French Absolutism

1
French Absolutism
2
1560-1650 Age of Crisis

• Accompanied by decline in religious orientation
• Growing secularization that affected political
  and intellectual worlds of Europe.

3
Modern State System Developed

• 17th century was a turning point in the evolution
  of the modern state system.
• Idea of united Christendom in Europe gave way to
  practical realities of a system of secular states
  in which reason of state took precedence over
  salvation of subjects souls.
• By 17th century, the credibility of Christianity
  had been so weakened in the religious wars that
  more and more Europeans could think of politics
  in secular terms.

4
Responses to Crisis

• Privileged classes of society, the aristocrats,
  remained in control.
• One of the responses to the crisis was a search
  for order within society.
• The most general trend saw an extension of
  monarchical power as a stabilizing force
  absolutism most evident in France during the
  reign of Louis XIV.
• But absolutism wasnt the only response. Others,
  like England reacted differently to domestic
  crisis and another system emerged where monarchs
  were limited by power of their representative
  assemblies.

5
Characteristics of Western European Absolutism

• Sovereignty of a country embodied in the person
  of the ruler
• Absolute monarchs not subordinate to national
  assemblies
• Nobility was effectively brought under control
• Bureaucracies often composed of career officials
  appointed by and solely accountable to the king
• Monarchies gained effective control of the Roman
  Catholic Church
• Maintained large standing armies
• Employed secret police to weaken political
  opponents

6
Theory of AbsolutismBodin

• Jean Bodin (1530-1596)
• Among first to provide theoretical basis for
  absolutism
• Wrote during French Civil Wars only absolutism
  could provide
• order and force people to obey
  government.
• Believed sovereign power consisted of the
  authority to make laws,
• tax, administer justice, control the
  states administrative system,
• and determine foreign policy.

7
Theory of AbsolutismBossuet

• Bishop Jacques Bossuet (1627-1704)
• Principle advocate of divine right of kings
  during reign of Louis XIV
• Argued government was divinely ordained so humans
  could live in an organized society.
• He did caution that although a kings authority
  was absolute, his power was not since he was
  limited by the law of God.
• There was a large gulf between the theory of
  absolutism as expressed by Bossuet and the
  practice of absolutism. A monarchs power was
  often limited by practical realities.

8
Development of French Absolutism 17th century

• French society divided into 3 estates made up of
  various classes
• - First Estate clergy 1 of
  population
• - Second Estate nobility 3-4 of
  population
• - Third Estate bourgeoisie
  artisans, urban workers, peasants
• This hierarchy of social orders, based on rank
  and privilege was restored under the reign of
  Henry IV.
• France primarily agrarian 90 lived in
  countryside.
• French population 17 million
• - largest country in Europe (20 of
  population)

9
Frances Religious Wars

• 1559 King Henry II of France died
• Left four young sons 3 of whom ruled one after
  the other, but incompetently
• The real power behind the throne was Catherine de
  Medicis their mother
• Catherine tried to preserve royal power for her
  sons, but growing conflicts between Catholics and
  Huguenots were rocking France

10
St. Bartholomews Day Massacre

• Many Huguenot nobles were in Paris attending the
  marriage of Catherines daughter to the Huguenot
  prince, Henry of Navarre
• Catherine had received reports that the Huguenots
  were planning on causing some trouble
• Thousands of Huguenots were dragged from their
  beds and slaughtered most of the nobles
  attending the wedding died
• The rampage went on for six weeks

11
St. Bartholomews Day Massare
12
Henry of Navarre

• Henry survived
• 1589 Henry inherited the throne of France when
  both Catherine and her last son died
• He became Henry IV, the first king of the Bourbon
  dynasty
• As king he was decisive, fearless in battle, and
  a clever politician a politique

13
Henry and Religion

• France was a Catholic country, most people
  opposed Henry as king
• To save France, Henry gave up Protestantism and
  became a Catholic
• He explained his conversion by declaring, Paris
  is well worth a Mass.
• 1598 Henry issued the Edict of Nantes a
  declaration of religious tolerance toward
  Huguenots, who were free to practice their
  religion openly - except in Catholic episcopal
  towns and around Paris

14
Henrys Legacy

• Henry had enacted wise financial policies
• He devoted his reign to rebuilding France and its
  prosperity
• He restored the French monarchy to a strong
  position
• The French people welcomed the peace after the
  religious wars
• Henry was killed by a fanatic who hated him for
  his religious compromises

15
Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu

• Henry IVs son Louis XIII took reign after his
  fathers death
• He was a weak king, but in 1624 he appointed a
  strong minister, Cardinal Richelieu
• Richelieu became, in effect, the ruler of France
• Although he tried to lead according to moral
  principles, he was also ambitious and enjoyed
  exercising authority

16
Steps Toward Absolutism

• Richelieu took two steps to increase the power of
  the Bourbon dynasty
• 1) He moved against the Huguenots
• - allowed worship but forbid
  walled cities and their
• armies
• 2) He sought to weaken the power of the nobles
  cautiously
• - made them take down fortified
  castles
• - increased power of government
  agents from the
• middle class ended need for
  noble officials
• - creeated elaborate network of
  spies to uncover conspiracies

17
Strengthening of Central Administration

• Sent out royal officials called intendants to
  provinces to execute orders of the central
  government
• Intendants came into conflict with provincial
  governors, but most of the time intendants won
  out.

18
Richelieu and the Thirty Years War

• Richelieu wanted to make France the strongest
  state in Europe
• He believed the greatest obstacle in achieving
  this goal was the Habsburg rulers whose lands
  surrounded France
• Habsburgs ruled Spain, Austria, the Netherlands,
  and parts of Germany
• To limit Habsburg power, Richelieu involved
  France in the Thirty Years War subsidized
  Protestant Sweden and sent troops to support
  Protestant cause against the Habsburgs.

19
Richelieus Finances

• Here he was less capable.
• Basic system of state finances were corrupt.
• Many people benefited from the systems
  inefficiency and injustice when it tried to
  reform it.
• Taille (annual direct tax on land) was increased.
• Expenditures, especially the cost of war, soon
  outstripped additional revenues.
• French debt continued to spiral.

20
Richelieus Death

• Richelieu died in 1642.
• Louis XIII died five months later.

21
Skepticism

• A new French intellectual movement developed
  after witnessing the religious wars
• They turned to skepticism, the idea that nothing
  can ever be known for certain
• These thinkers expressed an attitude of doubt
  toward churches that claimed to have the only
  correct set of doctrines
• They believed to doubt old ideas was the first
  step toward finding truth

22
Montaigne and the Essay

• After witnessing the death of a dear friend
  during the religious wars, Michel de Montaigne
  thought deeply about lifes meaning
• To communicate his ideas, he developed a new form
  of literature the essay
• An essay is a brief work that expresses a
  persons thoughts and opinions
• He believed that humans could never have absolute
  knowledge of what is true the beams of his
  study were painted with the sentence, All that
  is certain is that nothing is certain.

23
Rene Descartes

• French writer and brilliant thinker
• Wrote Meditations of First Philosophy which
  examined the skeptical argument that one could
  never be certain of anything
• He used his observations and his reason to answer
  such arguments
• He created a philosophy that influenced modern
  thinkers and helped to develop the scientific
  method
• He became an important figure of the Enlightenment

24
Louis XIV and Cardinal Mazarin

• 1643 Louis became king when he was only 5 yrs.
  old, his great grandfather was Philip II (both
  believed in divine right rule)
• Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII, became Louis
  XIV regent.
• She allowed Cardinal Mazarin, Richelieus
  successor, to be the true ruler of France.

25
Cardinal Mazarin
26
Impressions of Mazarin

• Mazarin was greatly disliked by all elements of
  the French population because he was a foreigner
  came from Italy as a papal legate.
• Nobles resented the building of central power at
  the expense of the provincial nobility and they
  temporarily allied with members of the Parlement
  of Paris, who opposed new taxes bing levied by
  the government to pay for the Thirty Years War.
• Masses were also angry at additional taxes.

27
The First Fronde1648-1649

• The Parlement of Paris was the most important
  court in France. It had jurisdiction over half
  of the kingdom.
• Members of the Parlement of Paris formed the
  nobles of the robe. These were the service
  nobility of lawyers and administrators.
• The Parlement of Paris led the First Fronde which
  broke out in Paris and was ended by compromise.

28
The Second Fronde1650-1652

• 1648-1653 Anti-Mazarin riots, known as the
  Fronde, tore France apart
• Nobles of the sword, ancestors of medieval
  nobles, led the riots that threatened the young
  kings life.
• They were interested in overthrowing Mazarin for
  their own purposes to increase their power.
• After the violence was over, Louis never forgot
  his fear or his anger at the nobility
• He was determined to become so strong that they
  could never threaten him again

29
Failure of the Fronde

• The Fronde failed for three reasons
• 1) Its leaders distrusted one another even more
  than
• they distrusted Mazarin
• 2) The government used violent repression
  against it
• 3) Peasants and townspeople grew weary of
  disorder
• and fighting
• For many years after it, the people of
  France accepted the
• oppressive power of the absolute king
  believing rebellion was worse

30
Louis and Absolutism

• Henry IV, Richelieu, and Mazarin strengthened the
  French monarchy
• Mazarin died in 1661 and 23 yr. old Louis took
  control of the government
• Louis weakened the power of the nobles by
  excluding them from his councils
• He increased the power of the government agents,
  called intendants, who collected taxes and
  administered justice. These jobs went to wealthy
  middle class men.
• Everyone in government was to communicate
  directly to him.
• Louis never called the Estates General, the
  medieval council of representatives of all French
  social classes. They did not meet from
  1614-1789. They were then no check on royal
  power.

31
Jean Baptiste Colbert

• Colbert became Louis chief minister of finance
• Colbert believed in the economic theory of
  mercantilism
• Mercantilism relies upon a favorable balance of
  trade so to keep wealth in France, Colbert tried
  to make France self-sufficient
• He wanted to manufacture everything and not rely
  on imports

32
Colberts Mercantilist Policies

• 1) Gave government funds and tax benefits to
  French
• companies
• 2) He placed a high tariff on goods from other
  countries
• 3) He recognized the importance of colonies as a
  source
• of raw materials and markets for
  French goods
• - He encouraged migration to
  French colony of
• Canada where the fur trade added
  to French
• commerce

33
Revocation of theEdict of Nantes

• After Colberts death, Louis announced a policy
  that slowed Frances economic progress
• 1685 Louis revoked the Edict of Nantes which
  had protected the religious freedom of the
  Huguenots
• In response, thousands of Huguenot artisans and
  business people fled the country
• Louiss policy thus robbed France of many skilled
  workers

34
Versailles Palace
35
VersaillesThe Hall of Mirrors
36
Louiss Grand StyleVersailles

• Louis spent a fortune surrounding himself with
  luxury
• He built a splendid palace at Versailles, 11
  miles southwest of Paris
• Its rich decorations and furnishings clearly
  showed the wealth and power of Louis
• He involved the nobility in elaborate court
  ceremonies like the levee to make them think that
  they were important
• Having the nobles at the palace increased royal
  authority and allowed the intendants to have more
  power

37
The Palace at Versailles

• Cost 2 billion in 1994 dollars
• Size 500 yards 2 wings (each 150 yds), 2,000
  rooms
• Gardens 15,000 acres, 1,400 fountains
• It took 36,000 laborers and 6,000 horses to build
  it
• It took so much water to run all of the fountains
  at the same time that it was only done on special
  occasions

38
Patronage of the Arts

• Versailles was the center of the arts during
  Louiss reign
• He made opera and ballet more popular
• One of Louiss favorite writers was Moliere
• - wrote Tartuffe which mocks religious
  hypocrisy
• - The Would-be Gentleman, mocks the
  newly rich
• - The Imaginary Invalid, mocks
  hypochondriacs
• Chief purpose of art under Louis was to glorify
  the king and promote values that supported
  Louiss absolute rule

39
Louiss Disastrous Wars

• France became the most powerful country in Europe
  under Louis XIV
• In 1660, they had 20 million people 4x as many
  as England, and 10x the size of the Dutch
  republic
• The French army numbered 100,000 in peacetime and
  400,000 in wartime far ahead of others in terms
  of size, training, and weaponry

40
Attempts to Expand Frances Boundaries

• 1667 Louis invaded the Spanish Netherlands
• - gained 12 towns
• 1672 He invaded the Dutch Netherlands
• - Dutch saved their country by opening
  the dikes and
• flooding the countryside (used tactic
  earlier against
• Spain)
• - Treaty of Nijmegen ended the war with
  France getting
• several towns and a region called
  Franche-Comte

41
Balance of Power Politics

• In the 1680s, a European-wide alliance had formed
  to stop France and Louis as he tried to create
  his universal monarchy
• By joining together, weaker countries could match
  Frances strength
• This defensive strategy was meant to achieve a
  balance of power, in which European nations
  maintained military and economic power so no
  single country or group of countries could
  dominate others
• In 1689, William of Orange, the Dutch prince,
  became the king of England (in the Glorious
  Revolution). He joined the League of Augsburg
  which consisted of the Habsburg emperor, the
  kings of Sweden and Spain, and leaders of several
  smaller European states. Joined they equaled
  Frances strength.

42
War of the Spanish Succession

• By this time the French were longing for peace.
• France had been weakened by a series of poor
  harvests.
• They also were suffering from constant warfare.
• Louiss added new taxes to finance his wars.
• But in 1700, when the childless king of Spain,
  Charles II, died, Louis saw the opportunity to
  increase Frances power

43

• Before his death, Charles had promised the throne
  to Louis XIVs 17 year old grandson, Philip of
  Anjou.
• The two greatest powers in Europe, enemies for so
  long, were going to both be ruled by Bourbons.
• But other countries were resolved to not let this
  happen.
• In 1701, England, Austria, the Dutch republic,
  Portugal, and several German and Italian states
  joined together against France and Spain in a
  struggle known as the War of the Spanish
  Succession.

44

• The costly war dragged on until 1713 when the
  Treaty of Utrecht was signed.
• Under the treaty, Louiss grandson was to remain
  king of Spain so long as the thrones of France
  and Spain were not united
• The Austrian Habsburgs took the Spanish
  Netherlands and other Spanish lands in Italy
• Prussia and Savoy were recognized as kingdoms

45
Britain The Big Winner

• Britain took Gibraltar from Spain, a fortress
  that controlled the entrance to the Mediterranean
  Sea
• Spain also granted a British company an asiento
  permission to send enslaved Africans to Spains
  American colonies.
• - this increased Britains involvement
  in trading
• enslaved Africans
• France gave Britain the North American
  territories of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, and
  abandoned claims to the Hudson Bay region

46
Louiss Death and Legacy

• When Louis was paving his way as the most
  powerful ruler in French history, he boasted,
  Letat, cest moi, meaning I am the state.
• But Louiss last years were more sad than
  glorious.
• He regretted the suffering he had brought to his
  people as a result of his disastrous wars.
• He died in bed in 1715 which brought rejoicing
  in France they had had enough of the Sun
  King.
• He had ruled for 72 yrs. longer than any other
  European monarch

47

• Louis had definitely left France as a power to be
  reckoned with in Europe
• But his staggering debts and resentment over the
  royal abuse of power would plague Louiss heirs.
• Eventually this resentment led to a revolution.