Absolutism
Louis XIV of
France
Absolutism
• What are the Key characteristics of
Absolutism?
• How does Absolutism differ from earlier
rule by Kings?
• Is Absolutism similar to Totalitarianism?
Where the power of Kings comes
from
• In the Middle Ages the
law held that as a
consequences of their
coronation and
anointment with sacred
oil, Kings ruled by the
grace of God.
– Law was given by God,
Kings had the law revealed
to them, and Kings obeyed
the law
• In the Absolutist State,
Kings claimed to rule by
“Divine Right” meaning
that hey made the law
and were responsible
only to God for the law.
– Kings became legislators,
made laws, and because
they made the law
sovereignty was embodied
in the person of the King.
How did the Absolutes Rule
• They tried to control competing interest, institutions, or
interest groups in their lands.
– They regulated religion
– They abolished civil liberties
– They secured the cooperation of the nobility, which was
historically the greatest threat to the Monarchy, and the rising
Middle Class by appointing them to important positions in the
new bureaucracies which directed economic life in the powerful
new states.
– They established permanent armies, recruited and paid by the
Monarchy, which could be deployed inside or outside of the
country to protect their interest.
– They used secret police forces to monitor the private lives of
their subjects
How does Absolutism fit into the
development of Government
• The Word Absolutism was not coined until the
1830’s and was used to describe the stage of
governmental evolution from the Feudal State to
Modern Governments.
– Many scholars prefer to use the term administrative
monarchy to describe this type of government.
• They say that because the bureaucracy greatly expanded
and power became centralized in the Capital cities, such as
Paris, there is an appearance of the Kings power becoming
absolute.
• They say that while this administrative monarchy may have
interfered with peoples daily lives, did not have the consent
of the governed, and lacked the idea of the rule of law it was
still held in check by traditional interpretations of a Kings
power.
• The Rule of Absolute Monarchs was not
all powerful because it lacked the ability to
become totalitarian.
– It could not control or shape the entire culture
of a country or regulate every aspect of life
• Reasons for this included:
– The need for technologies that could shape public
opinion
– The need for control of the money supply
What were the ambitions of
Absolute Monarchs
• Each sought to exalt himself or herself as
the embodiment of the state “(I am the
state, said Louis XIV)”
France
• In 1589 Henry IV came to power in France
– France had been ruined by Civil War for 20
years
– The French peasants were close to starvation
– Bands of soldiers raided villages
– Commercial activity (business) had fallen to
1/3 of its pre civil war level.
– Everyone looked to the new King for peace
and stability
Henry IV of France
What did Henry IV do?
• He truly cared about the people and his actions
led to a remarkable recovery
– He converted to Catholicism to form better relations
with the Pope
– He worked to gain Protestant confidence with the
Edict of Nantes
– Henry kept France at Peace and had very limited
military action
– He appointed a Protestant as his chief advisor
– He lowered the taxes on the peasants
– He had the nobility pay an annual fee for their offices
– His tax policies led to an increase in trade and more
revenue for the government
Henry IV
• In 12 years he restored public order,
improved the trade and laid the foundation
for economic success.
• He was progressive
• In 1610 he was assassinated (murdered)
by a crazy fanatic
– His death led to a severe crisis
Cardinal Richelieu
• Henry IV’s son Louis XIII, a child, becomes King
and his mother Marie de’ Medici had Cardinal
Richelieu to the council of ministers.
– Richelieu became the President of the Council and
after 1628 he became the first minister to the crown.
– He used his influence over the child king Louis XIII to
exalt the French Monarch as the embodiment of the
French state.
• He set the cornerstone for French Absolutism
– Richelieu’s policy was to have total control
(subordination) of all groups and institutions to the
King
France
• Problems (from about 1600)
– Religious
– Economic
– Weak kings (Louis XIII)
• Cardinal Richelieu
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De facto ruler
Manipulated foreign affairs
Suppressed the Huguenots
Established central taxation
Three Musketeers
Marie de’ Medici
Louis XIII
Richelieu
How Richelieu dealt with the
Nobility
• In 1624 he reshuffled the royal council,
eliminating those nobles he though
threatened the Monarchy
• He destroyed castles which he saw as
symbols of Feudal independence
• Nobles who were thought to be conspiring
against the king were quickly executed
Richelieu sets up a new central
government
• Administratively he establishes a system of royal commissioners
called intendants, each of which is given one of the 32 general
districts which France is divided into.
• These intendants perform duties like
–
–
–
–
–
–
Collecting local taxes
Appointing judges and holding trial in their district
Passing information from their districts to the Capital
Transmitting orders from the Capital “Paris” to the districts they ran
They recruited men for the army
They regulated commerce and trade in their district
These intendants were almost always recruited from loyal nobles and
appointed directly by the King
– They could not be born in the district they ran and had no vested
interest in the districts
– They were to weaken the power of local nobles
The Political Division of
France
The Beginning of the end for the
Edict of Nantes
• In 1627 Louis XIII with the consent of the
council, decided to end the Protestant Military
and Political independence, because he said it
constituted a state within a state.
– This resulted in military action against the Port City of
La Rochelle, which had strong ties with the Protestant
Countries of Holland and England, to block outside
intervention.
– With the fall of La Rochelle the influence of Calvinism
was weakened and Louis and Richelieu were one
step closer to creating a unified French State
Other Groups that had to be dealt
with
• There was urban protest in France over issues of:
–
–
–
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Unemployment
High food prices
Grain shortages
Taxes
• Major insurrections (riots) occurred in Dijon, Bordeaux,
Montpellier, Lyon, and Amiens between 1630 and 1711.
– In every case these riots were characterized by deep popular
anger.
• The way these riots were dealt with was to let them burn
themselves out, as long as they did not do to much
damage
• By 1700 though better cooperation between local and
national authorities led to quick and severe punishment
for those who opposed the government.
“What is done for the state is done
for God, who is the basis and
foundation of it......Where the
interests of the state are concerned,
God absolves actions which, if
privately committed, would be a
crime.”
— Cardinal Richelieu
"If you give me six lines written
by the most honest man, I will find
something in them to hang him."
—Cardinal Richelieu
Question 1 and 2
• In what way does Cardinal Richelieu
symbolize absolutism?
• Identify the achievements of Richelieu
Events Before the Reign of Louis
XIV
• See notes sheets {available in the note sheet
link for AP European History} for
• Henry IV
• Henry IV’s advisor Sully
• Louis XIII
• Louis XIII’s advisor Cardinal Richelieu
• The Fronde
• Cardinal Mazarin
• Louis XIV
• Louis XIV finance minister Colbert
France
• Louis XIV
– Boy king
– Assumed total
authority when
Cardinal Mazarin,
successor to
Richelieu, died
– Influenced by his
mistresses
– Wars,
destabilization
Louis the XIV
• The reign of Louis XIV was the longest in
European History (1643 – 1715)
– Louis XIV in the first few years of his reign
had to deal with a series of Civil Wars known
as the Fronde
• These civil wars originated in the provincial areas
not Paris and arose from discontent with the
policies of the government
– Many of the royal appointees (intendants) and members
of the nobility started to think their role had been
diminished and their positions manipulated by the
government
• Cardinal Mazarin, Richelieu’s successor could not control the
nobility as Richelieu had.
• The Financial Condition of France was weakened because
entire regions of the country refused to pay taxes.
• War with Spain led to new taxes which people saw as
unnecessary because France was winning and peace was at
hand.
• The Conflicts of the Fronde had three significant results
– 1. The government was forced to compromise with the
bureaucrats and nobility that controlled local institutions and
were largely tax exempt
– 2. The French economy would take years to rebuild
– 3. The Fronde had a significant effect on the Young King Louis
XIV who was often threatened and sometimes treated like a
prisoner. It created in his mind the idea that the sole alternative
to this form of anarchy was absolute monarchy
Cardinal Mazarin
Absolutism
• Louis XIV dominated his age
– His reign falls in the “Grand Century” or “Age
of Magnificence
• He was a devout Catholic as was his mother Anne
of Austria
• He attended Mass daily and said his rosary
• His mother and Cardinal Mazarin taught him that
God had established rulers on earth.
• He learned his politics from experience and never
forgot his experiences during the Fronde at the
hands of the nobility
• Louis XIV instituted many inovations in
government
– The greatest of these was “the complete
domestication of the nobility”
• Louis exercised complete control over the noble social class
because he worked to find ways to cooperate with them.
• He understood that with cooperation he could achieve his
goals.
• The Noble’s were enticed with privileges and social status
within the Kings Court and given access to the patronage of
the King
• The government of France rested on its social structure as
the political structure followed its organization
France
• Louis XIV
– Golden Age
• The Sun King
• L'état c'est moi
• Versailles
• French culture =
prestige
– Mercantilism
– Repeal of the
Edict of Nantes
Versailles
• The former hunting lodge of Louis XIII was
turned into a lavish palace
– It became a symbol of the power of absolute
kings
– It was a model of rational order
– The king used the magnificent setting of the
palace to awe his subjects and foreign visitors
alike
• Peter the Great of Russia used it as a model for
his palace in St Petersburg
Court Life
• All Louis XIV critics agree that the king
used court ceremonials to undermine the
power of the great nobles.
– By excluding the highest nobles from his
council, he weakened their ancient rights to
advise the king and participate in government
– He used opera’s, balls, gossip, and trivia to
occupy the nobles time
The French Language
• During the reign of Louis XIV French
became the language of the court, polite
society, and diplomacy.
• French slowly replaced Latin as the
language of scholarship and learning.
• Other European rulers began to require
French to be spoken in their courts
Questions 3, 4, and 5
• Why can it be said that the Palace of
Versailles was used as a device to ruin the
nobility of France?
• Was Versailles a prison?
• How does Louis XIV use Versailles as a
tool of foreign policy and personal
prestige?
French Mercantilism and the
policies of Colbert
Questions 6 and 7
• What is Mercantilism?
• What were the mercantilist policies of
Louis IV's minister Colbert?
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes
by Louis XIV
Question 7, and 8
• What were Louis IV's motivations for
rescinding the Edict of Nantes?
• Was the policy of revocation good or bad
for the French economy?
Louis IV's Foreign policy
Louis IV's Wars
Spain
• Decline
– Spanish armada defeat
– Economic difficulties
• Effects of Thirty Years War
• War of Spanish
Succession
– Alliance with France but
both possessions
• Hudson Bay basin
• Portugal, Naples & Sicily,
Netherlands
War of Spanish Succession
Question 9
• Why did the Spanish fail?
Question 10 and 11
• Where the foreign policies of Louis XIV
successful?
• What was the impact of Louis IV's wars on
the French economy and French Society?
Absolutism with
Limitations
in the 1600’s
Constitutionalism
• How does Constitutionalism differ from
absolutism?
• Is constitutionalism democratic?
• Is Constitutionalism a form of
republicanism?
England
• James I
– Son of Mary Queen of
Scots
– Raised by Scottish
leaders
– “Divine right of kings”
– Royal monopolies
– Dissolved Parliament
– Lost favor of the people
– Puritans' opposition
Questions
• What were the attitudes and policies of
James I that made him unpopular with:
• Parliament
• The Puritans
England
• Charles I
– Son of James I
– Revolt in Scotland
• Scottish people did
not feel fairly treated
• Imposition of bishops
versus presbyters
– War with France
• Unable to raise taxes
without Parliament
• Long Parliament
– Civil War
• Death of the king
• Roundheads vs
Cavaliers
English Civil War
Questions
• What were the causes of the English Civil
War?
• What was the outcome of the English Civil
War?
England
• The Commonwealth
– Rule by Parliament
• Excluded Episcopalians
and Presbyterian
dissenters
– Cromwell dissolved
Parliament
• “The protectorate”
– Levellers’s revolt
• Right to vote for all
– Richard Cromwell
succeeds his father
England
• The Restoration
– Charles II made king
•
•
•
•
Restored Anglicanism
Respected rights of Parliament
Short reign
Secret Catholic
– James II
• Open Catholic
• Had 8 children, 2 girls survived
(including Mary, wife of William of
Orange) and wife died
• Remarried
• Protestants revolted when new son
was baptized a Catholic
England
• The Glorious Revolution
– Parliament invited Mary and William III of
Orange to invade England (bloodless)
– Jacobites (from Latin Jacobus) and the Battle of
the Boyne
– William III gained favor by sacrificing royal
power
• English Bill of Rights
– Bank of England
– Free press
• Succeeded by Queen Anne
– Last of the Stuarts
Questions
• What were the outcomes of the Glorious
Revolution of 1688
• How does John Locke’s Treatise on
Government justify the Glorious
Revolution?
Seventeenth Century English Rulers
Elizabeth I (Tudor)
Events
Relationship
Nephew
James I (Stuart)
Son
English Civil War
Charles I (Stuart)
Oliver Cromwell (Lord Protector)
Son
The Restoration
Richard Cromwell (Lord Protector)
Charles II (Stuart)
Brother
James II (Stuart)
The Glorious Revolution
Daughter
William III (Orange) and Mary (Stuart)
Sister
Anne (Stuart)
Cousin
George I (Hanover)
"If there were only one religion in
England there would be danger of
despotism, if there were two, they
would cut each other's throats, but
there are thirty, and they live in
peace and happiness."
– Voltaire
Netherlands
• Religious and
independence wars
– Dutch Republic
• Economic power of the
Dutch
– Trade-based
– Foreign colonies
– Embarrassment of Riches
• Wars with England
• Religious toleration
• William III of Orange
– Stadtholder of the Dutch
– Became king of England
Restraints on absolutism (abstracted):
1. The States should give assent to any marriage proposed for
a ruler or potential ruler (thus giving the States power to
rule in disputed succession).
2. Only natives of the Fatherland appointed to high
government positions.
3. The States were free to assemble, regardless of summoning
by the ruler.
4. No new taxes without consent of the States.
5. All acts of war must be approved by the States.
6. Rulers were obliged to use the Dutch language.
7. Coinage to be minted only as the States authorized.
8. No part of the realm could enter a treaty with foreigners.
9. States were never to convene outside of the Netherlands.
10. Gifts to the ruler were prohibited.
11. Justice to be administered only by regular judiciary.
12. Old customs and laws are to remain unbreakable, even for
the ruler.
– Simon Schama, The Embarrassment of Riches, Vintage
Books, 1997, pp. 80-81.
Questions
• Illustrate the organization of the Dutch
government
• How did the Dutch government differ from the
other Western European states?
• What were the attitudes of the Dutch toward
religion and did those attitudes help or hinder
the progress of the Netherlands?