1. Absolute Monarchies in Europe
Chapter 21

2. Big Idea
During a time of religious and economic instability, Philip II ruled Spain with a strong hand and establishing tradition of ruling as an absolute monarch with a divine right to rule.

3. Charles V A king from the Hapsburg family of Austria
ruled a huge amount of land in Europe and the Americas:
Spain and their Colonial Empire
Parts of Italy
Lands in Austria
And the Netherlands
elected Holy Roman Emperor and ran most of Germany

4. Charles V … Retires?
After agreeing to the Peace of Augsburg, which stopped the 30 years war, he retired
Splits lands:
brother Ferdinand: gave Austria and the Holy Roman Empire
son, Philip II: he gave Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italian lands, and the Spanish American Colonies.

5. Philip II’s European Empire

6. Philip Seizes Portugal
Philip was religious and very aggressive to add more land to his Empire
1580-king of Portugal dies
Philip was the king’s nephew & he seizes the Portuguese throne, land, and colonial empire.

7. Philip’s Empire Brings Gold
Philip ‘s Empire brought him incredible wealth:
By Spanish mines in New World supplied Spain with 339,000 pounds of Gold
Spanish mined 16,000 tons of silver
The “Royal Share” of each shipload was 1/4th to 1/5th

8. Philip as the Defender of Catholicism
Philip refused to let Protestantism into his empire
Fights a war against the Ottoman Empire for the Pope
launched the Spanish Armada against Elizabeth I of England

9. “Golden Age” of Spain
Even though Philip was busy fighting wars in Europe, Spain enjoyed a Golden Age in Art and Literature as well…
Artists such as El Greco and Velazquez painted fantastic portraits and scenes in brilliant colors with lifelike features
The literary masterpiece of “Don Quixote” was written by Miguel de Cervantes was written in this era as well

10. El Greco
El Greco was born in Crete, but lived in Spain for much of his adult life, specifically in Toledo, Spain

11. Diego Velazquez
Velazquez was the official court painter of the royal family, but often painted his self portrait and scenes of everyday life as well.

12. Miguel de Cervantes Cervantes wrote Don Quixote de la Mancha
A book about a poor noble who goes crazy after reading too many books on historic knights
Some critics think Cervantes was making fun of chivalry, others say Don Quixote is about frustration in a materialistic world.

13. The Spanish Empire Weakens
Other reasons for Spain’s decline:
Guilds still ran Spain’s craft industry
Spanish Merchants traded with French, English, and Dutch craftsmen rather then Spain’s
Spanish nobles did not have to pay taxes
A Spanish middle class never develops
Spanish kings borrowed money from German and Italian banks to fight wars, where even Philip II had to declare Spain was “bankrupt” 3 times!
Too much gold meant Spain endured severe inflation
Inflation is when the value of money declines while the price of goods and services rises
caused by two reasons: gold and silver’s value was low and merchants raises prices

14. Dutch Art
The Netherlands become the 1600’s version of Florence during the Renaissance.
Artists such as Rembrandt van Rijn and Jan Vermeer painted subjects from kings to every day people using:
Brilliant colors
Techniques
And the use of light and dark shadowing.

15. Dutch Trading Empire
The stability of the government of the Netherlands meant the Dutch people could focus on economic growth
For example: the Dutch found ways to make incredible profits on even farm goods items such as grain and tulip bulbs.
The Dutch build the largest fleet of ships in the world, 4,800 ships by 1636.
These ships helped the Dutch East India Company dominate the spice trade, and thus replacing Italians as the bankers of Europe.

16. Absolutism in Europe
All European kings and queens of this era strived to be Absolute Monarchs.
Absolute Monarchs were kings and queens who held ALL, or absolute, power within their states’ boundaries
Absolute monarchs also believed in Divine Right- the idea that God created the monarchy and that the monarch was God’s representative on earth.

17. Growing Power of European Monarchs
The power Monarchs of Europe grew in this for the following reasons:
The decline of Feudalism and growth of cities
The growing middle class supported monarchs because they promised peace which was helpful for business
The wealth of the colonies paid for monarchs’ ambitions
Church authority broke down because of the Reformation
Crises in Europe…

18. Crises Leads to Absolutism
The 1600’s was a period of great upheaval
Continuous warfare over land and territory in Europe
Needed more armies, more Armies meant more taxes
These taxes meant unrest and even, sometimes, revolt!
Some monarchs regulated religious worship and social gatherings
Some created new government agencies to control the economy
Most wanted to gain more power away from their people’s government such as parliament
All of these monarchs strived to live like Louis XIV of France