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French Absolut ism

AP French Absolutism pt1

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FrenchAbsolutis

m

Louis XIII

• Son of Henry IV and Marie de’ Medici (Henry’s 2nd wife)

• Inherited throne at the age of 9

• Mom claimed regent

Cardinal Armand Richelieu

• 1585-1642• Louis XIII’s Chief Minister• Laid foundation for absolutism• Main goals:

o Destroy power of nobles o Destroy Huguenots o Check power of Habsburgso Dominate in 30 YW

Cardinal Jules Mazarin

• Chief minister to Louis XIV

• Picked up where Richelieu left off

• Barely escaped La Fronde

Louis XIV• Son of Louis XIII and Anne of Austria

o Louis XIV’s birth = “miracle”o Queen Anne childless for 23 yrs

Val-de-Grâce (Benedictine Convent)

Louis XIV• King - age 5

• Name = absolutismo Reign - 72 years (54

personally) – longest of any Euro monarch

o Never convened Estates General

o French style, clothes, etiquette = Euro standard

o French = common Euro language

La Fronde

• 1649-1652• An uprising of the

nobles against royal authority

• Louis XIV (child) & Mazarin nearly died

“L’État c’est moi”

• “I am the state”o divine righto Law = will of the sovereign king

• Sun = Louis’ symbol (Apollo/center of the universe)

• Goal = “One King, One Law, One God”

Louis XIV

The Sun King

Reign of Louis XIV

How did Louis XIV maintain absolute control of France?

1. Political Absolutism

Expanded Bureaucracy:

• Firm, uniform admin. flowing Louis

• One purpose: do Louis’ bidding

• Appointed intendantso Public officials (“civil service”)

• Usually “recent nobles” (bourgeois recently ennobled)

Political (cont.)

• The intendantso Justice (oversaw courts)o Police (protection & military affairs)o Finance (taxes & financial affairs)

Jean-Baptiste Colbert

• Chief Financial Minister (20 yrs)

• Tax exempt nobility

• Taxed peasants unmercifully

Mercantilism

a system of economic regulations aimed at increasing the power of the state based on the belief that a nation’s international power was based on its wealth, specifically its supply of gold and silver

Colbert (cont.)

• Followed mercantilism

• Aim omake France self-sufficiento expand Fr. Exports (colonies, French East

India Co.)

Colbert (cont.)

• AgricultureoMain industryo Lagged behind other Europeans

• Five Great Farmso Free trade zone (Central France)o Illegal to export food (incr. supply = lower

costs)oCheap food = peasants:

oFed/happyoMore $$ for taxes

Colbert (cont.)

Commerce

• Commercial Code:o built roads/canalso required minimum quality standardso subsidies, tax exemptions, & monopolies to

silk, tapestries, glass, woolens

Colbert’s Tomb

St. EustacheParis

2. Military Absolutism

• Took over armyo previously – each noble maintained & controlled own o Often pillaged neighbors on their way to war

• All armed forces must fight for Louis XIV• Produced peace & order w/in France + increased strength

Military (cont.)

• Organized units:oCalvaryo Infantry o Artillery

• Made ranks & chain of command (him on top)

• Instilled discipline and order to military

• 400,000 meno Paid, fed, trained, & supplied

• Hôtel des Invalides (military hospital)

Hôtel des

Invalides

Paris

Military (cont.)

Louis XIV’s Wars:• Franco-Dutch War

(1672-1678)• France, Sweden,

England + vs. Netherlands, Spain, Austria +

• France – gains some Spanish territories

Military (cont.)

• War of League of Augsburg (1688-1697)oGrand Alliance (Spain, Dutch Rep, Sweden,

Engl. & HRE) vs. Franceo Spread into N. Am. colonies, as well (King

Wm’s War)

• GA worried Louis will upset balance of power w/ expansions to “natural borders”

Military (cont.)

• War of Spanish SuccessionoChas II (Spain) died heirlesso Philip Duc d’Anjou (L. XIV’s grandson) namedo Austrian Habsburg Leo I challenged – backed

by Grand Alliance

Treaty of Utrecht

• Ended Spanish War of Succession

• France lost Germanic territories (war decimated economy)

• French Bourbon = king of Spain (Philip V)

Charles II of Spain

3. Religious Absolutism

• Louis XIV o Believed religious unity essentialoHated hereticsoDragooned Huguenots (quartered soldiers in

homes to ensure RC practices)

Religion (cont.)

Revoked Edict of Nantes

• October 1685 – Edict of Fontainebleau

• biggest mistake ?

• Protestantism made illegal

• Exodus of over 100,000 Huguenots (to Great Britain, Prussia, Dutch Republic, etc.)

Religion (cont.)

• lost skilled workers (bad for economy)

• damaged Louis XIV’s reputation – bordering Protestant nations = more hostile

4. Patron of the Arts

• Brought to court the besto Playwrights & authorso ArtistsoComposers & musicians

Portrait of

Molière

Musée Carnavalet, Paris

Place de la Victoire

The Arts (cont.)

• Goal = show the world his:oWealtho Powero Superiority

• The culmination of all absolute splendor…