2.5.5 Spain After the marriage of Princess Isabella of Castile and Prince Ferdinand of Aragon in 1469, much of Spain became one kingdom. The rest of the Iberian Peninsula included Portugal and Navarre. Ferdinand and Isabella suppressed the nobles and reduced the powers of the Cortes (assemblies). In 1473, with the Pope’s support, they established the Spanish Inquisition. In 1492, they expelled Muslims from Spain and forced Jewish people who wanted to stay to convert to Catholicism. The Inquisition targeted converted Jews and Muslims suspected of heresy. In 1506, Spain took control of Navarre, unifying the peninsula except for Portugal. The rulers of Portugal strengthened royal power using methods similar to those of Spain. 2.5.6 Russia After Constantinople fell to the Turks in 1453, the Grand Prince of Muscovy declared Moscow the new religious capital of Orthodox Christianity. Ivan III (1462–1505) became tsar (caesar) and expanded his power by conquering weaker Russian states. Under Ivan IV, ‘Ivan the Terrible’ (1553–1584), the tsar’s power grew as he controlled and killed many boyars (the high aristocracy). Russia, as an Orthodox Christian nation, was unaffected by Catholic–Protestant conflicts. However, from 1598 to 1613, it faced the ‘Time of Troubles’, with civil wars and invasions from Poland and Sweden, supported by boyars. About a third of Muscovy’s population died. In 1613, Michael Romanov became tsar and thus founded the Romanov dynasty. The Time of Troubles led to support for absolute tsarist power. In 1649, the government made all peasants serfs, removing their right to leave the land, leading to many peasant rebellions. 2.5 SkillBuilder activity USING HISTORICAL SOURCES Consider SOURCE2 , showing soldiers plundering a farm during the Thirty Years’ War, by Sebastiaen Vrancx, 1620. 1. Identify the figures that are soldiers and explain how you recognise them. 2. Determine what they are stealing. 3. Analyse how stealing food would affect the farming family’s chances of survival. 4. Interpret the evidence on which this artwork is based.
2.5
Exercise
Learning pathways LEVEL1 1, 2, 3, 4
LEVEL2
LEVEL3
5, 6, 9
7, 8, 10
REMEMBER AND UNDERSTAND 1. Determine whether the following statement is True or False. Townspeople in western Europe supported territorial rulers against the nobles. 2. Identify the event that divided the Holy Roman Empire into Catholic and Protestant states in 1555.
A. The Thirty Years’ War B. The Peace of Augsburg C. The Reformation D. The crowning of Charlemagne
TOPIC2 Emergence of the modern world in Europe 35
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