Spain’s Empire study guide summary chapter

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Spain’s Empire study guide summary chapter

Chapter 21.1 Spain’s Empire and European Absolutism

Philip II – Charles V son – Philip II became the Monarch of the Spanish Netherlands and the American Colonies

Deeply religious just like Charles V his father
Philip took over the Portuguese Empire when his uncle became ill
Portugal had colonies in Africa, India, and the East Indies – Philip is expanding his empire with more colonies- What happens- more land = more power
Philip was incredibly wealthy – because of the mines of gold the Spanish had discovered in the Americas wealth = power= strong military (50,000 soldiers)

Defenders of Catholicism –

When Philip took over Europe was experiencing religious wars because of what event? – Reformation
Philip carried out a long lasting family heritage of religious persecution – he followed in the foot steps of the reconquista – campaign to get Muslims out of Spain

Golden Age of Spanish Art –

Spain’s great wealth allowed leaders to build palaces, and become patrons (consumers) - of art
Don Quixote – published by Miguel de Cervantes - known as the birth of the modern Spanish Novel –

Problems Weaken the Spanish Empire

The gold that Spain received from the Americas made them materialistic and wealthy, but also caused some economic problems –
Inflation and Taxes

Spain experienced severe inflation – Decline in the value of money, accompanied by a rise in the prices of goods and services – this happened because:

Spain’s population was growing – more people = more demands for goods= higher prices
Second – As more money /silver enters into circulation the values goes down, it takes more money to purchase things

Making Spain’s Enemies Rich
Because raw materials for clothing /food/supplies were so high, Spain had to purchase goods from other European countries Such as France, England and Netherlands – All the money Spain was making was going into foreign pockets
Spain had to finance multiple wars – they barrowed money from Germany and Italy – they had to pay back their debts… for the wars - This made Spain have to declare bankruptcy 3 times
The Dutch Revolt

Because Spain had control of the Netherlands – (dutch) Philip had to keep an army there to maintain their power –
The Netherlands and Spain were very different in many ways –

religiously – Spain was Catholic while the Netherlands were Calvinists
Economically - Dutch had a spread of wealth amongst its people while Spain’s wealth was very concentrated in a few peoples hands

With Colonialism – Spain sought to spread their culture- religion on the Dutch people – they wanted to get rid of the Protestants – so Philip raised the taxes, hoping that this would impoverish the Dutch people and make them starve/leave the Netherlands so more Catholics could take over.
William of Orange became the leader of the Dutch people – he wanted to free them of religious persecution and Spanish Control. A revolt was waged – here we see Dissatisfaction with the Status Quo –
William of Orange lost many battles against Spain, but finally in 1579 the 7 northern provinces of the Netherlands came together and declared independence from Spain
The 10 southern provinces of the Netherlands remained under Spanish control

The Independent Dutch Prosper

The 7 Northern Provinces of the Netherlands were different from the rest of Europe:
They had religious toleration – what does toleration mean?
Its government was different – Not a Monarch/Kingdom – a Republic – with elected governors whose powers depended on the support of merchant and landowners
Dutch Trading Empires –

Because government was stable the focused their attention on economic growth –
They traded grain, lumber to France, Spain, Scandinavia –
They built their trading fleets what is a fleet? And had the larges fleets in the world at the time

Dutch Art

Because of the Netherlands success their arts flourished – they had a lot of money so they could focus on developing this – we will see in history that when countries are flourishing art/entertainment flourish…
Rembrandt was a famous Dutch artist

Absolutism in Europe

Philip II – was a forceful ruler – what does this mean?
He tried to control every aspect of his empires affairs
He sets the tone for the rest of Europe – they say –Hey I saw what Philip did in Spain and I am going to do that in my own Country
European Rulers would claim the authority to rule without limits! –
The Theory of Absolutism

Absolute Monarchs – Kings or queens who believed that all power withing thie state’s boundaries rested in their hands
They wanted to control every aspect of society
Believed in Devine Right – the idea that God created the Monarch and that the Monarch acted as God’s representatives on Earth
An Absolute Monarch only had to answer to God, NOT TO HIS SUBJECTS

Growing Power of European Monarchs –

Centralized Authority

Decline of Feudalism – political system in which nobles are granted the use of land in return for their loyalty and military service and protection
The Rise of Cities
Growth of the National Kingdom

Because of the break down of the church and its power over the people – Monarchs could assume more control and power, because the church used to control most of the populations actions… after the reformation – Monarchs took this role over
Middle class usually backed Monarchs because they the Monarchs represented stability

Crises Lead to Absolutism –

17th Century was a time period of great Upheaval – religious and territorial
In response to this Upheaval government built large armies and had high taxes
Monarch responded to this by increasing their power… (regulating religion and social gatherings) which made peasants more and more unhappy leading to revolts
The Monarchs goal was to free themselves from limitations – of their power

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