FRENCH
ABSOLUTISM
THE REIGN OF LOUIS XIV
RELIGIOUS TURMOIL IN FRANCE
• 1562-1598 Catholics and Huguenots (French Protestants) fought
8 religious wars; chaos!
• 1559: King Henry II of France died, leaving 4 sons and wife
Catherine de Medicis-she was in charge
• 1572: St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in Paris sparked 6 week
nationwide slaughter of Huguenots
• Occurred during Catherine’s daughter’s marriage to Huguenot
Prince, Henry of Navarre
ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S
DAY MASSACRE
HENRY OF NAVARRE
• Descended from medieval
king Louis IX
• Inherited throne 1589 after
Catherine and son died
• Became Henry IV, first king
of Bourbon dynasty in
France
• Converted to Catholicism
HENRY IV
• 1598: Edict of Nantes: declaration of religious tolerance;
Huguenots can live in peace in France and set up own
houses of worship in some cities
• He focused on rebuilding France and its prosperity
• 1610 fanatic stabbed him to death
LOUIS XIII AND CARDINAL RICHELIEU
• Henry IV’s son took over:Louis XIII
• Weak King but appointed strong minister: Cardinal
Richelieu: became the real ruler of France
• Richelieu took 2 steps to increase power of Bourbon
monarchy
• Moved against Huguenots by saying Protestant cities could
not have walls
• Ordered nobles to take down fortified castles as part of
weakening their power
• He also started the Thirty Years War
LOUIS XIV, THE BOY KING
• 1643 Louis XIV, son of Louis XIII, becomes king
• real ruler is Richelieu’s successor: Cardinal Mazarin
• Greatest triumph was ending Thirty Years War;
• nobles hated him because increased taxes and power of
the central gov’t
• 1648-1653 anti-Mazarin riots, Louis never forgot fear and
anger at nobility
LOUIS XIV COMES TO POWER
• 1661 Mazarin dies, Louis XIV takes full control of gov’t
• excludes nobles from councils, weakening them
• increased power of government agents called intendants:
collected taxes, administered justice
LOUIS XIV AND THE ECONOMY
• Louis focused on economy-minister of Finance, Jean
Baptiste Colbert, helped him greatly
• Colbert believed in theory of mercantilism: an economic
policy under which nations sought to increase their wealth
and power by obtaining large amounts of gold and silver
by selling more goods than they bought
• Colbert tried to make France self-sufficient, expanded
manufacturing, gave tax benefits and government funds to
French companies
• High tariff on goods from other countries
• After Colbert died Louis enacted a policy that slowed
France’s economic progress, canceled the Edict of Nantes
in 1685 so Huguenots fled, including many skilled workers
THE SUN KING’S GRAND STYLE
• Louis spent a fortune on luxuries for himself
• Palace of Versailles immense, like a small royal city,
showed Louis’s wealth and power
• Versailles was center of the arts-made opera and ballet
more popular
• Supported arts more than any other monarch: purpose of
art was to glorify king and promote values that supported
his absolute rule(instead of glorify God(Middle Ages) or
humanism(Renaissance))
LOUIS CONTROLS THE
NOBILITY
• Louis had the nobles wait on him, dress him, etc. at his palace, he
took note of who was there
• This increased royal authority because
• 1) nobles were totally dependent on Louis
• 2) took nobles from their homes, giving more power to intendants
LOUIS FIGHTS DISASTROUS WARS
• France was the most powerful country in Europe
• 1667 Louis invaded Spanish Netherlands to expand
boundaries
• 1680s European-wide alliance formed to stop France,
defensive strategy
• 1689 William of Orange became king of England-joined
League of Augsburg: included Austrian Hapsburg
emperor, kings of Sweden and Spain, leaders of smaller
European states=equaled France’s strength
• France weakened by series of poor harvests, constant
warfare, new taxes to finance wars
THE WAR OF THE SPANISH
SUCCESSION
• 1700 Charles II of Spain dies, had no kids, promised
throne to Louis’s 16 year old grandson, Phillip of Anjou
• 1701 England, Austra, Dutch Republic, Portugal, and other
German and Italian states joined together to prevent this
union because threatened by increase in power: War of
the Spanish Succession
• ended 1714, Treaty of Utrecht: Phillip could stay king as
long as thrones of France and Spain not united
LOUIS’S DEATH AND LEGACY
• 1715 Louis died in bed-people rejoiced in France
• Mixed legacy:
• Positive: France was military leader, helped it gain colonies
• Negative: huge debt over wars and Versailles, the poor
upset by high taxes, abuse of power=REVOLUTION!