(^84) › STEP 4. Review the Knowledge You Need to Score High
defeated, and negotiations among the Holy Roman Empire and Protestant German states
began. German princes were no longer able to negotiate alliances among themselves or with
other nations, and the German armies were incorporated into one large force under the
Holy Roman Empire.
This turn of events alarmed the Bourbon regime in France, which, although Catholic,
feared the growing strength of the Habsburgs surrounding them, both in Spain and in
the Holy Roman Empire. This prompted them to set aside religious loyalties in favor
of political realities and ally with Sweden against Spain and the Holy Roman Empire in
- Although Spain enjoyed some initial successes, eventually the tide turned in favor
of the French and Swedes, partly because Spain’s attention was diverted by local rebellions
(rebellions which had been encouraged by France’s Cardinal Richelieu). Eventually tiring
of protracted warfare and (in the case of France) needing to attend to domestic matters,
all parties signed a series of agreements in 1648 known as the Peace of Westphalia, which
marked the end of the Thirty Years’ War.
The impact of this conflict on Europe was significant. It marked the end of religion
as the primary factor in international alignments and conflicts. Power and authority
remained decentralized in German central Europe. The power of the Holy Roman Empire
was much reduced, and German unification wouldn’t occur for another two hundred years.
Calvinism was included as a legitimate option for German states. The Dutch Netherlands
gained independence, while the power of the papacy in political affairs declined. Finally,
the impact on German states was devastating. Estimates of population losses range from
20 percent to 50 percent in some areas, and the disruption to farming and commerce was
incalculable.
Britain: The Rise of Parliament
In Britain, these tensions came to a head in the form of a struggle between the monarchs
of the Stuart dynasty and the English Parliament. Already an old and important institution
by 1600, the English Parliament was an assembly of elites who advised the king. But it
differed from its counterparts in the other European kingdoms in several important ways:
• Its members were elected by the property-holding people of their county or district.
• Eligibility for election was based on property ownership, so its members included
wealthy merchants and professional men, as well as nobles.
• Members voted individually, rather than as an order or class.
As a result, the English Parliament of the seventeenth century was an alliance of nobles
and well-to-do members of a thriving merchant and professional class that saw itself as a
voice of the “English people,” and it soon clashed with the monarch it had invited to suc-
ceed the heirless Elizabeth I.
When James Stuart, the reigning king of Scotland (known there as James VI), agreed to
take the throne of England as James I (r. 1603–1625), he was determined to rule England
in the manner described by the theory of absolutism. Under this theory, monarchs were
viewed as having been appointed by God (an appointment known as the “Divine Right
of Kings”). As such, they were entitled to rule with absolute authority over their subjects.
Despite the tension between Parliament and the monarchy, James I’s reign was character-
ized by a contentious but peaceful coexistence with Parliament.
A religious element was added when James’s son and successor, Charles I (r. 1625–1649),
married a sister of the Catholic king of France. That, together with his insistence on waging13_Bartolini_Ch13_081-088.indd 84 27/04/18 1:54 PM