Absolutism, Mercantilism and the Transatlantic Economy: Old Regimes

Terms focus on Europe between 1550-1700

	Highly organized countries ruled by powerful kings who built their power by increasing: 1) control of finances, religion, nobles and their assemblies; 2) size and strength of standing armies; 3) government bureaucracy; 4) size of territory- land; and 5) belief of Divine Right of Kings.
	A state ruled over by a single person, such as a king or queen.
	Habsburg son of Emperor Charles V. A strong Catholic, he ruled over Spain during its Golden Age and controlled the Netherlands, Portugal, the Americas, parts of Italy and more. Weakened by inflation due to continuous wars with Ottoman Muslims and Protestants.
	A system of government in which the head of state is a hereditary position, and the king or queen has almost complete power.
	The architect of French Absolutism who was a prominent church official and served as chief minister to Louis XIII from 1624-1642. He worked to enhance the king's powers by undermining nobles, building a large bureaucracy and attacking Huguenots (French Calvinists).
	The chief minister and regent to young Louis XIV; tried to continue Richelieu's centralizing policies, but his attempts to increase royal revenue led to the civil wars known as the Fronde; he could not control nobility as Richelieu had.
	Weak French king who succeeded Henry IV when he was nine years old; his reign was dominated by the influence by his mother and regent Marie de Medici, Cardinal Richelieu and wealthy nobles.
	French bishop who wrote "Politics Drawn From the Very Words of Holy Scripture," supporting the philosophy that God was involved in politics and chose kings.
	Political theory that royal lines are created by God, thus kings receive their power from and are responsible only to God.
	Strong French king who ruled through Absolutism and Divine Right from 1643-1715. He was the "Sun King" who consolidated power, built Versailles, revoked the Edict of Nantes, warred as part of an expansionist policy and made France Europe's strongest nation.
	A series of violent uprisings during the minority of Louis XIV triggered by oppressive taxation of the common people, ambitions of the nobles, and efforts of the parlement of Paris (highest French judicial body) to check the authority of the crown; the last attempt of the French nobility to resist the king by arms.
	"Government agents" and law officials who collected taxes and administered justice to consolidate the King's powers, which were cause of much discontent since they took power from nobles.
	Palace constructed by Louis XIV outside of Paris to glorify his rule and subdue the nobility.
	Wars fought by France against its neighbors to increase its size and power.
	A conflict, lasting from 1701 to 1713, in which a number of European states fought to prevent the Bourbon family from controlling Spain as well as France. This war cost France many lives and much money, contributing problems that led to later century revolution.
	The domination of one state over its allies and the other nations of the world.
	The concept that when one nation is too powerful, its power can be checked by other powers who ally with each other to balance its powers or fight against it.
	A form of government in which the ruler has absolute authority (not restricted by a constitution, laws or other opposition groups).
	The increased prices for goods and services combined with the reduced value of money.
	The tsar of Russia from 1682-1725 who reigned jointly with his half brother Ivan V (1682-96) and alone from 1696. Interested in progressive influences from western Europe, he visited several countries there (1697-98). After returning to Russia, he introduced Western technology, modernized the government and military system, and transferred the capital to the new city of St. Petersburg (1703). He further increased the power of the monarchy at the expense of the nobles and the Orthodox church. Some of his reforms were implemented brutally, with considerable loss of life. Suspecting that his son Alexis was conspiring against him, he had Alexis tortured to death in 1718. He pursued foreign policies to give Russia access to the Baltic and Black seas, engaging in war with the Ottoman Empire (1695-96) and with Sweden in the Second Northern War (1700-21). His campaign against Persia (1722-23) secured for Russia the southern and western shores of the Caspian Sea. In 1721 he was proclaimed emperor; his wife succeeded him as the empress Catherine I.
	Royal family that ruled Russia for over 300 years until being overthrown and killed by Lenin in 1917.
	Russian landholding aristocrats who controlled serfs but possessed less political power than their western European counterparts.
	Russian aristocrats in Moscow who competed with the tsar until their torture and murder by Peter the Great in 1698.
	The assimilation of Western culture, ideas and technology.
	Peter the Great's new Russian capital designed to be similar to Amsterdam with a Winter Palace with grandeur like Versailles. Merchants and artisans were ordered to live in the city and help build it; peasants conscripted for heavy labor in the city's construction experienced a heavy death toll.
	The drafting of civilians to serve in the army.
	Permanent military forces maintained by the nation that are always trained, equipped and ready for war.
	Elite military backbone of trained leaders who command military forces.
	System of nobility based on merit and service to the state designed by Peter the Great that created opportunities for nonnobles to serve the state and join the nobility.
	Prince who started Absolutism in Prussia by uniting the three provinces of Prussia under one ruler.
	Ruling family of Brandenburg Prussia.
	First Prussian king who promoted the evolution of Prussia's highly efficient civil bureaucracy by establishing the general directory, serving as the chief administration agent of the central government, supervising military, police, economic and financial affairs, and maintaining highly efficient bureaucracy of civil service workers.
	Members of the Prussian landed aristocracy who were formerly associated with conservative political reaction and militarism.
	The backbone of Prussia known for their high discipline and status; the most important part of Prussia in the mid 17th century.
	Formerly known as the Holy Roman Empire and later known as Austria, this empire never became highly centralized or absolutist because it was too large and there were so many different ethnic and religious groups in the empire.
	Emperor who attempted to turn Austria into a real nation-state using the Pragmatic Sanction, which says that all Hapsburg possessions will always go to a single person (even if they are female).
	Empress of Austria who attempted to strengthen Austria, but failed losing Silesia in the Austrian Succession. She had three reforms: 1) measures to limit the papacy's political influence in her realm; 2) administrative reforms that strengthened the central bureaucracy and revamped the taxing system; and 3) improve the lot of the agricultural population.
	This was the act passed by Charles VI that stated that Hapsburg possessions were never to be divided (in order to allow his daughter to be ruler).
	Nation-states located on the ocean or sea, like Spain, Britain, France, Portugal or the Netherlands, that used navies to conquer colonies and establish colonial trade.
	17th century period in which the Dutch Republic's trade, science and art were among the most acclaimed in the world. Dutch secularism and technological innovations allowed them to colonize South Africa, Cape Horn in South America, New Amsterdam in North America and Indonesia. The Dutch protected all religions, so many religious minorities fled to the Republic and its colonies.
	Economic policy under which nations sought to increase their wealth and power by obtaining large amounts of gold and silver, establishing colonies and by selling more goods than they bought.
	Trade pattern between the "Old World" of Europe and Africa and "New World" American colonies that benefitted Europeans. Since economic production was tied to slave labor, African and Native American people and markets were subjected to European exploitation.
	Slaves bought or kidnapped from western Africa were an integral part of the Triangle Trade between the Americas, Africa, and Europe; after 95% of Native Americans died, 15 million Africans were imported to the Americas and Caribbean to provide slave labor.
	Crops, such as tobacco, sugar, and cotton, raised in large quantities by slave labor in order to be sold for profit.
	Huge farms that required a large labor force to grow cash crops (similar to the Encomienda and Hacienda in Spanish colonies).
	Slave markets in western Africa, Caribbean islands and the American colonies separated families and dehumanized the slaves. The markets assisted in the spread of slavery and reinforced the idea that blacks and people of mixed ancestry were beneath whites.
	The difficult period of adjustment to new climates, disease environments, and work routines, such as that experienced by slaves newly arrived in the Americas.
	The difficult and dehumanizing shipping route and journey that carried the enslaved people from Africa to the Caribbean, in which 3/10 of people died from terrible conditions.
	Distinctly American cultures that emerged from blending cultures such as those of Native Americans, Spain, Africa, Netherlands, France and Britain.
	Fighting against slavery through active or passive acts including illness, breaking tools, working slowly, stubbornness and running away.
	This 1713 Peace Treaty marked the end of the War of Spanish Succession and France's Golden Age. In it Britain received French lands and limited trading routes in Spanish America.
	Land squabble between Britain and Spain over Georgia and trading rights. Battles took place in the Caribbean and on the Florida/Georgia border. The name comes from a British captain named Jenkins, whose ear was cut off by the Spanish.
	Conflict caused by the rival claims for the dominions of the Habsburg family. Before the death of Charles VI, Holy Roman emperor and archduke of Austria, many of the European powers had guaranteed that Charles's daughter Maria Theresa would succeed him.
	France and Austria, traditional enemies, now allied against Prussia. Britain, traditional ally of Russia, supported Prussia, leading to the Seven Years' War (that was the bloodiest war since the Thirty Years' War).
	War fought 1756-1763 first between Austria and Prussia; in it Austria abandoned old ally Britain for France and Russia, and Prussia joined with Britain and won. Significance: Although there were no territorial changes in Europe, Britain gained complete control over the overseas colonies of France (called The French and Indian War in North America); and Russia and Prussia emerged as powerful forces in European affairs for the first time.
	This political revolution began with the Declaration of Independence in 1776 where American colonists sought to balance the power between government and the people and protect the rights of citizens in a democracy. With French assistance, it resulted in American colonists winning against Britain-- and ironically, due to debt, to the fall of France's monarchy.
	Political, economic and social system created by the monarchy in the Middle Ages, and then destroyed by the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. The Old Regime was when the society and economy were organized into three estates, and the government was ruled by the "divine right" and absolute monarchy.
	An economic, political and social system in which people do things the way they have always been done and fear change.
	The division of society by rank or class.
	Basic structure of production and consumption in preindustrial Europe, in which families produced goods and services together in their homes and were domestically interdependent.
	The practice of cultivating the land or raising livestock.
	A privileged class of nobles who hold hereditary titles, lands and rights.
	An autocracy (self-ruled state) governed by a monarch who usually inherits authority by blood.
	The name given the assembly of people whom God has called together from the ends of the earth. This word has three meanings: the people that God gathers together, the local church (diocese), and the liturgical assembly. Also, the name given to a building used for public Christian worship.
	This lowest social class included serfs and freemen who lived in the countryside.
	The class of society made up by the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church.
	The class of society made up by the nobility, including people such as dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts, barons, etc.
	The class of society made up by 98% of the population, including urban bourgeoisie and sans-culottes, and rural peasant farmers.
	During the eighteenth century the nobility made up an approximation of five percent of the population in all European nations. This resurgence of aristocracy was the nobles' reactions to the encroachment of their individual rights and privileges by the expansion of monarchies. They demonstrated this through exclusivity, reserved military positions, attempt to use their office to control levels of the monarchy, and to benefit financially by levying higher taxes on serfs and peasants.
	Calls for protection of these rights increased in reaction to Absolutism and enclosure in the 18th century.
	The process of taking over and fencing off land once shared by peasant farmers, to be used by wealthy landowners for private scientific farming.
	According to these laws, English landowners had the exclusive legal right to hunt game animals and the poor were excluded from hunting. Poaching, black markets and capital punishment followed.
	The transformation of farming that resulted in the 18th century from the spread of new crops, improvements in cultivation techniques and livestock breeding, and consolidation of small holdings into large farms from which tenants were expelled.
	An invention created by Jethro Tull that allowed farmers to sow seeds in well-spaced rows at specific depths; this boosted crop yields.
	The application of new technology such as the seed drill, crop rotation, and fertilization to increase yields in the agricultural industry.
	The degree to which resources are being used efficiently to produce goods and services.
	Growth of a population at exponential rates to a size that exceeds environmental carrying capacity; usually followed by a population crash.
	The social process whereby cities grow and societies become more urban.
	Migration into a place (especially migration to a country of which you are not a native in order to settle there).
	Migration from a place (especially migration from your native country in order to settle in another).
	The change from an agricultural to an industrial society and from home manufacturing to factory production, especially the one that took place in England from about 1750 on, spread to Germany, France and Belgium in the 1830s and gradually to the rest of the world.
	A machine that turns the energy released by burning fuel into motion. Thomas Newcomen built the first crude but workable steam engine in 1712; James Watt vastly improved his device in the 1760s and 1770s. Steam power was then applied to machinery.
	Use of automatic machinery to increase production.
	Iron is the chief element of all heavy industry and transport, yet until the 17th century production was held back by three main factors (charcoal (which did not burn as hot) was used rather than coke (from coal); furnaces could not get hot enough reliably; and thus there was little demand for iron). After Henry Cort helped to improve the iron-making process, demand and use of iron increased.
	Industries involved in the reproduction and manufacturing of clothing and cloth.
	A method of manufacturing common before the Industrial Revolution, which took places in people's homes. Form of work of the rural classes in which the customer would give the worker materials and the worker would create the desirable product.
	Places in which workers and machines are brought together to produce large quantities of goods.
	The using up of goods and services.
	Desire for wealth and material possessions, with little interest in ethical or spiritual matters.
	Unprocessed natural products used in production of goods.
	Manufactured products that are fully completed and ready for sale.
	Life in the city tended to be hard due to lack of social services, overcrowding, low quality housing tenements, pollution, etc.
	Skilled workers who knew a trade and made goods by hand.
	Business associations that dominated medieval towns; they passed laws, levied taxes, built protective walls for the city, etc. Each guild represented workers in one occupation such as weavers, bakers, brewers, sword makers, etc.
	These unskilled workers received meager wages and had little job security. Significance: As their numbers grew, the artisan/guild ideal was giving way to the reality of industrial capitalist society wherein the rights and liberties of the workers are limited.
	The new economic system under capitalism wherein workers are paid an hourly wage in exchange for their work, rather than being masters of their own trade.
	People who sell their labor for wages.
	Trained workers who have special skills for a job or trade that they learned through vocational school or an apprenticeship.
	Concentrated areas of poverty and poor housing in urban areas.
	Outbreaks of violence against property led by lower class peasants. If the artisan class felt that economic "justice" had been offended, artisans frequently manifested their anger via riots (especially over bread). The riot was the only way in which people who were excluded in every other way from the political process could make their will known.
	Acute food shortages characterized by large-scale loss of life, social disruption, and economic chaos.
	Poor, densely populated city districts occupied by a minority ethnic group linked together by economic hardship and social restrictions.
	Raising or lowering taxes on businesses or individuals.
	Head tax collected on all peasants in Old Regime France.
	Forced labor that required peasants in Old Regime France to work for a month out of the year on roads and other public projects.
	Reductions in the amount of income or wealth subject to tax, granted to aristocrats in Old Regime France.
	Unfair differences in the ways in which people are treated by governments, laws or societies.