Louis XIV - commoner

I disagree with Louis XIV and the way he rules his monarchy. He is a selfish leader, believing that his ideas of a divine right monarchy should benefit himself and his court, not caring enough about the social classes. I feel as if he takes advantage as being a ruler and does not put his great power to good work. He has no sympathy for us, knowing that we are the lower class in society and are not near as fortunate as others. He realizes that he has all authority and is in complete control. This reflects on his decisions, only caring for himself and the overall government, and forgetting about us who only become poorer and poorer. The economy is making us townspeople suffer and it puts us in danger everyday- due to his poor, unjust decisions that affect all people.

The Thirty Years' War

The Thirty Years' War was of of the most influential conflicts of early European History, consisting of a series of declared and undeclared wars in Europe from 1618-1648. Overall, it was a religious war among Catholics, Lutherans, and Calvinists. To begin the conflict, The Peace of Augsburg of 1555 had brought a temporary truce of religion in Germany- recognizing only Lutherans and Roman Catholics. As a result, the Calvinists demanded recognition of their rights as well and the war began. The conflict then became a wider European war, fought mainly over political issues, along with religious issues. The Peace of Westphalia (1648) ended the war, expanding the Peace of Augsburg to include Calvinists, as well as Catholics and Lutherans. Also, it ended the Holy Roman emperor's hope of restoring his own power and the Catholic faith throughout the empire. The Treaty of the Pyrenees awarded France part of the Spanish Netherlands and some territory in northern Spain. Together, the Peace of Westphalia and the Treaty of the Pyrenees established France as the predominant power on the European continent.

The Reformation - John Calvin

John Calvin played a siginificant role in introducing new ideas and beliefs to the Protestant religion, Calvinism. In his earlier years he was a lawyer until he had the opportunity to build a new Reformed church, radically changing the face of Protestantism and spreading his on beliefs of Christianity. He organized the church governance, as well as the social organization of the church and the city. The core of Calvinism is based on the literal reading of the Bible and based on some views and/or beliefs that compared, yet also contrasted with the Catholic Church. Calvin strongly believed that not only should all religious belief be founded on the literal reading of Scriptures, but church organization, political organization, and society should be founded on the literal reading of the Bible. He then began to divide the church organization into pastors, teachers, elders, and deacons where each member obtained a particular role and responsibility in the church. Modern Protestant churches today still use such groups to organize their church, teach their church members, and help the church to grow- still following in the original ideas of John Calvin during the Reformation.

Columbus

Christopher Columbus was considered a national hero in history. Although he failed several times and came across many unsuccessful and difficult journeys, he was determined to set out and discover the New World. He was a strong Christian as well as a strong leader and he wanted to tell the story of Christ to the people he would find in the far-away lands. He also wanted wealth for himself and for Spain, and he wanted to be famous. Ever since he was a young child, he wanted to sail the seas and make his own discoveries. Not only was he a hero in discovering the New World, proving many myths and misconceptions of the world to be wrong, he also became very rich for his accomplishments which lead the way for many other explorers.