Age of Absolutism: King Louis XIV

Age of Absolutism:King Louis XIV

Background on Louis XIV• St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre (1572)

– Huguenots (French Calvinists) slaughtered by Catholics in town for the royal wedding

– Catherine de Medici’s daughter marrying Huguenot prince – Henry of Navarre– 20,000 - 100,0000 Huguenots killed across France. Henry survives. France is

mired in brutal civil war– Protestants fear for their future. Thousands of Huguenots flee to England– The Pope commemorates the event with a special medallion– Catherine’s son, Henry III assassinated in 1589

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The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, Aug. 24, 1572

•Henry of Navarre becomes Henry IV (1589)

–A Calvinist and member of the Bourbon family

–Attempts to unite France, but can not even step foot into Catholic Paris

–Converts to Catholicism in 1593

“ Paris is worth a mass.”

--What is the term for a leader more interested in political unity than anything else?

–Edict of Nantes (1598)•Declared “Huguenots could live in peace in France”

•Huguenots permitted to worship publicly, attend university, hold public office, and maintain fortified towns to defend themselves

–Put an end to religious warfare in France



Henry III on his deathbed designating Henry of

Navarre as his successor.

Henry IV“ Si Dieu me prête vie, je ferai qu’il n’y aura point de laboureur en mon royaume qui n’ait les moyens d’avoir le dimanche une poule dans son pot!

(If God keeps me, I will make sure that there is no working man in my kingdom who does not have the means to have a chicken in the pot every Sunday!) ”

One of the most popular French kings, brought relative peace and prosperity to France.

Henry IV (r.1589-1610)• Puts France’s financial

house in order• Major public works

projects--roads, bridges, canals

• Restored Paris to a grand city

• Promoted arts and education• Assassinated by a Catholic

fanatic on May 4, 1610--his coach was caught in traffic



Louis XIII (r. 1610-1643)• Henry IV’s son (with his second wife, Marie de

Medici) inherits the throne at the age of 9 – Weak ruler. Marie is named Regent until he reaches 13.

• Appointed Cardinal Richelieu (RISH•uh•loo) as Louis’ chief minister in 1624





Cardinal Richelieu

–Real Ruler of France (considered world’s first Prime Minister)

–Goals: Centralize Power and Oppose Hapsburgs (ruled in Holy Roman Empire and Spain)

–Took Action vs. Protestants – No More Walls

–No More Fortified Castles for Nobles

–Established a network of government spies--“eyes and ears of the monarchy”

–King’s own mother was exiled for attempting to get the Cardinal dismissed

•Gets Involved in the Thirty Years’ War

•Secretly (later openly) supports Protestant forces fighting Hapsburgs

Cardinal Richelieu (1585 - 1642)

Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642)• Needs money to fight wars• Raised the gabelle (salt tax)

and the taille (land tax) but the clergy, nobility, high bourgeoisie are exempt

• Intendants (officials in service to the king) hired to collect taxes

• Peasant uprisings were violently crushed

• Did Richelieu succeed in accomplishing his goals?



Absolutism

• Political theory that believed in the “Divine Right of Kings” (Monarchs received their authority from God).

• Bishop Bossuet established this in Politics Taken From the Very Words of Scripture.

Bishop Jacques Bossuet

Louis XIV (r. 1643-1715)

• Inherits throne at age 5• Personal rule began in 1661

with the death of Cardinal Mazarin. (Age 14)

• "L'État, c'est moi" (the state is me)

• Symbolized as the “Sun King.” (Center of France; rays of sun reflect off of monarch onto subjects).

Louis XIV’s Reign

• Most Powerful Ruler in French History• Reign - 72 years, 3 months, and 18 days• Childhood memories:

– Forced to flee Paris as a young boy after a mob of angry men broke into the royal palace

– The Fronde: Armed bands of men led by aristocrats and judges discontent over high taxes and royal power

Cardinal Mazarin (1602-1661)

• Louis’ chief minister, the Italian Mazrin

• Continued policies of Richelieu

• Louis took full control of the government at age 23 following the death of Mazarin

Louis XIV’s Reign

• Louis was determined that no revolt would rise during his reign• Weakened Noble Power

-Excluded From Councils - chose ministers from middle class to keep aristocracy out of government-Courts (parlements) suffered loss of property or exile for failing to support the King-Intendants

“Government Agents/Tax Collectors/Police”• Economic Growth

Jean Baptiste Colbert (kawl•BEHR) - Minister of FinanceBelieved in Mercantilism - expanded France’s commercial presence around the worldWanted France to be self-sufficient, no imports

Châteaux de Versailles• The ultimate symbol of

royal absolutism• King’s residence and

center of government.• Spent vast sums of

money on expansion.• Manmade canals, lush

gardens-1,400 fountains, 1,200 orange trees

• Royal apartments were at the center of the complex.

Court Life at Versailles• Nobles were encouraged to live on the grounds and

participate in the pageantry of the court• 10,000 nobles, officials, and attendants made up the court• 12 miles outside of Paris• 60-80% of government revenues spent on Versailles• He also continued the practice of selling titles to the new

nobility (“nobles of the robe” as opposed to “nobles of the sword”)

• Cermonies for king’s waking, dining, and retiring to bed (lever, diner, coucher)

• Activities: Hunting, tennis, ballets, operas, concerts, theater

Domestic Policies“One king, one faith, one law.”

• Louis enacted absolutist ideas through domination of the central bureaucracy which had greater control of state finances, the execution of laws and the use of armed force.

• Increased royal control over the local parlements (15 regional courts).

• Established the policy of Gallicanism. (State is as powerful as the Pope) Louis considered himself as head of the French Church.

• Revoked the Edict of Nantes in in October 1685 (Edict of Fontainebleu) and began persecuting Huguenots; over 200,000 fled France (to England, Holland, Prussia, America.)

Wars & Expansion under Louis XIV

• Through a series of expensive wars Louis slowly expanded French territory.

• France had Europe’s largest army - 400,000

• Extend France to its “natural boundary” - the Rhine River.

• Take advantage of Habsburg decline.

• Balance of Power Politics

Wars of Louis XIV

• 1667 - Fought the Spanish Netherlands to the north with England as an ally

• 1689 - Invades-Alsace Lorraine • League of Augsburg: Spain, HRE, United

Provinces unite• After nine years of fighting the League,

Louis gains little

War of Spanish Succession(1702 - 1713)

• Childless Hapsburg Charles II of Spain names Bourbon Philip of Anjou as heir (Louis’ grandson).

• England, Holland and HRE oppose French acquisition of Spain & territories.

• Louis was defeated by the British and Austrians.

Treaty of Utrecht (1713)

•War ended with Treaty of Utrecht (1713) and Treaty of Baden and Rastatt (with Hapsburgs in 1714)

•Philip of Anjou become Philip V of Spain, but he nor his successors could hold French throne.

•Hapsburgs and British gained territory, French lost New World lands.

Treaty of Utrecht (1713) contd.

• England - The real winner• Receives Gibralter (gateway

to the Mediterranean), French possessions in North America

• Habsburgs gained Spanish Netherlands and Spanish territory in Italy

• On his deathbed Louis tells the future Louis XV, he feared that he “loved war too much.”



The End of an Era

• Louis XIV was one of the great state-builders of Europe

• The peasants of France suffered as they never had before or since. After paying their landlord, the government, and the Church, they had 20% of cash from crops left.

• Peasants also subject to corvee - a month of forced labor on the roads. Rebels were hanged or sent to work as slaves on ships.

• His absolutist policy solidified the place of France as the dominant power in Europe.

Age of Absolutism: King Louis XIV

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