Under Isabella and Ferdinand, much happened for Spain. Not only did they unite Spain, but they created religious unity through the Spanish Inquisition. On top of that, they financed Colombus's voyages to the Americas.
Charles V inherited Isabella's and Ferdinand's Spanish empire and also the Austrian Hapsburgs. Because of this, he was constantly at war with the Ottoman Empire and Protestants. Eventually, emotionally defeated from his efforts as ruler, he gave up and entered a monestary. When he left for the monestary, he divided his empire, leaving the Hapsburgs to Ferdinand, his brother, and Spain's lands to Philip II, his son.
King Henry VIII had some large issues with the Catholic Church. He wanted his marriage annulled because his wife wouldn't give birth to a son, but the Pope refused to invalidate it. Angered by this, Henry set out to reform the church of England. He had Parliament sign the Act of Supremacy in 1534, he took complete control of the Anglican Church. He then went on to marry several more women, divorcing and beheading them when he found them unable to bear him a son. Eventually, his sixth wife gave birth to Edward VI.
Philip II was an absolute monarch in Spain. He got his power from divine right, and he controled everything. During his reign, he fought the Ottoman empire and Protestant revolts in the Netherlands. When Philip tried to force the inquisition on the Netherlands in the 1560s, riots broke out, and in 1581 the Netherlands declared their independance from Spain. By the 1580s, England was seen as a powerful enemy of Spain because they helped fund the revolt in the Netherlands. To end this, Philip sent a huge armada to England in the 1580s, and the English defeated the armada.
Queen Elizabeth I inherited the throne after the death of Mary Tudor, her half-sister. During this time, England was in a period of unrest as the religion was constantly flitting between Protestant and Catholic beliefs. Slowly, Elizabeth settled these conflicts by implementing a compromise. This eventually came to be known as the Elizabethan settlement. Through her strong rule, Elizabeth created a firmly Protestant nation while still keeping many Catholic traditions.
In France, tensions between Huguenots and Catholics were strong. At some points, violence broke out. On St. Bartholomew's Day, as both Huguenots and Catholics gathered to watch a royal wedding, violence erupted. This led to the massacre of 3,000 Huguenots, and even more killed in the next few days.
Was originally a Huguenot prince, but converted to Catholicism when he took the throne. However, he protected Protestants by granting them religious toleration in the Edict of Nantes in 1598, which helped stop the fighting between Catholics and Protestants such as on St. Bartholomew's Day in 1572. Henry built a royal bureaucracy and reduced the power of the French nobles, and thus layed the foundation for royal absolutism in France. In 1610, he was assassinated, and the trone passed to Louis XIII.
James I was the 1st stuart monarch of England. He ruled justly at first, but then came to believe in divine right and the power of an absolute monarchy. He needed funds, and parliament wouldn't give them to him, so he started collecting taxes on his own. Also, he clashed with Puritans.
Henry IV's son Louis XIII, inherited the throne at the age of 9. During his reign nobles asserted their power under him. His biggest decision was to appointed Richelieu has cheif minister.
Ferdinand was originally the Hapsburg king of Bohemia. There, he wanted to suppress the Protestants and have power over the royal nobles. Eventually, Protestant noblemen tossed some royal officials out of a window to start the war. After the war began, Ferdinand was chosen by the electors of the Holy Roman Empire to be the emperor. The war started as a religious one, but then became one of political power as alliances shifted. Mercenaries were hired, and they mercilessly pillaged villages. The destruction of the Thirty Years' War led to severe depopulation. Eventually, the war ended with the Peace of Westphalia. Due to the number of countries involved, the treaty dealt with many more issues than solely the war. The war also left Germany in a divided state. Though technically under the power of the Holy Roman emperor, the separate pieces had their own governments.
The Thirty Years' War started as a religious conflict in Bohemia. Ferdinand, the king of Bohemia was suppressing Protestants. In the May of 1618, some Protestants threw two royal officials out of a window. In the early stages of the war, Ferdinand was able to ally himself with Spain and Poland, and gain some early victories. However, this alarmed other Protestant states such as the Netherlands and Sweden, and the war escalated. Eventually, the war shifted from a religious fight to one for political reasons. Many mercenaries were hired, and there was severe depopulation. The war ended with the Peace of Westphalia, which settled many other conflicts besides those of the war. Through the war and the Peace of Westphalia, the balance of power was checked and restored.
In 1624, Louis appointed Cardinal Richelieu was his chief minister. Richelieu sought to distroy Huguenots and nobles. He used the royal to crush there power completely. At the end of his time, he was powerful enough to pick his sucessor.
Charles I behaved like an absolute monarch. He needed funds, so he asked for Parliament to give him some money. Before lending Charles the funds, Parliament wanted him to sign the Petition of Right that said that a king could not raise taxes without Parliament's approval. Charles Ignored the petition for 11 years, and disbanded Parliament. Charles also wanted everyone in England to be Anglican. This caused many conflicts between him and the people. Finally giving in, Charles I summoned Parliament in 1640. It was from this gathering that the English Civil War began. After the war in 1649, Charles I was executed.
The English Civil War was between Charles I and Parliament. The king had been ignoring Parliament's acts, and supporting Catholicism. When Parliament finally met, they decided to revolt. Parliament formed its own army, referred to as the Roundheads, and they fought against the king's Cavaliers. In the beginning, it looked like the Cavaliers would be the victors, but Parliament got Oliver Cromwell to organize the "New Model Army" for them. With this, they won the war.
When Louis first became king, there was a huge uprising called the Fronde. Nobles, merchants, and peasants were rebelling. During his rule, Louis didn't call the Estates General once, preferring to make decissions himself. He expanded the bureauocracy and appointed intendants, who collected taxes, recruited soldiers, and enforeced the laws. Because intendants were normally from the middle class, ties between them and the king were strong. Louis also kept strong control over his nobels. Enticing them with "important" tasks such as the levee, where he had nobles hold his wash basin or shoes, he kept them competing for his affection. As a symbol of his power, he had the palace of Versailles built. When Louis's grandson, Philip V inherited the Spanish throne, he declared that France and Spain should unite. This sparked the war of Spanish succession with the British. Unfortunately, Louis lost the war. His reign ended 72 years after it began, skipping a generation of rulers.
Oliver Cromwell was originally the man chosen to organize the New Model Army for Parliament. It was because of Cromwell that the Roundheads beat the Cavilers. After Parliament won the war, a commonwealth was set up. Oliver Cromwell was a large part of the commonwealth, leading through his control of military resources.
Charles II was the first king after the "kingless decade". With his brilliant wit and charm, he won over the English people. He ran his court like Louis XIV ran his. Charles also restored the Anglican Church to England, but he tolerated other Protestant groups. Unlike his father, Charles II accepted the Petition of Right, but they both believed in the power of absolute monarchies. Charles II also avoided treating Parliament like his father.
James inherited the throne after his brother, Charles II, died. Unlike his brother, he clearly expressed his Catholic faith. By appointing Catholics to high positions and ignoring laws as he pleased, James made his subjects fearful that he would restore the Roman Catholic Church to England. Alarmed by this, Parliament invited James's Protestant daughter, Mary, and her husband to rule England. When they arrived with an army in 1688, James fled to France. This violent-less overthrow has become known as the Glorious Revolution.
William and Mary of Orange were the Protestant rulers who took the place of James II. Before coming to power after the Glorious Revolution, they needed to recognize several acts passed by Parliament. These acts are known as the English Bill of Rights. Some of the rights granted were trial by jury, and habeas corpus, or needing just cause to detain someone. William and Mary also signed the Toleration Act of 1689 which granted religious toleration of Protestant groups. As a result of the Glorious Revolution and the acts William and Mary signed, England became a limited monarchy.
James II came to the throne in 1685. During his reign, he blatantly supported Catholicism, and suspended laws at whim. This made many English Protestants afraid that James would make England a Catholic nation. To prevent this, parliament sent for James's Protestant daughter, Mary, and her husband, William III of Orange to take over the throne. When William and Mary landed in England, James fled to France. This became known as the Glorious Revolution because there was no bloodshed.
In 1698, Peter ventured into Western Europe. Finding life very good he tried to bring back technology and culture to Rrussia. Then, he tried to westernize his lands. Russians didnt want to be westernized so he had to centralized the power. He forced his boyars, or landowning nobles, to serve the state. Using this autacratic methods Peter pushed though these social and ecomonic reforms. Peter, also wanted Russia to have a warm-water port so they could trade all year round. The nearest one, was on the Black Sea and controlled by the Ottoman Empire. When he tried to invade, the Ottomans were to strong for his troops and he did not get the port. In 1700, Peter began a long war agaisnt Sweden. Early on, Russia looked like they would lose the war, but Peters army was able to defeat the Swedens in 1709. On the land he won with Sweden, Peter built St. Petersburg. Additionly, he funded expoditions to the Pacific. One of these peopel was Vitus Bering, who explore what became known as the Bering Strait. He died in 1725
Frederick William I started out as an ambitions man in a Hohenzollern. He forged one of the best-trained values in Europe. He placed great importance in military values. Frederick won the loyalty of his Junkers by giving them important military and political positions. Because of this, Pursia could challenge Austria in 1740.
When Louis XIV's grandson Philip V inherited the Spanish throne, Louis declared that France and Spain should become one. Other European powers, such as England, were determined to make sure this union did not occur. In 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht ended the war. The English side was the clear winner, and the French agreed to never try to unite the two crowns.
Charles VI didn't have a son, so his throne passed to his daughter, Maria Theresa. Since the Hapsburgs had never been ruled solely by a woman before, many European rulers didn't recognize her power. One of these was Frederick II of Prussia. In 1740, Frederick seized the Hapsburg province of Silesia, posing a giant threat to Maria Theresa. Maria proved her power by rallying her Hungarian subjects, and enlisting British and Russian help. Though not able to force Frederick II out of Silesia, she won over her subjects, reorganized the bureaucracy, and improved tax collection. Overall, Maria Theresa strengthened Hapsburg power through the War of Austrian Succession.
Frederick's father, Frederick William, made sure his son was trained in the art of war. However, Frederick II didn't like to fight, but prefered to play the flute and write poetry. Once, his father discovered a plan for Frederick to escape, so the young prince was put in solitary confinement. If that wasn't bad enough, Frederick was forced to watch best friend's beheading. However, the harsh military training did pay off. When Frederick became king in 1740, he immediately seized Silesia from Austria, sparking the war of Austrian Succession. In many wars later on, his amazingly disciplined army forced Europe to accept Prussia as a major power. His exploits got him the name Frederick the Great.
Hapsburg king Charles VI did not have a son to pass the throne to, so his daughter, Maria Theresa, became the ruler of Austria. Because she was the first female ruler of the Austrian Hapsburgs, not many people took her seriously. One of these was Frederick II of Prussia. In 1740, Frederick invaded Silesia. Maria Theresa set off to rally her troops and gain allies to re-capture Silesia. In the end, Frederick's well-trained army won, and Maria was not able to take back Silesia, but she did prove her ability to rule.
The Seven Years War was a worldwide struggle between France and England. Battles raged in Europe, North America, and India. In America, the British captured much land from the French, and in India Robert Clive was able to take over Bengal from the French. Because the fighting was on three different continents, the Seven Years War is sometimes considered the first world war.
Catherine the Great came into power when her husband Czar Peter the III was murdered. She proved to be an efficent ruler and like Peter the Great she embraced western ideas. Like other monarchs Catherine was ruthless, she granted a charter to the boyars which exempted them from taxes. Also, she allowed them to increase their strangle hold on the serfs. Like Peter the Great Catherine, wanted to expand the borders. After war agaisnt the Ottoman Empire, she finally achieved Peters dream of controllig a warm-water port. In the 1700s, Catherine the Great, Fredrick, and Emperor Joesph II, all wanted to conquer Poland which was weak because it hadnt centerlized its power. so, they agreed to partition Poland. They partition it three times, first in 1772, then in 1793, and once more in 1795.
We'd love to hear from you. Please send questions or feedback to the below email addresses.
Before contacting us, you may wish to visit our FAQs page which has lots of useful info on Tiki-Toki.
We can be contacted by email at: hello@tiki-toki.com.
You can also follow us on twitter at twitter.com/tiki_toki.
If you are having any problems with Tiki-Toki, please contact us as at: help@tiki-toki.com
Close