Unit 10: Baroque Europe

Unit 10: Baroque Europe p.193

1.1 Absolute Monarchy: France

Absolute Monarchy = the dominant political system (17th-18th C.)

-Kings believed their authority had been given to them by God (“the Divine Right of Kings”).

-They held ALL political power (legislative, executive + judicial) with NO limitations.

Ex: Louis XIV “the Sun King” (1643-1715)

            -His gov’t administration was professionalized: High Council to deal w/policy and secretaries of state in charge of different areas of gov’t.

            -His intendants represented him in each province.

            -He modernized the army.

            -Mercantilism was applied (the economic theory that a country’s wealth is based on the accumulation of precious metals, which must be increased by raising exports and lowering imports), leading to the creation of manufacturing industries (factory production), which were protected by the state.

            -His influence on the Church increased as he took away rights from Protestants.

            -France became the most powerful country in Europe by fighting in many wars.

1.2 Parliamentary Monarchy: England p.194

-Charles I (absolute monarch) was king of England at the beginning of the 17^th C.

-He was opposed by the English Parliament (corte)

-1642-1649: English Civil War: Parliament (led by Oliver Cromwell) vs. Charles I and his supporters

-1649: The king is executed and Oliver Cromwell rules in an authoritarian republic.

-1660: Charles II was restored to power, succeeded by James II (both ruled as absolute monarchs)

-1688 The GloriousRevolution à Mary (daughter of James II) took the throne with her husband William of Orange (from the Netherlands), agreeing to govern with Parliament.

-1689: They signed the Bill of Rights, obliging the monarchs to govern with the laws of parliament à English is the world’s first parliamentary monarchy!

1.3. The Thirty Years War

1. It began as another conflict between the Hapsburg Dynasty (ruling in Spain and the HRE) and the German Protestant Princes (+ their allies).

            a. Fernando II (Carlos V’s brother) takes over in HRE  (didn’t agree w/Peace of Augsburg) and in 1618 closes Protestant Churches in Bohemia.

            b. Bohemian Czechs revolt and Fernando sends in his army – Protestant princes send in their armies to help the Czechs.

            2. Many countries joined in the fighting and the war spread around Europe.

            a. 1618-1630 Fernando is winning

            b. 1630 Fernando’s 1^st defeat. France joins in to help Protestants.

3. It ended with the 1648 Peace of Westphalia:

            a. The Hapsburgs lost dominance in Europe.

            b. Spain had to recognize the independence of the United Provinces (northern provinces of the Netherlands)

Part 2: Economy and Society p.195

2.1 Economy/ 4.2 Economy in spain :17^th C: serious economic crisis

-exacerbated by a fall in the gold/silver coming in from the Americas (b/c of wars, epidemics + the mines running out)

-crises in craftwork and trade (made worse by Dutch/English pirates)

-1620 on: low agricultural productivity + bad harvests = food shortage

-In Spain, expelling the moriscos  meant that an important part of the workforce was gone à lower harvests.  Land ownership became concentrated in latifundia because peasants had to sell their land to survive.

-Foreign Trade:

-England and the (Dutch)United Provinces: Both set up state monopolies: companies that had exclusive trading rights for certain products in certain areas:

            1. The United Provinces:

a.created the Dutch East India Company to trade with Asia (Indonesia) – spices, tea, silk etc.

b. created the the Dutch West India Company to trade with America (Brazil and Curaçao) – sugar cane, tabacoo, slave labor.

            2. England

                        a. founded the English East India Company to challenge the Dutch monopoly in Asia (India) – spices, cotton, silk, indigo

2.2 Society/4.3 Society in Spain

-Wars, famine + plague = population stopped growing and fell

-The number of nobles increased because kings sold titles of nobility. In Spain many hidalgos lived in clandestine poverty because work was considered dishonorable. 

-The nobility put more pressure on the peasants, demanding old tributes (taxes) à peasants revolted

-clergy increased, as joining the was a way to guarantee survival in a time of crisis

-the high bourgeoisie gained influence because they lent money to monarchs and intermarried with the nobility. In Spain, many were ruined by the crises in craftwork + trade.

-The petite bourgeoisie got educated at universities and often worked in the kings’ administration (becoming more important)

-In guilds, apprentices + journeymen rebelled against masters

-The peasants got poorer, often becoming beggars or thieves (pícaros), but some augmented their income by working in the domestic system at home.

Part 3: Culture, Architecture and Art p.198/Part 6: The Golden Age p.208

Culture: Spanish literature + art flourished (“Golden Age”)

-Astronomy: Kepler and Galileo used Copernicus’ discoveries to prove that we live in a heliocentric universe

-Physics: Newton formulated the law of gravity

-Philosophy: Francis Bacon – established that knowledge had to be based on experience (empiricism) and the scientific method.

-Descartes – argued that truth was only acceptable if it could be deduced by reasoning (rationalism)

LITERATURE- themes of love + honor = new genre (picaresque novel of pícaros/buscones who are rogue heroes)

-Ex:Cervantes (Don Quixote), Francisco de Quevedo (poetry + satire), Luis de Góngora (poetry), Lope de Vega + Calderón de la Barca (theater)

-Baroque Art – grandiose, dynamic and dramatic (often associated with the Counter-Reformation in Catholic countries)

-Baroque Architecture: (churches + palaces)

            -classical architectural elements used in a free way

            -split pediments and arched walls create contrast

            -Solomonic columns

            -oval or circular plans give the sensation of movement and grandeur

            -Ex. Versailles

            -In Spain: Juan Gómez de Mora (Plaza Mayor, Town Hall + Monasterio de la Encarnación in Madrid), Alonso Cano (façade of the Granada Cathedral)

            -The Churriguera brothers developed Churrigueresque style (ornate w/Solomonic columns + floral motifs). Ex: Plaza Mayor de Salamanca.

Sculpture:

            -marble, alabaster, wood, bronze

            -religious, mythological or portraits

            -natural and dramatic figures that gave the sensation of movement

            -Ex: Bernini (Ecstasy of St. Theresa, Apollo and Daphne, David)

            -In Spain, still mostly themes (Christ, the Virgin, Holy Week, pasos). Ex: Gregorio Fernández (Piety + Recumbent Christ) and Juan Martínez Montañés (Christ of Clemency + Immaculate Conception).

Painting:

            -natural + realistic

            -landscapes and still lifes gained importance

            -tenebrism: huge constrasts of ligh and shadow

            -Ex: -Carvaggio (Death of the Virgin, Calling of St. Matthew)

-Rembrandt (Night Watch), Rubens (The Three graces, The Judgement of Paris, Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus)

-Franz Hals (The Banquet of officers of the St. George Militia Company).

            Ex. in Spain: -José de Ribera (Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew)

            -Francisco de Zurbarán (Friars)

            -Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (Inmaculadas + Children Eating Grapes and Melons)

            -Diego Velázquez- used aerial perspective (a technique to create the impression of depth by gradually reducing the color-intensity and detail of background/distant objects): Christ crucified, The Triumph of Bacchus, Vulcan’s Forge, The Fable of Arachne, The Surrender of Breda, The Maids of Honor (Las Meninas), Portrait of the Count-Duke of Olivares.