Ferdinand and Isabella were rulers of Spain for 37 years. They were very successful during their reign, they kicked the last of the Muslims out of Spain, were the first people to explore the new world, and expanded Spain into France, Germany, and the Netherlands. They are arguably one of the most successful rulers in the history of Spain.
Henry VIII is known for separating the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. Henry was a Protestant, and wanted England to have its own Protestant church. He made himself the Supreme Head of Church of England. He was very educated, and even wrote a couple of books. He was remembered as an intellectual, educated, and involved in changing England for the better.
Charles V was the grandson of Isabella and Ferdinand. He inherited a huge emipre of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. But he was constantly in war and his resources were strained and eventually he had to break up the empire because it was too much.
Ferdinand I of Bohemia was elected Holy Roman Emperor by 7 German electors, or the 7 leading princes in the Holy Roman Empire. Ferdinand was king of Bohemia when the 30 years war started, and it started in Prague when 2 officials were thrown out of a window by Protestant noblemen. Eventually, it turned into a religious war between all of central Europe.
Philip II took over for Charles V when he was just 29. Philip kept up Charles V's strict rule and was very successful. He ruled for 42 years and changed many things. He centralized the government, made himself the absolute monarch, or supreme ruler, and started the Inquosition against the Protestants of the Netherlands. He thought it was his divine right, or believed that his authority came from god, kill the Protestants.He also had a huge armada, or fleet, to try to invade England, but they were unsuccessful. Philip new about every single thing that was going on in his empire and was very organized.
Elizabeth I was the last monarch of the Tudor Dynasty, and left with the Tudor Dynasty on a high note. She was not an absolute monarch, like all of her predecessors. She relied on 4 or 5 advisers for everything. Even know she was a Protestant, she was tolerant to Catholics and other religions and was not in war very much. She really encouraged english drama, and it was the golden age for that to happen. William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, and many other writers made the Elizabethan era known for its literature. Elizabeth was one of the only monarchs who was tolerant of other religions besides hers and was very fair.
St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre started a religous war between teh Hugenots, or French Calvinist Protestants, and the French Catholics. It was the bloodiest day of the war, with between 5,000 and 30,000 people dying. At first, it was just supposed to be a few high office Hugenots dying, but it turned into a full blown war. This day started the fall of the Hugenots and Calvinism in France.
Henry IV ruled for 21 years, and is famous for ending the civil war between Protestants and Catholics, and having unusual religious tolerance. He was very popular with the people because he cared for the welfare of the people and had good religious tolerance. He signed the Edict of Nantes, which allowed the Calvinist Protestants of France lots of rights. Unfortunately, he was assassinated by an extreme Catholic follower.
James I was the successor of Elizabeth I, who had no true hier to the throne. He had many conflicts with the Purtians, who sought to purify the Catholic church. But this eventually led to the making of the King James version of the Bible, which is what he is most famous for. It had a big influence on language and literature in England,
Louis XIII was only 8 years old when he became king of France. He was successful, but most of the credit should go to Cardinal Richelieu, his chief minister. He is known for ending the war between feudal lords and founding the French Academy, which studies the French language. Louis XIII reigned for 33 years and was the first to have a modern day prime minister.
The Thirty Years War started in 1618 in Bohemia, when some rebellious Protestant nobles tossed 2 royal officials out of a window. This started a revolution, and eventually led to a major religious war. Almost every European country was involved, and they all picked a side. The countries either sided with Catholicism or Protestantism. Mercenaries, or soldiers for hire, were hired by both sides and ruthlessly killed anybody in their way. Almost everybody was involved, and it killed almost a third of Europe's population. It was severe depopulation, or reduction of the population, and many people died of disease and famine. In 1648, the countries finally came to an agreement, with France coming out as the winner. Overall, the Thirty Years War divided Germany into many states and strained the resources of all of the countries involved.
Richelieu was a cardinal of the Vatican church and King Louis VII's chief minister. He is known as the first person to be what we would call a prime minister. During his time as chief minister, he centralized France's government, was a patron of the arts, and helped France keep its dominance in the 30 Years War.
Charles I behaved like an absolute monarch. He used all of England's money and imprisoned many people without a trial. Because of this, Parliament insisted that the king sign the Petition of Right. It said that the king had to reduce its power and get more insight from Parliament. But he refused to sign for 11 years, and made many enemies. Eventually, he was imprisioned and executed in 1649.
The war was between the supporters of Parliament, and the supporters of King Charles I. It led to the execution of Charles I and the making of the Commonwealth of England. It was a big step toward England being more of a limited monarch and toward the English Bill of Rights
Louis XIV was reigned for 72 years, the longest reign in European history. He took over at just 5 years old because the king at the time was murdered and there was no one but Louis to the heir of the throne. Louis centralized, or made the government revolve around him more, and didn't meet with the Estates General once. He appointed intendants, who are royal officials who collected taxes and recruited soldiers, so he could strengthen the state. Louis woke up to an elaborate ceremony known as a levee. He is considered the model king because he reigned for so long and changed France radically for the better. Also, he built Versailles, the royal chateau outside of Paris.
Oliver Cromwell overthrew the English Catholic monarchy and kept it for a short period of time. He was the leader of the Protestants and he became the ruler the English Commonwealth when they overthrew the English monarch. But he was ruler for just 5 years because he died at age 59 from sickness.
Charles II was the first king after Oliver Cromwell and the Protestants took over for 11 years. Charles fought the Second and Third Anglo-Dutch Wars, with the help of his cousin Louis XIV in the third war. But Louis only agreed to help if Charles converted to Catholicism, which he did. When he tried to enforce rules that benefitted Catholics, Parliament rejected them. When Protestants found out he converted, they were furious, and tried to murder him. Charles was only accepted into the Roman Catholic Church as a dead man.
Peter the Great made Russia a big European power. Peter was very interested in western ways, and made Russia act just like western countries. Russia became westernized, or adopted western ideas, culture, and technology. But Russia was more of a feudalistic country, and Peter forced the boyars, or nobles who owned land, to go into the military. He was a very autocratic monarch, and controlled everything. Peter wanted a warm water pot, or a part of a sea that is free of ice all year, but was unsuccessful in getting one. Peter created a big army and cemented Russia as one of the great European powers.
James II had a very short and forgettable reign. At this time, England was a Protestant country, and James favored the Catholics and put them in bigger jobs than Protestants. Parliament and the people feared that James would put the Roman Catholic Church back into dominance, so Parliament kicked him out. They asked James's Protestant daughter, Mary and her husband William, to rule.
William and Mary were invited to rule by Parliament after they kicked out Mary's father James II. But before they could rule, they had to sign the English Bill of Rights. It said that Parliament has more power than the monarchy, gave traditional rights to citizens, and prevented the monarchy from suspending or interfering with laws. Also, it put the principle of habeas corpus into effect, which stated that no person could go to prison without a specific crime. This type of government was called a limited monarchy, where a constitution limits the power of the monarchy. William and Mary signed it, and there was a good time of peace in England.
The Glorious Revolution was interesting because there was no fighting in it. Parliament threw over King James II and then made their successors, William and Mary, sign the English Bill of Rights, which limited the monarch's power. All of the citizens were for this Bill of Rights, and William and Mary ruled with no revolutions and no problems.
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought between many European powers over the possible unification of Spain and France under a French monarch. The war depleted Spain's empire greatly, because it was forced to give up Gibralatar, Spanish Netherlands, Milan, and many other partsof its empire. It would only keep what it looks like today, on the European Peninsula next to Portugal.
The House of Hohenzollern was a dynasty that were kings of of Prussia and Germany. Fredrick William I and Fredrick II were part of the Hohenzollern dynasty, and were very successful. The Hohenzollern dynasty ruled for almost 1000 years over many countries, and were one of the most successful dynasties.
Fredrick William I is known for having one of the most-skilled armies in the world. He expanded Prussia greatly until the point that it could rival empires like Austria. Fredrick required that all middle class men go into the military, established primary schools, and kept a close watch over everything. He was a very good monarch and didn't like when there was things happening that he didn't know about. Although he had a very good army, he never actually started a war. Fredrick did a very good job in keeping the country together during his reign.
Maria Theresa was the first and only woman to rule Hapsburg Austria. During her 40 year reign, she fought off Prussia, made Vienna the center of music and the arts, and improved Austria's financial and educational systems. She improved Austria's overall standing in the world, and made them a superior empire once again.
Fredrick II, or Fredrick the Great, expanded Prussia much more than his father. His father wanted him to be a good solider, but he was more interested in music an poetry, and his father didn't like that. He had Fredrick's best friend executed right in front of him after they tried to escape. But his solder-like upbringing paid off when he became king. He seized Silesia from Austria and won the War of Austrian Succession, he used his army very well, and made Prussia a force to be reckoned with. He earned the name Fredrick the Great because of these feats.
The War of Austrian Succession began because the nobles thought that Maria Theresa, daughter of Charles VI, was ineligible to rule. Prussia and France put this out there to challenge Hapsburg power, and Austria, Great Britain, and the Dutch. This led both sides into a big war. But eventually, Maria Theresa became the first Austrian queen.
The Seven Years War affected the whole world. It was called the French and Indian war in North America, Pomeranian War in Sweden and Prussia, and the Third Carnatic War in India. It was a war between the empire of Great Britain and the empires of France and Spain. Since they had colonies all around the world, so everybody was involved. It was a very bloody war, with the death toll being between 900,000 and 1,400,000. It resulted in Great Britain losing some of its land and giving it to Spain.
Catherine the Great was very similar to Peter the Great. Catherine liked western ideas, kept the feudalistic culture, and she wanted to expand Russia's empire. Catherine finally got a warm water pot in the Black Sea, and with the help of Fredrick the Great and Joseph II of Austria partitioned Poland. That means that they divided Poland into 3 parts for each country to control a third. Catherine completed Peter the Great's dream of getting a warm water pot and expanding Russia's great empire.
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