Absolutism and Constitutionalism free essay sample

Explain the role that each of the following played in the failure of England achieving absolutism, as well as the success of the French: England France  · Religion Religion  · Parliament/Tradition Estates General  · Personalities of Leaders Personalities of Leaders  · Trust of Nobility Trust of nobility 3. Henry IV came to the throne and helped to end the French Wars of Religion. After over 30 years of civil war, France was a wreck politically and economically. To set the stage for absolutism, he and his finance minister, the duke of Sully, needed to strengthen certain aspects of the nation and weaken others. Explain where the following fell into their plans, using the terms in parenthesis in your answer:  · power of nobility (parlements)  · increased money for crown (monopolies)  · increased opportunity for economic success (canals, corvee) 4. After Henry IV’s assassination, his 9 year old son Louis XIII became king. Too young to rule, his mother named a brilliant official to serve as his regent. We will write a custom essay sample on Absolutism and Constitutionalism or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Explain how the following policies show the nature of Richelieu’s â€Å"raison d’etat†:  · Use of intendants  · Actions in the 30 Years War (1618-1648)  · Treatment of nobles  · Treatment of Huguenots 5. Describe the factors that led to the revolt (known as the Fronde) of the French nobility against the young Louis XIV and Cardinal Mazarin (1649-1652). What lesson did the Fronde teach Louis XIV? How did it help prepare the French people for absolutist rule? Helpful Hints for Reading this Section: o The first part of this reading provides an overview of the two systems of government that developed, and offers you hints as to why they developed as they did. Read this carefully so that many of the details listed in future sections will mean more to you. o There is a big difference between the English Parliament and the French parlements (note difference in spellings). The Parliament (-ia) historically had the ability to declare whether taxes were just (fair) or not, and so the kings/queens always had to go before Parliament whenever they needed money. Parliament, located in London, had the ability to make laws. French parlements (-e) were different in that there were many regional parlements as opposed to one central one, and they lacked the ability to make laws. Rather, the French parlements just had the authority to accept or refuse policies proposed by the monarchy. The French also had the Estates General to serve as its legislature, but it was a medieval creation that never really caught on among the French nobles. It could only meet when it was called into session by the king, and that was very rare (met once between 1618 and 1788). Chapter 13 England 1. The Policy of Circumvention refers to the various English kings’ efforts to go around, or circumvent, Parliament in their gathering of money for the crown. Explain how each of the following was an effort to raise or save money, and why it angered nobles/members of Parliament:  · impositions- These additional custom duties were seen as taxation on imports and exports by Parliament and as requiring parliamentary consent. They angered nobles and members of Parliament because they viewed it as taxation without consent. selling titles of nobility (think supply and demand why would nobles feel like they each had less power if there were more nobles in the nation? )- people did anything they could to get a higher position so of course they would buy titles of nobility and since there were many nobles now, previous nobles felt less power because there weren’t as many â€Å"important† titles for everyone.  · James I’s role as peacemaker- 2. Summarize the many religious complaints that were raised against King James I. In defending the episcopacy, what did James mean when he retorted â€Å"No bishops, no king (pg. 452). James viewed the proposal to replace bishops with presbyteries as an attempt to diminish his power in the church so he quoted that. 3. What actions led Parliament force Charles I to accept the Petition of Right? How would Charles I have attempted to defend himself and his actions? What freedoms did the Petition guarantee? -disputes between Parliament and King Charles I over the execution of the Thirty Years’ War, Parliament refused to grant subsidies to support the war effort, leading to Charles gathering forced loans without Parliamentary approval and arbitrarily imprisoning those who refused to pay. The Petition guaranteed restrictions on non-Parliamentary taxation, forced billeting of soldiers, imprisonment without cause, and restricts the use of martial law. 4. Why did Parliament not meet between 1629 and 1640? Describe the circumstances that required their meeting in 1640. The Triennial Act was intended to prevent kings from ruling without Parliament, as Charles had done between 1629-1640. The act required that Parliament meet for at least a fifty-day session once every three years. 5. Create a timeline using the following terms, explaining what each is and how the terms relate to one-another.  · Short Parliament Scottish Invasion  · Long Parliament’s New Laws (1640-41)  · Grand Remonstrance  · Invasion of Parliament (Roundhead/Cavaliers) 1639-1640 Scottish Invasion= Breakdown of Charless government of Scotland and two attempts to impose his will by force. Scots rose in 1639 against Charles introduction of the English Prayer Book into Scotland, the anti-royal ist London merchants encouraged the invading Scots to capture Newcastle. This they did in 1640, totally disrupting the export of coal. The Scottish army remained in Newcastle for a year and charged the Corporation a regular fee for billeting its troops. 640 Short Parliament= sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles 1 of England and called â€Å"short† because it only lasted 3 weeks. He was forced to call the Short Parliament primarily to obtain money to finance his military struggle with Scotland in the Bishops’ War. -Long Parliament= established to pass financial bills. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could be dissolved only with the agreement of the members and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and at the end of interregnum in 1660. 641 -Grand Remonstrance= a list of grievances presented to King Charles I by English Parliament on 1 December 1641, but passe d by the House of Commons on the 22nd of November 1641, during the Long Parliament; it was one of the chief events which were to precipitate the English Civil War. 1642-1651 -Invasion of Parliament (Roundhead/Cavaliers)= was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians (Roundheads) and Royalists (Cavaliers). The first (1642–46) and second (1648–49) civil wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third war (1649–51) saw fighting between supporters of King Charles II and supporters of the Rump Parliament. The Civil War ended with the Parliamentary victory at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651. 6. Explain how the â€Å"Rump Parliament† and, more appropriately, Oliver Cromwell, ruled England during the period between Charles I and Charles II. ruled first England, and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660. After the English Civil War and the execution of Charles I, the republics existence was initially declared by An Act declaring England to be a Commonwealth adopted by the Rump Parliament, on 19 May 1649. The government took the form of direct personal rule by Oliver Cromwell. Just before and after the execution of King Charles I on 30 January 1649, the Rump passed a number of acts of Parliament creating the legal basis for the republic. Helpful Hints for Reading this Section: o To help remember the order of the English monarchs, try to remember the â€Å"Cromwell Sandwich. As with any good sandwich, it is named after the meat, which goes in the middle. Surrounding the meat is usually CHeese. In the Cromwell Sandwich then, the buns equal James (James I on top, or first, and James II bottom, or last) and the CHeese equals CHarles (Charles I on top of the meat or first, and then Charles II below the meat or second). Thus the order goes Bun (James I), Cheese (Charles I), Meat (Oliver Cr omwell), Cheese (Charles II), and Bun (James II). I don’t know, it helps me. : ) 1. Describe England under the Restoration of the Monarchy (what powers did King have? Religion? )- began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II. 2. Religion and the monarchy became an increasingly touchy subject in Restoration-era England. Discuss how the following acts/events display the conflict developing between monarch and Parliament:  · Clarendon Code= The Clarendon Code was a series of four legal statutes passed between 1661-1665 which effectively re-established the supremacy of the Anglican Church after the interlude of Cromwells Commonwealth, and ended toleration for dissenting religions. Declaration of Indulgence= Charles II of Englands attempt to extend religious liberty to Protestant nonconformists and Roman Catholics in his realms, by suspending the execution of the penal laws that punished recusants from the Church of England. Charles issued the Declaration on 15 March 1672.  · Test Act (note who this one was aimed at)= were a series of English penal laws that served as a religious test for public o ffice and imposed various civil disabilities on Roman Catholics and Nonconformists. The principle was that none but persons professing the Established Church were eligible for public employment, and the severe penalties pronounced against recusants, whether Catholic or Nonconformist, were affirmations of this principle. In practice nonconformists were often exempted from some of these laws through the regular passage of Acts of Indemnity 3. Both politics and religion played a large role in the forced removal of James II as King of England. Summarize the role of each, and note what served as the immediate cause of the Glorious Revolution. . Describe the political philosophy of John Locke found in his Two Treatises on Government. 5. How could one point to the Glorious Revolution and the English Bill of Rights as early successes for the history of Democracy? Helpful Hints for Reading this Section: o When trying to keep straight Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, think about what they stood for in regards to man’s â€Å"natural state. † Hobbes, who believed man was horrible, awful, wicked nasty and cruel, was a â€Å"Hater. † Thus, the first letter of his name and how he felt both match up (Hobbes; Hater). Locke, who said man was naturally good, was all about the Love. Thus, his name and beliefs are also connected by a first-letter principle (Locke; Love). Chapter 13 France 1. Explain how the theory of Divine Right strengthened Louis XIV’s power as king. How did his saying â€Å"L’etat, c’est moi† reflect the teachings of Bishop Bossuet? The Divine Right strengthened Louis XIV’s by saying that dictators, nobles, and parliament don’t have power over the people. â€Å"L’etat, c’est moi† means â€Å"I am state† reflected the teaching of Bishop Bossuet by saying God has the almighty power. 2. The Palace at Versailles is an integral part of Louis XIV’s strong reign. Answer the following with regard to life in Versailles:  · To â€Å"domesticate† something means to make it tame, or to train it to be useful to humans. In what ways did Louis XIV â€Å"domesticate the nobility? †  · Why did Louis XIV order nobles to follow such trivial social rules and elaborate social functions at Versailles? Louis ordered nobles to follow trivial social rules and elaborate social functions at Versailles because he wanted them to have less power, so they won’t be a threat to him. What types of people did Louis choose to head his government agencies? Why did he prefer to use them instead of the nobles, as was the case in other times and other countries? Louis XIV replaced the princes who had previously held positions as ministers with new aristocrats who feared him more. This gave Louis XIV, the King of France more power. 3. Explain the ways in which Jean-Baptis te Colbert made France’s economy superior to any other nations’ in the 17th century. How did the marquis of Louvois dramatically increase the effectiveness of France’s military? 4. Louis XIV’s France became so powerful that no one nation could likely stand up and defeat the French. For that reason, Louis chose to involve himself in a series of wars that would eventually break his nation’s finances. Include each of Louis XIV’s war in a timeline that shows the following:  · Years fought  · Reasons for War  · How foreign nations worked to Balance out French power  · Outcomes of War 5. Why did Louis XIV feel it was necessary to revoke the Edict of Nantes? What impact did this move have on his nation? Huguenots as a threat to his power. Huguenots through his reign were hostile to the crown and launched revolts. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes caused large numbers of them to flee to other protestant countries and establish themselves there, weakening the French economy. 6. Explain why the War of Spanish Succession (and the subsequent Treaty of Utrecht) makes a fitting culmination to a. the grand wishes of Louis XIV’s plans for domination of Europe, and; b. the principle of Balance of Power used to stop Louis XIV and contain French power 7. Consider Louis XIV’s Legacy. Create a list of positive and negative aspects of Louis XIV’s legacy. Then, create a thesis statement that evaluates the impact of Louis XIV on French history. Be sure your thesis 1) takes a side/has direction, and 2) does not simply list 3 things Louis did good and/or bad. o Intendants were government officials (royal civil servants,’ according to the text) in charge of oversight duties across all areas of French society. They were responsible for making sure that all tax money collected by regional tax officials went directly to the king (as opposed to some going to the collector’s pocket), and to oversee the training and discipline of the French military. They studied efficiency in production and carried their lessons to emerging French industries. Possibly the most important aspect of the intendants was the fact that they were not of strong noble birth. Richelieu and Louis XIV realized that using nobles to do the most important jobs of government ran counter to the idea of centralizing full power in the hands of the crown. For that reason, the intendants typically came from middle class backgrounds, people who did not possess large lands of their own. Thus, these peoples’ success in life was fully-dependent upon the king. If they became corrupt, another intendant would call them out and they would lose their job and what was likely their only chance to be very successful in life. This created an incredibly driven, obedient and loyal bureaucracy for the French kings. o During the Counter-Reformation, several different groups of Catholics came up with various ways they saw as correct in regards to Catholicism. The Jesuits were likely the most famous and most successful, as they traveled to every coastline and set up schools and monasteries in most all prominent nations. One of the Jesuits’ key messages to people was, â€Å"we can help save you. † By this, the Jesuits promoted the fact that people who were Catholic could be guaranteed salvation, so long as they followed the 7 sacraments and did as their priest told them. Another group, the Jansenists, saw this as untrue. Much like Luther and Calvin, the Jansenists believed that there was nothing people could do on earth to guarantee their salvation. They still believed in following all 7 of the Sacraments and other areas of Catholic doctrine, but they said that getting into heaven had to be a â€Å"gift† of God’s grace. A big religious dispute broke out within the Catholic church, and the influential Jesuits led an out-cry of opposition against the Jansenists. The point the text is trying to make with the Jansenists is that their group offered a form of Catholicism that included aspects of many Protestant religions (role of faith/grace as gift for salvation etc. ), which potentially could have kept French Huguenots (French Protestants) within the Catholic faith and kept them within France. When Louis XIV outlawed Jansenists, he made legal only the strongly anti-Protestant Jesuit Catholics, who began pushing for strong laws against Protestants.