 In the 14 th and 15 th century France underwent several difficulties:  War  Disease  Famine  Religious division  As feudal government was unable to deal with these issues a new worldview started to evolve.

 This was known as the Renaissance (rebirth)  This was a rediscovery of the ancient beliefs of the Greeks and Romans.  This led to a shift in the way political decisions were made  The semi-independent feudal lords now started to become answerable to a centralized power.

 The shift in government was based on several beliefs  These were characterized in The Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli  He believed that men were basically evil and required strong leadership to civilize society.

 Women began to become more subservient (serving or acting in a lesser capacity)to their husbands and fathers.  Women were removed from all power positions.

 In France the centralization of power under the king was overseen by the Cardinal Richelieu, the King’s chief minister  Richelieu would resort to extreme measures to centralize power  Louis XIII (13 th ) became an absolute monarch

 Cardinal Mazarin ▪ Louis XiV  In 1643 Louis XIII(13 th ) died and his five year old son became King Louis XIV. (14 th )  Louis was too young to rule so power was held by his mother and Cardinal Mazarin.  The nobles took this opportunity to challenge the growing power of the monarchy

 An armed rebellion by the nobles against the monarchy  It involved a series of civil wars in France between 1648 and  This civil war lasted twelve years and would be the last attempt by the nobles to challenge the king  The nobles were upset about the rising taxes  After the war Louis was determined to never share power again

 The Fronde was divided into two campaigns, the Fronde of the parliaments and the Fronde of the nobles  Louis XIV, impressed as a young ruler with the experience of the Fronde, came to reorganize French fighting forces under a stricter hierarchy whose leaders ultimately could be made or unmade by the King. Thus the Fronde finally resulted in the disempowerment of the territorial aristocracy and the emergence of absolute monarchy.

 At the age of 23 Louis XIV assumed full power as King of France.  He reigned for 72 years, 54 of them he personally controlled the French government  He embarked on a series of expensive projects:  Wars in Europe  The Palace of Versailles  Under his rule he denied the nobles the ancient right of advising the king

 Middle class (common) bureaucrats were selected to advice the king  He created a secret police to root out any disloyalty  Louis even refused to call the Estates General

 He was unable to raise money to cover his spending  He was unable to accept religious diversity in France

 Read Pg. 392 – 395 in your textbook.  Answer the focus questions on pg. 392  Answer section review questions 1- 4 on pg. 395  I will check homework next class.