Chapter 13 Paths to Constitutionalism and Absolutism: England and France in the 17th Century

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Chapter 13Paths to Constitutionalism and
AbsolutismEngland and France in the 17th
Century
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Absolutism and Constitutionalism in Western Europe
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Pre-Absolutism in FranceThe Policies of Henry IV

• Reconciled the religious conflict between the
  Huguenots and Catholics
• Supported economic growth
• Short sighted taxation policies
• Introduced the paulette, an annual fee paid by
  royal officials to guarantee heredity in their
  offices.

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The Assassination of Henry IVHenry Laid the
Foundations of Absolutism

• Limited power of nobility
• Financial stability with finance minister Sully
• Economic growth
• Cared for the peasants

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RichelieauChief Minister to Louis XIII

• Established intendents, recruited from the new
  judicial nobility.
• Eliminated rights of Huguenots
• Network of spies to crush opposition
• Subordinated all groups and institutions to the
  monarchy
• Foreign policy to prevent the Habsburgs from
  unifying their territories surrounding France.

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Siege of La Rochelle

• Ended Protestant military and political
  independence in France.
• A step towards a unified French state.
• The decision to destroy Huguenot independence was
  based on the Huguenots refusal to allow
  Catholics freedom of worship in Huguenot cities.
• The Huguenot stronghold fell to Louis XIII in
  1628.

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La Rochelle
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The Sun King
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Louis XIV at his Coronation 1643 at 23.

• The Fronde a series of popular rebellions
• Inspired Louis to become an absolute monarch to
  prevent anarchy
• The Fronde was caused by
• The anger of the French bureaucracy who felt
  manipulated,
• Higher taxes on peasants and urban workers
• Resentment by members of the nobility towards
  the crown

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• The Cathedral at Reimswhere Louis was crowned

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Louis IV The Sun King

• Louis fancied himself the Sun King The center of
  the universe and a metaphor for absolutism.
• He said I am the State.
• The Sun King was the source of light for all of
  France.

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Louis Policies

• Had no intention of sharing his authority with
  the nobles ,yet he often compromised and
  collaborated with them
• One king, one law, one faith.
• Issued the Edict of Fountainbleau providing for
  the destruction of Huguenot churches.
• 200,000 Huguenots left France as a result

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The Era of Louis XIV

• The peak of absolutism
• Created the strongest centralized state in Europe
• French language and culture became international
  style

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Why Did Louis Create Versailles?

• He feared Paris and its potential mobs he
  experienced during the Fronde
• He could detect and control the movements of his
  court
• Increase the awe and veneration of the king.

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Versailles

• Versailles was a court ceremony with Louis as its
  star
• Staged daily ceremonies
• Involvement in the kings activities led to
  obtaining offices and titles only the king could
  grant.

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• 21 miles from Paris
• The center of government, society, and royal
  power
• Housed thousands
• By keeping nobles involved in the constant
  activities that made up daily life in the court,
  Louis excluded them from real power while
  allowing them to share in the mystique and power
  of the king

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The Hall of Mirrors

• By keeping nobles involved in the myriad
  activities that made up daily life in the court,
  Louis excluded them from real power while
  allowing them to share in the mystique of power
  as the kings companion.

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Fountains

• Three miles from the Seine, water was dammed and
  pumped
• 14 pumps powered by a dam
• Over 200 pumps to raise the water 162 meters
• Took 8 years to build

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People of Quality

• Rigid standards of court etiquette appropriate to
  rank
• Nobles aspired to assist the king in carrying out
  rising from bed, dining, praying, and going to
  bed.
• Daily life at Versailles included boating,
  parties, concerts, ballets, spectacular gardens,
  plays, billiards, cards and buffets

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Colbert Finance Minister

• Tried to make France self-sufficient
• High foreign tariffs
• Peasants mercilessly taxed.
• Established new industries and colonial ventures
• Improved transportation system
• Created a powerful merchant marine to transport
  French goods.

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Mercantilism

• Government should intervene to secure the largest
  share of limited resources.
• Keep foreign goods out with high tariffs.
• Keep domestic goods for sale at home.
• Strong gold surplus and reserve
• Popular economic policy during this era.
• Pre-dated capitalism

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Louis Wars

• Opposed by the Banks of Amsterdam, England, and
  Sweden
• Currency was devalued
• Weight of taxation fell on the peasants
• Led to widespread revolts

• Bad harvests added to the suffering
• 10 of French population died in five years (2
  million)
• Waged 4 wars between 1667 and 1713

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War of Spanish Succession

• The Grand Alliance A coalition of England,
  Holland, Habsburg Austria and German states
  opposed France.
• Ended with the Peace of Utrecht
• England gained the most from this war.

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The War of Spanish Succession

• Preserved the balance of power in Europe
• Checked Frances overseas commercial power.
• Treaty of Utrecht forbade the union between
  France and Spain, even though Louis grandson
  became king.
• Ended French expansionism
• Left France on the brink of bankruptcy, with
  widespread misery, revolts, surrounded by
  enemies.
• England emerged as a formidable naval force.
• Louis on his deathbed I loved war too much.

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French Classicism

• Louis shown as a young man in the style of French
  Classicism
• Artistic style borrowed from Greece, Rome, and
  the Renaissance.
• French Classicism presented subject matter
  related to the Greco-Roman past.

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Rape of the Sabine Womenby Poussin (French
Classical)
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Moliere

• Playwright, director, actor.
• Comedies/satires exposed the hypocrisies of the
  religious and social world
• Tartuffe ridiculed religious hypocrisy.
• Banned for five years by the Paris clergy
• His plays criticized the bourgeoisie.

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The Decline of Absolutist Spain

• Lack of investment in productive enterprises
• Expense/failure to repress the Dutch revolt
• Intellectual isolation and social malaise
• At Rocroi after their crushing defeat, they
  signed the Treaty of the Pyrenees of 1659.
• Marked the end of Spain as a great power.

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Constitutionalism

• Limitation of government by law.
• Balance of authority and power of the government
  on one hand and the rights and liberties of
  subjects on the other.
• Binding force
• The government must respect their constitution.

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James I of the House of Stuart

• Elizabeth Is cousin.
• King of Scotland for 35 years.
• Devoted to the divine right of kings
• Disdained the rights of Parliament and rights of
  property
• Abused tax money on lavish personal tastes

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Charles I

• Ruled without the consent of Parliament for 11
  years
• Invoked a medieval law to abscond funds from
  coastal districts and inland counties
  (Ship Money)
• The Long Parliament enjoined Charles in a power
  struggle as Parliament enacted legislation to
  limit the power of the King.

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Charles I Unfurls His Standard to Begin the
English Civil War
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English Civil War

• Tested whether sovereignty in England was to
  reside in the king or in Parliament.
• Parliament cut off funds for Charles when he
  wanted to raise taxes to create an army to put
  down an Irish rebellion

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English Civil War
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• Charles I was guilty of high treason

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• The trial and execution of Charles I sent shock
  waves throughout royal courts in Europe.
• Roreshadowed the fate of Louis XVI after the
  French Revolution.
• Was a severe blow to absolutism

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Charles I was Beheaded!
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Oliver Cromwell

• Led the New Model Army that controlled the
  government after the English Civil War.
• Constitution The Instrument of Government.
• Was torn up and martial law proclaimed
• Censored the press, no sports, no theatre.
• Crushed a rebellion in Ireland with such
  brutality that left a history of Irish hatred of
  England
• His Puritan, military dictatorship collapsed with
  his death.

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• Cromwells most significant policy measure the
  Navigation Act required that all English goods be
  transported on English ships.
• The English Test Act (1673) stipulated that
  political participation was based on adherence to
  the church of England

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Charles II

• Re-established monarchy after Cromwell
• Eldest son of Charles I
• Restored both houses of Parliament, courts of
  law, systems of local government and Anglican
  church.
• Established the Cabal of advisors, the ancestor
  of our cabinet system.

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• Charles II was succeeded his brother James II
• James II appointed Roman Catholics in high
  positions.
• Suspended law and attempted to revive absolutism.
• James fled to France and William and Mary took
  over the crown of England

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The Glorious Revolution

• Glorious because it was a non-violent
  transition of power from James II to William of
  Orange (Dutch) and Mary, daughter of James II (a
  Protestant) to the throne
• Ended absolute rule in Britain
• Catalyst for the English Bill of Rights

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English Bill of Rights

• Laws were made in Parliament
• Laws could not be suspended by the crown
• Parliament called every three years
• Crown could not interfere with elections
• Assured independence of judiciary
• Freedom of worship

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English society in the 16th and 17th centuries
had a growing wealth of the country gentry and
middle class businessmen
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John LockesSecond Treatise of Civil Government

• People set up civil governments to protect their
  natural rights of life, liberty and property.
• A government that oversteps its proper function
  to protect these natural rights becomes
  tyrannical
• It is the responsibility of the people to
  overthrow the government.

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• Locke linked economic liberty, private property
  and political freedom.
• We are born innocent, a blank slate or tabula
  rasa.
• His writings were the basis for Jeffersons
  Declaration of Independence

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• The Dutch had the highest standard of living in
  Europe. Salaries, even for women were high.
  An island of plenty in a sea of want.

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The Dutch Republic The Golden Age

• Based on fishing and overseas transport
• Religious toleration
• Moral principles of Calvinism.
• Strongly middle-class
• Political power was controlled by an
  oligarchy of wealthy merchants

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The Dutch East India Company was the primary
instrument of Dutch imperialism and trade
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The End