Bell Ringer
• Who was the King of France that survived the
St. Bartholomew's day massacre and wrote
the Edict of Nantes?
• Henry IV
Agenda/Objectives
• We are going to take a look at how Absolutism
impacted France.
• - Louis XIV, Louis XV
• We are going to look at the social inequalities
in France.
• - Third estate vs. First and Second Estate
The
Reign
of
Louis
XIV
Religious Wars and Power Struggles
• Between 1552 and 1598, Huguenots (French
Protestants) and Catholics fought eight religious wars
• In 1589, Henry IV becomes king
– He’s a Huguenot
– First Bourbon king
• He was opposed by many Catholics, so he gave up his
Protestantism and became a Catholic
– “Paris is well worth a mass.”
• 1598, Henry issued the Edict of Nantes which granted
religious tolerance to Huguenots
• Henry rebuilt France, made it prosperous, and
strengthened the monarchy
– He was stabbed to a death in 1610 by a religious fanatic
Henry IV of France
Henry IV stabbed to death in his royal carriage
Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu
• Henry’s son, Louis XIII, becomes king
• He is a weak king, but he has a strong a minister,
Cardinal Richelieu, a leader of the Catholic Church
• Richelieu basically rules France
• Richelieu takes two steps to increase the power of the
monarchy:
– Restricted Huguenots (no walls) so they couldn’t defy
the king
– Weakened power of the nobles
• No fortified castles
• Gave government jobs to middle class people
• Wanted France to be strongest state in Europe
– Led to involvement in Thirty Years’ War
Cardinal Richelieu
Louis XIV Comes to Power
• The strengthening of the French monarchy
paved the way for the most powerful ruler
in French history – Louis XIV
• Louis XIV believed that he and the state
were one and the same
– “L’etat, c’est moi” = “I am the state”
• Liked to be called the Sun King because all
power radiated from him
Louis XIV said,
“L’etat, c’est moi”
Louis, the Boy King
• Became king when he was four years old
• The true ruler, was Cardinal Mazarin, who
replaced Cardinal Richelieu
• The nobles hated Mazarin because he
increased taxes and strengthened the central
government
– Nobles rebelled and threatened Mazarin and
Louis
– Rebellion failed when peasants and townspeople
got tired of fighting and disorder
– They preferred the oppression of an absolute king
to the chaos
Louis XIV at Seven
Louis Weakens the Nobles’
Authority
• When Mazarin died, Louis took control
• He furthered weakened the power of the
nobles by excluding them from his councils
• He increased the power of the intendants,
who collected taxes and administered justice
– Intendants were like “civil servants”; they were
appointed by the king to make sure his rule was
being followed all over France
• He made sure that local officials
communicated with him regularly
Economic Growth
• Louis wanted France to be economically,
politically, and culturally strong
• His minister of finance, Jean Baptiste
Colbert, believed in mercantilism
– Wanted France to keep its wealth by being
self-sufficient, rather than relying on imports
• Helped expand manufacturing
• Placed high tariff (tax) on imported goods
• Recognized importance of colonies for raw
materials and market for French goods
– Fur trade from Canada
• After Colbert’s death, Louis canceled the
Edict of Nantes, which protected religious
freedom for Huguenots
• Thousands of Huguenot artisans and
business people left France
• France was left without many of its skilled
workers
• Economic progress was slowed
• Who does that remind of you of?
The Sun King’s Grand Style
• Louis spent a fortune surrounding himself
with luxury
• Built the huge palace at Versailles near
Paris
– Palace was 500 yards long
– Ornate decoration and furnishings
– Intended to clearly show Louis’s wealth and
power
Louis Controls the Nobility
• Louis required hundreds of nobles to live at
Versailles
• They were kept busy with elaborate rituals
surrounding Louis
– The Levée
• Increased royal authority in two ways:
– Made the nobility dependent on Louis
– Took them away from their homes so the
intendants had more power
• Kept them under Louis watchful eye
Patronage of the Arts
• Versailles was a center of arts
• Louis made opera and ballet more
popular
• Most famous writer – Moliere
– Wrote comedies
• Louis supported the arts as a way to
glorify the king and promote values that
supported his absolute rule
Louis Fights Disastrous Wars
• Under Louis, France was the most powerful
country in Europe
• He attempted to expand France’s boundaries
by invading the Spanish Netherlands, but he
only gained a small region
• Decided to fight other wars, but other
countries joined together to keep France from
becoming too strong
• A poor harvest, high taxes to finance the
wars, and constant warfare brought suffering
to the people of France
War of Spanish Succession
• In 1700, king of Spain dies with no heir
• He promised the throne to Louis XIV’s
grandson, Philip
• Spain and France had been enemies, but
were now both ruled by the French Bourbon
family
• Other countries were threatened by this
increase in the Bourbon’s power and joined
together to stop it
• Led to the long War of Spanish Succession
• War lasted until 1714
• Ended with the Treaty of Utrecht which
said Louis’s grandson could remain king
of Spain, but the thrones of Spain and
France could not be united
• British came out of the war with Gibraltar
(a fortress controlling the entrance to the
Mediterranean), permission to send
African slaves to the Spanish colonies in
the Americas, and some of France’s
territories in North America
Louis’s Death and Legacy
• Died in 1715
• Positive legacy:
–
–
–
–
France was a great power
Leader in European art and literature
Military leader of Europe
Had a strong empire of colonies
• Negative legacy:
– Left huge debt from wars and building Versailles
– Resentment by the poor over taxes and Louis’s
abuse of power eventually led to revolution
The Seven’s Year War
• War fought in Europe, India, North America
• France ends up losing some of its colonial
possessions
• Increases French national debt
• Louis XV