More Tales of 17th Century Conflicts Quiz

Answer: Second Northern War

Sweden had a long list of adversaries during the Second Northern War, which is also called the Little Northern War, including the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russia, Brandenburg-Prussia, the Habsburg Monarchy, Denmark-Norway, and The Dutch Republic. What were they fighting about during this five-year war? Sweden invaded Polish-Lithuania, a territory that was already partly occupied by Russia.

It would appear that the issues that brought about the Thirty Years' War, mostly regarding the religions differences between Protestants and Catholics, had not been completely resolved.

In addition, Sweden was ruled at the time by Charles X Gustav, who wished to expand his empire. The Treaty of Olivia, signed in 1660, ended at least part of the conflict - there were so many countries involved that many negotiated their own peace treaty. Sweden retained control of Swedish Livonia, and all of the remaining territory went back to the ruler who governed it before the war.

Answer: War of Devolution

The War of Devolution was an attempt by Louis XIV of France to show off on the battlefield. With Cardinal Mazarin dead, he was able to take a more active role as King of France. His army attempted to take the Spanish Netherlands and the Franche-Comté, or the Free County of Burgundy, which was also controlled by Spain.

It was called the War of Devolution because Louis claimed that land in Spain actually belonged to his wife, Marie-Thérčse, due to the custom of devolution in some areas of the Spanish Netherlands, where the daughter of a king's first marriage was chosen to inherit rather than the sons of other marriages. Louis tried to enforce this practice in regard to his wife inheriting lands ruled by her father, Philip IV of Spain, upon his death.

While France gained a few territories in Flanders, the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1668, dictated that war with Spanish Netherlands would cease, and territories would have to be returned, as well as Franche-Comté.

Answer: Razin's Rebellion

Stenka Razin led a Cossack uprising from 1670-71 in southern Russia. The Cossacks were a self-governing military community in Russia that consisted of several branches; they were typically allied with the tsar to help protect or extend Russia's borders. Razin belonged to the Don Cossacks, who developed in the area of the Don River during the 16th century. By 1670 many escaped serfs also lived in the area, and together with the Don Cossacks, upset with high taxes, as well as the treatment of Russia's lower social classes, the group revolted against the Russian nobles. Apparently the rebellion originally began with the purpose of looting to acquire wealth.

However, Razin was also concerned about the lack of care the government had shown regarding the welfare of the tsar's people in general.

While the rebellion may have increased awareness of the poverty in Russia, it also led to increased government control there. Ultimately unsuccessful, it ended with the capture and execution of its leader.

Answer: First Kuruc Uprising

The rebels who participated in the First Kuruc Uprising were mostly Protestant peasants, although there were also Slavs and serfs who participated, as well as other peoples, including nobles and soldiers. Poorly armed with pistols, light sabres, and battle axes, the rebels called themselves fugitives; they were led by two lesser nobles, Pál Szepesi and Mátyás Szuhay.

While their attack in Upper Hungary was successful, the kurucs were eventually defeated at Gyurke by the Habsburg army. Their uprising led to more political and religious persecution in the land that was called Royal Hungary, later called the Kingdom of Hungary, which was ruled by Habsburg Hungarian kings.

Answer: Franco-Dutch War

Also known as the Dutch War, the Franco-Dutch War is called "het Rampjaar", or "the Disaster Year", by the Dutch. In 1672 they were surprised by a full invasion of English, German, and French forces. Although the Dutch had long been allies of France, that had changed during the War of Devolution.

The invasion was engineered by Louis XIV, who wanted to defeat the Dutch Republic in order to try once again to capture of Spanish Netherlands for France. Eventually the Dutch Republic formed an alliance with Spain, Prussia, and the Austrian Habsburgs.

The Treaty of Nijmegen, which ended the war, gave France the most sought-after Franche-Comté and some cities, and the Dutch Republic was returned some territories that had been taken by France.

Answer: Russo-Turkish War

Actually there was a series of wars, one of the longest in history, between the Russian and Ottoman Empires that lasted from 1568-1827. The Ottoman Empire was trying to extend its domain into Russian territories. In 1676, after having successfully taken parts of modern-day Ukraine, the Ottoman Empire attempted to seize more land, aided by Ukranian Cossacks.

Much of the fighting was centered around the city of Chyhyryn, the residence of the Cossack hetman of the Zaporizhian Host, which was besieged twice by the Ottomans and their allies, with its castle blown up in 1678 by Russian forces who were retreating.

In 1681 the Bakhchisaray Peace Treaty established a new Ottoman-Russian border, with the Russian Empire losing some territory along the Dnieper River.

Answer: Covenanter Rebellion

During the time of the Restoration in England, Protestant Presbyterians in Scotland were sometimes persecuted; while some of the ministers in Scotland had been allowed to maintain their churches, others had been forced to accept the Church of England.

A small rebellion had already been suppressed in 1666, and by 1679 another occurred when an illegal outdoor church meeting, called a conventicle, was discovered by the leader of the dragoons who had been charged to break up the meetings. Faced by armed Convenanters, the dragoons were defeated at the Battle of Drumclog.

After that battle the rebel Convenanters gained in force and the dragoons were assigned a new leader. On June 22, 1679, the two groups met again at the Battle of Bothwell Bridge; the battle ended in a complete rout of the Covenanters with an unknown number being killed - some sources say as many as 700 - and about 1200 being taken captive.

The rest were put in prison; most were eventually transported to colonies. There were, however, Covenanters who continued to rebel under a new name - Cameronians - and were eventually pardoned by King William III.

Answer: War of the Reunions

Still ruled by Louis XIV in 1683, France continued its campaign to try again to conquer more land, especially the Spanish Netherlands. France had decided that it had not received all the land that had been promised after the War of Devolution and Franco Dutch War, and began an inquiry called the Chambers of Reunion.

This inquiry group awarded France several territories from the Spanish Netherlands and Holy Roman Empire, especially the large cities of Strasbourg and Luxembourg and the area called Alsace.

The Truce of Ratisbon that concluded the conflict did allow France to keep the cities and other territory, however, land taken in the area of modern-day Belgium was returned to Spain. Even so, the conflict was still not resolved, and the Treaty of Ratisbon only created a twenty-year truce.

Answer: Monmouth Rebellion

Also called the Revolt of the West, the Monmouth Rebellion was one of several attempts to overthrow King James II of England, Scotland, and Ireland. A Catholic monarch, James II was opposed by Protestants who lived in his domain. During the Monmouth Rebellion, the 1st Duke of Monmouth, James Scott, an illegitimate son of Charles II, attempted to claim the throne. Coordinating his uprising with Scottish rebels, Monmouth's forces, untrained and poorly equipped, were defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor. Monmouth was captured, and even though he claimed to have converted to Roman Catholicism and begged for mercy, he was beheaded.

The rebellions gave James II an opportunity to consolidate his power until his overthrow in 1688 by William of Orange.

Answer: Glorious Revolution

In 1688, the birth of James II's son displaced his heir, Mary, who was a Protestant. Many believed that the new heir would continue James's Catholic inclinations. William, Prince of Orange, who was Mary's husband, was asked to bring his army to England; when William and his army arrived in England, James was allowed to flee the country.

He was given asylum in France by his cousin, Louis XIV. The Convention Parliament that was convened announced that James had abdicated the throne, and his Protestant daughter, Mary, was named Queen. Upon her insistence, both she and her husband, William of Orange, became joint monarchs, William III and Mary II. Why was the Revolution Glorious? It was essentially bloodless (compared to the English Civil War and the aftermath), and it effectively ended any further threat of Catholicism coming back to England.