Age of Absolutism
and
Constitutionalism
Background
 17th Century: Financial crisis in
Europe
 Colder, wetter climate
 Shorter growing season
 Decline in grains = food shortage &
population decline
 State armies increased in: Size,
weapons, and tactics
 Monarchs increased taxes 
Peasant revolts
 Absolutism coined in 1830
 Rule by Divine Right
 NOT Totalitarian: didn’t control art,
education, religion, economy, or
politics in the interest of the state
Foundations of French
Absolutism
 Henry IV of France (1589)
 Developed insure peace, order, and
stability in the state
 Henry cared about his people 
Edict of Nantes (Civil Unity)
 Appointed Protestant Maximilian de
Bethune, Duke of Sully as chief
minister
Duke of Sully
 Sought to keep peace: lowered
peasant taxes
 Curtailed privileges of Nobility
 1602-4: introduced Paulette tax
 Annual fee royal officials paid to
guarantee heredity in their offices
 Sully: An effective administrator:
 Created govt. monopolies on
gunpowder, mines, and salt
 Subsidized a company for trade
with the Indies
 Began a canal system linking the
Atlantic with the Mediterranean
 Introduced Corvee: Force of Natl.
drafted workers  Road
improvements
Louis XIII
 Henry IV – 1610 Assassinated
 Louis Age 9 – Marie de Medici
becomes regent
 Feudal nobles dominate political
scene; Marie is vulnerable, seeks
security with Spain
1611: Treaty of Fontainebleau
 10 year mutual defense pact
 Guarantees marriage of Louis XIII
to Spanish Infanta (Anne of
Austria)
 Guarantees marriage of Elizabeth
(Isabella) Marie’s daughter to the
Spanish crown Prince, Philip (later
Philip IV) *Both marriages take
place in1615
Cardinal Richelieu as Chief
Advisor
 Promoted by Marie de Medici
 Richelieu’s policy: Subordinate all
groups and institutions to the
monarchy
 Dominated royal council: leveled
castles; crushed aristocratic
conspiracies w/ quick executionsDuke de Montmorency beheaded
Richelieu’s Administrative
System
 1634 – France divided into 32
generalites (districts)
 Royal intendants held commissions
to perform tasks: financial, judicial,
policing in each generalite
 Intendants delivered royal orders
from Paris
 Were appointed by the monarch
 Not natives of the district: no vested
interest in localities
 Duties:
 Recruit men for army
 Collect taxes
 Administer local law
 Keep check on local nobility
 Regulate economy: commerce, trade,
guilds, markets
 Results: weakened regional nobles
1627 Law of Concord
 Issued by Louis XIII
 Ended Protestant military and
political independence
 (150 towns supported their own
Protestant militaries)
 Constituted a state within a state
 Catholics had not been allowed to
worship in these towns
Law of Concord Cont.
 Sparked political disobedience 
Louis XIII acted:
 La Rochelle was targeted
 Cut off English aid; laid siege
 Oct. 1628 La Rochelle fell to Louis
 Govt. of town was suppressed
 Walls were destroyed
 Protestants could still worship
publicly
 Catholic liturgy was reinstated:
Cardinal Richelieu led 1st mass
 First step in a unified France
Urban Protests Arise
 Unemployment – real or feared
 Increase in food prices
 Grain shortage
 New and oppressive taxes
Major Insurrections:
 Dijon: 1630; 1668
 Bordeaux: 1635; 1675
 Montpellier: 1645
 Lyons: 1667-8; 1692
 Amiens: 1685; 1695; 1704; 1711
 All characterized by anger,
violence, punishment of royal
outsiders (seized, beaten, killed)
Govt. Response
 Municipal Militia and royal officials
didn’t want to fire on crowds (fear of
creating martyrs)
 Full-scale operations too expensive
 Plan: Let revolts run their course
 Royal edicts were suspended
 Prisoners were released
 Discussions were initiated
 Led to integration of municipal govt.
with national  prompt response
from Paris
Richelieu’s Foreign Policy
 Destroy “Hapsburg Fence” around
France
 Supported Hapsburg enemies
(Gustavas Adolphus)
 Gained French rights over Alsace
and Arras
 Wrote Political Testament on his
policies. Esp. govts. right to tax:
idea that central govt. should share
tax revenues w/ local govts.
 Centralized Literature
 1635: French Academy created a
dictionary to standardize the
French language
 Richelieu convinced Louis XIII to
appoint Jules Mazarin (foreigner)
as his successor
 Louis XIII died in 1643; Mazarin
becomes dominant political power
in France.
 Louis XIV – Mother, Queen Anne of
Austria becomes regent
 Only 4 when his father dies
Marie Theresa & the Dauphin
Young Louis XIV
 Mazarin continued Richelieu’s
centralizing policies. Attempts to
increase royal revenue led to civil
wars
1648-1653 Fronde Began in
Provinces
 Fronde: French for
slingshot/catapult
 Frondeur: street urchin who threw
mud at carriages of rich
 Frondeur became anyone opposed
to the policies of the govt.
 Many groups were represented as
Frondeur:
 Nobility (diminished role in govt)
 Royal bureaucrats
 Judges
 Intendants (social advancement was
ignored)
 Many regions refused to pay taxes
 1643 France defeated Spain at
Rocroi – Peace at hand; most
Frenchman believed there was no
need for taxes. (Parliament of Paris
rejected new taxes. Didn’t want to
pay for 30yrs war)
 Civil war that began in provinces
spread to Paris; civil order broke
down completely
Three Results of Fronde:
 1) Govt. had to compromise w/
bureaucrats and social elites
(already tax exempt; Louis XIV had
to confirm this privilege)
 2) French economy was badly
disrupted  years to rebuild
 3)Traumatic effect on young Louis
XIV:
 Frequent Threats
 Treated as prisoner
 Mob broke into his bedchamber
 Became cornerstone of his
political education; need for
absolute monarchy
L’ etat
c’est moi!
By
Hyacinthe
Rigaud
Louis XIV reign
 Louis XIV 1643-1715: longest
reign in European history
 No single chief appointed as
minister after Mazarin
 Revolt was more difficult:
challenge to the king directly
 Louis’ advisors were masters of
propaganda and the creation of
a political image
 crown conferred w/local
parlements before decisions
regarding them were made;
local parlaments had great
latitude regarding regional
matters, except for Parlament
of Paris: 1673: Louis curtailed
much of its power)
 King by Divine Right: French law,
popular opinion supported idea “King
of France is emperor in his realm”
 King’s wishes=law
 Royal authority upheld by Bishop
Jacques-Benigne Bossuet: defender
of divine right of Kings
 Used Old Testament rulers as
examples
 Taught that Kings were divinely
appointed by God
 Only god could judge Kings
 Kings not bound to dictates of
princes and parlaments: “L’etat, c’est
moi”
 Some historians believe that Louis’
gov’t innovations were significant:
complete domestication of the
nobility—complete control over the
social class that historically opposed
the centralizing goals of the French
monarchs
 Versailles:
 Used to exert political control
over nobility
 Permanent residence after
1682 of King’s family
 Artistically decorated to glorify
the “Sun King”
Louis XIII’s Old Chateau
Versailles Today
Palais de Versailles
Palais de Versailles
Chateau de Versailles
Chateau de Versailles
Gardens at Versailles
The Orangery
Fountains, Fountains, and More Fountains!
And More Fountains!
And More Fountains!
Temple of Love
Hall
of
Mirrors
The King’s Bed
The Queen’s Bed
Louis XIV’s Chapel
Louis XIV’s Chapel
Altarpiece
Organ in Louis XIV’s Chapel
Louis XIV’s Opera Stage
The Gallery of Battles
 Peter I and Frederick II imitated
Versailles
 French became international
language of diplomacy
 Most foreign courts spoke French
 court ceremonies undermined the
power of the great nobility
 Excluded the highest nobles from
councils

Operas, fetes, balls, gossip &
trivia occupied the nobles’ time
and attention
 This reduced the threat to
Louis’ power
 Louis separated power from
status and grandeur: secured
nobles’ cooperation and they
enjoyed the status and grandeur
 Dress Codes and High
Stakes gambling
contributed to nobles’ debt
and dependency on king
Louis XIV Government
 Ruled through powerful councils
 Controlled: foreign affairs,
domestic relations, & economy
 Daily meetings with chief
ministers of the councils
 Constant flow of information
between local districts &
Versailles
 Louis imposed central
government on France
 Intendants from generalites:
Nobility of the robe—depended
upon king for standing in society;
did not share king’s authority
 Louis never called a meeting of
the Estates General (no means
for the nobility to unite)
 Louis used spying, terror, secret
police, system of informers to
check nobility
 He opened private letters as well
 Suppressed Jansenists
 Louis wanted religious conformity to
have political unity
 Jesuits then established many
communities in France
 Jansenism: intra-catholic
opposition to Jesuit influence
 They opposed teachings on
free will, good works, and the
Arnaulds joined them
 The Jansenists believed that
the Jesuits assassinated
Henry IV
 1643: Antoine Arnauld wrote On
Frequent Communion which
criticized the redress of most
sins
 1653: Pope Innocent X declared
5 Jansenists heretics; he banned
their books and censured
speakers
 1660: Pope Innocent X issues
Ad Sacram Sedam a papal bull
banning Jansenism.
Louis XIV financial
situation
 Jean-Baptist Colbert (1619-1683)
appointed controller of general
finances
 Financial genius
 Wealth and economy of France
should serve the state
 Applied mercantilism to France
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
 Regulated flow of imports and
exports via tariffs
 New national industries created:
cloth. Tapestries, rugs, lace, mirrors
 Simplified bureaucracy
 Abolished unnecessary positions
 Reduced # of tax-exempt nobles
 Increased taille: direct tax on
peasants
 To improve internal trade:
 Set up state inspection and
regulation of goods
 Roads and canals built (Canal des
Deux Mers—Med to Bay of Biscay)
 Abolished domestic tariffs
 Created powerful merchant marine
 Bonuses paid to French ship owners
and builders
 Maritime conscription and
training
 1661: France had 18 poor
vessels
 1681: 276 Frigates, galleys,
ships of the line
 Hoped to make Canada part of
the French empire
 1608: Quebec established
 Colbert shipped 4000 peasants
to Canada
 Jacques Marquette and Louis
Joliet: sailed down the
Mississippi and took
possession on both sides to
Arkansas
 1684: Robert LaSalle claimed
the River Delta and Louisiana
Military reforms
 Marquis of Louvois transformed
Louis’ army
 Instituted salaries
 Improved discipline
 Promotion by merit
 4-yr enlistment period: only
single men
 Indendants monitored
conduct
 Military gained public
support—no threat to homes,
lives, well-being
 Sebastien Vauban introduced
trench warfare and defensive
frontiers
Louis’ Wars
 War of Devolution (1667-1668)

Over French claim to Spanish
Belgian provinces
 1659—Treaty of Pyrenees, MarieTherese was to renounce her claim to
Spanish succession if 500,000 crown
dowry paid to Louis
 This payment was not met
Charles II—Last Hapsburg king of
Spain
 Philip IV dies in Sept 1665: left
all land to sickly 4-yr old son,
Charles II; no land left to Marie.
 Legally, land in Brabant and
Flanders was to go the children
of the 1st marriage (MarieTherese)
 Louis responds by sending
armies in 1667
 England, Sweden, and United
Provinces of Holland formed Triple
Alliance against Louis, and he was
forced to sign peace: Treaty of
Aix-la-Chapelle; Louis gained 12
towns, including Lille and Tournai
 1670: Treaty of Dover allied
France and England against the
Dutch
Dutch War (1672-1678)
 1672: Louis invaded Holland:
(Louis’ reaction to Dutch boast of
having humbled him) (England
neutralized by Treaty of Dover)
Prince of Orange organized 7
provinces into fierce fighting unit
 1673: HRE, Spain, Lorraine,
Denmark, Brandenburg joined
Holland---France WINS
 Peace of Nijmwegen (167879)signed: France returned
seized Dutch territory on the
condition of future Dutch
neutrality. Louis gained Flemish
towns and all of Franche-Comte
(area between Burgundy and
Switzerland) more territory in
Spanish Netherlands.
 1681: Louis seized Strasbourg
 1684: Troops sent into Lorraine
 1688-1697: Nine Years’ War
(War of the League of Augsburg)
(King William’s War in North
America):
 Caused by anti-French
coalition—League of Augsburg,
formed in 1686
 France vs. HRE, Brandenburg,
Bavaria, Saxony, Sweden,
Spain, Savoy, England, and UP
 Fr. Armies devastated German
Rhineland; fairly successful on
land
 Dutch & English fleets far
superior to Fr. Naval forces;
prevented Louis from invading
England
 Coalition provided continuously
fresh troops to war effort; Fr.
Economy almost collapsed
 ended in stalemate
 Peace of Ryswick (1697)—
France gave up most territories
gained since Treaties of
Nijmwegen; kept Alsace and
Strasbourg; Recognized William
of Orange as William III of
England; all colonial conquests
were restored to pre-war status
War of Spanish
Succession (1701-1713)
 Caused by: dispute over French
Bourbon succession to the throne of
Spain (Philip V of Spain, grandson of
Louis XIV) and formation of the
“Grand Alliance” against France by
rival claimant, Emperor Leopold I of
HRE
 France, Spain, Bavaria vs HRE, England,
UP, Brandenburg, Denmark, several other
German states, and later, Portugal and
Savoy.
 Course of the war: Best French generals
dead; Grand Alliance had English Duke of
Marlborough and Savoy’s Prince Eugene, as
well as naval superiority
 Marlborough and Savoy saved Vienna from
French invasion at Battle of Blenheim in
1704—the major battle of the war; AngloDutch fleet captured Rock of Gibraltar
 1708—Peace negotiations began, w/Louis
accepting all terms but removing his
grandson from the Spanish throne, so war
continued
 Treaty of Utrecht (1713) and Treaties of
Rastadt and Baden (1714)
 France lost to England: Newfoundland,
Nova Scotia, and Hudson Bay Territory in
Canada;
 Spain lost to England: Gibraltar, Minorca,
and the Asiento (contract for supplying
African Slaves to the Spanish colonies)
 Spain lost to Hapsburg Austria:
Spanish Netherlands, Kingdom of
Naples, Duchy of Milan, and
Sardinia
 Duke of Savoy becomes King of
Savoy; given Sicily (in exchange for
Sardinia in 1720)
 Frederick I, son of Great Elector of
Brandenburg became King IN
Prussia
 Philip V recognized as King of
Spain, but no union between France
and Spain would be tolerated
 Dutch, exhausted, lost their
commercial supremacy to England
 France lost 1 million lives, remained
a major power, but lost her position
of predominance in Europe
 Still possessed the largest
population in Europe
 Upon Louis’ death in 1715, he was
succeeded by his 5 yr old greatgrandson, Louis XV, who had
none of Louis XIV’s abilities
Louis XV [r. 1715 – 1774]
Economy under Louis XV
 Regent for Louis XV: Duke of
Orleans, his uncle—gambler
 John Law (1671-1729) Scottish
mathematician; fellow gambler,
became financial administrator
for France
Increased paper money supply
(to help France!!)
 Established bank in Paris that
issued paper money
 Organized Mississippi
Company: monopoly on trading
privileges w/French Louisiana

 Mississippi Company also
managed French debt
 Issued shares of its own stock
for gov’t bonds (which fell in
value)
 To get return on investment: Law
encouraged speculation in
Mississippi Company stock
 Price rose
 Investors sold stock in exchange
for paper money; then
exchanged it for gold
 Bank did not have enough gold
to exchange
 1720: all gold payments halted
in France
 Law fled France
 Mississippi Bubble collapsed;
 Brought gov’t disgrace; fear of
paper money marked French
economy for decades
Renewal of authority in
Parlements
Drew French nobility into
decision-making processes of
gov’t
 Set up system of councils:
nobles served w/bureaucrats
 Nobles lacked talent and desire
to govern
 BUT: they did not surrender their
ambition to assert their rights,
privileged, local influence over the
monarchy
 Nobles tried to limit the authority of
the government
 Parlements in France: courts, could
not legislate; they could determine
legality of laws enacted by monarch
 Louis XIV had restricted
parlements’ power
 Duke of Orleans: restored
parlements’ power over laws—
nobility reasserted its authority
over the Monarchy
 Cardinal Fleury: (1653-1743)
1726: chief minister of French
court
 Realist
 Tried to block influence of nobles
 Tried to solve financial crisis
 Part of national debt was
repudiated
 New roads and bridges built
 Not stable financial footing: not
enough taxes raised from nobles
or church
 Louis XV not trained to become
effective monarch
 Louis XV wanted to hold on to
absolute power
 Did not work at it
 No wise advisors after Cardinal
Fleury
 Personal life scandalous
 No leadership to direct people
Madame de Pompadour
Madame de Pompadour’s
Bedroom
Petite Trianon,
Madame de Pompadour’s Chateau