France 3.4

Sources of Royal Authority

Royalty and the Ancien Regime• Sits above the three estates• Clergy, Knights (nobles) and workers

Royal Authority

Sources of Royal Authority• Religious: Divine Right

Sources of Royal Authority

• Dynastic – tradition and bloodlines

Sources of Royal Authority• Theory of Absolutism• “...there is no legal authority that can delay or resist him.”

Bishop Boussuet.

Sources of Royal Authority

• Military Command

Sources of Royal Authority

New Vocab• Parlement• Estates Generale• Absolutism• Dynastic authority• Divine right• Legitimacy• Despotism• Remonstrance• Benevolence• Patriarchal authority