 Both in England and France, most of population was agrarian and were farmers
 Atlantic Ocean to the west allowed for easy trade access with rest of world

 France:
 Absolutism rulers began with Henry IV of Navarre, the first of the the Bourbon Dynasty, followed by
Louis XIII
 Richelieu laid the foundation for absolutism with the intendant system, politique, and weakening of the nobility

 Louis XIV was the epitome of an absolute ruler
 “L’etat c’est moi”
 Divine right to rule
 Louis XIV’s Wars
 War of Devolution (First Dutch War) 1667-
1168
 Second Dutch War, 1672-1678
 War of League of Ausburg, 1688-1697
 War of Spanish Succession, 1701-1713

 Mercantilism
 Duke of Sully: laid foundation for mercantilism by granting monopolies and reforming tax system
 Richelieu built upon Sully by increasing taxation to fund the military  exploitation of peasantry
 Old system of selling offices
 Three estates: social order based on wealth and power

 Catholicism vs. Calvinism
 Edict of Nantes passed by Henry of Navarre
 Edict of Fountainbleu revokes it
 Divine Right
 Absolute rulers, most notably Louis XIV, believed they had had God’s blessing to rule  absolute power

 Traditional Feudal France
 Arranged in Three Estates
 First: Clergy, 1% of population
 Second: nobility, 3-4% of population
 Third: bourgeoisie (middle class), artisans, peasants
 Agriculture
 Primarily agrarian with 90% of population lived in countryside

 Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes
 Argues for a social contract
 Absolute sovereign
 Provided basis for reformed Parliament
 Second Treatise of Civil Government by John Locke
 People set up civil governments to protect life, liberty, and property
 Government can be overthrown by the people if seen as oppressive and tyrannical

 French Baroque
 Overwhelming emotion, grandeur, and movement
 Sought to demonstrate power and influence
 Baroque was popular in France, Austria, Germany, and
Poland and would later spread to Protestant countries like England and Netherlands
 French Architecture
 Elaborate buildings and ornate details to show the power and wealth of the absolute ruler (Louis XIV)

 The Printing Press
 Gutenberg’s Bible
 Mass printing  easier distribution
 Oil Painting
 Baroque Art

 The Power Struggle
 England’s problem was who would have more power in the government, the King or Parliament?
 Charles was defeated and was forced to summon
Parliament for support  Long Parliament
 They decided they would not give Charles an army and they destroyed the English monarchy  Cromwell and the New Model Army

 Mercantilism
 Like France, England used mercantilism as its main source of economic power
 They used joint stock companies throughout their colonies to exploit and make a profit from those colonies

 Religious Issues
 Anglican vs. Calvinism/Puritanism, sparking English
Civil War between Royalists and Parliamentarians
 The monarchy wanted an absolute Anglican state but were challenged by the people
 After the Glorious Revolution, “Nonconformists” had the freedom to worship

 England became an economic superpower with their extensive trade  rise of merchants within society
 Cities such as London became crowded and overpopulated  The Great Plague of London killing over 100k
 England’s growth as an economic power created a shift from living in the countryside to living in or close to the city = easier control of the people by the government

 French Absolutism vs. Eastern Absolutism
 Eastern absolutism was based on a powerful nobility, weak middle class, and an oppressed peasantry with serfs
 In France, the nobility’s power was limited, the middle class was somewhat strong, and the peasants were free from serfdom

 Kings were “first among equals” so they directly benefitted from serfdom
 Constant warfare and political chaos allowed landowning nobility to gain power at expense of monarch
 Peasants were weaker in the East so uprisings did not succeed
 Weak Eastern kings could not establish policies limiting nobility’s power

 Lack of Unity
 Austrian Empire was multinational which included Germans,
Italians, Czechs, Hungarians, Serbs, Croats, Romanians
 No single administration or government existed as each region had legal relationship to Holy Roman Emperor
 Important Rulers
 Ferdinand II- took control of Bohemia
 Ferdinand III- centralized government in old Austria
 Leopold I- restricted Protestant worship
 Charles VI- Pragmatic Sanction in 1713

 Frederick William, The “Great Elector”
 Made Prussia powerful and laid foundation for future Germany
 Prussian militarism  most powerful army in Europe and rise of
Junkers
 Frederick I
 Fought in two wars against Louis XIV: War of League of
Augsburg and War of Spanish Succession
 Allied with Hapsburgs  “King of Prussia”
 Frederick William I
 Created a militarist society  Sparta of the North
 Doubled the size of army and Junkers’ power increased

 Most powerful and famous of the Prussian kings who is considered to be an “Enlightened Despot” for his incorporation of Enlightenment ideals into his reign
 Instituted number of reforms
 Increased territory at the expense of Austrian
Hapsburgs

 The Ivans
 Ivan III and Ivan the Terrible both ruled Russia with an absolute rule and their military power
 Both limited power of the Boyars, the nobility, and exerting their control on the oppressed serfs and peasants
 After Ivan the Terrible’s death, Russia entered the period known as the Time of Troubles
 Period of famine, power struggles, and war

 Peter the Great
 After Peter’s travels to the West to study technology and culture, he brought back his knowledge to Russia to improve their country
 He imported a large number of Western technicians and craftsmen to help with building of factories
 State-regulated monopolies were created which reflected
Western industrialization
 By the end of his reign, iron production in Russia surpassed that of England

 Louis XIV declared his goal was “one king. One lawy, one faith.” Analyze the methods the king used to achieve this objective and discuss to which he was successful.
 In what ways and to what extent did absolutism affect the power and the status of the European nobility in the period of 1650-1750? Use examples from at least
TWO countries. (one eastern, one western country)

Thesis: King Louis XIV successfully achieved absolute power by strengthening the influence of government institutions, distracting aristocrats from gaining power of their own, and by ridding the nation of religious opposition.
1. Strengthening power of government
-intendants: officers hand-picked by Louis to enforce king's will by districts.
-getting rid of private armies
- strict control over institutions like banks and law enforcement
2. Distraction of aristocrats
-Palace of Versailles : "pleasure prison"
-nobles required to stay at palace for long periods throughout the year to keep an eye on them
-kept them from secretly plotting to seize power
3. Revoking religious toleration
-Revocation of Edict of Nantes
- persecuted Huguenots
- 100,000 fled from France --> not good for economy ---> French Revolution.

Thesis: The class of nobles consisted the same members of society in both the East and West during the age of absolutism, but their powers and strength were very different from one another seen in the economy and social influence.
France
-Weak nobility so monarch could have absolute power
-Absolute control gave the monarch control over the economy (monopolies, joint stock companies)
-“nobility of the sword” not allowed to influence royal council
-“nobility of the robe” new nobles who purchased their titles from the monarchy and became govt officials
Russia
-struggled for power with monarch but eventually power decreased due to power exerted on peasants
-nobles forced to serve the tsar in order to keep their lands
-many were executed because they threatened the power of the tsar
-many granted exemptions from military service
-power too strong  created new nobility loyal to tsar