180 likes | 212 Views
AP Euro. Week 5: Louis XIV and Absolutism. Background: Louis XIII. r. 1610-1643 Heavily influenced by Cardinal Richelieu , his advisor Increased taxes Controlled nobility by banning duels and appointing intendants to watch them Took away Huguenot’s political rights. Louis XIV.
E N D
AP Euro Week 5: Louis XIV and Absolutism
Background: Louis XIII • r. 1610-1643 • Heavily influenced by Cardinal Richelieu, his advisor • Increased taxes • Controlled nobility by banning duels and appointing intendantsto watch them • Took away Huguenot’s political rights
Intro to Louis XIV • Becomes king at age 5, in 1643 • The Fronde (failed noble revolt, 1648-1653) takes place during his youth distrusts nobility, convinced that he must create strong, absolute government • Cardinal Mazarin ruled France while Louis was young • 1661 – Mazarin dies, Louis assumes control of the government
Political Changes • Absolutism: king is absolute ruler, nobles have little/no power • “L’etat, c’est moi” • “Sun King • “Divine Right” • Diminished power of local parlements • Modernized army • Organized command, Louis on top • Increased discipline, size, supplies
Versailles • To show his grandeur, Louis constructs a huge palace at Versailles • Originally Louis’s hunting lodge, 15 km from Paris (isolated) • Consumed as much as 60-80% of France’s income • **Also a political move: nobles come to live at Versailles and Louis can control them • Court etiquette spreads throughout Euro
Economic Policies • Jean-Baptiste Colbert: Louis’s finance minister, pursued mercantilist policies • Colbert created Five Great Farms, a free trade zone within France about the size of England • Colbert established manufacturing codes that regulated the quality of goods in certain industries • Established French East India Company • High tariffs on foreign goods, high taxes (harmful to lower classes)
Religious Policies • Gallican church: Catholic but independent from Rome • “un roi, un foi, un loi” • Opposed Huguenots for political not theological reasons • In 1685 he revoked the Edict of Nantes no more protections for Protestants, they must convert back to Catholicism • Many Protestants leave France • Bad political move?
Culture Under Louis XIV • Versailles art and architecture thrived • Neoclassicism: emphasized order, harmony, and antiquity • Louis XIV encouraged writers (Moliere, Racine, Cornielle) • Salons – people discussed philosophy, literature, art • French thought and language spread throughout Europe
Wars of Louis XIV: BOP • Balance of Power (BOP): when one country threatens universal monarchy, all the other countries ally against it • Many small, weak countries ally together – don’t have much power individually but are strong collectively
Wars of Louis XIV • War of Devolution (First Dutch War) (1667-1668) • Louis invades Spanish Netherlands • Blocked by Triple Alliance (England, Holland, Sweden) • Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668): France loses Franche-Comte
Wars of Louis XIV • Second Dutch War (1672-1678) • Louis invades Holland • Gets support from England through Secret Treaty of Dover, 1670 • Blocked by Dutch, Habsburgs, Brandenburg, and Denmark • Treaty of Nimwegen(1678): France loses Holland but gets Franche-Comte
Wars of Louis XIV • Invasion of the Spanish Netherlands (1683) • League of Augsburg forms (alliance against Louis) • War of the League of Augsburg (1688-1697) • France vs. Holland, England, & League of Augsburg • Treaty of Ryswick (1697): Matters left where they were before the war
War of Spanish Succession • Charles II, king of Spain, was dying and without an heir, last of Spanish Habsburg line • Louis XIV and the HRE (Leopold I) both married sisters of Charles • In his will, Charles leaves Spain to Philip V, nephew of Louis • Louis invades Spain based on France’s claim to Spanish throne • France vs. Grand Alliance (1701): Holland, England, HRE, Prussia
Peace of Utrecht (1714) • Philip V becomes king of Spain • Spain can never be united with France • Spanish Netherlands Austrian Netherlands • England gains Gibraltar, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and the asiento (trading rights in Spanish Empire) • Ends Louis’s last attempt at French universal monarchy
Conclusion • Louis XIV died in 1715 and his grandson Louis XV became king • Many historians claim that his inclination towards war was his downfall