hapsburgs

 Peace of Westphalia  Ends 30 years war  Weakens all parts of Hapsburg empire (Spain & Austria)  Weakens Germany because of severe loss of life (about 4 million people died)  France becomes most powerful country in Europe  Is the last major religious conflict in Europe

Louis XIV (1643 – 1715)  King at age of 5, officially takes power at 23  victory in 30 Years War makes France the most powerful country, and makes Louis the most powerful monarch  builds Palace of Versailles to emphasize his importance  famously says “L’état c’est moi!”  “I am the state!”

Frederick II – “Frederick the Great” (1712 – 1786)  said that “a ruler should be like a father to his people”  His own father tried to “toughen him up” by making him watch the execution of his best friend  Was very interested in military conquest  Builds the strongest army in Europe  encouraged religious toleration (between Catholics and Protestants)

Seven Years War (1756 – 1763)  Maria Theresa makes an alliance with France in an attempt to weaken Prussia  Frederic forms an alliance with Britain  Frederic invades a small ally of Austria  A “world war” begins between these powerful countries which is fought in Europe, India and North America  Started by the “French and Indian War” in the USA  Outcome: British get control of French colonies in India and N. America  Outcome: 1.4 million dead across Europe

 How was Russia different from Western Europe?:  serfdom lasts much longer  until the 1800’s  Little contact with outside world because of conquest and climate  religious differences  Russians were Eastern Orthodox Christians and viewed European Catholics and Protestants as heretics who didn’t follow the true word of God

 Peter the Great (1672 – 1725)  “the Grand Embassy” – a long visit to Western European nations to see how they did things differently  “westernization” – goal to modernize Russia using Western Europe as a model  reduces power of nobles (Boyars)  hires Europeans to train the army  introduces potatoes  increases population  starts a newspaper  increases literacy rate  gives women rights  takes away the whip  by the time of his death, Russia had become a major power in the Eastern Hemisphere