1556+-+1648

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 * 1556 - 1648 (Peace of Westphalia)**

**Politique**
The term politique is often given to a ruler who put his or her state above religion or other allegiances. During the 16th and early 17th centuries politiques were found in many European countries. The most notable of these politiques were Henry the 4th of France and Queen Elizabeth the first of England. Each ruler successfully overcame religious division to unify their state.myriad myriad myriad myriad myriad myriad myriad myriad myriad myriad myriad myriad myriad myriad myriad myriad myriad myriad myriad myriad myriad

Elizabeth I(1558-1603)**
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The queen of England after her father, Henry IIIV, ruled. Elizabeth ruled as a politik, keeping Machiavelli's ideas in the back of her mind as she ran England. Since there were conflicts about religion during the Reformation, Elizabeth chose the middle ground between Protestant and Catholic. She created the Anglican church,and appointed herself "supreme governor of the Church of England", by calling herself governor it allowed Catholics to remain loyal to Elizabeth and still giving the pope primacy. The People of England had to have outward conformity of religion, but behind closed doors Elizabeth allowed them to believe otherwise. Elizabeth never married because she wanted to show she was strong enough to lead England without the influence of a man, but by not marrying it left her without an heir to the throne causing complete chaos in England. 

**Henry IV** [[image:210px-HenriIV.jpg width="150" height="195" align="left"]]
 A known womanizer and all around stud, Henry the 4th started the Bourbon dynasty and along with Elizabeth was the true politique of his era. By promulgating the Edict of Nantes Henry made it legal for Huguenots to practice their religion in some places. After much controversy over the Huguenots and due to the fact that Henry himself was protestant, Henry was inclined to make a law allowing Huguenots to practice their religion. Along with his Minister, the Duke of Sully, Henry solved the religious divides in his country. Henry was eventually stabbed by a Catholic zealot, however, his actions and regime was never forgotten by the French people.

**Philip II**
Philip II, during the Spanish Inquisition opened the Council of Blood to handle his own ethnic cleansing. Philip also rejected the Union of Utrecht (uniting seven northern provinces free from Spain). Philip moved on the provinces with the help of William of Orange. This lead to the provinces looking to other Protestants for help.

**Spanish Inquisition**
The Spanish Inquisition began in Spain in the the late 1400's. This was the process in which Spain expelled the Muslims and Jews. Anti-semitic views began to arise in Spain because it was thought that the jews were gaining too much power. Jews were forced to flee the country or to convert into "New Christians." These problems, along with other religious struggles in Europe, contributed to the Reformations in upcoming years.


 * Spanish Armada**

The Spanish Armada was organized by Philip II of Spain as an attempt to invade Europe and cutting off financial support to the Low Countries (Dutch). The fleet sailed from Lisbon to Flanders and aimed to fight off Elizabeth's navy. However, England's ships were smaller, faster, and more maneuverable, and many of them had greater firing power than the Spanish. Not only the better ships, storms and inadequate Spanish ammunition were causes in England's victory (1588). As a result of the defeat of

the Spanish Armada, it prevented Philip II from reimposing religious unity on western Europe by force.

Religious Wars
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**30 Years War**
The Thirty Years' War began with the "defenestration of Prague" where Protestants threw two of Ferdinand's officials from a castle window in Prague. This was a war between Lutherans and Catholics. From the __Peace of Augsburg __, the faith of the prince determines the religion of his subjects. Catholics and Lutherans were both afraid each will gain more power. Lutheran princes formed the Protestant Union (1608), and Catholics retaliated with the Catholic League (1609). Neither Protestant or Catholic side had the resources to win a quick victory, resulting in such a long, religious war.

**Dutch Revolt**
The Dutch Revolt lasted from 1568 to 1648 and could also be identified as the Revolt of the Netherlands which led to The Eighty Year’s War. The Seventeen Provinces in Low Countries fought against the Spanish Empire wanting to be recognized as an independent state because of the religious conflicts. The Netherlands were mostly Protestants and decided to go against the militant **Calvinism** that the Spanish were trying to force upon them. Also, the extremely high taxes played a factor to rise against their oppressor. The Dutch rebels were able to capture Brielle in 1572 and then onwards, the **Dutch Republic** immensely grew and they were supported by England and France when going against the Habsburgs. The revolt was successful and ended with the **Peace of Westphalia** allowing Netherlands to be known as independent from Spain and was one of the first successful successions that led to a republic.

**Peace of Westphalia**
The Peace of Westphalia, written in Westphalia, Germany in 1648, encompassed two peace treaties concluding the **Thirty Years’ War** and the Eighty Years’ War. It concerned those people of the Holy Roman Empire, Sweden, Netherlands, France, Spain, and the Habsburgs. The treaty recognized the United Provinces of the Netherlands as separate from Spain and resolved the conflicts on the differences of the religions. The treaty allowed princes to decide what religion would be in his state w hether **Calvinism**, Catholicism, or **Lutheranism**, making Protestants and Catholics equal before the law as well as made many territorial modifications in Europe. Christianity was also allowed in any state, but only allowed to be practiced in private. The Peace of Westphalia paved the way for new beliefs to come forth from men like **Hobbes** and **Locke** of who truly held sovereignty; the treaty itself based on state sovereignty.

The Scientific Revolution
Period of time (late 1500-1700) when advances in science and math were achieved and a great shift in thinking from religious to secular. A few advances include the scientific method, a combination of experiments and math and heliocentrism. The revolution is significant because science became independent of theology. This change would allow the Enlightenment to be born because the belief that the critical thinking of scientists can be applied to society. The SR's effects reverberate today as the scientific community, modern scientific method, and calculus.

**Copernicus**

 * Nicolaus Copernicus** was an astronomer, mathematician and physician. His theory of **heliocentrism** is often considered as the starting point for modern astronomy and the defining “epiphany” that began the __Scientific Revolution__. Copernicus theorized that the stars and planets including **earth revolved around a fixed sun**. Fearing the ridicule of other astronomers he did not publish his thesis //On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres// until 1543 when he died. His hypothesis had **scientific and religious implications**. It suggested a universe of staggering size and put the stars at rest with their movement simply resulting from earth’s rotation around the sun. The Copernican theory brought **sharp attacks from religious leaders** especially Protestants. It stimulated **further scientific investigations** as well of __Brahe, Kepler__ and __Galileo__.

 **Galileo**
 **Galileo Galilei** was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the __Scientific Revolution__. His great achievement was the elaboration and consolidation of the __experimental method__. With controlled experiments, Galileo also formulated the __law of inertia__ which stated an object continues in motion forever until stopped by an external force. He made his own **telescope** and discovered the **first four moons of Jupiter as well**. Later the __Medicis__ of Florence employed Galileo. Since the geocentric view had been dominant in Europe since the time of Aristotle, controversy was created by Galileo's **support of __Copernicus__**. Because it was contrary to the literal meaning of Scripture, The Catholic Church **forced Galileo to recant** his beliefs, and Galileo spent the last years of his life under house arrest. Galileo’s discoveries **changed the traditional religious worldview**, which rested on determining and accepting the established authority.

**Early Causes Of The Scientific Revolution:** Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes
Francis Bacon(1561-1626) was an English politician and writer. He was also a firm advocate of the **scientific method**. He rejected the Aristotelian and medieval methods of speculative reasoning and instead believed in empirical experimental research. He founded the idea of **empiricism**, which was, to put it simply, a formalized version of the empirical method. His discovery was a huge cause of the **scientific revolution** and helped define it as a time period.

Rene Descartes(1596-1650) was a French philosopher and a mathematical genius. His discovery, which he founded while he was a soldier in the **Thirty Years' War**, was that all geometric equations could be expressed as algebra and vice versa. From the founding of this he created a philosophy based on the fact that all things needed proof and all things that could be doubted should be doubted. His '**Cartesian Dualism**', as it was called, was innovative and influential and it put everything into either matter or mind, physical or spiritual. His ideas were very math-oriented and when joined with the very rational ideas of Bacon it created the scientific method as we have it now and it still impacts the world greatly.

From the teachings of these two the **scientific method** was created.

**Issac Newton**
English physics genius (1642-1727) who combined Kepler, Galileo, and other scientists' findings into a system that explained motion of the earth and heavens in his __Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy__ (1687) after intensive study for 18 months. He was also intensely religious. Newton was important in his time because he unified his predecessors ' findings into one system. His works contributed to physics and math such as calculus and his three laws of motion.