Absolute Monarchs Chart

Country

& DatesReligion Political Social Economic Wars

Philip II

Elizabeth I

Henry IV

Louis XIV

Peter the

Great

Frederick the Great

Catherine the Great

Philip II

1556-1598

Spain

Catholic

Pol: increased Hapsburg family power; made Castille (Madrid) center of Spain

Soc: Supported Inquistion, put down Aragon revolt in 1590s, Golden Age: 1550-1650, Cervantes wrote Don Quixote

Ec: great wealth from overseas trade, heavy inflation

War(s): Netherlands revolt, 1567 (independence declared, 1581); naval victory over Turks in the Med. Sea, 1571; Spanish Armada defeated by English, 1588 - *Turning Point

Elizabeth I

1558-1603

England

Anglican

Pol: never married –”The Virgin Queen”, increased navy, balance of power

Soc: Elizabethan Age, middle class “gentry” source of Tudor stability, lowest rank - “yeomen”

Ec: English “sea dogs” raided Spanish ships; heavy debt

War: Spanish Armada defeated, 1588

Henry IV

(Bourbon dynasty)

1589-1610

France

Protestant-con. To Catholicism

Pol: “Paris is worth a Mass”, Assassinated 1610; Cardinal RICHELIEU real power in France, 1624-1642

Soc: Edict of Nantes (1598)-protected Huguenots (Prot.); intendants were middle class govt. officials

Ec: improved economy

War(s): 30 Years War (1618-1648) – R. joined with Protestant side to defeat Spanish & Austrian Hapsburgs in the German states

Louis XIV

1643-1715

France

Catholic

Pol: Longest reign, Sun King, “I am the state”

Soc: Versailles, Repealed Nantes Edict (1685)

Ec: tax burden on the poor, projects & wars left France in near ec. Ruin

War(s): Fronde rebellion (1648-53), War of Spanish Succession (1701-13) – lost to Britain & allies

Peter the Great

1689-1725

Russia

Eastern Orthodox

Pol: built St. Petersburg, settlements in Siberia, Alaska; made R. a European power; goal was to modernize and westernize

Soc: Turned R. to the west, church under his rule, serfs have little freedom

Ec: reforms had limited success, beard tax

War(s): defeated Sweden (1721) & gained access to Baltic Sea; failed to win Black Sea port from Turks

Frederick the Great

1740-1763

Prussia

Lutheran

Pol: attacked Maria Theresa’s Austria, P. becomes European power

Soc: military glorified, Junkers (nobles) with great power

Ec: retained territory of Silesia

War(s): War of the Austrian Succession (1748), Seven Years War (1756-1763)

Catherine the Great

1762-1796

Russia

Eastern Orthodox

Pol: Seized throne from weak husband, took Black Sea port (Crimea peninsula), helped carve up Poland

Soc: influenced by enlightenment thought

Ec: plight of serfs actually worsened

War(s): crushed revolts, defeated Turks to gain warm –water port