Constitutionalism Flashcards
Absolutism
The theory that the monarch is supreme and can exercise full and complete power unilaterally.
Bill of Rights
1689 - English documant declaring that sovereignty resided with Parliament.
Charles l
1625 - 1649
Stuart king who brought conflict with Parliament to a head and was subsequently executed
Charles II
1660 1685
Stuart king during the Restoration, following Cromwell’s Interregnum.
Colbert
1619-1683
The financial minister under the French king Louis XIV who promoted mercantilist policies.
Constitutionalism
The theory that power should be shared between rulers and their subjects and the state governed according to laws.
Oliver Cromwell
1559-1658
The principal leader and a gentry member of the
Puritans in Parliament.
Diggers and Levellers
Radical groups in England in the 1650s who called for the abolition of private ownership and extension of the franchise.
Divine right monarchy
The belief that a monarch’s power derives from God and represents Him on earth.
Frederick the Great
1740-1786
The Prussian ruler who expanded his territory by invading the duchy of Silesia and defeating Maria Theresa of Austria.
Frederick William
1640-1688
The “Great Elector,” who built a strong Prussian army and infused military values into Prussian society.
French Classicism
The style in seventeenth-century art and literature resembling the arts in the ancient world and in the Renaissance-e.g., the works of Poussin, Moliere, and Racine.
Fronde
The last aristocratic revolt against a French monarch.
Glorious Revolution
A reference to the political events of 1688-1689, when James II abdicated his throne and was replaced by his daughter Mary and her husband, Prince William of Orange.
Habeas corpus
The legal protection that prohibits the imprisonment of a subject without demonstrated cause.
Thomas Hobbes
1588-1679
Political theorist advocating absolute monarchy based on his concept of an anarchic state of nature.
Interregnum
The period of Cromwellian rule (1649-1659), between the Stuart dynastic rules of Charles I and Charles II.
James I
1603-1625
Stuart monarch who ignored constitutional principles and asserted the divine right of kings.
James II
1685-1688
Final Stuart ruler; he was forced to abdicate in favor of William and Mary, who agreed to the Bill of Rights, guaranteeing parliamentary supremacy.
John Locke
1632-1704
Political theorist who defended the Glorious Revolution with the argument that all people are born with certain natural rights to life, liberty, and property.
Louis XIV
1643-1715
Also known as the “Sun King”; the ruler of France who established the supremacy of absolutism in seventeenth-century Europe.
Maria Theresa
1740-1780
Archduchess of Austria, queen of Hungary, who lost the Hapsburg possession of Silesia to Frederick the Great but was able to keep her other Austrian territories.
Mercantilism
Governmental policies by which the state regulates the economy, through taxes, tariffs, subsidies, laws.
New Model Army
The disciplined fighting force of Protestants led by Oliver Cromwell in the English civil war.
Peace of Utrecht 1713
The pact concluding the War of the Spanish Succession, forbidding the union of France with Spain, and conferring control of Gibraltar on England.
Peter the Great 1682-1725
The Romanov czar who initiated the westernization of Russian society by traveling to the West and incorporating techniques of
manufacturing as well as manners and dress.
Petition of Right (1628)
Parliamentary document that restricted the king’s power. Most notably, it called for recognition of the writ of habeas corpus and held that only Parliament could impose new taxes.
Puritan Revolution
A reference to the English civil war (1642-1646), waged to determine whether sovereignty would reside in the monarch or in Parliament.
Puritan Revolution
A reference to the English civil war (1642-1646), waged to determine whether sovereignty would reside in the monarch or in Parliament.
Puritans
Protestant sect in England hoping to “purify” the Anglican church of Roman Catholic traces in practice and organization.
Restoration
The return of the Stuart monarchy (1660) after the period of republican government under Cromwell-in fact, a military dictatorship.
Test Act (1673)
Law prohibiting Catholics and dissenters to hold political office.
Versailles
Palace constructed by Louis XIV outside of Paris to glorify his rule and subdue the nobility.
