Absolute Monarchs in Europe, 1500-1800

  • Period: May 13, 1533 to

    Reign of Ivan the Terrible

  • May 13, 1546

    Ivan Seized Power

    Ivan Seized Power
    Many boyars fought to control Ivan when he was young. When he turned 16 he took control and had himself crowned czar. He was the first Russian to use it officially.
  • Period: May 13, 1547 to May 13, 1560

    Ivan's "Good Period"

    Ivan won great victories, added land to Russia, created a code of laws, and ruled justly.
  • Period: May 12, 1556 to

    Reign of Philip II

  • May 13, 1560

    Ivan's "Bad Period"

    Ivan's wife Anastasia died. He began turning against his nobles and accusing them of poisoning her. He sent his own police force to kill people Ivan considered as traitors. Thousands died.
  • May 12, 1566

    Protestants Rebel

    After Philip raised taxes in the Netherlands and took action to try to crush Protestantism, the Protestants grew angry. They formed mobs and destroyed religious paintings and statues in Catholic churches.
  • May 12, 1571

    Philip the Crusader

    Philip believed it was his duty to defend Catholicism against the Muslims of the Ottoman Empire and the Protestants of England. When called upon by the pope to fight the Ottoman Empire he sent 250 ships to defeat an Ottoman fleet.
  • May 12, 1572

    St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre

    This happened during the marriage of Catherine's daughter to a Huguenot prince, Henry of Navarre. Many Huguenot nobles attended, and most of them died. The massacre sparked a six-week nationwide slaughter of Huguenots.
  • May 12, 1579

    United Provinces of the Netherlands

    United Provinces of the Netherlands
    The seven northern provinces of the Netherlands united and declared their independence from Spain since they were mainly Protestant.
  • May 12, 1580

    Portuguese King

    Portuguese King
    The Portugal king died without an heir. Philip was the king's nephew so he seized the Portuguese kingdom.
  • May 13, 1581

    Family Tragedy

    Ivan was involved in a violent quarrel with his oldest son and heir. He ended up killing him, and left his weak son to take the throne when he died three years later.
  • Spanish Armada

    Spanish Armada
    Philip also launched an attack on Protestant England. He sent a huge fleet of ships to try to punish them, but Spain was defeated.
  • King Henry IV

    King Henry IV
    Catherine de Medicis died along with her last son. Prince Henry assumed the throne since he married her daughter.
  • Period: to

    Reign of Henry of Navarre

  • Edict of Nantes

    Edict of Nantes
    King Henry tried to heal France's wounds from the the religion wars. He declared that the Huguenots could live in peace in France and set up their own houses of worship in some cities.
  • James I Inherits England Throne

    James I Inherits England Throne
    James I was already the King of Scotland. His cousin was Queen Elizabeth I of England. When she died, she left no heir to the throne. James I was her nearest relative and became the king of both England and Scotland.
  • Period: to

    Reign of James I

  • King Henry's Death

    Some of the French people welcomed the peace that Henry brought, but others hated his religious compromises. Henry was stabbed to death in is royal carriage by a fanatic.
  • Period: to

    Reign of Louis XIII

  • Michael Romanov

    Michael Romanov
    Michael came to power after the son of Ivan the Terrible died without an heir. He was the grandnephew of Anastasia. This began the Romanov dynasty.
  • Period: to

    Thirty Years' War

    This war was fought between Catholics and Protestants. It was a conflict between religion, territory, and for power among European ruling families.
  • Appointment of Cardinal Richelieu

    Appointment of Cardinal Richelieu
    Louis XIII appointed a minister who made up for his weaknesses. Cardinal Richelieu became essentially the ruler of France.
  • Period: to

    Charles I Reign

  • Petition of Rights

    Petition of Rights
    Parliament made Charles I sign this document before they would give him more money. It said he could not imprison subjects without due cause, levy taxes without Parliament consent, house soldiers in private homes, or impose martial law in peacetime. Charles I signed it but ignored it.
  • No More Parliament

    Charles I dissolved Parliamentand refused to call it back into session. He used fees and fines against the English people to get the money he needed.
  • Scots vs. Charles I

    Charles I tried to make both England and Scotland to follow one religion. He tried to force the Scots to accept a version of the Anglica nprayer book. They rebelled and threatened to invade England.
  • New Laws

    Parliament had to be called into session for Charles I to fight the Scots. They ended up passing laws to limit the kings power three years after the war began.
  • Period: to

    English Civil War

  • Cardinal Mazarin

    Cardinal Mazarin
    The true ruler of France when Louis XIV came to power was Cardinal Mazarin, Richelieu's successor.
  • Period: to

    Reign of Louis XIV

  • Oliver Cromwell

    Oliver Cromwell
    The Puritans found Cromwell and realized he could defeat Charles I.
  • Cromwell's Army

    Cromwell's Neww Model Army defeated the Cavaliers. It took them about a year to capture King Charles I.
  • Prisoner

    King Charles was captured by the Puritans.
  • Peace of Westphalia

    Peace of Westphalia
    By signing the Peace of Westphalia, the Thirty Years' War ended. It abandoned the idea of a Catholic Empire that would rule most of Europe and adopted the idea of Europe being a group of independent states that could negotiate for themselves.
  • End of the Thirty Years' War

    Cardinal Mazarin's greatest triumph was the peace treaty that made France the most powerful country in Europe and ended the Thirty Years' War.
  • Period: to

    Anti-Mazarin

    There were many violent riots that tore France apart. Some of the nobles who led these riots even threatened the young kings life.
  • Brought to Trial

    King Charles I was brought to trial for treason. He was found guilty and sentenced to death. The king's trial and execution was public, which was the first time in history.
  • Ireland Rebels

    Cromwell landed on Irish shores and crushed them. Around 616,000 Irish were killed from fighting, plague, and famine.
  • Period: to

    Reign of Oliver Cromwell

  • First Constitution

    Cromwell had his associate John Lambert draft a constitution, it was the first written constitution of any European state. It eventually got torn apart, and Cromwell ruled as a military dictator.
  • Restoration of English Crown

    Restoration of English Crown
    The English people were sick of military rule. Parliament voted to ask the older son of Charles I, Charles II, to rule England.
  • Period: to

    Restoration

  • Louis XIV Takes Control

    Louis XIV Takes Control
    Cardinal Mazarin died which made 23-year-old Louis able to take control of the government himself.
  • Period: to

    Palace at Versailles

    It was the center of arts during Louis XIV's reign. It was like a small royal city, and shocased Louis's wealth and power to everyone who went to the palace.
  • Glorius Revolution

    Glorius Revolution
    William of Orange and Mary were invited by seven memebers of Parliament to overthrow James II for the sake of Protestantism. William led his army into London, and James fled to France. It was a bloodless overthrow.
  • Habeas Corpus

    Law passed by Parliament that gave every prisoner ther right to obtain a writ or document ordering that the prisoner be brought before a judge.
  • Cancelled Edict of Nantes

    Louis XIV ended the Edict of Nantes and thousands of Huguenot artisans and business people fled the country.
  • English Bill of Rights

    English Bill of Rights
    Parliament passed the Bill of Rights to make it clear the limits of royal power. It listed many things a ruler couldn't do.
  • Period: to

    Reign of Peter the Great

  • "Grand Embassy"

    Peter went on a long visit to western Europe to learn about European customs and industrial techniques. Never before had a czar traveled among western "heretics."
  • Period: to

    War of the Spanish Succession

    England, Ausrtia, the Dutch republic, Portugal, and several German and Italian states joined together against France and Spain.
  • St. Petersburg

    After fighting Sweden for 21 years, Russia obtained a piece of land on the Baltic Sea's coast. Here, Peter the Great began building what would become the new capital, St. Petersburg.
  • Treaty of Utrecht

    Its terms said that Louis XIV's grandson could remain king of Spain as long as the thrones of France and Spain weren't united.
  • Maria Theresa

    Maria Theresa
    Charles VI left the throne to his daughter Maria. He died in 1740 which led to Maria becoming queen.
  • Period: to

    Reign of Maria Theresa

  • Period: to

    Reign of Frederick the Great

  • War of Austrian Succession

    Frederick II was king of Prussia and sent an army to occupy Silesia. He didn't think Maria Theresa could defend her land because she was a woman. This began the War of Austrian Succession.
  • Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle

    This ended the War of Austrian Succession. Maria Theresa stopped Prussia's aggression, but she still lost Silesia.
  • Period: to

    Seven Years' War

    Prussia attacked Saxony in 1756 which was an Austrian ally. Every European power became involved in the war, but no territory changed in Europe. However, the French lost all their colonies in North America and its claims in India to the British.