The French Monarchy

Chapter 19:iii

France was divided between

Catholic and Huguenot-dominated

areas by the late-1500s.

THE CROSS OF LANGUEDOC

Wars of Religion1562-98

• fighting between Protestant and Catholic nobles plunged France into chaos-royal power melted away

• Huguenots sought help from English, Dutch, and German Protestants

The French Huguenots were led by

Admiral Gaspard de

Coligny.

Catherine de’ Medici, the

queen mother, used ruthless tactics, often playing the

Catholics off against the Huguenots.

Thousands of Huguenots were massacred when they went to Paris to celebrate the marriage of Henry of Navarre to Catherine’s daughter.

Catherine de’ Medici is often credited with organizing the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre.

Huguenot leader Admiral Coligny was one of the victims slaughtered

on St. Bartholomew’s Day.

Henry IV

“Paris is well worth a Mass.”

Edict of Nantes1598

• freedom of worship• right to set-up churches• civil rights equal to those of

Catholics• 100 fortified towns protected

by Protestant troops

Henry IV(1553-1610)

• revived royal authority• developed a strong army• oversaw justice• repaired roads• encouraged new businesses

French nobles tried to reassert their influence early in Louis

XIII’s reign. In 1614, they forced

him to call the Estates General.

The Estates General did not meet for another 175

years. French monarchs

gained absolute power over the government as

a result.

Cardinal Richelieu increased the power and prestige of the French monarchy.

Cardinal Richelieu was a mercantilist, believing that trade would strengthen the monarchy.

Cardinal Richelieu promoted commerce by encouraging nobles to support overseas trading companies.

When Louis XIII died in 1643, his

wife, Anne of Austria, served

as regent for their four year old son Louis

XIV.

While serving as regent for the

young Louis XIV, Cardinal Mazarin

continued Richelieu’s policy

of centralizing power.

Louis XIV believed it was his divine right

to rule as an absolute monarch.

“L’etat, c’estmoi.”

Louis XIV’s motto:

“None his equal.”

Louis XIV reorganized

the army, gave it uniforms

and assigned ranks, and

increased the size to

400,000.

Louis XIV appointed

Intendants, or royal agents,

to rule the provinces.

Edict of Nantes

Cancelled!

What was Louis Thinking?

• Believed Huguenots threatened his absolute monarchy.

• Many were military and business leaders

• As a result many Huguenots emigrated to the Netherlands, England, and England’s American colonies.

Hall of Mirrors

Louis XIV encouraged the French nobles to live at Versailles so he

could keep an eye on them.

European rulers modeled their governments on the absolute

monarchy of Louis XIV.

People adopted French

manners and

fashions in clothing and art.

Louis XIV’s finance minister,

Jean Baptiste Colbert reformed

the system for collecting taxes and introduced higher taxes.

Colbert

• Continued mercantilist policies of Cardinal Richelieu to promote trade and industry

Wars of Louis XIV:War of Spanish Succession