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| 39912406 | Divine Right of Kings | This was the common belief in the 16th century that monarchs were placed upon the throne by God. James I of England wrote a book supporting this called the Trew Law of Free Monarchies. | 0 | |
| 39912407 | Shakespeare | This English playwright lived and wrote in Elizabethan times, and his works reflected the world of a strong monarchy. Some plays showed how a single flaw in a ruler can be a disaster, while others had exemplary monarchs with great power and virtue. | 1 | |
| 39912408 | Trew law of Free Monarchies | James IV of Scotland (who was also James I of England) wrote this book before becoming a king, supporting the idea of Divine Right of Kings, which stated that monarchs were chosen by God and therefore had God's power backing them up. | 2 | |
| 39912409 | Jean Bodin | A writer in 16th century England who wrote The Six Books of the Commonwealth (1576), which strongly supported the divine right of kings. | 3 | |
| 39912410 | Royal councils | The nobility who had the highest offices and thus advised monarchs in matters of state. They managed the government and did their best to influence royal policy. | 4 | |
| 39912411 | Cardinal Richelieu | A powerful French advisor of King Louis XIII who basically ran France, during and around the time of the Thirty Years War. He gained his power through Marie D'Medici's favor, but eventually said favor and spent the end of his life just trying to survive the various plots against him. | 5 | |
| 39912412 | Parlement of Paris | The main court of law in France, which competed with members of the court for influence over the king. Members were known as "nobility of the robe," while the hereditary, military-oriented courtiers were "nobility of the sword". | 6 | |
| 39912413 | Reasons 17th century population declined | The 30 Years War led to a drop in agricultural production, as fields were destroyed by fighting and men went off fight rather than farm. The movement troups spread disease, and within armies many died from sickness, unsanitary conditions, and most likely exposure. Not to mention the actual deaths caused by battle. The limited food, rampant disease, and large numbers of casualties did not exactly spur reproduction. Large numbers of peasants died in years when harvests were bad, because they were barely subsisting in "good" times. | 7 | |
| 39912414 | difference between French parlements and English House of Lords and Commons | French parlements were courts of law, and had to compete for influence over and attention from the monarch. The English House of Lords and Commons controlled the monarch's access to money and taxes, which made it a valid and powerful government body. | 8 | |
| 39912415 | intendants | These officials of the French government who worked for the central administration. They gradually took the power and responsibilities of local provincial governors in the early 17th century. | 9 | |
| 39912416 | no peace without arms, no arms without money, no money without taxation | This concept influenced all of Europe during the 17th century as taxes rose to support a centralized government. This new government usually did a good job of keeping peace within the country and preventing invasions, but there was a sudden, insatiable demand for money, which had to come from taxes. | 10 | |
| 39912417 | passive obedience | Doctrine preached by Luther and Calvin, with only one loophole - if a person with power (a monarch) violates divine law, their underlings (nobility) have the right and responsibility to disobey them. | 11 | |
| 39912418 | paulette | A French tax on officeholders in the government, which provided about 1/3 of the royal income. It was initially implemented by Henry IV to demonstrate his power over nobility, but became useful in a more practical sense later on. | 12 | |
| 39912419 | milliones | A tax under Phillip II on the consumption of goods by Castilians. It was meant to produce "milliones de ducats," and was only meant to last six years. Naturally, though, once a precedent was set, the tax was never ended. It charged the Castilians for their wine, meat, and oil, and affected urban populations the most. | 13 | |
| 39913264 | impositions | English taxes on customs, which mainly affected merchants. Unlike milliones, this was a tax on only luxury goods, not necessities. | 14 | |
| 39913265 | ship money | There was always an English tax on port towns which required each town to pay for a mercenary vessel to protect it. Under Charles I, this was expanded so that inland towns paid as if they were also port towns so Charles got the money. It was deeply resented by the inland towns it affected. | 15 | |
| 39913266 | why taxes increased | The central governments needed cash to keep standing armies for their relatively new absolute monarchs, and to run a central government. They had to support many free-loading courtiers, and provide those who had their "favor" with an opulent lifestyle. | 16 | |
| 39913267 | revolt in Palermo | Bread, for a time, was subsidized by the government of this Italian town. When money for this subsidation ran out, rather than raise prices, the local government decided to decrease the size (per loaf) of bread. The entire town immediately revolted, and were rewarded with a temporary lowering of the Spanish taxes on their food. They also set an example for other revolts in other cities. | 17 | |
| 39913268 | John Milton | An English poet who made a crucial contribution to the resistance theory, when, in 1649, he wrote The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates. | 18 | |
| 39913269 | The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates | Written in 1649 by John Milton, this books says that if the monarch fails to uphold the law and act for the benefit of his or her subjects, those subjects are released from their end of the social contract, which was obedience. | 19 | |
| 39913270 | the Fronde | This was a rebellion against the regency of Anne of Austria by the officeholders, Parisian landowners, and nobility of France. While Louis XIV was a child, she and her advisory Mazarin ruled. The rebellion was in response to taxation, and was led by the Parliament of Paris, which refused to register various taxes that Anne wanted to pass. They demanded control of the government's financial policy, but Anne had several of them arrested before she, Louis, and Mazarin fled Paris. There was some military conflict, which Mazarin ended in order to avoid a Spanish invasion. In the end, Louis XIV became a powerful king and this group accomplished very little. | 20 | |
| 39913271 | Cardinal Manzarin | An advisor to Anne of Austria, who became regent when Louis XIV inherited the French crown at the age of 4. He was targeted by the Fronde, and had make compromises with them to prevent a Spanish invasion, but he was ultimately successful. | 21 | |
| 39913272 | James I | This Scottish ruler became the English king as well once Elizabeth died. He inherited a country that was in debt, as well as in mourning for their highly-idealized former queen. He was generous with favors but Scottish and English differences made it impossible for him to gain anyone's favor. | 22 | |
| 39913273 | Petition of Right | (1628)- This document clarified and reiterated the English rights: freedom from unjustified arrest and detainment (habeus corpus), taxation not approved by Parliament, and seizure of property by martial law. | 23 | |
| 39913274 | Long Parliament | This Parliament met for 13 years from 1640-1653 and chose not to implement the taxes that Charles II wanted to defend England against the Scots. This was mostly because they agreed with the Scot's negative opinion of Laud's religious changes and disagreed with the king on many issues. This powerful parliament also executed Charles's chief advisory, the Earl of Strafford. | 24 | |
| 39913275 | Oliver Cromwell | Originally a military commander on the Parliamentary side of the English civil war (not the royalist side), this man gained control of the new government in 1653 by dissolving the struggling Rump Parliament. As a Puritan, he promoted tolerance among Protestants and helped the military and Parliament get along, as he was a powerful member of both. Though others urged him to take the title of king, he refused in Washingtonian style and kept the revolutionary government together until he died. | 25 | |
| 39914165 | Rump Parliament | After much of Parliament was killed for voting against the trial of Charles I, the remainder did their best to hold it together, until Cromwell took control and started a new Parliament. | 26 | |
| 39914166 | The Instrument of Government | (1653)- This constitution gave Cromwell the title "Lord Protector" and made him the head of a newly (freely) elected Parliament and the administrative Council of State. | 27 | |
| 39914167 | Glorious Revolution | This nearly-bloodless change of government occurred in 1688 when William of Orange and Mary Stuart usurped the Catholic James II of England. The English were relieved that they could keep their traditional religion, as well as peace. | 28 | |
| 39914168 | English Bill of Rights | 1689- This documented the Glorious Revolution, re-established the traditional basis of constitutional monarchy, guaranteed security of property and promised regular meetings of Parliament (unlike the 13-year Long Parliament). | 29 | |
| 39914169 | Toleration Act | This guaranteed religious freedom to almost all Protestants in England under the monarchy of William and Mary. | 30 | |
| 39915947 | Two Treatises on Civil Government | This book, published by John Locke in 1689, attacks the divine right of kings (using scripture) in the "First Treatise". The "Second Treatise" contains ideas that were somewhat radical at the time, but are essentially what the United States were founded on: all people are created equal, and any government depends on the consent of the governed, who have a right to overthrow and unjust government. | 31 | |
| 39915948 | Absolutism | This is a government style where one ruler has complete power and the final say over everything. In the 16th century, the rulers were not truly absolute, because they relied on the cooperation of a number of nobles. In some cases, like Louis XIV, they manipulated the nobility to the point where they could do anything they wanted to. Brittish monarchs were further from absolute power, because they had a very limited income from tonnage and poundage, which meant that they had to rely on Parliament if they needed money. In Eastern countries, the rulers had more complete control (czars were like totalitarian dictators, minus the strong negative connotation). | 32 | |
| 39915949 | Tomas Hobbs | An English political philosopher who wrote "Leviathon"(1651). He believed that in man's natural state, without any government, we would all be at war with everyone constantly, and have short, "brutish" lives. This contrasts to Locke's ideas that humans are naturally good. Leviathon was, to some extent, a reaction to the English civil war, as Hobbs was influenced by the chaos that he saw when the central government was challenged. | 33 | |
| 39915950 | Junkers | The powerful nobility of Brandenburg-Prussia, who were forced to give some of their power to Frederick William in order to have stability, peace, and military defense. | 34 | |
| 39915951 | Frederick William the Great Elector (1640-1688) | This European prince began his reign with a disjointed, devastated group of territories that had not yet recovered from the Thirty Years War. He was the ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia, which meant little, since they had less than 2500 men in their army, and the overall populations had been devastated by the war. The nobility there (Junkers) were powerful, and there were no organizations bigger than a single town with an army. Out of fear of invasion, however, towns eventually provided Frederick William with the excise (commodity tax) that he demanded. | 35 | |
| 39915952 | Peter I of Russia | This tsar did everything in his power to Westernize Russia so that he could compete with the powers of Europe. He made great military reforms in order to regain the Baltic Sea ports that had been lost to the Swedes. By creating a standing army full of branded conscripts and well-educated officers, all of whom were judged and promoted on personal merit, he was finally able to fulfill his plans in 1709 when he won the Battle of Poltava. This absolute ruler was challenged by the Russian Orthodox Church, which he secularized, and the old military service class who did not like his reforms and attempted a coup. | 36 | |
| 39915953 | Battle of Poltava (1709) | In this battle, Peter the Great of Russia crushed King Charles XII of Sweden. He captured several officers, whom he later toasted for teaching him battle tactics (he had studied their strategies, and lost to them many times previously). As a result of their victory, the Russians gained control of several Baltic Sea ports which were crucial to trade with the West. | 37 | |
| 39915954 | Raison d'etat | "Reason of State". This doctrine was advocated by Richelieu of France, and said that the central government was a higher priority than any important group in the country. Following this idea, he made an effort to control the nobility and local officials, while he took away the "special priviledges" previously enjoyed by Huguenots as a result of the Edict of Nantes. Also, this basically stated that God was okay with the government doing ANYTHING as long as it would benefit the state in the long run. | 38 | |
| 39915955 | Versailles | This enormous, ostentatious monument to the power of the French Monarchy, built by Louis XIV over a long period of time, served as a manifestation of the power of absolute monarchy. Meant to impress and scare nobility, foreigners, and commoners alike, this palace was where Louis XIV moved his court in order to keep them under his control and away from the uncontrollable social scene in Paris. | 39 |
