Absolutism, Constitutionalism, and The Scientific Revolution

Greg LarrickTyler Robb

Florian DuddeAlex Ramirze

England

• Parliamentary Monarchy in England => ruled by House of Stuarts;

• Elizabeth I. died childless => Jacob VI. As Jacob I. became King of England & Ireland (ruled from 1603 - 1625)

• King Charles I. ruled England (1625 – 1949) but abused his power => Petition of Rights (1628) to limit King’s power

• Short Parliament for 3 weeks in 1640 • Long Parliament for 8 years 1640-1648• English Civil War with:

Cavaliers(pro Charles I.)

Vs.Roundheads(pro. Engl. Parliament)

English Civil War & Cromwell

1642-1651= series of armed conflicts between the Cavaliers and the Roundheads; ended with parliamentary victory

It was a response to the Reformation and a growing middle class!

Roundheads won because of an alliance with Scotland => Solemn league & Covenant;

Reorganization of Parl. Army under Cromwell through iron discipline and strong independent rel. sentiment

Cromwell favored neither episcopal system of the king nor the pure Presbyterian system of the Solemn League & Covenant; he tolerated an established majority church with Protestant’s freedom

Charles I. tried to restore England => was failed by Cromwell and led to his execution

The Restoration = time of transition from a military dictatorship to a republic by Oliver Cromwell and his followers

Charles II.’s reign and the Glorious Revolution

Glorious Revolution = Overthrow of King James II. of England by English Parliament and William III. Of Orange (Dutch)

It was a great rejoining which led to a hereditary monarchy without a legal requirement; Charles II. Favored the Cath. Church

Glorious Revolution of 1688/1689 in which enemies of the English royalty and the Stuarts finally won the fight about the power of England

Parliament = agency of the government! Impact on today Afterwards William III. & Mary II. (Protestants) married and

ruled England (1689 – 1702) Bill of Rights was passed on 16 December 1689 =>

established new rights for the British Parliament and gave the right to petition the monarch

The Age of Walpole

Walpole was the First Prime Minister of G.B. & fought for the people’s, especially the middle classes’ rights

He was a Whig and had big influence on the Cabinet under his Premiership

Fought against the British royalty and wanted to give more rights to the middle class

Population Trends

Huge and rapid population growth after the Glorious Revolution

Age of Walpole set England on a path against absolutist rule => more rights for the middle class

Mary II. As Queen of England with William III. Helped women to gain more rights, even though they just had to take care of the families

Absolutism

During the seventeenth century, Europe split between two forms of government: Absolutism and Constitutionalism.

Under Absolutist rule, a king exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government.

France best exemplified this political system.

Louis XIV and French Absolutism Preceding Louis XIV, Cardinal Richelieu

and Mazarin centralized authority in France by forcing nobles to adhere to the king, and revoking protestant rights.

When Louis XIV took to the throne in 1643 , he pushed towards absolutism by making himself the head of propaganda.

Influenced by Bishop Bossuet, Louis believed he possessed the divine right of kings, and, therefore, should rule without limitations.

To cement his absolutist rule, Louis XIV had to ensure the support of his nobles.

Versailles

To ensure the happiness of his nobles Louis XIV renovated the palace of Versailles in 1661.

Here, he could keep a close eye over the nobles, so as to suppress notions of revolution.

The king’s plan succeeded, and, preoccupied with leisurely court life, the nobles remained loyal to him.

Religious Unification

With his nobles in line, Louis XIV proceeded to unify religion within France.

To ensure an entirely Catholic nation, Louis revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1865, effectively making Protestantism illegal.

Remaining protestants were offered subsidies to convert, forced to quarter troops, harassed, and eventually imprisoned.

Ironically, despite his intentions to strengthen his rule with the revocation, Louis XIV only weakened it.

The Absolutist Economy

Through the administration of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the financial advisor to Louis XIV from 1665 to 1683, France developed an economic base capable of funding future wars.

Colbert increased the Taille, a tax on the peasantry the provided a major source of royal income.

France grew into a Mercantilist nation, in which the government controlled the economy, aiming to maximize foreign exports and internal reserves of bullion.

The Wars of Louis XIV

Louis had a penchant for war, believing it would increase the strength of his nation.

Due to conflicting dynastic claims in Spain between Austria and France, Louis entered the War of Spanish Succession from 1701 to 1714.

Louis wished to seat Philip V in the Spanish throne, for he promised French allegiance.

Under the peace of Utrecht, Philip V took the throne, but had to sever his ties to France.

Ultimately, the war further weakened the absolutist rule of Louis XIV.

Louis XIV’s Legacy

Louis XIV weakened the French economy through his various wars and religious policies.

The predominance of absolutism made it difficult fro France to develop effective institutions of representation and self-government.

Despite his flaws, Louis XIV laid the foundation for a new French empire by extending trade into Asia and colonizing North America.

The Scientific Revolution

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Europe moved away from medieval and ancient views of nature, refining the studies of chemistry, physics, biology, and astronomy.

For the first time, Europeans viewed the world in rational, mechanistic terms.

Key Scientists

Nicolaus Copernicus Tycho Brahe Johannes Kepler Galileo Galilei René Descartes Francis Bacon Isaac Newton

Nicolaus Copernicus

Copernicus sparked the scientific revolution with the publication of On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres.

In this work, he envisioned the earth as heliocentric rather than geocentric.

The sun sat as the center of the universe in his theory.

Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler Tycho Brahe combined the

Copernican and Ptolemaic systems to create the most accurate astronomical system of its time.

Under his Tychonic system, the sun and moon revolved around the Earth, while the other planets revolved around the sun.

Johannes Kepler, the assistant of Brahe, used empirical data to derive the laws of planetary motion.

Galileo Galilei

Galileo championed the theories of Copernicus, supporting them with empirical data.

To collect his data, Galileo refined the telescope.

Despite the validity of his theories, Galileo met persecution from the Catholic church, and spent his last days under house arrest.

René Descartes and Francis Bacon

In his Discourse on the Method, Descartes proposed the use of rationality and deductive reasoning, drawing specific conclusions from generalized evidence.

Contrary to Descartes, Francis Bacon advocated empiricism and inductive reasoning, drawing broad conclusions from specific evidence.

For his contributions to empiricism, Bacon is often considered the father of the scientific method.

Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton revolutionized physics and mathematics in his Principia Mathemitaca.

In his work, he described universal gravitation and the three laws of motion.

Through his theories, Newton defined the world as mechanical, encouraging future scientists to approach it in a rational manner.