Enlightenment Monarchs

Maria Theresa of Austria

*Scoreboard on a scale of 1-10

1. Cultural: 8

Unlike many rulers over time, Maria Theresa truly cared about the people that she rules, which earned her an 8 in my scorebook in cultural reform. She thought highly of inoculation and the fight against smallpox wince it had claimed so many lives in her rule. Maria Theresa also fought strongly against infant mortality and devoted much time to the health of those in her empire.

2. Educational: 6

This woman of the Habsburg Dynasty had a 40 year reign that was during the same age as the Enlightenment, and naturally placed a lot of emphasis on education for herself and for others, but only to a certain extent. Education, trade, religious toleration, the emancipation of the agricultural population from feudal burdens were all topics which she agreed upon, however, only to a certain extent. She would favor them, however only on the distinct condition that nothing was to be done to weaken the bonds of authority. She knew how to run a good empire!

3. Legal: 5

In legal policies, Maria Theresa was rather traditional and outstandingly crude. Any thing she allowed or did not all had to do with the weakness or strongness of the empire, and would not permit anything to occur that threatened her in any way. She, therefore, did permit legal torture in fear that if she did not, her empire would be crumble.

4. Political:8

Maria Theresa was a very smart lady by political means. She took advantage of her children and their marriages, uniting man empires as people usually did of this time to gain in aspects of politics and military primarily.

5. Military: 10

Undoubtedly, going along with the nature of Maria and her disagreements with things that threatened the empire, she foun the army to be a very important thing. She raised the amount of people in the army more than 200% and increased taxes so the goverment would always have money. She was a harsh and strict, while also having great humility in other situations, and she definitely looked out for the livlihood of herself and of her empire.

Louis XIV

Louis XIV is a ye ole wonderful king to us commoners. He is kind and devoted, and he has definately made our lives a lot better! Now we can go down to all the shoppes and not be afraid of being beheaded or catchins some fatal disease. Our King Louis XIV is strong in his ruling, and very fair, which causes us all to put great trust in him. Our King turned my homeland, France, into a place that people actually wanted to live in, and he settled much war. His image should be recalled of one as glory and greatness and is truly the best King we've ever had. Our King Louis XIV was never doubted in his righteousness to be king, which I believe is why he has ruled all over all of us so well. It is nice to finally have a rightful king and to see that end of a war that lasted for 100 years! So indeed, all hail King Louis!

The Thirty Years War

The Thirty Years War was a religious war fought from 1618-1648 iin involved a dispute between the Habsburgs and the Bourbons. It actually included 3 wars, The War of Polish Succession 1733-1739, The War of Austrian Succession 1740-1748, and The Seven Years' War 1756-1763. It began as disputes between Protestants and Catholics but later developed into a war involving most of Europe, especially the Hasburg Family, including Philip II, and the Bourbons. The Thirty Years war war fought mostly by mercenaries, and was very destructive to the empire. In fact, many empires including Pomerania, Mecklenburg, Wurzburg and Palitinate lost more that 50% of their population and many others lost high numbers as well. The 30 Years War ended with the treaty of Munster, part of the Peace of Westphalia.

Zwingli

Huldrych Zwingli was one of the leaders who led the major reforms in the 18th century, primarily in Switzerland. He differed from the Catholic church and the other protestants of this time because he opposed many things that others did not. For example, he believed that the eucharist was only a symbol to signify Christ, and did not actually turn into the blood and the body of Christ as many thought. He disagreed with the Anabaptists especially because of his views on Baptism, and where he thought infant Baptism was acceptable, while they thought it was not. He also opposed fasting during lent and the use of images, or idols, in places of worship. He clashed with the Anabapist reformers, which ultimately led to their persecution.

Columbus: VillIain or Hero?

I believe Christopher Columbus was most definitely a villain to some and a hero to others! To me and probably most Native Americans, Columbus was a villain, while to others (such as Europeans and the king of this time period) he may seem to be a hero. Christopher Columbus was infamous and famous for a lot of things, such as conquering new lands (in primarily South and North America) and causing the genocide for many peoples native to the America's in his search for gold an conquest. He gained new lands for the Spanish King and Queen, but in doing so, spread disease and chaos throughout the America's. While it was arguably not his fault he spred these diseases, it was his fault that he first traveled to these new lands in search of the Indes. Columbus was an inspiration to some, and evil to others. To me, he was a villain, and he did a lot more bad in the world than good.