AP Euro
Week 5: Louis XIV and
Absolutism
Background: Louis XIII
► r.
1610-1643
► Heavily influenced by Cardinal Richelieu,
his advisor
 Increased taxes
 Controlled nobility by banning duels and
appointing intendants to watch them
 Took away Huguenot’s political rights
Louis XIV
Intro to Louis XIV
► Becomes
king at age 5, in 1643
► The Fronde (failed noble revolt, 1648-1653)
takes place during his youth  distrusts
nobility, convinced that he must create
strong, absolute government
► Cardinal Mazarin ruled France while Louis
was young
► 1661 – Mazarin dies, Louis assumes control
of the government
Political Changes
► Absolutism:
king is absolute ruler, nobles
have little/no power
 “L’etat, c’est moi”
 “Sun King
 “Divine Right”
► Diminished
power of local parlements
► Modernized army
 Organized command, Louis on top
 Increased discipline, size, supplies
The Sun King
Versailles
► To
show his grandeur, Louis constructs a
huge palace at Versailles
► Originally Louis’s hunting lodge, 15 km
from Paris (isolated)
► Consumed as much as 60-80% of France’s
income
► **Also a political move: nobles come to live
at Versailles and Louis can control them
► Court etiquette  spreads throughout Euro
Economic Policies
► Jean-Baptiste
Colbert: Louis’s finance minister,
pursued mercantilist policies
► Colbert created Five Great Farms, a free trade
zone within France about the size of England
► Colbert established manufacturing codes that
regulated the quality of goods in certain
industries
► Established French East India Company
► High tariffs on foreign goods, high taxes
(harmful to lower classes)
Religious Policies
► Gallican
church: Catholic but independent
from Rome
► “un roi, un foi, un loi”
► Opposed Huguenots for political not
theological reasons
► In 1685 he revoked the Edict of Nantes  no
more protections for Protestants, they must
convert back to Catholicism
  Many Protestants leave France
 Bad political move?
Culture Under Louis XIV
► Versailles
 art and architecture thrived
 Neoclassicism: emphasized order, harmony, and
antiquity
► Louis
XIV encouraged writers (Moliere,
Racine, Cornielle)
► Salons – people discussed philosophy,
literature, art
► French thought and language spread
throughout Europe
Wars of Louis XIV: BOP
► Balance
of Power (BOP): when one country
threatens universal monarchy, all the other
countries ally against it
► Many small, weak countries ally together –
don’t have much power individually but are
strong collectively
Wars of Louis XIV
► War
of Devolution (First Dutch War) (16671668)
 Louis invades Spanish Netherlands
 Blocked by Triple Alliance (England, Holland,
Sweden)
 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668): France loses
Franche-Comte
Wars of Louis XIV
► Second
Dutch War (1672-1678)
 Louis invades Holland
 Gets support from England through Secret
Treaty of Dover, 1670
 Blocked by Dutch, Habsburgs, Brandenburg,
and Denmark
 Treaty of Nimwegen(1678): France loses
Holland but gets Franche-Comte
Wars of Louis XIV
► Invasion
of the Spanish Netherlands (1683)
  League of Augsburg forms (alliance against
Louis)
► War
of the League of Augsburg (1688-1697)
 France vs. Holland, England, & League of
Augsburg
 Treaty of Ryswick (1697): Matters left where
they were before the war
Map of Wars of Louis XIV
War of Spanish Succession
► Charles
II, king of Spain, was dying and without
an heir, last of Spanish Habsburg line
► Louis XIV and the HRE (Leopold I) both married
sisters of Charles
► In his will, Charles leaves Spain to Philip V,
nephew of Louis
► Louis invades Spain based on France’s claim to
Spanish throne
► France vs. Grand Alliance (1701): Holland,
England, HRE, Prussia
Peace of Utrecht (1714)
► Philip
V becomes king of Spain
► Spain can never be united with France
► Spanish Netherlands  Austrian
Netherlands
► England gains Gibraltar, Newfoundland,
Nova Scotia, and the asiento (trading rights
in Spanish Empire)
► Ends Louis’s last attempt at French
universal monarchy
Conclusion
► Louis
XIV died in 1715 and his grandson
Louis XV became king
► Many historians claim that his inclination
towards war was his downfall