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Spain’s Empire & European Absolutism

Vocab: Philip II, absolute monarch, divine right

Spain’s Powerful Empire

Led by the Hapsburg family that was ruled by Charles V .

Charles V was a devout Catholic who fought Muslims & Lutherans.

Retired to a monastery and divided his kingdom between his brother Ferdinand and his son Philip II.

Philip II

Took over the Portuguese kingdom & land after the death of his uncle in 1580.

Philip was able to become wealthy due to the vast amount of gold and silver bullion collected from the America’s.

The wealth provided a standing army of 50,000 soldiers.

Was very religious like his father Charles V.

Drove the Muslims out with the Reconquista.

His grandparents used The Spanish Inquisition to deal with heretics.

Philip defeated the Ottoman Empire in 1571 at Lepanto.

1588 the Spanish Armada was defeated by the English.

Philip II

Due to its wealth , Spanish nobility & monarchs became patrons of the arts.

16th & 17th centuries were the golden age of Spanish Art.

2 artists standout El Greco & Diego Velasquez.

El Greco’s painting reflected Spain’s deep religious culture. Velasquez was for the monarchy.

Golden Age of Art

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Spanish Art

Spanish Art

Cervantes Don Quixote de la Mancha is called the birth of the modern European novel.

Don Quixote was a poor Spanish nobleman.

Some state the book was mocking chivalry others say that it was about an idealistic person frustrated with the materialistic world.

Gold & Silver coming from the Americas caused Spain long term economic problems.

Inflation was caused by the increase of Spain’s population and deflation of silver.

Spain expelled the Moors & Jews in 1500 which meant they lost artisans and businessmen.

Noblemen did not pay taxes . The poor did which led to no development of a middle class.

The Spanish Empire Weakens

Spanish products were more expensive than the other European countries.

Money that should have went to Spain went to her enemies.

The Spanish kings had to borrow money from German & Italian bankers to fund their wars.

The Dutch revolted against the Spanish.

Spanish Problems

The Dutch had a middle class and were Calvinists.

Philip raised taxes in an attempt to crush the Protestants.

1566 Protestants ransacked Catholic Churches. In response 1,500 Protestants were executed.

The Dutch Revolt

Dutch Revolt

William of Orange leads the Dutch against the Spaniards.

Turning point was the flooding of Leiden in 1574.

The floods drove the Spanish troops away.

1579 the 7 Protestant provinces unite and declare their independence from Spain.

Religious toleration was practiced in The Netherlands.

Dutch became an economic powerhouse. Dutch replaced the Italians as the

bankers of the world. Shrewd businessmen making money in

timber & grain.

The Dutch Prosper

Dutch Art

1600’s the Netherlands became like Florence in the 1400’s.

The greatest artist of the time was Rembrandt. He painted portraits of wealthy merchants.

The works of Dutch artists highlight the importance of the merchants, civic leaders and middle class in the Netherlands.

These were rulers who wanted to be absolute monarchs.

They believed all power in the state belonged to them .

They also believed in the divine right which meant that they were God’s representative on earth.

Absolutism in Europe

The decline of feudalism, rise of cities and the growth of national kingdoms all contributed to the authority of monarchs.

Monarchs supported business. The loss of Church authority allowed the

monarchy to gain more power. The overburden of taxes caused many to

revolt which made the monarchs change their tactics to keep power.

Growing Power of Monarchs

Monarchs Adapts

Increase the size of their courts

Created new government bureaucracies

Freed themselves from Parliament