Transcript Absolutism in France and Spain

AP European History
Ms. Tully
ABSOLUTISM IN FRANCE AND SPAIN
CRISES OF THE 17TH CENTURY
“Little Ice Age” – bad harvests, starvation for
lower classes
 Economic crises – high food prices, inequitable
wealth, recession
 Population decline – war, famine, plague
 Chaos of religious wars – yearning for order
 Social uprisings

STATEBUILDING IN THE 17TH CENTURY
Rise of absolutism & constitutionalism (limited
monarchy)
 Shared goals
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Protecting and expanding frontiers
 Raising new taxes
 Consolidating state control
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Shared obstacles
Slow communication/lack of information
 Cultural and linguistic differences
 Power of nobility & other autonomous groups (church,
town councils, guilds)
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Achievements
 Greater
taxation
 Growth in armed forces
 More efficient bureaucracies
 Increased obedience from subjects

Sovereignty: When a state possesses
monopoly over the instruments of justice
and the use of force within clearly defined
boundaries.
NEW MILITARIES FOR NEW STATES IN 17THC

Monarchs (not nobles)
controlled armies
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Officers loyal to
monarchs
Explosive growth in size
(esp. in France)
New professional
standards – uniforms,
training, discipline
ABSOLUTISM IN WESTERN EUROPE

Sovereign power or ultimate authority in the state rested
in the hands of a king who claimed to rule by divine right

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Divine-right monarchy – government was divinely
ordained so that humans could live in an organized
society
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Make laws, tax, administer justice, control bureaucracy,
determine foreign policy
Bishop Jacques Bossuet (1627-1704), Politics Drawn from
the Very Words of Holy Scripture
Kings authority was absolute – no other institution could put
checks on their power
Louis XIV of France best example of Absolute Monarchy
FOUNDATIONS OF ABSOLUTISM

Success of Henry IV (r. 1589-1610)
 Lowered
taxes on peasants
 Religious toleration
 Improved commerce and infrastructure
 Laid foundations for growth of state power
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Regency of Marie de’Medici
 Louis
XIII a child
 Appointed Armand Jean du Plessis (1585-1642) –
Cardinal Richelieu

Cardinal Richilieu
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Chief minister from
1624-1642
Created policies that
strengthened power of
monarchy
“Where the interests of
the state are
concerned, God
absolves actions which,
if privately committed,
would be a crime.”
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Intendants
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Royal commissioners
Nobles of the Robe – appointed directly by monarchy
Oversaw financial, political, and judicial business in
generalities (32)
Enforce royal orders
 Inform central gov’t about generalites
 Undermine influence of regional nobility
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One People, One Faith
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1627 – Huguenots stripped of military and political
independence
Siege of La Rochelle – major commercial port with
connections to Holland & England
Foreign Policy – Weaken Habsburgs

French engagement in Thirty Years’ War

Cardinal Jules Mazarin
(1602-1661)
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Richilieu’s successor
Ruled during regency of
Anne of Austria
Continued Richilieu’s
centralizing policies
The Fronde
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Revolt led by nobility –
outraged by taxation &
threatened by absolutism
Factionalism and popular
riots left French wishing
for peace and strong
monarchy
Necessary compromise
between monarch &
nobility
LOUIS XIV AND ABSOLUTISM (R. 1643-1715)
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Devout Catholic, divine
right of kings – fostered
myth of “Sun King”
Bureaucracy
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New councils of state
from bourgeoisie – “No
intention of sharing power
with them”
Never called meeting of
Estates General
No chief minister
Administration centered
at Versailles

Religion a tool for national unity
 1685
– Revoked Edict of Nantes
 1685- Edict of Fontainebleau
 Destruction
of Huguenot churches and schools
 Convert
to Catholicism or leave
 “One king, one law, one faith”
Absolute in theory,
collaboration/manipulation of nobles in
practice
 Desire to enhance glory of dynasty
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LIFE AT VERSAILLES
Set a standard for the rest of Europe –
influential in etiquette, style, politics, etc…
 Former hunting lodge, built 1660-1688
 Many functions

 Residence
for king and royal family
 Reception hall for state affairs
 Office for king’s government
 Home for thousands of royal officials and
aristocratic courtiers
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Symbol for French
absolutism and state
power
Louis engaged nobles in
daily court life at
Versailles –
excluded/distracted
them from real power
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Court ceremony with
Louis at center
Active involvement in
activities a prerequisite
for obtaining offices,
titles, and pensions
Elaborate order,
ceremony, etiquette
ECONOMIC ISSUES AND COLBERT
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Jean-Baptiste Colbert (16191683) – controller of general
finances under Louis XIV
Mercantilism – government
regulation of economic
activities to benefit the state
(dominant economic theory
of 17th & 18th centuries)
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Nation’s international power
thought to be based on
wealth, specifically gold/silver
supply (bullion)
B/c resources limited, state
intervention needed to secure
largest part of limited
resource
To accumulate gold – sell
more than buy
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Colbert wanted France to be self-sufficient
Supported old industries and created new ones –
esp. textiles
Reinforced system of state inspection & regulation
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Formed guilds
Tax incentives to craftsmen
No domestic tariffs, high foreign tariffs
Improved infrastructure – built roads and canals
Creation of merchant marine
Results
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Initial success, but ultimately self-defeating
Louis XIV spent all the $ on wars
Heavy taxation continued to weigh on peasants
LOUIS XIV’S WARS
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France at war for 33 of 54
years of Louis’ reign
Desire to increase royal
power and glory
Francois le Tellier –
Secretary of War
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New large and professional
army
Overall goal – expand
France to its “natural”
borders & protect from
invasion – Four Major
Wars
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1667 – Invasion of Spanish Netherlands and
Franche-Comte
Triple Alliance of Dutch, English, and Swedes forced
Louis to sue for peace
 Only acquired a few towns in Spanish Netherlands
 Resented Dutch for forming alliance

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1672 – 2nd Phase of Dutch War
France invaded United Provinces
 Dutch opened dikes to flood cities against French
 Alliance of Brandenburg, Spain, and HRE forced
Louis to end war
 Treaty Nijmegen, 1678
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 France
received Franche-Comte
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War of the League of Augsburg (1689-1697)
 France
annexed Alsace and Lorraine, occupation
of city of Strasbourg
 New coalition against France – League of
Augsburg: Spain, HRE, United Provinces,
Sweden, England
 Caused economic depression and famine in
France
 Treaty of Ryswick ended war
 France
had to give up most of previous conquests
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War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1713)
Charles II of Spain died childless, named grandson
of Louis XIV as successor
 Potential to upset balance of power – Spanish and
French thrones united?
 Grand Alliance – English, Dutch, Austrians,
Prussians
 Fighting in Europe and North America
 Peace of Utrecht, 1713
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 French
and Spanish crowns could never be united
 France surrendered N.A. territories
 Represented balance of power principle
 Completed decline of Spain as great power
THE DECLINE OF SPAIN IN THE 17TH CENTURY

Spain developed standard features of
absolutist monarchy in 16thC
 Permanent
bureaucracy, standing army, national
taxes
Developed an international absolutism
based on silver bullion from Peru
 Inquisition continued dogmatic orthodoxy
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 1609
Philip II expelled all the Moriscos –
destructive to Spanish society
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Reasons for decline
 Agricultural
crisis
 Population decline
 Loss of artisans and merchants
 Failure to invest in productive enterprises
 Intellectual isolation
 Trade competition with England and the Dutch
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Economic mismanagement
 Expenditures
exceeded income – esp. with wars
 Habsburg dynasty extravangant
 Lengthy conflicts with French during 17thC
Spanish aristocrats didn’t want to give up
lifestyle
 Ignored new
technological/scientific/intellectual trends
 Don Quixote, Miguel Cervantes – symbol for
Spanish decline
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