History Lesson
for
Historical/Historical Romance Readers

Some time ago, Laurie Gold, who maintains a beautiful and heavenly site called All About Romance, asked the people at ProdigyRomance Listserv for a quickie history lesson. I dug up all my old European history notes and text book to answer. Alas, I rambled on and lectured, but for some reason, some people liked it. So I decided to put it up here.

This page is not meant to substitute your history teacher/professor's lectures if you're a student who plans to read this and skip the course. I'll try hard not to ramble on and lecture too much, but bear with me.

Note: I'll not include medieval history here. Why? Because I don't like medieval history, that's why! Unless I get emails from 100 different people, I'm not even going to bother. Even if I do get complaints from 100 different people, I might not do it.

In order to fully appreciate and understand what was going on in Europe, we need to start with the establishment of the Tudors in England, the Valois in France, and the Reformation.

Probably the establishment of the Tudors in England marks the end of the feudal system in England. Henry VII (1485-1509) ended the Wars of the Roses. These wars turned out to be very convenient to Henry VII because they weakened great lords. Henry VII got rid of "livery and maintenance" and established the Star Chamber, the royal council used as a court to deal with property disputes and infractions of the public peace. The Star Chamber didn't have a jury.

In France, the Valois line was established. Beginning with Louis XI (1461-1483), the Valois expanded their royal power quickly. Unlike the English king, the French king gained the power to tax without parliamentary consent. The Estates General met only once during Louis XI's reign, and they requested that he rule without summoning them. In 1516, Francis I of France gained the absolute control over the French clergy by signing the Concordat of Bologna. This is probably the most important reason why France never saw a reason to turn Protestant.

The Hapsburgs of Austria established the Holy Roman Empire. Charles V of the HRE was the most powerful ruler at that time. Through numerous marriages, he gained a lot of power and property. (The Hapsburgs' motto is Bella gerunt alii; tu, felix Austria, nubes, meaning "Where others have to fight wars, you, fortunate Austria, marry.")

There were many reasons for the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, but I'll just discuss three major reasons: 1. Corruption of the clergy; 2. More educated people; 3. The kings & princes' desire to control their national church.

The Protestant religion was considered extreme/radical at that time because it didn't just say that the Catholic religion's abuses need to be fixed, but its principles were all wrong. Two major Protestant leaders of this period were Luther and Calvin. Most northern Europe became Protestant, while southern Europe remained Catholic.

England didn't turn Protestant because it felt that the Catholic religion was wrong. Actually, Henry VIII (1509-1547) was a devout Catholic. He was so outraged by Luther's principles that he wrote Defense of the Seven Sacraments. The pope was so grateful to him, he called Henry VIII "Defender of the Faith."

So what was wrong?

Alas, Henry VIII wanted a male heir, and he wanted to marry Anne Boleyn. In oder to marry Anne, he needed to divorce his wife Catherine, the aunt of Charles V. Since the pope didn't want to anger Charles V, he refused to let Henry divorce Catherine. Henry VIII was, of course, furious, so he put in a new archbishop of Canterbury, said bye-bye to the Catholicism, divorced Catherine, and married Anne. In 1534, Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy, which made the English king the "Protector and Only Supreme Head of the Church and Clergy of England." Henry began to persecute all Catholics in England and confiscated all monastery land & wealth.

Henry VIII died in 1547, and Edward VI succeeded. The Protestant party became very powerful during his reign. But he was only ten years old, so he didn't have much power.

After his death in 1553, Mary a.k.a Bloody Mary, the daughter of Catherine, became queen. She was a bitter woman, and she tried to re-Catholicize England, but her extreme measures made Catholicism more unpopular in England. In 1554, she married Philip of Spain. The English began to detest Catholic, the Spanish, and Philip.

Well, Mary died soon in 1558, and Elizabeth I succeeded Mary. It was rumored that Elizabeth didn't believe in religion much, but she knew she couldn't be Catholic. According to Catholicism, she was illegitimate and could not be queen. So England returned to Protestant belief again. From now on, England remained Protestant and very anti-Catholic.

Rome panicked at this point. So they tried to reform Catholicism (Counter Reformation), but it wasn't that successful. The councils were attended poorly, but the Counter Reformation fixed most of the problems with Catholicism at that time. (Sorry, but these religious issues bore me to death, and I can't really force myself to say more about this. So why don't we just talk about religious wars which are a lot more interesting than the religious principles?)

The biggest and the last religous war in Europe is the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). The battlefield was Germany, but probably almost everyone in Europe participated. A funny thing about the war is that France sided with the Protestant countries.

Why?

Because they hate, hate, hate, hate the Hapsburgs. The whole point of entering the war was to screw the Hapsburgs, not because they liked the Protestants. (Oh, BTW, the statesman of France at this period was Cardinal Richelie. You remember that evil man in The Three Musketeers? Yep, that's him. But in reality, he was the best statesman France had ever had. He was the one who detested the Hapsburgs and decided to enter the war as Protestant.)

The grand conclusion of the war was the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. Catholic lost the war. The Peace of Westphalia resulted in: 1. Each German states have the right to determine its own religion; 2. Calvinism became an acceptable religion; 3. The checkmate to the Counter Reformation in Germany; 4. the end of the Holy Roman Empire; 5. France got Alsace-Lorraine. There are other results, but they're not significant enough to mention. (Yes, everyone who won got something.)

OK, now that we're done with these religious issues, let's talk about something else like the Stuarts in England.

It begins with the death of Elizabeth and the reign of James I. There were six (or seven if you count William and Mary separately although William is really from the House of Orange of Holland) Stuart kings: James I, Charles I, Charles II, James II, William & Mary, and Anne. From now on, the kingdoms of England and Scotland, although separate, were ruled by the same king. Ireland remained as a dependency of the English crown. (I guess it's a nicer way of calling it a colony.) After the defeat of Spanish Armada, the English achieved a great deal during the 17th century, economically and otherwise. Of course, there were still some problem with religion (Catholic vs. Protestant), but most of them start to migrate, esp. with the discovery of America. (MD was founded by English Catholics) Economically, the English was very wealthy.

With James I, Parliament began a power war. James I believed in Absolutism, which didn't sit very well with the English Parliament who was usually more powerful than the king. James I even wrote a book called The True Law of Free Monarchy. ("free" meaning free of control of Parliament) James I later declared that he believed in the principle of the divine right of kings. This led to a great problem, esp. after the reign of Elizabeth I.

Elizabeth I was a very competent woman. She fought the Spanish, sponsored plays (Shakespeare), and she knew how to persuade people. The Parliament deferred to her because of that and also because she was an aging woman and a national symbol. James I was a foreigner ("Scot") and was called the "wisest fool in Christendom."

James I, however, could not be "free" of Parliament's control because he needed money all the time. His life style was such that he could never live within the customary (and fixed) revenues of the English crown. The Parliament didn't trust James I, so they never gave him enough money. At that time Parliament had many Puritan members, and James I and his son Charles I were vocally against Puritans. The Parliament also feared the Star Chamber and the High Commission, and finally, they feared that the king might succeed in raising taxes, thus hurting their interests. For these reasons, they didn't trust both James I and Charles I.

Charles I succeeded in 1625, and in 1629, he tried to rule without Parliament. (The Parliament could legally meet only at the royal summons.) But he antagonized the English landlords, Puritans, and all property owners. He might have been successful in ruling without Parliament if the Scots didn't' rebel in 1637 at the attempt to impose the Anglican church in Scotland by Charles. Charles I had to summon Parliament for money to fight off the Scots, so he summoned them in 1640. But when Parliament was hostile to him, he dissolved it and called for a new election. The same men were elected, and the "new" body of Parliament sat theoretically for 20 years. (1640-1660: otherwise known as the Long Parliament.)

Instead of helping poor Charles I, Parliament began to make demands. Angry, Charles I and Parliament began an open war in 1642. The war ended in 1648. (Puritan Revolution/English Civil War) In 1649, they executed Charles I, and the rule of Cromwell began.

Between 1649 and 1660 (1660 is when they began Restoration), there were three phases: Rule of Cromwell (1649-1658); Commonwealth (1649-1653); and Protectorate (1753-1660).

The whole British Isles was declared a republic with the rule of Cromwell. It was named Commonwealth. Cromwell had many problems with religion, Scotland, and Ireland. He decreed religious toleration except for Unitarians, atheist, Catholics, and the most obstinate Anglicans, but it couldn't work because of too many exceptions. Scotland was outraged because of the execution of Charles I, who was a Stuart and from Scotland. (Cromwell crushed the Scots in 1650.) Ireland was having a massacre over religious belief and people's origin. Cromwell also had difficulty ruling England because like with any other revolution, his reign became too extreme for many people. But his foreign policy was very successful. He subdued Ireland successfully, enforced the Navigation Act of 1651 and wrestled the naval supremacy from Netherlands (began the English naval supremacy), and won Jamaica from Spain.

Restoration era began in 1660 and ended in 1688. It also marks the period of the Later Stuarts. Restoration restored not only the monarchy, but also the Anglican Church and Parliament. Everything was supposed to be as it had been in 1640, but Charles II was more careful not to provoke Parliament. (He was smart enough to know that Parliament could kick him out)

However, the conflict between the king and Parliament began again. Charles II was more Catholic than Anglican, and he signed the secret treaty of Dover in 1670 with Louis XIV of France. Charles II agreed to join Louis XIV in a war against the Dutch, and Louis XIV would pay Charles II three million livres a year during the war. Even though Parliament was unaware of such treaties, etc., they knew that Charles II favored the French and Catholicism. Not only that James, the Duke of York, declared himself Catholic. Charles II promoted religious toleration, but Parliament knew that he was trying to protect the Catholics in England. So they passed the Test Act in 1673, which required all officeholders to become an Anglican.

In 1685, James II became the king of England despite Whig's plan to prevent him from becoming king. James II antagonized even Tories when he began to ignore Test Act. James II violated the liberties of the established church by prosecuting seven Anglican bishops. The Parliament hoped that James II would never have a son, but he did in 1688, and the baby was baptized into the Catholic faith. The Parliament offered the crown to Mary, James II's daughter who married William of Orange and who was a Protestant. William accepted the offer gladly because he wanted to unite England with Netherlands in a crusade against France.

The Parliament kicked James II out without any bloodshed, and this even is called the Revolution of 1688 or the Glorious Revolution. Louis XIV was, of course, enraged, and he never acknowledged William & Mary as the king/queen of England. Why would he? He hated William of Orange. He kept James II at the French court with all the honors due the English king.

After the Glorious Revolution, Parliament passed three major bills.

In 1698, Parliament passed a Bill of Rights: 1. no law could be suspended by the king; 2. no taxes or army maintained without Parliament's consent; 3. no arrest and detainment without legal process. William accepted it as conditions to the crown. After this, the relationship between the king and Parliament became contractual.

The Toleration Act of 1689: Protestant Dissenters can practice their religion, but cannot participate in politics

The Act of Settlement of 1701: no Catholic can be king of England

Scotland, at that time, wanted to share British wealth, i.e. English East India Company, English colonies, etc., etc., so they decided to join England as a union. England feared that James II might return and rule Scotland (English Parliament could not legally stop James II from doing so). Therefore, they joined and created the United Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.

England still feared Ireland so they imposed the penal code to weaken Ireland and to favor the English merchants commercially. This, of course, antagonized the Irish even more.

Anne began to rule England from 1702. (William & Mary didn't have any child.) Nothing really interesting happened in England, but they participated in the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714) and won. If France had won the War of Spanish Succession, the Bourbons would have ruled both France and Spain which would have upset the balance of power in Europe. (99% of foreign policy decisions were made according to the principle of the balance of power.)

After the reign of Anne, the Stuart family had no direct Protestant heirs. The throne had to go to the German George I, Elector of Hanover, a great-grandson of James I in 1714. Thus it begins the Hanoverian Era. There are total five Hanoverian kings: George I (1714-1727); George II (1727-1760); George III (1760-1820); George IV (1820-1830); and William IV (1830-1837).

From 1713, England enjoyed the commercial expansion. Parliament, with the death of Anne in 1714, brought George I from Germany. George spoke no English, and he spent most of time in Germany. He was never popular in England, and Parliament regarded him as a political convenience, nothing more. (Actually, they ridiculed him, but that's another story.) During his reign, Parliament gained more power.

After 1714, the Tory and the Whigs began to dissolve. The government and the Anglican bishops who were close to the government became Whigs. Those suspicious of Whigs became Tory. Tories, Non-Jurors, and Scots wanted James II's son back. Such people were called Jacobus, the Latin for James. They called James II's son James III, while others called him the Pretender.

The Jacobus decided that if James III/the Pretender gave up his religion, he could be the rightful king of England. The Whigs didn't want that, of course. The restoration of the Stuarts represented undoing the Glorious Revolution -- limited monarchy, constitutionalism, parliamentary supremacy, the law, the toleration of dissenting Protestants. (These were defended by John Locke, a famous English philosopher in 1689. If you're really eager to learn more, read his writings because they are really fascinating. Thomas Jefferson borrowed John Locke's ideas when he wrote the Declaration of Independence and later founded the government with others.)

In 1715, the Pretender landed in Scotland. But the Jacobite leaders failed. Later in 1745, the Pretender's son, "Bonnie Prince Charlie" or the "Younger Pretender" landed in Scotland again and started a rebellion. It failed again. England decided to break up the clan system of Scotland after two rebellions. The social system of the Highlands was wiped out. They reorganized McDuffs and McDougals.

In 1720, South Sea Bubble occurred in England. It's a bit like the stock-market crash we had, except that it wasn't as serious as the stock-market crash we had in 20th century which caused the Great Depression. The English panicked, and Parliament passed the "Bubble Act" which forbid all companies except those chartered by the government to raise capital by the sale of stock. This event led to a slower development of joint-stock financing in England. (Same for France. France had the similar experience at this time and didn't cope very well.)

Walpole's ministry began in 1721. He is considered the first prime minister and the architect of cabinet government. He tried to avoid controversies. His motto was "quieta non movere" (Let sleeping dogs lie). He kept down the land taxes, supported the Bank, the trading companies, and the financial interests, and they supported him in return.

George I passed away in 1727, and George II succeeded in 1727.

In the 1730s, the English-Spanish conflict became extreme. The war party produced a Captain Jenkins, who claimed his ear was cut off by the Spaniards. He testified in Parliament, and it led to the War of Jenkins' Ear.

During this period, there were many, many wars. To name a few, there were the War of Jenkins' Ear, Silesian wars, the Wars of Pragmatic Sanction, King George's War/French-Indian Wars, the War of the Austrian Succession, the Seven Year's War, etc., etc. These wars involved four principle players: England, France, Prussia, and Austria. England and France fighting for colonies, trade, and sea power, and Prussia and Austria for territory and military power in Central Europe.

During these wars, George III succeeded the English crown in 1760. The grand conclusion of the wars is the Peace Settlement of 1763. France gave up all French territory on the North American mainland east of the Mississippi to England. France gave Spain all holdings west of the Mississippi. In conclusion, France had no more territories in North America, but it didn't hurt them that much at all.

While all this was going on, we have American Revolution in 1776. France, as we all know, helped America and went bankrupt. (which was pretty stupid, considering the fact that France was a very rich country, but as you know, the French nobles didn't pay taxes.) So the French had their own bloody revolution and chopped off many heads.

It alarmed other European countries. France, for centuries, was the cultural center of Europe. (Think Versailles and the grandeur of the French kings and think French food, fashion, etc.) The European kings didn't want their subjects to have a revolution like the French and chop off their heads, so they decided to crush the French rebels. Except that it didn't work, and the French defeated them. Napoleon took over France in 1799, and he began to conquer European countries. England, of course, didn't like that, so it formed coalitions.

In 1795, the First Coalition to defeat France failed. The British withdrew their troops; the Austrians and the Prussian couldn't trust each other, so they kept their main forces in eastern Europe. The French bought the Prussians off by recognizing them as "protectors of Germany" north of the river Main. Spain made a separate peace and revert back to their old monarchy system. Austria signed a peace treaty with France in 1797. Only one who was actively engaged with the French was the British navy.

The Second Coalition of 1799 failed also. The British navy was brilliant, but the Russian saw their ambitions in the Mediterranean blocked by the British and withdrew their troops.

Britain and France had a brief period of peace from 1802 to 1803, but they went to war again in 1803. In May 1804, napoleon declared himself Emperor of the French Empire.

Britain, Austria, and Russia formed the Third Coalition in 1805. Napoleon wanted to conquer England, but Lord Nelson and his fleets defeated the main body of the French and Spanish navies on October 21, off Cape Trafalgar. Napoleon decided to defeat Russia and Austria which he did. And Prussia fought against Napoleon when they realized that Napoleon wanted to have Germany. The French smashed the Prussian army which was the major shock to many. The Prussian army was supposedly the best in the Europe at that time after Frederick the Great. Napoleon formed an alliance with the Russian Empire by tempting the czar with the "great destiny" of Russia. (Russia always wanted a warm sea port, mainly the control of Mediterranean)

Now that he defeated everyone, Napoleon decided to punish England. He devised the Continental System and forced everyone to participate or else. But in the process, he alienated many, and that led to many internal problems. England could survive because of their huge colonies.

Russian Czar Alexander got upset because Napoleon created a new Poland "the Duchy of Warsaw." (Alexander didn't want Poland to happen.) Austria declared war against the French in 1809, but defeated soon by Napoleon. (The Austrian War of Liberation)

Napoleon made a mistake by invading Russia in 1812, and he lost bitterly. Anyone remember 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky? (If your computer is letting you listen to the midi file for this page, you're listening to it right now.) It was composed to celebrate the Russian victory against Napoleon. Anyway, this event began the downfall of Napoleon. Congress of Vienna began in 1814 to 1815, and the battle of Waterloo in 1815 ended the era of Napoleon.

Let's talk briefly about economy because economy played such a big role in England's domestic/foreign policy. From 1760 to 1830, England begins modern industry, but the Dutch had the most capital. The Dutch lived on their investment. In fact, the Dutch owned 1/3 of the capital of the Bank of England in the mid-18th century. The Bank of Amsterdam was the financial center of Europe until 1795 when the French Revolutionary army invaded Holland. England and France were successful in organizing East India companies and making profits. Other countries tried, but they failed after few years.

Trade with Asia was extremely important because the people wanted china and cotton. In 1709, Boettcher, a German, discovered a formula for making china, so the "china" trade declined, but the cotton trade didn't. Actually nothing, not even silk, wool, linen, can imitate the sheer muslins and calico which were extremely popular. Many governments forbade the import of cottons to protect their textile industry's interests, so it led to smuggling which was very profitable. In 1708, Daniel Defoe observed that the cottons "crept into our houses, our closets and bedchambers; curtains, cushions, chairs and at last beds themselves were nothing but calicoes or Indian stuffs." Eventually the rapid growth of European cotton manufactures led to the decline of cotton imports. After 1770, most of the imports of the British East India Company consisted of Chinese tea.

The Industrialism was possible because of the new inventions -- steam engines, etc.-- that enabled the English to make "mills" or "factories." This caused some evils, too, such as child labor and urbanization and poor public health. Also "enclosure act" caused the farmers to lose their farms and move to the big cities where they could get a job. The economy at that time was "laissez faire" and Malthus's theory and others which were pretty much against the workers.