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Rise of Absolutist States

Rise of Absolutist States. France and the Rest. Absolutism in France. From Clovis to Charlemagne to the Valois to the Bourbons, France has a history of absolutism. Cardinal Richelieu : Chief adviser under Louis XIII, he gave more power to the intendants throughout France.

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Rise of Absolutist States

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  1. Rise of Absolutist States France and the Rest

  2. Absolutism in France • From Clovis to Charlemagne to the Valois to the Bourbons, France has a history of absolutism. • Cardinal Richelieu: Chief adviser under Louis XIII, he gave more power to the intendants throughout France. • Intendants: recruited for the army, raised taxes, enforced royal decrees. Backlash against micromanaging and the consolidation of power? • The Fronde

  3. The Fronde (1648-1653) • Louis XIII dies in 1643 – leaves throne to 5 year old son. • Queen Anne places all power into the hands of Cardinal Jules Mazarin. • Opponents of Mazarin present him with a list of demands… To which he refuses • Regional courts and legislatures (parlements) want the right to approve new taxes • Mazarin begins mass arrests.

  4. The Fronde (1648-1653) • Nobles, parlements, and city councils begin raising their own armies to either fight the crown or fight each other. • Mazarin uses military force to put down the chaos. • The royal family has to flee the capital to avoid the violence. What can we infer about Louis’s childhood that may have shaped his adult reign?

  5. Louis XIV “L’etatc’estmoi” • “I am the state” • Calls himself the “sun king,” why do you think? • Practicing Catholic who believed fiercely in the divine right of kings. • How do you think he was able to maintain the kind of power he did?

  6. Louis XIV “one king, one law, one faith” • Claimed the divine right of kings as per Jacques-Benigne Bossuet • Was taught that God had established kings as his rulers on Earth, and granted their power through divine right. • Still subject to God’s law, therefore had to rule for the will of the people. • Revocation of the Edict of Nantes – Richelieu deprived many Calvinists political rights, Louis just built on this. • Louis never thought toleration was to be permanent. Just temporary to end the conflict. • Why would he chose to revoke the Edict?

  7. Louis XIV “one king, one law, one faith” • Established a Centralized Bureaucracy • Nobility still exercised much authority over lesser nobles and peasants • Able to restructure central policymaking of gov’t as part of his own court and residence. • Palace of Versailles: his home and where gov’t met and had their offices • Invited them for extensive visits in order to keep a watchful eye on them. • Removed nobles from royal councils (chief administrative body of the king and overseer of the central workings of gov’t) • Replaced them with newly aristocratic families. • Anything else he couldn’t control he achieved through bribes for carefully selected people.

  8. Louis XIV “one king, one law, one faith” • State Control of a Centralized Economy • Jean-Baptiste Colbert: appointed as controller of general finances for the state. • Mercantilism: international power was thought to be based on its wealth, (e.g. gold) • Colbert insisted that the French sell abroad and buy nothing back. • Become self-suffencient, able to produce everything the country needed. • Gov’t subsidy to French industry • Compelled craftsmen to enter guilds • Encouraged migration to France • Built infrastructure • High tariffs • Built maritime trade infrastructure (frigates, galleys, transports)

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