THE ESTABLISHMENT OF GREAT MONARCHIES
Towards the
end of the 15th century the three great nations of Western Europe— England,
France and Spain—formed each a national state, united under the unrestricted
authority of a single sovereign (THE
ABSOLUTE MONARCH), reigning by hereditary right. He judged his people in
his courts, controlled them through his officials and taxed them. In France and
Spain he maintained an army whose commanders he nominated. He determined peace
or war.
THE
HABSBURG FAMILY had
a small hereditary domain, but it soon raised itself to the first rank by
marriage alliances, following the method epitomized in the half line: “Tu, felix Austria nube.” (See the
translation below).
Maximilian had
married, in 1477, the duchess of Burgundy, who was heiress of the Low
Countries, and her son, Philip (Felipe el
hermoso), married Joanna (Juana la
loca), heiress to the two Spanish crowns, who transmitted the whole
inheritance to her eldest son, the emperor Charles V (Carlos I de España). The younger son, Ferdinand, married the
heiress of Bohemia and Hungary and brought these two kingdoms into the hereditary
possessions of the Habsburgs, who thus came to rule over a great part of
Europe. (source: glueideas.com)
Tu felix Austria nube
1430–1570
1430–1570
Bella
gerant alii, tu felix Austria nube – ‘Let others wage
war: thou, happy Austria, marry’. This famous saying is invariably quoted when
the rise of the Habsburgs is put down to the success of their dynastic marriage
policy, in which young archdukes and archduchesses were frequently married off
as children to members of other dynasties, or indeed to relatives of
their own.
QUESTIONS
1. What were the characteristics of the
absolute monarchs of the 15th century?
2. What strategy did the Hapsburg
family use to increase its domain?
3. What is the translation of the Latin
phrase: Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria nube?
