CH 16- A Century of Crisis, 1560-1648 (581-619)

AP FRQ Essays:

• Account for the growth and decline of European witch hunts in the period 1500 to 1650. (2005B)
• Explain the reasons for the rise of the Netherlands as a leading commercial power in the period 1550-1650. (2004 B)
• Compare and contrast the religious policies of TWO of the following: Elizabeth I of England; Catherine de Médicis of France; Isabella I of Spain  (2002 B)
• "Leadership determines the fate of a country." Evaluate this quotation in terms of Spain's experience under Philip II. (2000)

 Other Potential Essays:

• Evaluate the relative importance of the religious rivalries and dynastic ambitions that shaped the course of the Thirty Years War.
• Use the Huguenot conflict in France and the Dutch revolt to illustrate the ways in which the "Religious Wars" were much more political than they were religious.
• In what ways did the "new monarchs" of Europe continue to use religion as a tool for nation building during the age of Religious Wars?
• Discuss the Thirty Years War as the ending place for a number of conflicts and the starting point for a group of others.
• In what ways did religious and economic issues bring about the rise of England and France and the decline of Spain toward the end of the 1500s?
• In 1519 Charles of Hapsburg became Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.  Discuss and analyze the political, social, and religious problems he faced over the course of his imperial reign (1519-1556).
• European monarchs of the late 15th and early 16th centuries were often referred to as "New Monarchs".  What was "new" about them?  Do their actions warrant this label?
• Describe the impact of the Scientific Revolution on European thought and culture.