Transcript Document
FRENCH ABSOLUTISM
THE RISE OF ABSOLUTE
MONARCHS (1650-1750)
In what sense were these forms
“modern”?
Which countries most clearly illustrate
the new patterns of political
organization
How did these forms of government
differ in Western and Eastern Europe?
What were the limitations of
absolutism?
“Absolute power corrupts
absolutely”
The Divine Right of Kings
The Modern Nation State
Strong Central
Government
Universal laws
Permanent Army –
professional soldiers paid
by the State
Trained Bureaucrats
Collect taxes, enforce laws,
administer justice
Secular State
State above Religion
Churches do not determine
state policy
National Security
National Power and Glory
National language, pride,
common culture, and history
distinct from others
Weak Medieval Kings
Power Feudal Nobel Lords
Religious Wars
France, England*, Spain (Western)
Prussia, Russia, Austria – (Eastern)
Diverse
Gradual shift from loyalty to
regional, local lords – monarch rise
of the Modern
God’s earthly representative
Obedience to God – Obedience to the
King
King could do no wrong
Bishop Jacques Bossuet
Politics Drawn From the Very Words of
the Holy Scripture
“The person of the king is sacred, and
to attack him in any way is an attack on
religion itself.”
Poltitique – “The (politiques) believed
man lived primarily in the state, not in
the church.”
“The politiques were men who
concluded that too much was being
made of religion, that no doctrine was
important enough to justify everlasting
war, that perhaps afterall there might be
room for two churches, and that what
the country needed above all else was
civil order.”
Paved the way for French Absolutism
by helping to restore internal peace
New Nobility – “Nobles of the Robe”
Disorders of religious wars germinated
the idea of royal absolutism and the
sovereign state
Henry IV – assassinated 1610 by a
Catholic Fanatic
1610-1643
Son of Henry IV
6 years old when his father dies
Mother Marie de Medici –
Regent
Huguenot revolts
Promoted Cardinal Richelieu –
Chief Advisor
1585-1642
Chief advisor – 1624-1642
Shrewd, Brilliant, Energetic,
Loyal, Catholic
Shaped the destiny of France
France – supreme power in
Europe
Strengthened the power of
the king
Threats to royal power?
Huguenots – “state within a state”
Peace of Alais (1629) – amended the
Edict of Nantes
Military rights of Huguenots must be
removed
Protestantism often served as a religious
cloak
Siege of La Rochelle
Royal Commissioners
Middle class, lesser nobles
Administrative System
France divided into 32 districts
Duties: collect taxes, recruit men for
army, administer laws, regulate
economic activities
WHY?
RICHELIEU
“If you give me six lines
written by the most honest
man, I will find something in
them to hang him.”- Cardinal
Richelieu (Armand-Jean du
Plessis)
“SUN KING”
1638-1715
Father – Louis XIII
Mother – Anne of Austria
King age of 5
Longest reigning monarch in
European History
Cardinal Jules Mazarin a regent
Childhood marked by noble
uprisings
1602-1661
Continued Richelieu’s
centralizing policies
The Frondes – 1648-1652 – series
of widespread rebellions –
French civil war
Term used for those who
opposed the King
Nobility opposed – strong
central government an new taxes
imposed by Mazarin
1660 married Maria Theresa –
Spanish Princess
1661 Mazarin dies – age of 23 Louis
takes the sole reign of France
Financial Minister Jean Baptiste
Colbert
Encouraged art, music, theater,
architecture, painting, sculptor,
science
1664-1715
10 miles outside the city of
Paris
Originally a royal hunting
lodge
Official residence of Kings
1682-1790
Baroque Style
1837 Louis Philippe –
converted Museum
Strong king
preferable to
anarchy
Frightened a
young Louis XIV
Caused him to fear
the nobles and
look for ways to
control them
1616-1683
Chief financial minister
Mercantilist
Expanded gov’t role in
the economy
French East India
company
Built roads, canals
Expanded Merchant fleet
Tax burden - peasants
1685
Revoked
200,000
Huguenots fled
“one king, one
faith, one law”
The War of Devolution
(1667-1668)
The Dutch War (16721678)
War of the League of
Augsburg (1688-1697)
War of Spanish Succession
(1701-1714)
4 major wars in 46 years
“the line of the Rhine”
Louis XIV
Natural Border
Expansionist Policy
Closest relative – Heir
Louis XIV grandson –
Philip the Duke of
Anjou
Philip V – Spain
Problem?
France and Spain Unite?
TOO POWERFUL
Grand Alliance – England, Dutch, Austria,
Prussia, HRE v. France
1713 – Treaty of Utrecht
Phillip V (1700-46) remains King of Spain
France and Spain never to unite
Austrian Hapsburgs acquire – Spanish
Netherlands (Belgium), Milan, Naples,
Sardinia
Elector of Brandenburg – King of Prussia
End of French
expansionist policy
Completed the decline
of Spain
Vastly expanded Great
Britain
BALANCE OF POWER
Experience in
international
cooperation
Strong Central Government
“one faith, one law, one king”
Weakened forced that tended to divide
nations
Growth towards the Modern Nation
State
Nation’s welfare dependent upon the
ability of one person
Countless costly wars
Disregarded the needs of the rights of
the common people