Dbq New Monarchs

A. The argument displayed in the passage is how the New Monarchs of Western European states during the 16th and 17th centuries began to consolidate authority over the nobility and clergy by reducing their power, and this claim can be supported by the actions of Queen Isabella of Castile towards the aristocracy. For example, Queen Isabella desired to limit the power of the aristocracy and did so by taxing the nobles and confiscating their lands. These actions were effective because the amount of money and property the nobility had decreased, which meant they also became less powerful. Isabella then used the money she and the government acquired to increase trade within Spanish colonies and fund voyages of exploration. Thus, Queen Isabella’s actions towards Spain’s nobility reflect the argument that the New Monarchs of Western European states during the 16th and 17th centuries consolidated power over the aristocracy and clergy by reducing their wealth. B. A second piece of evidence that supports the argument in the passage that the New Monarchs of Western European states during the 16th and 17th centuries consolidated their power by centralizing their government is Philip II’s creation of an effective bureaucracy. In the mid 16th century, Philip II organized the nobility in

One effect of the creation of New Monarchies in Europe from the 16th century until the mid 17th century was the increase in overseas voyages of exploration and conquest. For example, Queen Isabella of Castile used the money she gained from taxing the nobles and confiscating their lands to fund Christopher Columbus’s voyage where he ends up discovering the Americas around the beginning of the 16th century. This expedition was important because it resulted in the exchange of plants, animals, ideas between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres for the first time, known as the Columbian Exchange. Thus, the increase in exploration voyages overseas was one effect of the creation of New