Transcript France in the Age of Absolutism

France in the Age of
Absolutism
 1559: King Henry II (Fr.) died
 3 sons were incompetent
 Catherine de Medici
 1562-1598: religious wars betw.
Catholics & Huguenots (Fr. Prots.)
I. Henry IV
 1572: St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre
 Hug. nobles slaughtered at wedding in Paris
betw. Catherine’s daughter & Henry of
Navarre (Hug. Prince)
 1589: Prince Henry inherited throne
(r. 1589-1610)
 Converted to Catholicism
 “Paris is well worth a mass!”
 1598: issued the Edict of Nantes
 Freedom of worship & political rights to Hugs.
 Other major problems:
 1. restore power to central govt.
 2. rebuild infrastructure
 3. France’s financial difficulties?
 Inefficient, corrupt, unjust
 Tax farming
 Nobles & clergy did not pay the taille
 Duke of Sully = Finance Minister
 Treasury showed surplus (funds for trade & industry)
 Henry = restored Fr. monarchy to a
strong position
 1610: stabbed by fanatical monk
II. Cardinal Richelieu’s Program for
France
 Louis XIII succeeded Henry (8 yrs. Old)
 Marie de Medici (mother) became regent
 Poor health & concentration
 Cardinal Richelieu (chief minister—ran govt.
from 1624-1642)
 Goal: make king supreme in Fr., & Fr.
supreme in Euro.
 1. destroy power of nobles & independence of
Hugs.
 2. strengthen Fr. economically (trade &
industry)
 3. reduce power of Spanish & Austrian
Hapsburgs
A. Huguenots
 Protestantism served as an excuse for
political conspiracies against the Catholic
king
 Hug. cities = fortified
 1627: attacked fortified Hug. towns
 1628: Hugs. asked for peace
 Forbade walls around Prot. cities
 Prots. could still worship freely & hold
office
B. Nobles
 Rich. ordered destruction of fortified
castles (nobles)
 Reduced nobles’ political power
 Appointed governors of provinces who
favored a strong monarchy
 Strengthened regional administrators
(intendants) –middle-class
III. The French Intellectual
Movement
 Fr. thinkers were shocked by wars
 Skepticism = the idea that nothing can ever be
known for certain
 Questioned the Church
 First step to the truth = DOUBT OLD IDEAS
 Michel de Montaigne
 Developed the “essay”
 New ideas replaced old ones
 Humans could never have absolute knowledge of
the truth
 Rene’ Descartes
 Meditations on First Philosophy
 Influenced modern thinkers (scientific method)
IV. The Sun King
 Louis XIV (r. 1643-1715)
 He and the state were one
 L’etat, c’est moi (“I am the state!”)
 Cardinal Mazarin (succeeded Richelieu)
 Very hated (raised taxes, strengthened govt.)
 1648-1653: anti-Mazarin riots (The Fronde)
 Led by nobles w/peasants
 Nobles = revive their power
 Louis was determined to become so strong that
the nobility could never threaten him again
 Frondeurs failed b/c…
 1. leaders distrusted one another
 2. Fr. govt. was oppressive
 3. peasants grew tired of fighting
 People accepted laws of the absolute king
 1661: Mazarin died, Louis took control
 Wanted economic, political, & cultural
greatness
 Jean-Baptiste Colbert (finance expert)




Policy of autarky (keep $ in Fr.)
Expanded manufacturing (govt $ & tax benefits)
Raised tariffs on imports
Colonies (raw materials & market potential)
 Religious disunity?
 1685: revoked Edict of Nantes
 >200,000 productive Prots. fled
A. Versailles
 Louis’s palace outside Paris
 New home of Fr. govt.
 Proof of absolute power





Cost $2.5 billion
36,000 laborers, 6,000 horses
5,000 acres (gardens, lawns, woods)
1,400 fountains
Hall of Mirrors (most beautiful room?)
B. Louis Controls the Nobility
 Nobles had to live at Versailles
 Acted as Louis’s personal servants
 Increased royal authority:
 1. nobility was dependent on Louis
 2. gave power to intendants
 Louis…too extravagant?
 Louis & Versailles = ideal of Euro. royalty
 Personal emblem = The Sun
C. Patronage of the Arts
 Versailles = center of the arts
 Opera & ballet
 Purpose of art:
 Middle Ages = glorify god
 Renaissance = glorify human potential
 Now = glorify the king!
V. The Wars of Louis XIV
 Fr. was most powerful in Euro.
 1660 = pop. was 20 mill. w/400,000 in army
 Louis fought 4 wars (1667-1713)
 1667—invaded Spanish Netherlands
 1672—invaded Dutch Netherlands
 Treaty of Nijmegen (several towns & FrancheCourte’)
 Other Euro. countries united
 Balance of power
 Wars strained Fr. resources
 Louis raised taxes
 Additional suffering = poor harvests
A. War of Spanish Succession
 Louis’s last war
 Who should succeed the Spanish throne?
 Throne promised to Philip of Anjou (Louis’s grandson)
 Greatest Euro. powers ruled by Fr. Bourbons?
 1701: other Euros. united
 1714: Treaty of Utrecht
 1. King Philip V = Spain
 2. Fr. & Spanish crowns NEVER unite!
 Winner = G.B.
 G.B. = Gibraltar, N. Amer. Territories
 Austrian Hapsburgs = Spanish
Netherlands & parts of Italy
B. Legacy of Louis XIV
 Wars cost a lot of $, exhausted the people
 Deep debt (wars & Palace)
 Resentment of taxes
 Fr. was largest, richest, & most influential
 Art & literature
 Military leader
 Nobles eventually win back powers
 Louis XV = successor
 Revolution was brewing