Transition to the Modern World
Wikimedia Commons · Myrabella · CC BY-SA 3.0Absolutism and the Wars of Religion
Europe's absolute monarchies and the devastating religious wars, including the Thirty Years' War.
60-Second Review
Express reviewA condensed, point-by-point summary of the module, for reviewing right before a test or exam.
- The Protestant Reformation and the Fracture of Christian Europe. Luther's 1517 protest against Rome fractured Western Christendom into rival confessions and decades of war.
- Calvinism, the Catholic Counter-Reformation, and the Machinery of Religious Control. Calvin's Geneva, the Council of Trent, and the Inquisitions structured Europe's rival confessional camps.
- The French Wars of Religion and the Edict of Nantes. Catholics and Huguenots fought eight wars across France (1562-1598) before Henry IV's Edict of Nantes.
- The Dutch Revolt and the English Reformation. The Netherlands and England each forged Protestant political identities against Catholic Spain.
- The Thirty Years' War: Origins and Its Bohemian, Danish, and Swedish Phases. A Bohemian succession crisis ignited in 1618 a war that consumed Central Europe for three decades.
- The Franco-Swedish Phase and the Peace of Westphalia. France's entry in 1635 and the 1648 Peace of Westphalia reshaped Europe's religious and political order.
- The Theory of Absolutism and Louis XIV's France. Divine-right theory and Louis XIV's seventy-two-year reign made France the model of absolute monarchy.
- Absolutism Across Europe: Spain, England, Austria, and Prussia. Absolutism varied widely: Bourbon Spain, constitutional England, and militarized Prussia and Austria.
This module continues after "The Gunpowder Empires" in the syllabus. If you haven't reviewed it yet, it may help set the context.
Key points
11. The Protestant Reformation and the Fracture of Christian Europe22. Calvinism, the Catholic Counter-Reformation, and the Machinery of Religious Control33. The French Wars of Religion and the Edict of Nantes44. The Dutch Revolt and the English Reformation55. The Thirty Years' War: Origins and Its Bohemian, Danish, and Swedish Phases66. The Franco-Swedish Phase and the Peace of Westphalia77. The Theory of Absolutism and Louis XIV's France88. Absolutism Across Europe: Spain, England, Austria, and Prussia
Visual module map
1The Protestant Reformation and the Fracture of Christian Europe
2The French Wars of Religion and the Edict of Nantes
3The Thirty Years' War: Origins and Its Bohemian, Danish, and Swedish Phases
4The Franco-Swedish Phase and the Peace of Westphalia
5Absolutism Across Europe: Spain, England, Austria, and Prussia
Alternative visual view: a simplified sequence of some of the module's key points, in their order within the syllabus.
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Final test
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Optional mini-games
Extra practice, with no penalty, to reinforce the module's content.
Further reading
Bibliography and cited sources used to create this module.
- Geoffrey Parker, The Thirty Years' War.
- C. V. Wedgwood, The Thirty Years War.
- Peter H. Wilson, Europe's Tragedy: A History of the Thirty Years War.
- J. H. Elliott, The Count-Duke of Olivares: The Statesman in an Age of Decline.
- Mack P. Holt, The French Wars of Religion, 1562-1629.
- Jean Bodin, Les Six Livres de la République (The Six Books of the Republic).
- Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan.
- Perry Anderson, Lineages of the Absolutist State.
- UNESCO, Palace and Park of Versailles, World Heritage List, available at whc.unesco.org.