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Absolutism

H205 - European World Warwick University . Absolutism. Mark Greengrass m.greengrass@sheffield.ac.uk. 1. Europe’s Early-Modern Political Geography . The Papal States. The Grey Leagues [Grisons]. The ‘United Provinces’. The Polish ‘Commonwealth’ [ Reszpospolita ’].

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Absolutism

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  1. H205 - European World Warwick University Absolutism Mark Greengrass m.greengrass@sheffield.ac.uk

  2. 1. Europe’s Early-Modern Political Geography The Papal States The Grey Leagues [Grisons] The ‘United Provinces’ The Polish ‘Commonwealth’ [Reszpospolita’] Republics of Genoa and Venice The Austrian Habsburg Empire ‘City-states’ – Geneva, Dubrovnik, Hamburg

  3. 2. State Consolidation in Europe Giovanni Botero, ‘Della RagiondelloStato’ (1589) – ‘On Reason of State’ The ‘Nerves of State’ French revenue extraction: 3.46 million livres (1523) 20.3 million livres(1608) 115 million livres(c. 1640) Castile: c. 1 million ducats (1522) c. 10 million ducats (1598) Justus Lipsius, PoliticorumsiveCivilisDoctrinae Libri Sex - On Politics, or Six Books of Civil Doctrine(1589)

  4. 4. Absolutism – the History of a Concept Nicolas Henshall, The Myth of Absolutism (1992) ‘The edifice of ‘absolutism’ is cracking. The building still stands but few seem to have noticed that it is hanging in mid-air. No one has assembled the materials for demolition, but nor has the case been made for a preservation order’ [Nicolas Henshall in History Today 42.6 (1992), p. 40] ‘Not only did Louis XIV or his emulators in Europe fail to deliver an absolutist agenda, but they never had such pretensions [Peter H. Wilson, in Absolutism in Central Europe (2000), p. 3]

  5. 5a. The ‘Myth’ of Absolutism Examined Jean Bodin (1530-1596), Les Six Livres de la Republique(Paris, 1576) • ...and mixed reactions: • In the Holy Roman Empire • In Venice • Among Protestant ‘extreme critics’ (‘monarchomachs’ or ‘king-haters’) of absolute monarchy • Among ‘stakeholders Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (1651) • ...and mixed reactions: • In England • in France

  6. 5a....Jacques-BénigneBossuet, Bishop of Evreux (1627-1704) – a ‘Spokesman’ for French Absolute Monarchy ‘Of all monarchies, the best is the successive or hereditary, above all when it passes from male to male, and from eldest to eldest’

  7. 5b. ....The ‘Myth’ of Absolutism Examined a) In relation to the Parlement of Paris and the magistrates: Albert Hamscher, After the Fronde: Louis XIV and the Parlement of Paris (1643-1671) (1991) b) In relation to the Army: Guy Rowlands, Dynastic State and the Army under Louis XIV (2002) c) In Relation to the Court and the Aristocracy: Norbert Elias, Court Society Roger Mettam, Power and Faction in Louis XIV’s France (1991) In Relation to the Catholic Church e) In Relation to the Protestant Minority

  8. 6. Absolutism as the Projection of Power Peter Burke, The Fabrication of Louis XIV (1992) • ‘In the Seventeenth Century, European governments devoted more attention to the public image of the ruler than at any time since the Roman Empire’ • a) ‘Traditional’ media:- • e.g. ‘Royal Touch’ • b) ‘Traditional Media given New Emphases:- • The Royal ‘Palace’ • Court ballet • Statues • Portraits • c) Mechanically-reproduced media:- • Tapestries • Engravings • Medallions • Printed newspapers .... etc

  9. 6 Versailles and the Apollo Theme – The Hall of Mirrors

  10. 6 Charles Le Brun’s Central Panel in the Ceiling Decoration of the Hall of Mirrors – ‘The King Governs by Himself’ Goddess of Glory, beckoning the king into immortality Mars, the God of War, through obedience to whom (‘valour’) the king will attain glory King’s face reflected on the breastplate of Minerva, the goddess of ‘wisdom’ France, holding in her hands an olive branch (‘peace’) in a bouquet representing ‘justice’ Various goddesses representing the fruits of the king’s rule (music, literature, painting, etc ‘timon’ – or symbol of ‘state’ power

  11. 6 Louis XIV – new and old media of political fashioning Engraved as Apollo, the Sun God, following a court ballet of 1662 Louis XIV - engraved as on horseback Louis XIV’s statue, erected in Paris in the Place des Victoires in 1682

  12. 6 Royal Portraiture HyacintheRigaud, Portrait of Louis XIV (painted 1701-2) to present to Philip, duke of Anjou, Louis XIV’s grandson – a painting over 10 foot high and copied numerous times. The original is in the Louvre, but there is a copy in Versailles

  13. 6 – Emulations of Versailles in Europe Versailles in Russia:- Peterhof Versailles in Austria: Schönbrunn (Venice) • Versailles in Germany:- • - Augustusburg (Brühl) – Archbishop-Elector of Cologne • Schwetzingen – Elector Palatine • Sanssouci(Potsdam) and Charlottenburg (Berlin) • - Herrenhausen (Hanover) • - SchlossSchließheim (Munich) • - Nordkirchen – Bishop of Münster • etc

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