AP EUROPEAN HISTORY/SPENCER
ASSIGNMENT SHEET – UNIT 4
17th Century State Building
Date
10/21
Wednesday
D
Class Topics
 Class abbreviated – senior
class photo.
 Begin discussing France’s
emergence post 1648/30YW
 Introduction to state building in
the 16th and 17th Centuries:
The aftermath of the 30 Years'
War
 The Age of Louis XIV, Part 1.
Assignments Due
 Print U4 powerpoint slides (chapter 15)
for class.


Read pp. 451-459 on Age of Louis XIV
Watch Louis XIV video (14 min)
10/26
Monday
C
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
Video Clip on Absolutism
Notes on Age of Louis XIV, Part
2.

10/27
Tuesday
D




10/28
Wednesday
A

Decline of Spain
Emergence of the Dutch
Begin England and the
transformation to Limited
Monarchy.
England's transformation to a
limited monarchy: Elizabeth,
James I, Charles I
James II and the Glorious
Revolution.
Film: The Power and Passion
of Charles II of England
screened at 4:05 pm in
Planetarium
Short QUIZ on western
European states
3 declining and 3 emerging
empires of central and eastern
Europe, part 1.
Emergence of Prussia, Russia
and Austria, part 1.
Thirty Years’ War.
Louis XIV Primary Sources (attached) as
well as the first selection (the Great
Embassy) on Louis XIV in primary source
packet.
Read in primary source packet section 5
and 8 (Justification of Absolute Monarchy
by Divine Right and Secular Defense of
Absolutism).
Emergence of Prussia, Russia
and Austria, part 2.
Students will finish all notes and
review for cumulative exam 1.
Cumulative Exam 1

10/22
Thursday
A


10/30
Friday
C

11/2
Monday
D

11/3
Tuesday
A
11/10
Tuesday
C








Read pp. 467-475 (Limited Monarchy and
Republics).
Read primary source selections on
Elizabeth I

Study for QUIZ on w. European states

Read pp. 459-467 (Absolutism in central
and eastern Europe).
Read Peter the Great primary source
excerpts (attached)
Read pp. 475-481 (Flourishing of
European Culture).


Study for cumulative exam 1!
AP EUROPEAN HISTORY/SPENCER
ASSIGNMENT SHEET – UNIT 4
Primary Sources:
LOUIS XIV
As you read this section highlight information that answers the following questions:
1. What were Louis XIV’s most important characteristics as he saw them?
2. What evidence does St. Simon provide that supports or contradicts Louis’ claims?
Louis XIV: Description of Kingship
In 1666 Louis wrote a memorandum to his son describing the functions and conduct of a king. This selection is an excerpt
from that memorandum.
Without any doubt, two things were absolutely necessary for ruling: very hard work on my part, and a wise choice
of persons who were capable of carrying out my work. I set a rule for myself to work regularly twice each day for two or
three hours at a time. Each time I worked with different persons. This regular work did not include the hours which I spent
privately working on matters of state, or the time I was able to give on particular occasions when special problems arose
and I permitted people to talk to me about urgent problems at any time.
I cannot tell you how important my resolution to work was. I felt myself, as it were, uplifted in thought and
courage. I found that I was a new man, and joyfully scolded myself for not having been aware of work’s importance
earlier. My timidity, especially on occasions when I had to speak in public, disappeared in no time. I felt that I was king
and born to be one. I experienced a delicious feeling which you will not know until you are king.
A king must be guided by his own good sense, which is natural and effortless. A king, however skillful and
enlightened his ministers are, is the principal cause of good work being done. He cannot act without seeing his effect on
the state. Success, even in small matters, gratifies us as well as success in great affairs. There is no satisfaction equal to
that of noting every day some progress you have made in glorious and lofty enterprises and in the happiness of your
people which comes from the work you have done yourself.
My son, the work of a king is agreeable. One must have his eyes open to the whole earth. He must endeavor to
learn each hour the news concerning every province and every nation, the secrets of every court, the moods and
weaknesses of every prince and every foreign minister. He must be well informed on all matters from commerce and
science to art and philosophy. He must find out the secrets of his subjects, and discover the selfish interests of those who
approach him with their real motives disguised. I know of no other pleasure I would take in place of the work of a king
Saint-Simon: A Noble’s Appraisal of Louis XIV
The Duc de Saint-Simon was a member of one of the most prominent noble families of France. His memoirs record the
manners and customs of Louis’ court and life at Versailles in vivid detail.
Louis XIV made for a brilliant court. His figure, his grace, his beauty, his grand bearing, even the tone of his
voice and his majestic and natural charm set him apart from other men as the king. Even if he had been born a simple
private gentleman, he still would have excelled in all social festivities. However, intrigues against the king during his
childhood made Louis suspicious of intelligent, educated, noble, and highly principled men, and as he advanced in years,
he began to hate them. He wished to reign by himself, and his jealousy on this point soon became a weakness. The
superior ability of his early ministers and generals soon wearied him. He liked no one to be in any way superior to him.
He chose his ministers, therefore, not for their knowledge, but for their ignorance; not for their capacity, but for their want
of it. He liked to teach them even the most trivial things. He unceasingly concerned himself with the smallest details of his
troops, his minor household officials, and the way his mansions were built and maintained. He would even instruct his
cooks, though he taught them things they had known for years.
His vanity, his unreasonable desire to be admired, ruined him. His ministers, his generals, his mistresses, his
courtiers soon understood this fatal weakness. They praised him and spoiled him, for it was the one way they could
approach him. This is why his ministers, drawn from the non-noble class, had so much authority. They had better
opportunity to flatter him and tell him that all good works came from his actions.
At eight o’clock the chief valet de chambre, who alone had slept in the royal chamber awoke the king. The chief
physician, the chief surgeon, and the nurse entered at the same time. The nurse kissed the king; the others rubbed [him]
and often changed his shirt. At the quarter, the grand chamberlain drew back the curtains, which had been closed, and
presented the holy water from the vase at the head of the bed. The same officer gave him his dressing gown; immediately
after, other privileged courtiers entered in time to find the king putting on his shoes and stockings.
As soon as he was dressed, Louis prayed to God, at the side of his bed; the captain of the guards came to the
balustrade during the prayer, after which the king passed into his cabinet. He found there a very numerous company, for it
included everybody in any office. He gave orders to each for the day; thus within half a quarter of an hour, it was known
what he meant to do; and then this entire crowd dispersed. This was then a good opportunity for talking with the king, for
example, about plans of gardens and buildings; and conversation lasted more or less according to the person engaged in it.
While he was going to and returning from mass, everybody spoke to him who wished.
AP EUROPEAN HISTORY/SPENCER
ASSIGNMENT SHEET – UNIT 4
The king, upon returning from mass, asked almost immediately for the council. On Sunday, and often on Monday,
there was a council of state; on Tuesday a finance council; on Wednesday a council of state; on Saturday a finance
council. Rarely were two held in one day or any on Thursday or Friday. Once or twice a month there was a council of
dispatches on Monday morning. Thursday morning was almost always blank. It was the day for audiences that the king
wished to give. On Friday after the mass, the king was with his confessor, and the length of their audiences was limited by
nothing. At Fontainebleau on the mornings when there was no council, the king usually passed from mass to Madame de
Maintenon’s. It was the time of their tête-à-téte without interruption.
Typically after the noon meal, the king immediately entered his cabinet. That was the time for distinguished
people to speak to him. He stopped at the door a moment to listen and then entered; very rarely did anyone follow him,
never without asking for permission; and for this few had the courage.
Upon returning from the afternoon walk or drive anybody might speak to the king from the moment he left his
coach until he reached the foot of the staircase. He then changed his dress and rested in his private chamber until the
major social event of the evening.
At ten o’clock his supper was served. This supper was always on a grand scale, the royal household at table, and a
large number of courtiers and ladies present, sitting or standing.
After supper the king stood some moments encircled by all his court; then, with bows to the ladies, passed into his
cabinet, where on arriving, he gave his orders. He passed a little less than an hour there, seated in an armchair. The king,
wishing to retire, went and fed his dogs; then said good night, passed into his bed chamber where he said his prayers, as in
the morning, then undressed. Then commenced what was called the petit coucher, at which only the specially privileged
remained. They did not leave until he got into bed.
As you read this section highlight information that answers the following questions:
1. How does Princess Palatine characterize life at Versailles?
2. How does Archbishop Fenelon describe Louis XIV’s ministers and their impact on France?
3. How do these views contrast with Louis XIV’s descriptions of his life at Versailles and his manner of ruling? (See the
first set of documents for Louis’ views)
Princess Palatine: A Visitor’s Viewpoint
Princess Palatine, a frequent visitor at the court, wrote the following letter home describing conditions at Versailles.
The appartement [two large rooms at Versailles where the King played billiards and served refreshments] is an
absolutely intolerable experience. We all troop into the billiard room and lie on our stomachs or squat, no one uttering a
word, until the King has finished his game. Then we all get up and go to the music room where someone is singing an aria
from some old opera which we have heard a hundred times already. After that, we go to the ball, which lasts from eight to
ten o’clock. Those who, like me, do not dance have to sit there for hours without budging for an instant, and can neither
see nor hear anything except an endless minuet. At a quarter to ten, we all follow one another in a quadrille [a dance
popular at the time], like children reciting a lesson, and then the ball is finally over.
Archbishop Fenelon: Letter to Louis
The following selection is adapted from a letter written by Fénelon, a French archbishop, to Louis XIV. Archbishop
Fénelon served as tutor to one of the king’s children. This letter was sent anonymously.
For nearly thirty years, your principal Ministers have destroyed and reversed all the ancient customs of the state in
order to raise your authority to its highest level. They no longer speak of France and its constitution; they only speak of
the King and of his royal pleasure. They have pushed your revenues and your expenses to unprecedented heights. They
have raised you up to the sky in order, they say, to outshine the grandeur of all your predecessors. They have
impoverished the whole of France with the introduction of monstrous luxuries of court. Your ministers have been harsh,
haughty, unjust, and violent. They have recognized no other rule but to threaten, to crush, and to destroy all who resist
them. They have rendered your name odious, and the whole French nation intolerable to all our neighbors. They have
caused almost twenty years of bloody wars.
Meanwhile, your people die of hunger as the cultivation of the soil is not producing enough food. All business
enterprise is stagnant, and no longer offers employment to working men. Instead of taking money from these poor people,
one should give them alms and feed them.
The people themselves, it should be said, who hitherto have loved you, are beginning to lose confidence and even
respect. Your victories and conquests no longer cause them to rejoice; they are full of bitterness and despair. They believe
that you love only your authority and your glory.
There, Sire, is the state of things. You live as one whose eyes are fatally blinded.
AP EUROPEAN HISTORY/SPENCER
ASSIGNMENT SHEET – UNIT 4
**BE SURE TO ALSO READ THE SELECTION FROM THE GREAT EMBASSY IN THEONLINE PRIMARY
SOURCE PACKET!**
PETER THE GREAT
Jean Rousset de Missy's Description of Peter I's Western Dress Code
[excerpted from Readings in Modern European History, James Harvey Robinson and Charles Beard, eds.
(Boston:Ginn and Company, 1908), pp. 61-63]
A French historical writer of the first half of the eighteenth century, Jean Rousset de Missy, wrote a life of Peter the
Great. Although the author never visited Russia, his volumes have some value, since he appears to have taken pains to get
reliable information. He thus describes the reform in dress enforced by Peter.
The Tsar labored at the reform of fashions, or, more properly speaking, of dress. Until that time the Russians had always
worn long beards, which they cherished and preserved with much care, allowing them to hang down on their bosoms,
without even cutting the moustache. With these long beards they wore the hair very short, except the ecclesiastics, who, to
distinguish themselves, wore it very long. The Tsar, in order to reform that custom, ordered that gentlemen, merchants,
and other subjects, except priests and peasants, should each pay a tax of one hundred rubles a year if they wished to keep
their beards ; the commoners had to pay one kopeck each. Officials were stationed at the gates of the towns to collect that
tax, which the Russians regarded as an enormous sin on the part of the Tsar and as a thing which tended to the abolition of
their religion.
These insinuations, which came from the priests, occasioned the publication of many pamphlets in Moscow, where for
that reason alone the Tsar was regarded as a tyrant and a pagan ; and there were many old Russians who, after having their
beards shaved off, saved them preciously, in order to have them placed in their coffins, fearing that they would not be
allowed to enter heaven without their beards. As for the young men, they followed the new custom with the more
readiness, as it made them appear more agreeable to the fair sex.
From the reform in beards we may pass to that of clothes. Their garments, like those of the Orientals, were very long,
reaching to the heel. The Tsar issued an ordinance abolishing that costume, commanding all the boyars (nobles) and all
those who had positions at the court to dress after the French fashion, and likewise to adorn their clothes with gold or
silver according to their means.
As for the rest of the people, the following method was employed. A suit of clothes cut according to the new fashion was
hung at the gate of the city, with a decree enjoining upon all except peasants to have their clothes made on this model,
under penalty of being forced to kneel and -have all that part of their garments which fell below the knee cut off, or pav
two grives every time they entered the town -with clothes in the old style. Since the guards at the gates executed their duty
in curtailing the garments in a sportive spirit, the people were amused and readily abandoned their old dress, especially in
Moscow and its environs, and in the towns which the Tsar oftenest visited. The dress of the women was changed, too.
English hairdressing was substituted for the caps and bonnets hitherto worn - bodices, stays, and skirts, for the former
undergarments. . . .
The same ordinance also provided that in the future women, as well as men, should be invited to entertainments, such as
weddings, banquets, and the like, where both sexes should mingle in the same hall, as in Holland and England. It was
likewise added that these entertainments should conclude with concerts and dances, but that only those should be admitted
who were dressed in English costumes. His Majesty set the example in all these changes.
General Alexander Gordon's Impressions of Peter I
[Readings in Modern European History, James Harvey Robinson and Charles Beard, eds. (Boston:Ginn and
Company, 1908), pp. 60-61]
Peter had a great number of foreign officers about him, German, French, Dutch, English, Scotch, in whom he placed
great reliance. Alexander Gordon, a Scot, had, after serving for a short time under Louis XIV, drifted to Russia about
1694. He was appointed major general by the Tsar, of whom he gives his impressions as follows:
This great emperor came in a few years to know to a farthing the amount of all his revenues, as also how they were laid
out.
He was at little or no expense about his person, and by living rather like a private gentleman than a prince he saved wholly
that great expense which other monarchs are at in supporting the grandeur of their courts. It was uneasy for him to appear
AP EUROPEAN HISTORY/SPENCER
ASSIGNMENT SHEET – UNIT 4
in majesty, which he seldom or never did, but when absolutely necessary, on such occasions as giving audience to
ambassadors or the like ; so that he had all the pleasure of a great emperor and at the same time that of a private
gentleman.
He was a lover of company, and a man of much humor and pleasantry, exceedingly facetious and of vast natural parts. He
bad no letters - he could only read and write, but had a great regard for learning and was at much pains to introduce it into
the country. He rose early ; the morning he gave to business till ten or eleven o'clock at the farthest ; all the rest of the day,
and a great part of the night, to diversion and pleasure. He took his bottle heartily, so must all the company; for when he
was merry himself he loved to see everybody so; though at the same time he could not endure habitual drinkers, for such
he thought unfit for business.
When he paid a visit to a friend he would pass almost the whole night, not caring to part with good company till past two
o'clock in the morning. He never kept guards about his person. . . . He never could abide ceremony, but loved to be spoke
to frankly and without reserve.
Bishop Burnet's Impressions of Peter the Great in 1698
[excerpted from Readings in Modern European History, James Harvey Robinson and Charles Beard, eds.
(Boston:Ginn and Company, 1908), pp. 57-58]
I mentioned in the relation of the former vear[1698] the Tsar's coming out of his own country - on which I will now
enlarge. He came this winter over to England and stayed some months among us. I waited often on him, and was ordered
both by the king and the archbishop and bishops to attend upon him and to offer him such informations of our religion and
constitution as he was willing to receive. I had good interpreters, so I had much free discourse with him. He is a man of a
very hot temper, soon inflamed and very brutal in his passion. He raises his natural heat by drinking much brandy, which
be rectifies himself with great application. He is subject to convulsive motions all over his body, and his head seems to be
affected with these. He wants not capacity, and has a larger measure of knowledge than might be expected from his
education, which was very indifferent. A want of judgment, with an instability of temper, appear in him too often and too
evidently. He is mechanically turned, and seems designed by nature rather to be a ship carpenter than a great prince. This
was his chief study and exercise while he stayed here. He wrought much with his own hands and made all about him work
at the models of ships. He told me he designed a great fleet at Azuph [i.e. Azov] and with it to attack the Turkish empire.
But he did not seem capable of conducting so great a design, though his conduct in his wars since this has discovered a
greater genius in him than appeared at this time.
He was desirous to understand our doctrine, but he did not seem disposed to mend matters in Moscovy. He was, indeed,
resolved to encourage learning and to polish his people by sending some of them to travel in other countries and to draw
strangers to come and live among them. He seemed apprehensive still [i.e. ever] of his sister's [i.e. the Princess Sophia's]
intrigues. There was a mixture both of passion and severity in his temper. He is resolute, but understands little of war, and
seemed not at all inquisitive that way.
After I had seen him often, and had conversed much with him, I could not but adore the depth of the providence of God
that had raised up such a furious man to so absolute an authority over so great-- a part of the world. David, considering the
great things God had made for the use of man, broke out into the meditation, " What is man, that thou art so mindful of
him? " But here there is an occasion for reversing these words, since man seems a very contemptible thing in the sight of
God, while such a person as the Tsar has such multitudes put, as it were, under his feet, exposed to his restless jealousy
and savage temper.
He went from hence to the court of Vienna, where he purposed to have stayed some time, but he was called home sooner
than he had intended upon a discovery, or a suspicion, of intrigues managed by his sister. The strangers, to whom he
trusted most, were so true to him that those designs were crushed before he came back. But on this occasion he let loose
his fury on all whom he suspected. Some hundreds of them were hanged all around Moscow, and it was said that he cut
off many heads with his own hand ; and so far was he from relenting or showing any sort of tenderness that he seemed
delighted with it. How long he is to be the scourge of that nation God only knows.
AP EUROPEAN HISTORY/SPENCER
ASSIGNMENT SHEET – UNIT 4