Absolutism

Unit 1- ACA World History

 AGE OF
ABSOLUTISM
Europe before Absolutism: Feudal System

A social system existing in

medieval Europe in which
people worked and fought
for nobles who gave them
protection and land in
return.
 Europe before Absolutism: Age of Exploration

The Age of
Exploration was a period
from the early 15th
century that continued
into the early 17th
century.
European ships travelled
around the world to
search for new trading
routes, trade partners and
trading goods eg gold,
silver and spices.
 Key Concepts/Definitions:

Absolute monarch: Unlimited power in the hands of the King and his
advisors. The ruler’s power was not limited by having to consult with nobles,
common people, or their representatives.

Divine Right: The political idea that monarchs receive their power directly
from God and are responsible only to God for their actions. This allowed
monarchs to go unchallenged by their subjects.

Balance of Power: Each nation helps to keep peace and order by

maintaining power that is equal to rival nations.

Dynasty: This is a family that governs a country based on the idea of divine
right passed down from one generation to the next.
Absolutism

A system in which the ruler, usually a monarch, holds

absolute power (complete authority) over the government
and the lives of the people
◦ Monarch = a king or queen who rules a territory, usually for life and by hereditary right

The opposite of a constitutional government or democracy,

such as that found in the United States

In 17th Century Europe, absolutism was tied to the idea of

the divine right of kings
◦ Divine right = belief that the authority to rule comes directly from God
Essential Understandings
◦ The Age of Absolutism takes its name from a series of European monarchs
who increased the power of their central governments.
◦ Characteristics of Absolute Monarchies:
◦ Centralization of power
◦ Concept of rule by divine right
 Traits of Absolute Monarchs

Monarch (Kings or Queens) who had all the power

Monarch is God’s representative on Earth, answers only to
God
Goal: to free Monarch from limits to their power (nobles,
parliament)
Monarch controls all things: from religion to social
gatherings
Monarch power goes up with the rise of cities & decline of
slavery
Power of a Monarch
In the 17th Century, people looked to the monarch
for political stability

Absolute monarchs had tremendous powers

◦ Make laws
◦ Levy taxes
◦ Administer justice
◦ Control the state’s officials
◦ Determine foreign policy

No written Constitution or Bill of Rights

Most people did not have any rights at all

 Spain
Philip II
(r. 1527-1598)

“Advancing
Catholicism and
Increasing
Spain’s Power”
 Background: Charles V
◦ King of Spain & Ruler of the Holy Roman Empire
◦ Ruling two empires involved Charles in constant warfare
◦ As a devout Catholic, he sought to suppress Protestantism in the HRE (he was eventually
forced to allow the German princes to choose their own religion)
◦ The scattered empire proved to be too scattered for any one person to rule effectively so
Charles divided it up between his brother, Ferdinand (HRE) and his son, Philip (Spain)
Philip II
◦ Reigned as an absolute monarch
◦ Devoted most of his time to government work (unlike many other monarchs)
◦ Defended the Catholic Church and turned back the rising Protestant tide in
Europe
◦ Fought many wars in an attempt to advance Spanish Catholic power (e.g., the
Netherlands)
 Tools to Extend Spanish Power
◦ Marriage: Built alliances and pacified
enemies
◦ Maria – Alliance: Portugal
◦ Mary Tudor – Alliance: England
◦ Elizabeth Valois – Alliance: France
◦ Anna – Alliance: Austria
◦ War: Gained control of Portugal
◦ Wealth: Silver and gold from colonies
in the Americas fueled the Spanish
economy and ensured Spanish power
 Spanish Armada
◦ By the end of the 1580s, Philip II saw England’s
Queen Elizabeth I as his chief Protestant enemy –
she also supported the Dutch against Spain and
encouraged English captains to plunder Spanish
ships and loot Spanish cities in the Americas

◦ 1588: Philip II prepared a huge armada, or fleet of

warships, to invade England – but the lighter, faster
English ships defeated the Spanish Armada in the
English Channel

◦ This marked the beginning of the end of Spanish

power
Key Terms
◦ Philip II reigned as ABSOLUTE MONARCH – a ruler
with complete authority over the government and the
lives of the people

◦ Asserted that he ruled by DIVINE RIGHT – the belief

that authority to rule came directly from God (Philip II
was a devout Catholic)

◦ Philip II prepared the Spanish ARMADA – a fleet of

ships – to carry a Spanish invasion force to England
Philip II’s Accomplishments
◦ Expanded Spanish influence

◦ Thanks in part to gold and silver from the Spanish

colonies in America, he made Spain the foremost
power in Europe

◦ Strengthened the Catholic Church (defended the

Catholic Counter-Reformation)

◦ Made his own power absolute

Philip II’s
Historical Significance/Legacy
◦ Under Philip II, Spain reached the peak of its power

◦ Established the first trans-Pacific trade route between America and Asia

◦ Commenced settlements in the Philippines (the Philippines was named after

him)
 France
Louis XIV
(r. 1643-1715)
Key Terms
◦ Huguenots
◦ St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre
◦ Henry IV
◦ Edict of Nantes
◦ Cardinal Richelieu
◦ Sun = symbol of absolute power
◦ Intendant
◦ Versailles
◦ Balance of power
Background:
France’s Wars of Religion (1560s-1590s)
◦ Religious wars between the Catholic majority and the French Protestants, called
Huguenots, tore France apart

◦ St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre = worst incident; Catholic royals slaughtered 3,000
Huguenots
◦ This symbolized the complete breakdown of order in France
 Background: Henry IV
◦ 1589: Henry IV, a Huguenot prince,
inherited the French throne
◦ For four years he fought against fierce
Catholic opposition
◦ To end the conflict, he converted to
Catholicism
◦ To protect Protestants, however, he
issued the Edict of Nantes (1598),
which granted the Huguenots
religious toleration and other
freedoms
 Louis XIII
◦ Cardinal Richelieu appointed chief administer
◦ Son of Henry IV
◦ Inherited throne at age 9
◦ Focused on strengthening the central government (extending
royal power)
◦ Sought to destroy the Huguenots and the nobles, two groups
that did not bow to royal authority
◦ Handpicked his successor, Cardinal Mazarin
 Louis XIV
◦ Son of Louis XIII
◦ Inherited throne at age 5
◦ Believed in his divine right to rule
◦ Took the sun as the symbol of his absolute power: just
as the sun stands at the center of the solar system, so
the Sun King stands at the center of the nation
◦ The Estates General, the medieval council made up of
representatives of all French social classes, didn’t meet
once during Louis XIV’s reign and therefore played no
role in checking royal power
 Louis XIV’s Policies
◦ Expanded the bureaucracy and appointed intendants,
royal officials who collected taxes, from the middle
classes
◦ Cemented his ties with the middle classes
◦ Checked the power of nobles and Church
◦ Recruited soldiers
◦ French army became strongest in Europe
◦ Army was used to enforce his policies at home and abroad
◦ Use mercantilist policies to bolster the economy
◦ New lands cleared for farming, encouraged mining and other
basic industries, and builtup luxury trades
◦ Imposed high tariffs on imported goods to protect French
manufacturers
 Versailles

◦ Louis XIV spared no expense to make this the most magnificent building in
Europe

◦ Was the perfect symbol of the Sun King’s wealth and power

◦ Served as the Louis XIV’s home and the seat of the government

◦ Each day began in the King’s bedroom with a major ritual known as the
levee, or rising
◦ High-ranking nobles competed for the honor of holding the royal washbin or hand the king
his diamond-buckled shoes
◦ Purpose: These nobles were a threat to the power of the monarchy; thus, by luring nobles to
Versailles, Louis XIV turned them into courtiers angling for privileges rather than rivals
battling for power
Weakening France’s Economy
 How did Louis XIV’s actions weaken France’s economy?
 Waging war to expand France’s borders drained his treasury (other European
nations wanted to maintain the balance of power = a distribution of military and
economic power among European nations to prevent any one country from
dominating the region)
 Expelling Huguenots, whom Louis XIV saw as a threat to religious and political
unity, removed some of his most productive subjects
 Louis XIV’s Accomplishments
◦ Strengthened royal power, the army, the economy, and the arts to make France the
leading power of Europe

◦ Prevented dissent from within by keeping the nobles busy in the king’s court instead
of battling for power (levee)

◦ Versailles became a symbol of royal power and wealth

Louis XIV’s
Historical Significance/Legacy

◦ Louis XIV’s efforts (political, military, and cultural achievements) placed France in a
dominant position in Europe

◦ His efforts didn’t, however, bring prosperity to the common people of France – his
numerous wars and extravagant palaces effectively bankrupted the nation
 Prussia
Frederick II the Great
(r. 1740-1786)
 Key Terms
◦ Holy Roman Empire (HRE)
◦ Thirty Years’ War
◦ Ferdinand
◦ Defenestration of Prague
◦ Mercenaries
◦ Depopulation
◦ Peace of Westphalia
◦ Prussia
◦ Frederick William I
◦ Frederick II
◦ Seven Years’ War
 Holy Roman Empire
◦ Patchwork of hundreds of
small, separate states

◦ Ruled by emperor who had

little power over the many
rival princes

◦ This power vacuum

contributed to the outbreak of
the Thirty Years’ War, along
with religious division
between the Protestant north
and the Catholic south
 Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648)
◦ Series of wars

◦ Began in Bohemia (present-day Czech

Republic) in the German states

◦ Ferdinand, the Catholic king of

Bohemia, wanted to suppress
Protestants and assert royal power over
nobles

◦ Defenestration of Prague = a few

rebellious Protestant noblemen tossed
two royal officials out of a castle
window

◦ This act sparked a local revolt, which

widened into a European war
 Results of the Thirty Years’ War
Roving armies of ‘mercenaries’ (soldiers for hire) burned villages, destroyed crops, and
killed without mercy

↓
Famine and disease

↓
Depopulation (as many as one third of the people in the German states may have died
as a result of the war)
 Peace of Westphalia (1648)
◦ Series of treaties seeking to bring about a general
European peace and to settle other international
problems

◦ France won extra territory along Spanish and German

borders

◦ German lands divided into more than 360 separate

states – each still acknowledged the Holy Roman
emperor but each had their own government, currency,
church, armed forces, and foreign policy (again, the
German states were not united)
Maria Theresa &
the War of the Austrian Succession

◦ Daughter and successor of the Austrian emperor, Charles VI

◦ No woman had ruled Hapsburg lands in her own name

◦ Frederick II of Prussia seized the Hapsburg province of Silesia, which

sparked the 8-year War of the Austrian Succession

◦ With support from Britain and Russia, Maria Theresa preserved her
empire and strengthened Hapsburg power by reorganizing the
bureaucracy and improving tax collection (Britain and Russia didn’t
want Prussia to upset the balance of power by gaining new lands)
 Prussia
◦ While Austria was
molding a strong
Catholic state, a region
called Prussia emerged
as a new Protestant
power

◦ The Hohenzollern
rulers set up an
efficient central
bureaucracy
 Frederick William I (r. 1713-1740)
◦ Frederick William I gained the loyalty
of Prussian nobles by giving them
positions in the government and army,
which reduced their independence and
increased his own control

◦ He also placed great emphasis on

military values and forged one of the
best-trained armies in Europe

◦ Frederick William made sure that from

a young age, his son Frederick was
trained in the art of war
 Frederick II the Great (r. 1740-1786)
◦ Frederick II’s harsh military training had an effect – he wasted no time using
his army when he came to power in 1740
◦ Seized Silesia and sparked the War of the Austrian Succession
◦ Brilliantly used his army in several other wars, forcing all to recognize Prussia as
a great power and earning himself the title of ‘Frederick the Great’
◦ By 1750, the great European powers included Austria, Prussia, France,
Britain, and Russia
◦ These nations formed various alliances to maintain the balance of power
◦ Two basic rivalries persisted: Prussia vs. Austria and Britain vs. France
◦ These rivalries sometimes resulted in worldwide conflict
◦ Seven Years’ War (1756-1763)
◦ Fought on four continents
◦ Austria, Prussia, France, Britain, and Russia fought in Europe
◦ Britain and France also fought in Africa and India
◦ In North America, the war is known as the French and Indian War: Native American
groups took sides with the French or the British
◦ The Treaty of Paris ending these wars gave Britain a huge empire, thus changing
Europe’s balance of power for the next hundred years
◦ Also, Prussia came out of the war stronger than it went in
 Frederick II the Great’s Accomplishments
◦ Further consolidated power in Prussia
◦ Seized Silesia in Austria, thus extending Prussia’s territory
◦ Built a strong army and used that army to build a strong state (forced other nations to
recognize Prussia as a great power)

“Prussia is not a state which possesses an army, but an army which possesses a state”
 Frederick II the Great’s
Historical Significance/Legacy
◦ Brought Prussia from a state of general weakness to
that of great power and wealth
◦ Military successes and domestic reform brought land and
prosperity to Prussia

◦ He was an absolute ruler but he lived under the

principle that he was the ‘first servant of the state’ – he
always ruled under the guidance of what was most
beneficial for Prussia, and expected his people to
possess the same devotion
 Austria
AUSTRIA: MARIA THERESA & JOSEPH II

 MARIA THERESA (r. 1740-1780)

 Strengthened central power of

crown

 Limited autonomy of regions

 Aimed at making govt. more

efficient

 Limited burden on peasants,

reduced ROBOT

 Main concern = healthy pool of

military recruits
AUSTRIA: MARIA THERESA & JOSEPH II

 JOSEPH II (r. 1765-1790)

 Continued strengthening central

authority

 Asserted royal authority over church

 Promoted religious toleration

 Tried to improve economic

conditions
AUSTRIA: MARIA THERESA & JOSEPH II

 JOSEPH II (r. 1765-1790)

 Reformed judicial system &

rationalized laws

 Enacted far-reaching reforms of rural

social structure

 Abolished serfdom & robot

 Russia
Peter I the Great
(r. 1682-1725)
&
Catherine II the Great
(r. 1762-1796)
 Key Terms
◦ Tsar/Czar = Russian word for Caesar; male monarch or
emperor, especially in Russia prior to 1917
◦ Westernization = the adoption of Western ideas, technology,
and culture
◦ Autocratic = ruling with unlimited authority
◦ Warm-water port = one that would be free of ice all year round
◦ St. Petersburg = symbol of Peter’s effort to Westernize Russia
◦ Russo-Turkish War = Russia defeated the Ottoman Empire and
gained access to a warm-water port on the Baltic Sea
◦ Partition = divide up
 Russia in the 1600s
◦ Russia was primarily a medieval state, untouched by the
Renaissance and Reformation and largely isolated from
Western Europe

◦ The “Time of Troubles” had plunged the country into a

period of disorder and foreign invasions

◦ The reign of the first Romanov czar in 1613 restored some

order, but it wasn’t until Peter I the Great came to power
that Russia got back on the road to becoming a great
modern power
 Peter I the Great
◦ Took the throne at age 10 (1682)
◦ Took control of the government in 1689

◦ Traveled to the West in 1697 to learn about Western ways for

himself – brought technical experts, teachers, and soldiers he
recruited back to Russia
◦ Peter I then embarked on a policy of westernization = the
adoption of Western ideas, technology, and culture
◦ Persuading Russia people to change their way of life was
difficult
◦ To impose his will, Peter I became the most autocratic of
Europe’s absolute monarchs, meaning that he ruled with
unlimited authority
 Peter I’s Goals
◦ Strengthen the military
◦ Expand Russian borders
◦ Centralize royal power
◦ Westernize Russia

Actions to Accomplish his Goals:

◦ Brought all Russian institutions under his control
◦ Forced the boyars (landowning nobles) to serve the state in
civilian or military positions while allowing them to maintain
control over their land (which forced peasants into serfdom)
◦ Forced changes in social customs and pushed reforms (imported
technology, improved education, etc.)
 Modernizing Russia
◦ Using autocratic methods, Peter I pushed through social and
economic reforms
◦ Imported Western technology
◦ Improved education
◦ Improved waterways and canals
◦ Developed mining and textile manufacturing
◦ Backed new trading companies

◦ To pay for these reforms, Peter I adopted mercantilist policies,

such as encouraging exports

◦ Peter I had no mercy for any who resisted the new order – those
who revolted were tortured and executed
 Warm-Water Port
◦ Russia’s seaports, located
along the Arctic Ocean, were
frozen over during the winter.
To increase Russia’s ability to
trade with the West, Peter
desperately wanted a warm-
water port – one that would be
free of ice all year round.
Peter I tried to gain access to a
warm-water port in the Black
Sea but was unable to defeat
the Ottoman Empire.
 Expanding Russia’s Borders
◦ The Great Northern War (1700-1709)
◦ Against Sweden (dominated the Baltic region)
◦ Russia suffered humiliating defeats – but after
rebuilding the army, Peter I defeated the Swedes and
won territory along the Baltic Sea

◦ Used land to build a new capital = St.

Petersburg
◦ ‘Window on the West’ – Italian architects designed
palaces, etc.
◦ Became a symbol of Peter’s effort to forge a modern
Russia
 Trails to the Pacific
◦ Expanded empire to the east by
traveling across the plains and
rivers of Siberia

◦ Signed a treaty with China that

recognized Russia’s claim to
lands north of China

◦ Hired a Danish explorer, who

discovered the Bering Strait
(made Russia the largest
country in the world)
Peter I the Great’s Accomplishments

◦ Using autocratic methods, Peter the Great:

◦ Strengthened Russia’s military
◦ Expanded Russian territory (defeated Sweden and created a new capital in St.
Petersburg)
◦ Ended Russia’s long period of isolation
◦ Centralized royal power
◦ Pushed through social and economic reforms to Westernize Russia
 Catherine the Great
◦ Capable and ruthless absolute monarch
◦ Reorganized the provincial government
◦ Codified laws
◦ Began state-sponsored education for both boys and girls
◦ Embraced Western ideas and worked to bring Russia fully into
European cultural and political life
◦ Allowed boyars to increase their hold on peasants, thus forcing
even more peasants into serfdom. When the peasants rebelled,
Catherine took firm action to repress them.
◦ Waged the Russo-Turkish War against the Ottoman Empire,
which gained her a warm-water port on the Black Sea in 1774
The Partitions of Poland
◦ 1770s – Russia, Prussia, and Austria hungrily eyed Poland

◦ To avoid fighting one another, the three countries agreed in 1772 to partition,
or divide up, Poland (not until 1919 would a free Polish state reappear)
Catherine the Great’s Accomplishments

◦ Further Westernized Russia

◦ Defeated the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War and gained a warm-
water port on the Black Sea
Peter the Great & Catherine the Great –
Historical Significance/Legacy
◦ Used terror to enforce absolute power
◦ Westernized Russia
◦ Expanded Russia’s borders through war, treaties, and exploration
◦ Policies contributed to the growth of serfdom, which served only to widen the
gap between Russia and the West (exactly the opposite of what Peter and
Catherine wanted to do)
Looking Ahead
◦ By the mid-1700s, absolute monarchs ruled four of the
five leading countries in Europe – Britain, with its
strong Parliament, was the only exception
◦ As these five nations competed with one another, they
often ending up fighting to maintain a balance of
power
◦ At the same time, new ideas were in the air – radical
changes would soon shatter the French monarch, upset
the balance of power, and revolutionize European
societies
 England
Charles I, Charles II, James II
(r. 1625-1649) (r. 1660-1685) (r. 1685-1688)
 Key Terms
◦ Early Stuarts: Charles I
◦ English Civil War
◦ Cavaliers
◦ Roundheads
◦ Oliver Cromwell & the Commonwealth
◦ Restoration Stuarts: Charles II & James II
◦ Restoration
◦ Glorious Revolution
◦ William & Mary
◦ English Bill of Rights
◦ Limited monarchy
◦ Constitutional government
Essential Understanding
◦ Political democracy rests on the principle that
government derives power from the consent of the
governed (the people). The foundations of English
rights include the jury trial, the Magna Carta, and
common law.

◦ The English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution

prompted further development of the rights of
Englishmen.
 Monarchy vs. Parliament

Parliament: England’s legislative body

◦ House of Lords which represented the nobility
◦ House of Commons (the lower house) which
represented everyone else
Parliament controlled
the finances!
The Tudor’s dealt with
Parliament well - the
Stuarts did not!
Palace of Westminster
Tudors vs. Stuarts
◦ Tudor monarchs believed in divine right but recognized the value of good relations
with Parliament

◦ Stuart monarchs weren’t as popular as the Tudors or as skilled in dealing with

Parliament – they inherited problems that Henry and Elizabeth had long suppressed,
resulting in a century of revolution that pitted the Stuart monarchs against Parliament
James I - King of England
◦ James VI- King of Scotland
became James I King of England
◦ Reigned 1603-1625
◦ He believed in the divine right of
kings - kings receive their power
from God and are responsible only
to God
◦ 1611 - King James version of the
Bible
James I’s Accomplishments & Historical
Significance
◦ Often offended the Puritans in Parliament (Elizabeth flattered
them to get her way)

◦ Expanded English international trade and influence was actively

pursued through the East India Company

◦ The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) was one of the most

destructive conflicts in European history – began during his reign

◦ James handed down to his son, Charles I a fatal belief in the

divine right of kings, combined with a disdain for Parliament

◦ These beliefs and attitudes led to the English Civil War and the
execution of Charles I
Charles I

◦ Son of James I

◦ Reigned 1625-1649

◦ Married to a devout French Catholic

◦ When he did not get what he wanted from

Parliament he dissolved it in 1625
Charles I
◦ Money came from taxing the people
◦ Decrease in popularity
◦ He had to call Parliament
◦ Parliament took this opportunity to impose
limits on the monarchs’ power

"Charles I, King of England,

the "Triple Portrait" by
Anthony van Dyck
Petition of Right - 1628
◦ The King would not:
◦ imprison subjects without due cause
◦ levy taxes without Parliament’s consent
◦ house soldiers in private homes
◦ impose martial law in peacetime

◦ After agreeing to the petition,

Charles I ignored it because it
limited his power
◦ The petition was important: it set
forth the idea that the law was
higher than the king
Think Through History
◦ Explain how the Petition of Right contradicted the idea of absolute monarchy.

◦ An absolute sovereign was supposed to be above everyone; the Petition of Right said
that the law and Parliament could limit the power of the English monarch.
Charles I
◦ 1629 – 1640 Charles I
dissolved Parliament and ruled
personally
◦ Charles tried to arrest
Parliament’s leaders in January
1642 –they escaped
◦ A mob of Londoners raged
outside the palace
◦ Charles fled London and raised
an army in the north of
England, where people were
loyal to him
English Civil War: 1642-1649
◦ Cavaliers: Supporters of the king or
Royalists versus
◦ Roundheads: Puritan supporters of
Parliament

◦ Oliver Cromwell, military genius, lead

the New Model Army (Parliament)
◦ His army was made up chiefly of
extreme Puritans known as the
Independents, who believed they were
doing battle for God

◦ Parliament won!
 Royalists Parliamentarians
Cavaliers Roundheads
House of Lords House of Commons
N & W England S & E England
Aristocracy Puritans
Large landowners Merchants
Church officials Townspeople
More rural More urban
Death of King Charles I - 1649
◦ Cromwell and the Puritans
brought Charles to trial for
treason. They found him guilty
and sentenced him to death.

◦ The execution of Charles was

revolutionary. Kings had often
been overthrown, killed in battle,
or put to death in secret – but
never before had a reigning
monarch faced a public trial and
execution by his own people.
Charles I’s Accomplishments & Historical
Significance
◦ Petition of Right imposed limits on the monarch’s power
◦ Back and forth with Parliament led to the English Civil War (dissolving, then
calling, then trying to arrest Parliament)
◦ Executed for treason – the first time a reigning monarch faced a public trial and
execution by his own people
Commonwealth of England 1649-1653

◦ Cromwell ruled with Rump

Parliament
◦ Rump Parliament abolished the
monarchy and the House of Lords,
and declared England a republic,
or commonwealth
◦ 1653 - Cromwell dismissed
Parliament (too difficult to work
with) and set up a military
dictatorship
The Protectorate 1654-1660
 Cromwell “Lord Protector”
 Ruled until his death in 1658
 He was buried in Westminster Abbey
 When the Royalists returned to power his corpse
was dug up, hung in chains, and beheaded
Restoration of the Stuarts
 Parliament then restored the
monarchy
 Charles II took the throne
from 1660 -1685
 Under the restored Stuart
monarchy, Parliament kept
much of the power it had
gained
 It restored the Church of England
as the state religion and restricted
some rights of Catholics and
Puritans
James II
◦ 1685 - James II (the younger
brother of Charles II) became
king when Charles II died
◦ Devout and openly Catholic
◦ James named Catholics to high
positions in the government,
armed forces, and universities
◦ Conflict over religion again
brewed
Glorious Revolution 1688
◦ Parliament did not want James II’s
Catholic son to assume the throne

◦ The Dutch leader, William of

Orange, a Protestant and husband
of James’s daughter Mary, was
invited to rule England

◦ James II and his family fled, so

with almost no violence, England
underwent its “Glorious
Revolution”
 Charles II’s & James II’s Accomplishments &
Historical Significance
◦ Under the restoration Stuarts (Charles II and James II),
Parliament kept much of the power it gained during
the time of Cromwell and the Commonwealth

◦ Conflict over religion remained a serious issue:

◦ Stuarts = Catholic
◦ Parliament = Church of England (Anglican)

◦ Parliament invited William and Mary to rule England,

which led to the Glorious Revolution
The Bill of Rights 1689
◦ The Bill of Rights set the foundation
for a constitutional monarchy

◦ Helped create a government based on

the rule of law and a freely elected
Parliament
◦ Parliament’s right to make laws and levy
taxes
◦ Standing armies could be raised only
with Parliament’s consent
◦ Right of citizens to bear arms
◦ Right to a jury trial
William and Mary
Mary r.1689-94 and William r.1689-1702

◦ Required to accept the Bill of Rights

in order to rule - which they did
◦ They are the only monarchs in British
history to have reigned jointly
 Bill of Rights
◦ Main provisions:
◦ The King could not suspend the operation of laws.
◦ The King could not interfere with the ordinary course of justice.
◦ No taxes levied or standard army maintained in peacetime without Parliament’s consent.
◦ Freedom of speech in Parliament.
◦ Sessions of Parliament would be held frequently.
◦ Subjects had the right of bail, petition, and freedom from excessive fines and cruel and
unusual punishment.
◦ The monarch must be a Protestant.
◦ Freedom from arbitrary arrest.
◦ Censorship of the press was dropped.
◦ Religious toleration.