ABSOLUTISM France
Review England James I (1603-1625) Charles I (1625-1642) Oliver Cromwell: “The Protectorate” or “Interregnum” (1649-1660) Charles II (1660-1685) James II (1685-1688) Glorious Revolution (1688) William and Mary
What is absolutism? Conscious attempt by state sovereigns to extend their legal and administrative power over their subjects Not to be confused with despotism
Why is the seventeenth-century known as the Age of Absolutism? What were the causes of or conditions surrounding the rise of absolutism or the centralization of the state?
Absolutism was a reaction to: Decline in the feudal state Religious and dynastic wars Triumph of secularism over religious ideas Triumph of the king over the nobility Modern government versus feudal
What were the conditions which allowed absolutism to take hold? Territorial expansion Control over nobles Improvement of economy Secular control of church Vernacular Improved technology
What are the major characteristics of a strong government? Military Effective administration/bureaucracy Parlements Central and local courts Intendants System of taxation and finance Control over Church and nobility Suppression of political and religious minorities (i.e. Huegenots)
Who lost power in this shift? Nobles Church Towns and provinces with special privileges and exemptions
What is ‘Divine Right Theory’? Captured in the phrase “un roi, une loi, une foi” Characteristics: King is divinely appointed Answerable to God alone Does not need consent to rule
Also a secular theory… Thomas Hobbes Leviathan (1650) Royalist Without strong authority “life is nasty, brutish, and short.” Power of the King is not divine Strong law and rule preferred Secular justification for absolutism
Who are the theorists? James I Jean Bodin Bishop Jacques Bossuet
Why was Divine Right accepted without question? Rooted in scripture Familial metaphor Corporeal metaphor
Were there restraints on the King’s power? If so, what were they? God’s approval Fear of rebellion Parliament (UK) Parlements (law courts, France) English Bill of Rights (1688)
Context France Wealthiest and most populous country French king successful at circumventing nobles power Representatives assemblies traditionally had to approve important royal acts such as making war and levying taxes
Bourbons Henry IV (1589-1610) Louis XIII (1610-1643) Edict of Nantes (1688) Created titles of nobility Louis XIII (1610-1643) Regency under Cardinal Richelieu (1626-1642) and Marie de Medici Estates General
Bourbons Louis XIV (1643-1715) Regency under Cardinal Mazarin and Anne of Austria Fronde (1648-1652) “Sun King” Versailles Palace
Who or what were threats to Louis XIV’s power? Nobles of the sword Provincial governors Huegenots Separatism
How did Louis XIV counter them OR integrate them? Intendants Revocation of Edict of Nantes (1685) Versailles Nobles of the robe Promoted national industries as part of mercantilism Invested in infrastructure