Title: The France of Louis XIV, 1643 to 1715: The Triumph of Absolutism
1- The France of Louis XIV, 1643 to 1715 The
Triumph of Absolutism - Section 4.21
2Rise of Western Absolutism
Sun Kings Reign Begins
Henry IV
Treaty of Utrecht
Stuart Reign Begins
1589 1598 1604 1629 1643 1649 1715
Peace of Alais
Fronde
Edict of Nantes
3Absolutism
- Defined Monarchy posses exclusive sovereign
power over the State - Sovereignty- a monopoly over the instruments of
power - Executive, Judicial, legislative
- Letat, cest moi (the state is myself)- Louis
XIV - Characteristics
- Rule by Divine Right of Kings
- the king is the earthly representative of God
- Bureaucracies
- utilized to enforce monarchs will
- Made up of Nobles of the Robe
- Nobility effectively brought under control
- Eastern Europe nobility became more powerful
- Large Standing Army
- Uniformed, disciplined, professional under
monarchs control - Royal power was absolute but not arbitrary
- Not Totalitarianism
- Lacked ability to enforce total regulation of
art, culture, etc. - Similar to totalitarianism in emphasis on being
submissive to the State, use of armies and war to
distract population - More a legal principle than a fact in Europe
4Theory of Absolutism
- Jean Bodin (1530-1596)
- Wrote Les Six livres de la République during
French civil wars of 1500s - Believed only absolutism could bring stability to
country - Said that monarch can not be subject to outside
force (nobility) - But said monarch is subject to reason
- Bishop Jacques Bossuet (1627-1704)
- Created principle of divine right of kings
- King placed on throne by god
- Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
- Leviathan
- Pessimistic view of man in a state of nature
- Nasty, brutish, and short
- Everyone seeks power, gain
- Advocated an Enlightened Despotism
- Rejected divine right
- Purely secular reasons for absolutism
5French Civilization in the Seventeenth Century
- France
- 19 million people (1700)
- 3X England, 2X Spain
- 90 engage in agrarian economic life
- Good, fertile soil for agriculture
- Uneven distribution of wealth
- millions lived in poverty, large number were also
wealthy - more merchants in France than GB or Neth (but
smaller proportion)
6The Development of Absolutism in France
- Estates General
- 1st Estate- Clergy
- 2nd Estate- Nobility
- 3rd Estate- Everyone Else
- not met since 1615
- Parlements (NOTE the spelling)
- 12 judicial bodies
- largely hereditary members, (noblesse de robe )
- unlike the English Parliament
- not legislative bodies,
- Courts of law with each being the supreme court
for a certain area - Had duty to record royal edicts laws
- wouldnt enforce royal edicts they deemed
unconstitutional - Parlement de Paris
7Henry IV
- Henry of Navarre (Bourbon)
- Laid foundation fro French absolutism
- Duke of Sully
- Henrys chief economic adviser
- Promised a chicken in every pot
- Paris is well worth a mass
- Edict of Nantes
- Lowered taxes
- Paulette
- Annual fee paid to retain hereditary rights
- Revived trade
- Granted trade monopolies
- Rebuild roads, canals
8Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642)
- Governments of Marie de Medici and her son Louis
XIII (1610-1643) administered by Cardinal
Richelieu - Cardinal but really a politique who fortified
absolutism and French cultural hegemony during
the 1600-1700s - Continued Henry IVs policies of centralization
- Presided over royal council
- Intendants
- Used nobles of robe to collect taxes, etc.
- Advances mercantilism
- Encouraged nobility to develop interests in
commerce without loss of title or status - Encouraged merchants with grants of titles of
nobility - Developed commercial companies
9Peace of Alais
- Prohibits private warfare and orders the
destruction of fortified castles not used by the
king - Peace of Alais (1629)
- amends the Edict of Nantes after Protestant
uprising is put down - Huguenots can not share political power, can not
keep private armies - Huguenots can practice Protestantism
- Path toward absolutism solidified
Cardinal Richelieu at the Siege of La Rochelle.
10French Civilization in the Seventeenth Century
- Salons
- develop by upper class women
- gathering of stimulating people of quality under
the roof of an inspiring hostess or host - partly to amuse one another and partly to refine
their taste and increase their knowledge through
conversation and readings - Debate without restraint of an academy
- Contributed to the spread of French ideas
11Salon Life
12Salon Life
13The Fronde (1648-1653)
- A Rev led by the parlements and nobility
- Demanded the right to declare certain edicts
unconstitutional - Nobility called for Estates General
- Hoped to dominate the bourgeoisie and clergy
Cardinal Mazarin
14The Fronde (1648-1653)
- if nobles won France would have been like Poland,
Russia - Frondeurs offered no systemic plan for reform
just a power grab - After close call with the nobility the
bourgeoisie stayed closer to the King and
accepted absolutism
15Louis XIV takes the reins of power (1661)
- Marzarin died in 1661 (14th is 18 years old)
- ability to see and stick to policy, extremely
methodical, worked hard - loved himself, flattery
- Lavish and opulent displays
- every inch and at every minute a King.
16Development of the state
- A sovereign state possesses a monopoly of justice
and use of force not private persons or private
armies (feudal) - He claimed a monopoly over law and army
- Private persons neither pass legal judgments or
control private armies
17Absolutism
- Letat, cest moi (the state is myself)
- Divine Right of Kings-the king is the earthly
representative of God\ - Theory developed by Bishop Bossuet
- the king is accountable to God and therefore will
do what is right and conform to the higher
authority of God - Royal power was absolute but not arbitrary and
must be reasonable and just like the will of God
but free from dictation from parlements, estates - More a legal principle than a fact in Europe
- Kings had to deal with advisers, bureaucrats,
local customs, lawyers, ecclesiastics, nobles,
grandees, hereditary officeholders, and
miscellaneous dignitaries - Slow passage of information required some element
of local control
18Government and Administration
- Inherited bureaucracy (Richielieu)
- Intendants
- From Nobles of the Robe (not Sword)
- Administered 1 of 32 generalities
- Reported directly to king
- Never worked in home region
- Collected taxes, recruited soldiers, administered
justice - Army centralized
- All armed men only fought for him
- Put the artillery into the army
- Systematized the ranks and grades
- Defined the chain of command (Louis XIV at the
top) - Discipline and order become the rule of the day
- Housed troops in barracks
- Army could be used to suppress rebellion at home
- Size created new bureaucratic demands
- increased army from 100, 000 to 400, 000
19The Splendor of Versailles
- located about 10 miles from Paris
- monument to worldly splendor (Hall of Mirrors,
gardens, chandeliers) - Developed complex system of behaviors
- Lever, diner, coucher (rising, eating, going to
bed) - Six different entries of person at the lever
(rising) - Noblemen a specified moment held the right sleeve
of the kings nightshirt - Induced great nobles to live a Versailles
20Economic and Financial Policies Colbert
- Ability of raise adequate mulla is chronicle
problem - Taxation
- Tradition of not taxing the nobles so only the
unprivileged classes (peasants) paid taxes - Louis didnt want to give up control to nobles
(so he didnt tax them) - Wealthy middle class also bought their way out of
taxes (bought a title) - Tax Farmer
- Collected taxes, paid government and kept the
extra!
Louis Le Nain (French, 1603-1648) Peasant
Interior with an Old Flute Player c. 1642
21Economic and Financial Policies Colbert
- Where does Louis get money?
- Raise taxes (not effective)
- Devalued currency (inflation)
- Sold titles (limited number of candidates)
- Sold government offices (corruption)
- Sold military commissions (dangerous)
- Annul town charters and sell liberties back to
the cities (dangerous)
22Reforms by Colbert
- Mercantilist policies
- Expanded export of French goods and increased
wealth from which government income could
increase - Especially in textiles
- Reduced internal tariffs
- Great Five Farms promoted free trade
- Commercial code (uniform laws of trade over local
customs) - Built Roads and canals
- Raised tariffs
- Imported NO foreign finished goods
23Reforms by Colbert
- Required uniform standards of manufacture
(Quality Control) - More foreigners would trust buying French goods
- Subsidized development of certain manufactures
- Silk, glassware, tapestries, woolens
- Founded colonies
- French East India Company
- Supplying large army drove much manufacturing
- Result is government works to restrict nobility
at the same time it is protecting privileges of
nobility
24Religion The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes,
1685
- Control over French Church
- Believed that religious unity necessary for
strength of his rule - Repressed Janenism (type of Calvinism in Catholic
Church) - Pressure to re-Catholicize Huguenots increased
- Dragooning (mounted infantrymen) were quartered
in Huguenot homes - In 1685 he revoked the Edict of Nantes
- Persecution of Huguenots drives them out of
France - Went to Holland, Germany and America
- Loss of Huguenots is social blow to France
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes
25Religion The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes,
1685
26Accomplishments of Louis XIV
- Reforms are partial but legitimate
- Strain of war causes discontent with populace