1. THE AGE OF ABSOLUTE MONARCHS

2. Origins of French Absolutism
1) The Hundreds Years War ( ): England vs. France
Standing Armies, Taxation, and Bureaucracy
The King vs. Lords: Expanding Royal Power
2) Independence from Rome
The Avignon Papacy ( )
The Invasion of Italy ( )
The Concordat of Bologna (1516) and Gallicanism
Creation of a French National Church
The Concordat stated that the Pope could collect all the income that the Catholic Church made in France, while the King of France was confirmed in his right to tithe the clerics and to restrict their right of appeal to Rome. The Concordat confirmed the King of France's right to nominate appointments to benefices—archbishops, bishops, abbots and priors— enabling the Crown, by controlling its personnel, to decide who was to lead the Church in France.

3. Origins of French Absolutism
3) The Sixteenth Century: From Stability to Civil War to Stability
St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre (1578)
The Edict of Nantes (1598)

4. Perfecting the French Absolutist State
The Bourbon Monarchy
Henry IV ( ):
-First Bourbon King
Began process of reestablishing
Power of Fr. Monarchy
Protestant to Catholic 1583
Edict of Nantes 1598 4

5. Perfecting the French Absolutist State
The Bourbon Monarchy
Henry IV ( ):
A) French Colonization
B) Strengthened Govt. Institutions
C) The Edict of Nantes
D) Weakened Old Nobility (Sword)
Henry IV laid the foundation of France becoming the premier world power by the 17th Century
1)He encouraged French colonization in the New World
2)Strengthened government institutions through education, universities, parlements, and the treasury
3)Edict of Nantes- provided religious toleration to the Hugenots
4) Weakened the Nobility
Old Nobility = Nobles of the Sword prohibited to influence Crown
Nobles of the Robe- new nobility who purchased titles from the Crown, became high government officials
EXAMPLE- DUKE OF SULLY

6. Perfecting the French Absolutist State
The Bourbon Monarchy
Henry IV ( ):
E) Duke of Sully ( ) Financial Minister
- 1) Adopted Mercantilism-
- 2) Reduced Royal Debt
- 3) Reformed Tax system-
- 4) Enhanced infrastructure
Sully’s reforms increased power of monarchy in France
1) Adopted Mercantalism- state’s role in economy increased in order to achieve favorable trade balance
Granted Monopolies to produce gunpowder and salt
Encouraged manufacturing of silks and tapestries
Only govt. could own and operate mines
2) Reduced Royal Debt
In contrast Spain was drowning in Debt
3) Reformed Tax system-
Made it more efficient and equitable
4) Enhanced infrastructure
Nation wide highway system
Canals linked major rivers
Canal to link Med to Atlantic
Sully and Henry concentrated on building back the French Economy that had been devastated during the Wars of Religion and Civil War
Thus, he avoided for the most part foreign entanglements

7. Perfecting the French Absolutist State
The Bourbon Monarchy
Henry IV ( ):
E) Duke of Sully ( ) Financial Minister
Summary- policies promoted
both the prosperity economy
and political and financial
strength of the monarchy 7

8. Perfecting the French Absolutist State
The Bourbon Monarchy
Henry IV ( ):
F) Henry was assassinated by Catholic Monk
G) Power Crisis again!
- Henry’s Widow Marie de Medici served as regent until Louis XIII came of age
Monk was getting revenge on Henry for providing protestants right to worship etc.
Marie de Medici was his second wife. His first wife was the youngest of Henry III’s children/ She and Henry IV never really hit it off, rarely saw each other and she provided no children
He married Marie, a woman twenty years his junior. His motives may have been financial - the Grand Duke of Tuscany gave him a large dowry in the form of forgiving his debts - but this marriage was also productive: Marie bore him five children in eight years.
When Louis took the throne he was only 10 years old
Marie’s Regency was marked by Corruption
1) Nobility actually began gaining
Power Back
- Medici dismissed Sully and left France with no real strong leadership
2) Louis was encouraged to exile
his mother and assume power

9. Perfecting the French Absolutist State
The Bourbon Monarchy
Louis XIII ( )
and Cardinal Richelieu ( )
Under Richelieu's French Absolutism
was perfected
-reasserted royal control over
the nobility
-Destroyed political privileges of
Huguenots
- Increased French Power in Europe
In 1621, Armand-Jean du Plesssis, the Cardinal-Duke of Richelieu became Louis XIII’s chief minister and remained there until 1642
Richelieu was a politique-put affairs of state over religion
He developed and executed policies designed to reassert royal control over the nobility, destroy the political privileges of the Huguenots, and increase French Power in Europe

10. Perfecting the French Absolutist State
The Bourbon Monarchy
Louis XIII ( )
and Cardinal Richelieu ( )
Richelieu vs Nobility
French nobility had not yet subordinated to the crown
Many defied the king’s authority
They held offices in military , govt. and church to advance their own individual and class interests 10

11. Perfecting the French Absolutist State
The Bourbon Monarchy
Louis XIII ( )
and Cardinal Richelieu ( )
Richelieu vs Nobility
Richelieu diminished the influence of nobility by using the office of intendent
These royal officials were responsible for centralizing political authority in the hands of the king’s govt.
The appointees to these offices usually were from the middle class who were thankful to the crown for their powerful position and also held disdain for the nobility
Couldn’t be intendent of where your family was from 11

12. Perfecting the French Absolutist State
The Bourbon Monarchy
Louis XIII ( )
and Cardinal Richelieu ( )
Richelieu vs. the Huguenots
Edict of Nantes granted limited religious toleration and enabled Huguenots to establish political power in their heavily fortified towns
In 1625, several Huguenot noblemen led a revolt against Richelieu 12

13. Perfecting the French Absolutist State
The Bourbon Monarchy
Louis XIII ( )
and Cardinal Richelieu ( )
Richelieu vs. the Huguenots
In 1627, Richelieu launched an assault against the Huguenot stronghold at LaRochelle on the Atlantic coast
Siege lasted 14 months and Richelieu finally took the city in 1628 13

14. Perfecting the French Absolutist State
The Bourbon Monarchy
Louis XIII ( )
and Cardinal Richelieu ( )
Richelieu vs. the Huguenots
The next year he took away the Huguenot right to hold fortified cities, (Peace of Alais 1629) but preserved their freedom to practice their religion.
He successfully destroyed the Huguenot independent political power w/o initiating a policy of religious persecution that would lead to another civil war 14

15. Perfecting the French Absolutist State
The Bourbon Monarchy
Louis XIII ( )
and Cardinal Richelieu ( )
Foreign affairs under Louis XIII and Richelieu
Richelieu restored France’s dominant position in Europe that had disappeared following the death of Henry IV
He recommitted France to opposing the Hapsburgs
30 Years War Catholic France joined and aided Protestant Sweden and German States to fight the Hapsburgs (CH 14) 15

16. Perfecting the French Absolutist State
The Bourbon Monarchy
Louis XIII ( )
and Cardinal Richelieu ( )
Foreign affairs under Louis XIII and Richelieu
- By the time the 30 Years’ War was over, in 1648 (Peace of Westphalia), France had become the most powerful country on the European continent 16

17. SUMMARY Perfecting the French Absolutist State
The Bourbon Monarchy
2) Louis XIII ( ) and Cardinal Richelieu ( )
raison d'état
Relations with the Nobility
Administration and Bureaucracy:
The Intendants and Middle-Class Officials
Huguenot Policy — LaRochelle (1627)
(Peace of Alais 1629)
The Thirty Years' War ( ) and the Treaty of Westphalia
rày zawn day ta- an overriding concern, usually the interests of the country concerned, that justifies political or diplomatic action that might otherwise be considered reprehensible (US HISTORY- Suspension of Habeus Corpus)
Intendents- refers to the holder of a public administrative office.
Intendants were sent to supervise and enforce the king's will in the provinces and had jurisdiction over three areas: finances, policing, and justice.
They were loyal to only the king.
They were appointed by the king (usually young members of the middle class) A symbol of royal centralization and absolutism
Govt. became more efficient and centrally controlled
LaRochelle was a bastion for Calvinists (allowed to protect and fortify under the Edict of Nantes)
They were a thorn in the side of Absolute advocate Richelieu and Louis XIII
They besieged LaRochelle and chipped away at the #1 political enemy of the French Monarchy
Peace of Alais (1629) subdued Huguenots. They lost the right to have fortified towns and cities/ could still worship