The Politics of Early Modern Europe The Rise of the Royal State
• Monarchs = state leaders, not just really rich landowners • Defending territory = the primary duty of a state • Rulers became the nation! • Art and literature help (Bacon, Shakespeare)
The Rise of the Royal State
• Monarchs = state leaders, not just really rich landowners • Defending territory becomes the primary duty of a state • Rulers become the nation! • Art and literature help this (Bacon, Shakespeare) • “Divine Right” = monarch as God’s representative on earth • Pros and cons? Royal Courts
• 17th century = states and militaries grew • Monarchs centralized state power • Needed more people to run the state! • The “Favorite” = individual chosen by monarch to run things • Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642) in France • Count-Duke Olivares (1587-1645) in Spain • George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham (1592-1628) in England • Adored/admired by monarch, but hated by others The Importance of War
• War consolidated state power and taxation • ½ of state revenue = military spending • 17th-century states largely funded by “regressive taxation” • Calls for tax reform • The need for more efficient collection • The need for new streams of revenue/taxation • The “paulette” = tax for holding government office • The “milliones” = sales tax on food/wine • The English alternative = taxation on trade/sale of luxury goods Crises!
• Criticism of the centralizing European states . . . • Taxation • Growth of central gov’t = less power locally • More laws/regulations = more lawyers and enforcement • 1620s & 1640s = decades of bad harvests • Bread riots and tax revolts become more common • 1640s = open rebellion throughout Europe Resistance and Rebellion
• 17th century = bad time to be a peasant in Europe • Famine, disease, war • Template for 17th-century rebellion: • Kill a local tax official • Raise a militia • Recruit local leaders • NEVER successful • Example: Palermo (Sicily) in 1647 • Successful rebellion required local nobles and clergymen Resistance Theory
• Huguenots justified rebellion: • King could be deposed if he strayed from “divine law” • Philippe Duplessis-Mornay’s A Defense of Liberty Against Tyrants (1579): • ANYONE could resist a King who violated the law • Juan de Mariana’s The King and the Education of the King (1598) = people had a responsibility to overthrow an illegitimate King • Legitimized resistance and open rebellion against a monarch for many different reasons . . . Rebellion Against Spain & France • 1640 = Portugal declares independence from Spain • 1640 = Catalonia rebels against Spain • 12 years of rebellion; Spanish eventually crush it • 1648 = French Fronde • Rebellion of French nobles against Louis XIV’s regents • 1654 = Louis XIV coronated, everything calms down • European monarchs simultaneously vulnerable and powerful English Civil War
• Why England? • The Monarchs: • James I (reigned 1567-1625) • Charles I (reigned 1625-1649) • 1640 = Scottish army invades England because of new prayer books • 1640-1653 = the “Long Parliament” • Demanded lots from Charles I without committing to fund war • 1642 = Charles I flees London, declares Parliament traitors • June 1645 = Parliament defeats Charles I’s loyalist forces • Charles was imprisoned, but refused to give up authority . . . Expensive civil war continues . . . A New Commonwealth
• June 1647 = Parliament’s military kidnaps Charles, demands pay • 1648 = Charles calls on loyalists to keep fighting! • December 1648 = military purges Parliament • Establishes “Rump Parliament” • 30 January 1649 = “Rump Parliament” executes Charles I • House of Commons will now rule England . . . • 1653 = Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) dissolves “Rump Parliament”, takes over as Lord Protector • “Instrument of Government” (1653) • Refused to establish himself as a monarch • 1658 = Richard Cromwell becomes Lord Protector; everything falls apart • 1660 = Charles II becomes King of England The Glorious Revolution
• 1685 = James II becomes King of England • BUT, he is Catholic • 1688 = Parliament invites William of Orange to invade England • James II flees to France • William and Mary become joint monarchs • 1689 = England becomes a constitutional monarchy • The monarch serves as the pleasure of Parliament • Authority and power limited by a constitution