Duiker W.J., Spielvogel J.J. The Essential World History. Volume 2: Since 1500

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seventeenth century. French culture, language, and man-

ners reached into all levels of European society. French

diplomacy and wars overwhelmed the political affairs of

western and central Europe. The court of Louis XIV

seemed to be imitated everywhere in Europe (see the

comparative illustration above).

Political Institutions One of the keys to Louis’s power

was his control of the central policy-making machinery of

government, which he made part of his own court and

household. The royal court located at Versailles served

three purposes simultaneously: it was the personal

household of the king, the location of central govern-

mental machinery, and the place where powerful subjects

came to seek favors and offices for themselves and their

clients. The greatest danger to Louis’s personal rule came

from the very high nobles and princes of the blood (the

royal princes), who considered it their natural role to

COMPARATIVE ILLUSTRATION

Sun Kings, West and East. At the end of the seventeenth century, two

powerful rulers dominated their kingdoms. Both monarchs ruled states that

dominated the affairs of the regions around them. And both rulers saw

themselves as favored by divine authority—Louis XIV as a divine-right monarch and Kangxi

as possessing the mandate of Heaven. Thus, both rulers saw themselves not as divine beings

but as divinely ordained beings whose job was to govern organized societies. On the left,

Louis XIV, who ruled France from 1643 to 1715, is seen in a portrait by Hyacinth Rigaud that

captures the king’s sense of royal dignity and grandeur. On the right, Kangxi, who ruled

China from 1661 to 1722, is seen in a nineteenth-century portrait that shows the ruler seated

in majesty on his imperial throne.

Considering that these rulers practiced v ery different religions, wh y did they justify their

powers in such a similar fashion?

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376 CHAPTER 15 EUROPE TRANSFORMED: REFORM AND STATE BUILDING

assert the policy-making role of royal ministers. Louis

eliminated this threat by removing them from the royal

council, the chief administrative body of the king, and

enticing them to his court at Versailles, where he could

keep them preoccupied with court life and out of politics.

Instead of the high nobility and royal princes, Louis relied

for his ministers on nobles who came from relatively new

aristocratic families. His ministers were expected to be

subservient: ‘‘I had no intention of sharing my authority

with them,’’ Louis said.

Louis’s domination of his ministers and secretaries

gave him control of the central policy-making machinery

of government and thus authority over the traditional

areas of monarchical power: the formulation of foreign

policy, the making of war and peace, the assertion of the

secular power of the crown against any religious au-

thority, and the ability to levy taxes to fulfill these func-

tions. Louis had considerably less success with the

internal administration of the kingdom, however.

The Eco nomy and the Military The cost of building

palaces, maintaining his court, and pursuing his wars

made finances a crucial issue for Louis XIV. He was most

fortunate in having the services of Jean-Baptiste Colbert

(1619--1683) as controller general of finances. Colbert

sought to increase the wealth and power of France by

general adherence to mercantilism, which focused on the

role of the state and maintained that

state intervention in the economy

was desirable for the sake of the

national good. To decrease imports

and increase exports, Colbert

granted subsidies to individuals

who established new industries. To

improve communications and the

transportation of goods internally,

he built roads and canals. To de-

crease imports directly, Colbert

raised tariffs on foreign goods.

The increase in royal power that

Louis pursued led the king to de-

velop a professional army number-

ing 100,000 men in peacetime and

400,000 in time of war. To achieve

the prestige and military glory be-

fitting an absolute king as well as to

ensure the domination of his Bour-

bon dynasty over European affairs,

Louis waged four wars between

1667 and 1713. His ambitions

roused much of Europe to form

coalitions that were determined to

prevent the certain destruction of

the European balance of power by Bourbon hegemony.

Although Louis added some territory to France’s north-

eastern frontier and established a member of his own

Bourbon dynasty on the throne of Spain, he also left

France impoverished and surrounded by enemies.

Absolutism in Central and Eastern Europe

During the seventeenth century, a development of great

importance for the modern Western world took place

with the appearance in central and eastern Europe of

three new powers: Prussia, Austria, and Russia.

Prussia Frederick William the Great Elector (1640--

1688) laid the foundation for the Prussian state. Realizing

that the land he had inherited, known as Brandenburg-

Prussia, was a small, open territory with no natural

frontiers for defense, Frederick William built an army of

40,000 men, the fourth largest in Europe. To sustain the

army, Frederick William established the General War

Commissariat to levy taxes for the army and oversee its

growth. The Commissariat soon evolved into an agency

for civil government as well. The new bureaucratic ma-

chine became the elector’s chief instrument to govern the

state. Many of its officials were members of the Prussian

landed aristocracy, the Junkers, who also served as officers

in the all-important army.

Interior of Versailles: The Hall of Mirrors. Pictured here is the exquisite Hall of Mirrors in

King Louis XIV’s palace at Versailles. Located on the second floor, the hall overlooks the park below.

Hundreds of mirrors were placed on the wall opposite the windows to create an illusion of even greater

width. Careful planning went into every detail of the interior decoration. Even the doorknobs were

specially designed to reflect the magnificence of Versailles.

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RESPONSE TO CRISIS:THE PRACTICE OF ABSOLUTISM 377

In 1701, Frederick William’s son Frederick (1688--

1713) officially gained the title of king. Elector Frederick III

became King Frederick I, and Brandenburg-Prussia simply

Prussia. In the eighteenth century, Prussia emerged as a

great power in Eur ope.

Austria The Austrian Habsburgs had long played a

significant role in European politics as Holy Roman

Emperors, but by the end of the Thirty Years’ War, their

hopes of creating an empire in Germany had been

dashed. In the seventeenth century, the house of Austria

created a new empire in eastern and southeastern Europe.

The nucleus of the new Austrian Empire remained

the traditional Austrian hereditary possessions: Lower

and Upper Austria, Carinthia, Carniola, Styria, and Tyrol.

To these had been added the kingdom of Bohemia and

parts of northwestern Hungary. After the defeat of the

Turks in 1687 (see Chapter 16), Austria took control of all

of Hungary, Transylvania, Croatia, and Slovenia, thus

establishing the Austrian Empire in southeastern Europe.

By the beginning of the eighteenth century, the house of

Austria had assembled an empire of considerable size.

The Austrian monarchy, however, never became a

highly centralized, absolutist state, primarily because it

contained so many different national groups. The Aus-

trian Empire remained a collection of territories held

together by the Habsburg emperor, who was archduke of

Austria, king of Bohemia, and king of Hungary. Each of

these regions had its own laws and political life.

From Muscovy to Russia A new Russian state had

emerged in the fifteenth century under the leadership of

the principality of Muscovy and its grand dukes. In the

sixteenth century, Ivan IV (1533--1584) became the first

ruler to take the title of tsar (the Russian word for Cae-

sar). Ivan expanded the territories of Russia eastward and

crushed the power of the Russian nobility. He was known

as Ivan the Terrible because of his ruthless deeds, among

them stabbing his son to death in a heated argument.

When Ivan’s dynasty came to an end in 1598, it was

followed by a period of anarchy that did not end until the

Zemsky Sobor (national assembly) chose Michael Ro-

manov as the new tsar, establishing a dynasty that lasted

until 1917. One of its most prominent members was Peter

the Great.

Peter the Great (1689--1725) was an unusual char-

acter. A towering, strong man at 6 feet 9 inches tall, Peter

enjoyed a low kind of humor---belching contests and

crude jokes---and vicious punishments, including flog-

gings, impalings, and roastings. Peter got a firsthand view

of the West when he made a trip there in 1697--1698 and

returned home with a firm determination to Westernize

or Europeanize Russia. He was especially eager to borrow

European technology in order to create the army and

navy he needed to make Russia a great power.

As could be expected, one of his first priorities was

the reorganization of the army and the creation of a navy.

Employing both Russians and Europeans as officers, he

conscripted peasants for twenty-five-year stints of service

to build a standing army of 210,000 men. Peter has also

been given credit for forming the first Russian navy.

To impose the rule of the central government more

effectively throughout the land, Peter divided Russia into

provinces. Although he hoped to create a ‘‘police state,’’ by

which he meant a well-ordered community governed in

accordance with law, few of his bureaucrats shared his

concept of duty to the state. Peter hoped for a sense of

civic duty, but his own forceful personality created an

atmosphere of fear that prevented it.

The object of Peter’s domestic reforms was to make

Russia into a great state and military power. His primary

goal was to ‘‘open a window to the west,’’ meaning an ice-

free port easily accessible to Europe. This could only be

achieved on the Baltic, but at that time, the Baltic coast

was controlled by Sweden, the most important power

in northern Europe. A long and hard-fought war with

Sweden won Peter the lands he sought. In 1703, Peter

began the construction of a new city, Saint Petersburg, his

window to the west and a symbol that Russia was looking

westward to Europe. Under Peter, Russia became a great

military power and, by his death in 1725, an important

European state.

England and Limited Monarchy

Focus Question: How and why did England avoid the

path of absolutism?

Not all states were absolutist in the seventeenth century.

One of the most prominent examples of resistance to

absolute monarchy came in England, where king and

Parliament struggled to determine the roles each should

play in governing England.

Conflict Between King and Parliament

With the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603, the Tudor

dynasty became extinct, and the Stuart line of rulers was

inaugurated with the accession to the throne of Eliz-

abeth’s cousin, King James VI of Scotland, who became

James I (1603--1625) of England. James espoused the

divine right of kings, a viewpoint that alienated Parlia-

ment, which had grown accustomed under the Tudors to

act on the premise that monarch and Parliament together

ruled England as a ‘‘balanced polity.’’ Then, too, the

378 CHAPTER 15 EUROPE TRANSFORMED: REFORM AND STATE BUILDING

Puritans---Protestants within the Anglican Church who,

inspired by Calvinist theology, wished to eliminate every

trace of Roman Catholicism from the Church of

England---were alienated by the king’s strong defense of

the Anglican Church. Many of England’s gentry, mostly

well-to-do landowners, had become Puritans, and they

formed an important and substantial part of the House of

Commons, the lower house of Parliament. It was not wise

to alienate these men.

The conflict that had begun during the reign of James

came to a head during the reign of his son Charles I (1625--

1649). Charles also believed in divine-right monarchy, and

religious differ enc es added to the hostility between Charles

I and Parliament. The king’s attempt to impose more ritual

on the Anglican Church struck the Puritans as a return to

Catholic practices. When Charles tried to force the Puri-

tans to acc ept his religious policies, thousands of them

went off to the ‘‘howling wildernesses’’ of America.

Civil War and Commonwealth

Grievances mounted until England finally slipped into a

civil war (1642--1648) won by the parliamentary forces,

due largely to the New Model Army of Oliver Cromwell,

the only real military genius of the war. The New Model

Army was composed primarily of more extreme Puritans

known as the Independents, who, in typical Calvinist

fashion, believed they were doing battle for God. As

Cromwell wrote in one of his military reports, ‘‘Sir, this is

none other but the hand of God; and to Him alone be-

longs the glory.’’ We might give some credit to Cromwell;

his soldiers were well trained in the new military tactics of

the seventeenth century.

After the execution of Charles I on January 30, 1649,

Parliament abolished the monarchy and the House of

Lords and proclaimed England a republic or common-

wealth. But Cromwell and his army, unable to work ef-

fectively with Parliament, dispersed it by force and

established a military dictatorship. After Cromwell’s death

in 1658, the army decided that military rule was no longer

feasible and restored the monarchy in the person of

Charles II (1660--1685), the son of Charles I.

Restoration and a Glorious Revolution

Charles II was sympathetic to Catholicism, and Parliament’s

suspicions were aroused in 1672 when he took the auda-

cious step of issuing the Declaration of Indulgence, which

suspended the laws that Parliament had passed against

Catholics and Puritans after the restoration of the monar-

chy. Parliament forced the king to suspend the declaration.

The accession of James II (1685--1688) to the crown

vir tually guaranteed a new constitutional crisis for

England. An open and devout Catholic, his attempt to

further Catholic interests made religion once more a

primary cause of conflict between king and Parliament.

James named Catholics to high positions in the gov-

ernment, army, navy, and universities. Parliamentary

outcries against James’s policies stopped short of rebel-

lion because the members knew that he was an old man

and that his successors were his Protestant daughters

Mary and Anne, born to his first wife. But on June 10,

1688, a son was born to James II’s second wife, also a

Catholic. Suddenly, the specter of a Catholic hereditary

monarchy loomed large. A group of prominent English

noblemen invited the Dutch chief executive, William of

Orange, husband of James’s daughter Mary, to invade

England. William and Mary raised an army and invaded

England while James, his wife, and their infant son fled

to France. With little bloodshed, England had undergone

its ‘‘Glorious Revolution.’’

In January 1689, Parliament offered the throne to

William and Mary, who accepted it along with the pro-

visions of the Bill of Rights (see the box on p. 380). The

Bill of Rights affirmed Parliament’s right to make laws and

levy taxes. The rights of citizens to keep arms and have a

jury trial were also confirmed. By deposing one king and

establishing another, Parliament had destroyed the divine-

right theory of kingship (William was, after all, king by

grace of Parliament, not God) and asserted its right to

participate in the government. Parliament did not have

CHRONOL OGY

Absolute and Limited Monarchy

France

Louis XIV 1643--1715

Brandenburg-Prussia

Frederick William the Great Elector 1640--1688

Elector Frederick III (King Frederick I) 1688--1713

Russia

Ivan IV the Terrible 1533--1584

Peter the Great 1689--1725

First trip to the West 1697--1698

Construction of Saint Petersburg begins 1703

England

Civil wars 1642--1648

Commonwealth 1649--1653

Charles II 1660--1685

Declaration of Indulgence 1672

James II 1685--1688

Glorious Revolution 1688

Bill of Rights 1689

NGLAND AND LIMITED MONARCHY 379

complete control of the government, but it now had the

right to participate in affairs of state. Over the next cen-

tury, it would gradually prove to be the real authority in

the English system of limited (constitutional) monarchy.

The Flour ishing

of European Culture

Focus Question: How did the artistic and literary

achievements of this era reflect the political and

economic developments of the period?

Despite religious wars and the growth of absolutism,

European culture continued to flourish. The era was

blessed with a number of prominent artists and writers.

Art: The Baroque

The artistic movement known as the Baroque dominated

the Western artistic world for a century and a half. The

Baroque began in Italy in the last quarter of the sixteenth

century and spread to the rest of Europe and Latin

America. Baroque artists sought to harmonize the Clas-

sical ideals of Renaissance art with the spiritual feelings of

the sixteenth-century religious revival. In large part, Ba-

roque art and architecture reflected the search for power

that was characteristic of much of the seventeenth cen-

tury. Baroque churches and palaces featured richly or-

namented facades, sweeping staircases, and an overall

splendor meant to impress people. Kings and princes

wanted other kings and princes, as well as their own

subjects, to be in awe of their power.

THE BILL OF RIGHTS

In 1688, the English experienced a bloodless

revolution in which the Stuart king James II was

replaced by Mary, James’s daughter, and her hus-

band, William of Orange. After William and Mary

had assumed power, Parliament passed a Bill of Rights that

specified the rights of Parliament and laid the foundation for

a constitutional monarchy.

The Bill of Rights

Whereas the said late King James II having abdicated the govern-

ment, and the throne being thereby vacant, his Highness the prince

of Orange (whom it hath pleased Almighty God to make the glori-

ous instrument of delivering this kingdom from popery and arbi-

trary power) did (by the device of the lords spiritual and temporal,

and diverse principal persons of the Commons) cause letters to be

written to the lords spiritual and temporal, being Protestants, and

other letters to the several counties, cities, universities, boroughs,

and Cinque Ports, for the choosing of such persons to represent

them, as were of right to be sent to parliament, to meet and sit at

Westminster upon the two and twentieth day of January, in this year

1689, in order to such an establishment as that their religion, laws,

and liberties might not again be in danger of being subverted; upon

which letters elections have been accordingly made.

And thereupon the said lords spiritual and temporal and Com-

mons, pursuant to their respective letters and elections, being now

assembled in a full and free representation of this nation, taking

into their most serious consideration the best means for attaining

the ends aforesaid, do in the first place (as their ancestors in like

case have usually done), for the vindication and assertion of their

ancient rights and liberties, declare:

1. That the pretended power of suspending laws, or the execution of

laws, by regal authority, without consent of parliament is illegal.

2. That the pretended power of dispensing with the laws, or the

execution of law by regal authority, as it hath been assumed

and exercised of late, is illegal.

3. That the commission for erecting the late court of commis-

sioners for ecclesiastical causes, and all other commissions and

courts of like nature, are illegal and pernicious.

4. That levying money for or to the use of the crown by pretense

of prerogative, without grant of parliament, for longer time or

in other manner than the same is or shall be granted, is illegal.

5. That it is the right of the subjects to petition the king, and all

commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal.

6. That the raising or keeping a standing army within the king-

dom in time of peace, unless it be with consent of parliament,

is against law.

7. That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their

defense suitable to their conditions, and as allowed by law.

8. That election of members of parliament ought to be free.

9. That the freedom of speech, and debates or proceedings in par-

liament, ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court

or place out of parliament.

10. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines

imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

11. That jurors ought to be duly impaneled and returned, and

jurors which pass upon men in trials for high treason ought to

be freeholders.

12. That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particu-

lar persons before conviction are illegal and void.

13. And that for redress of all grievances, and for the amending,

strengthening, and preserving of the laws, parliament ought to

be held frequently.

How did the Bill of Rights lay the foundation for a constitutional

monarchy in England?

380 CHAPTER 15 EUROPE TRANSFORMED: REFORM AND STATE BUILDING

Baroque painting was known for its use of dramatic

effects to arouse the emotions, especially evident in the

works of Peter Paul Rubens (1577--1640), a prolific artist

and an important figure in the spread of the Baroque

from Italy to other parts of Europe. In his artistic

masterpieces, bodies in violent motion, heavily fleshed

nudes, a dramatic use of light and shadow, and rich

sensuous pigments converge to express intense emotions.

Ar t: Dutch Realism

The supremacy of Dutch commerce in the seventeenth

century was paralleled by a brilliant flowering of Dutch

painting. Wealthy patricians and burghers of Dutch ur-

ban society commissioned works of art for their guild-

halls, town halls, and private dwellings. The interests of

this burgher society were reflected in the subject matter of

many Dutch paintings: portraits of themselves, group

portraits of their military companies and guilds, land-

scapes, seascapes, genre scenes, still lifes, and the interiors

of their residences. Neither Classical nor Baroque, Dutch

painters were primarily interested in the realistic por-

trayal of secular everyday life.

A Golden Age of Literature in England

In England, writing for the stage reached new heights be-

tween 1580 and 1640. The golden age of English literature

is often called the Elizabethan Era because much of the

English cultural flowering occurred during Elizabeth ’s reign.

Elizbethan literature exhibits the exuberance and pride as-

sociated with English exploits under Queen Elizabeth. Of

all the forms of Elizabethan literature, none expressed the

energy and intellectual versatility of the era better than

drama. And no dramatist is more famous or more ac-

complished than William Shakespeare (1564--1614).

Shakespeare was a ‘‘complete man of the theater.’’

Although best known for writing plays, he was also an

actor and a shareholder in the chief acting company of the

time, the Lord Chamberlain’s Company, which played in

various London theaters. Shakespeare is to this day hailed

as a genius. A master of the English language, he imbued

its words with power and majesty. And his technical

proficiency was matched by incredible insight into human

psychology. Whether writing tragedies or comedies,

Shakespeare exhibited a remarkable understanding of the

human condition.

Peter Paul Rubens, The Landing of Marie de’ Medici at

Marseilles. The Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens played a key role in

spreading the Baroque style from Italy to other parts of Europe. In The

Landing of Marie de’ Medici at Marseilles, Rubens made dramatic use of

light and color, bodies in motion, and luxurious nudes to heighten the

emotional intensity of the scene. This was one of a cycle of twenty-one

paintings dedicated to the queen mother of France.

CONCLUSION

IN CHAPTER 14, WE OBSERVED how the movement

of Europeans outside of Europe began to change the shape of world

history. But what had made this development possible? After all, the

religious division of Europe had led to almost a hundred years of

religious warfare complicated by serious political, economic, and

social issues---the worst series of wars and civil wars since the

collapse of the western Roman Empire---before Europeans finally

admitted that they would have to tolerate different ways to

worship God.

At the same time, the concept of a united Christendom, held

as an ideal since the Middle Ages, had been irrevocably destroyed

by the religious wars, enabling a system of nation-states to emerge

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CONCLUSION 381

SUGGESTED READING

The Reformation: General Works Basic surveys of the

Reformation period inc lude H. J. Grimm, The Reformation

Era, 1500--1650, 2nd ed. (New York, 1973); D. L. Jensen,

Reformation Europe, 2nd ed. (Lexington, Mass., 1990); and

D. MacCulloch, The Reformation (NewYork,2003).Alsoseethe

brief works by U. Rublack, Reform ation Europe (Cambridge,

2005), and P. Collison, The Reformation: A Histor y (New Yo rk,

2006).

The Protestant and Catholic Reformations The classic

account of Martin Luther’s life is R. Bainton, Here I Stand: A Life

of Martin Luther (New York, 1950). More recent works include

H. A. Oberman, Luther: Man Between God and the Devil

(New York, 1992), and the brief biography by M. Marty, Martin

TIMELINE

1450 1500

1550 1600 1650 1700 1750

Martin Luther’s

Ninety-Five Theses

Shakespeare’s work in London

Witchcraft trials

Calvin’s Institutes of

the Christian Religion

French Wars of Religion Reign of Louis XIV

Reign of Peter the Great

English Bill of Rights

Reign of Queen Elizabeth

Machiavelli’s Prince

Paintings of Rubens

Gutenberg’s printing press

in which power politics took on increasing significance. Within

those states slowly emerged some of the machiner y that made

possible a growing centralization of power. In absolutist states,

strong monarchs w ith the assistance of their aristocracies took the

lead in promoting greater centralization. In all the major European

states, a growing concern for power led to larger armies and

greater conflict, stronger economies, and more powerful gove rn-

ments. From a global point of view, Europeans---w ith their

strong governments, prosperous economies, and strengthened

military forces---were beginning to dominate other par ts of the

world, leading to a growing belief in t he superiority of their

civilization.

Yet despite Europeans’ increasing domination of global trade

markets, they had not achieved their goal of diminishing the power

of Islam, first pursued during the Crusades. In fact, as we shall see in

the next chapter, in the midst of European expansion and

exploration, three new and powerful Muslim empires were taking

shape in the Middle East and South Asia.

382 CHAPTER 15 EUROPE TRANSFORMED: REFORM AND STATE BUILDING

Luther (New York, 2004). On the role of Charles V, see W. Maltby,

The Reign of Charles V (New York, 2002). The most comprehensive

account of the various groups and individuals who are called

Anabaptist is G. H. Williams, The Radical Reformation, 2nd ed.

(Kirksville, Mo., 1992). A good survey of the English Reformation is

A. G. Dickens, The English Reformation, 2nd ed. (New York,

1989). On John Calvin, see W. G. Naphy, Calvin and the

Consolidation of the Genevan Reformation (Philadelphia, 2003).

On the impact of the Reformation on the family, see J. F .

Harrington, Reordering Marriage and Society in Reformation

Germany (New York, 1995). A good introduction to the Catholic

Reformation can be found in R. P. Hsia, The World of Catholic

Renewal, 1540--1770 (Cambridge, 1998).

Europe in Crisis, 1560--1650 On the French Wars of

Religio n, see M. P. Holt, The French Wars of Religion, 1562--1629

(New York, 1995), and R. J. Knecht, Th e French Wars of Religion,

1559--1598, 2nd ed. (New York, 1996). A good biography of

Philip II is G. Parker, Philip II, 3rd e d. (Chicago, 1995).

Elizabeth’s reign can be examined in C. Haigh, Elizabeth I, 2nd

ed. (New York, 1998). On the Thir ty Years’ War, see R. Bonney,

The Thirty Years’ War, 1618--1648 (Oxford, 2002). Witchcraft

hysteria can be examined in R. Briggs , Witches and Neighbours:

The Soc ial and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft, 2nd ed.

(Oxford, 2002).

Absolute and Limited Monarchy A solid and very readable

biography of Louis XIV is J. Levi, Louis XIV (New York, 2004). For

a brief study, see P. R. Campbell, Louis XIV, 1661--1715 (London,

1993). On the creation of the Austrian state, see P. S. Fichtner,

The Habsburg Monarchy, 1490--1848 (New York, 2003). See P. H .

Wilson, Absolutism in Central Europe (New York, 2000), on

both Prussia and Austria. Works on Peter the Great include

P. Bushkovitz, Peter the Great (Oxford, 2001), and L. Hughes,

Russia in the Age of Peter the Great (New Haven, Conn., 1998).

On the English Revolutions, see M. A. Kishlansky, A Monarchy

Transformed (London, 1996), and W. A. Speck, The Revolution

of 1688 (Oxford, 1988).

European Culture For a general survey of Baroque culture,

see F. C. Marchetti et al., Baroque, 1600--1770 (New York, 2005).

The literature on Shakespeare is enormous. For a biography, see

A. L. Rowse, The Life of Shakespeare (New York, 1963).

Visit the website for The Essential World History to access study

aids such as Flashcards, Critical Thinking Exercises, and

Chapter Quizzes:

www.cengage.com/history/duikspiel/essentialworld6e

CONCLUSION 383

384

CHAPTER 16

THE MUSLIM EMPIRES

CHAPTER OUTLINE

AND FOCUS QUESTIONS

The Ottoman Empire

What was the ethnic composition of t he Ottoman

Empire, and how did the government of the sultan

administer such a diverse population? How did

Ottoman policy in this regard compare with the

policies applied in Europe and Asia?

The Safavids

How did the Safavid Empire come into existence, and

what led to its collapse?

The Grandeur of the Mughals

Although the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires

all adopted Islam as their state religion, their approach

was often different. Describe the differences, and explain

why they might have occurred.

CRITICAL THINKING

What were the main characteristics of each of the

Muslim empires, and in what ways did they resemble

each other? How were they distinct from their European

counterparts?

Turks fight Christians at the Battle of Mohacs.

THE OTTOMAN ARMY, led by Sultan Suleyman the Magnifi-

cent, arrived at Moh



acs, on the plains of Hungary, on an August

morning in 1526. The Turkish force numbered about 100,000 men,

and in its baggage were three hundred new long-range cannons. Fac-

ing them was a somewhat larger European force, clothed in heavy

armor but armed with only one hundred older cannons.

The battle began at noon and was over in two hours. The

flower of the Hungarian cavalry had been destroyed, and 20,000 foot

soldiers had drowned in a nearby swamp. The Ottomans had lost

fewer than two hundred men. Two weeks later, they seized the Hun-

garian capital at Buda and prepared to lay siege to the nearby Aus-

trian city of Vienna. Europe was in a panic. It was to be the high

point of Turkish expansion in Europe.

In launching their Age of Exploration, European rulers had

hoped that by controlling global markets, they could cripple the

power of Islam and reduce its threat to the security of Europe. But

the Christian nations’ dream of expanding their influence around

the globe at the expense of their great Muslim rival had not entirely

been achieved. On the contrary, the Muslim world, which appeared

to have entered a period of decline with the collapse of the Abbasid

caliphate during the era of the Mongols, managed to revive in the

shadow of Europe’s Age of Exploration, a period that also saw the

385

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The Art Archive/Topkapi Museum, Istanbul/Gianni Dagli Orti