Europe in the Age of Louis XIV

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HIS 102Chapter 16

• Europe in the Age of Louis XIV
• 1640 - 1715

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• This was the time before the French Revolution
• This was the era of Royal Absolutism as
  epitomized by Louis XIV
• Palace of Versailles
• fitting symbol of strengths and weaknesses of
  royal states in the 17th century
• public image was one of great splendor
• the reality was that it was quite uncomfortable
  to live in
• image covered up discomfort
• just like great wealth and peace covered up the
  reality of great poverty and warfare

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Versailles
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LouisXIV
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The Royal State

• Because of warfare in the early 17th century,
  monarchs had to expand the structures of their
  states
• Towns and aristocrats lost power to monarchs
• The Kings and their courts came to dominate their
  countries
• Tax collectors and military recruiters ruled for
  the monarch in the provinces

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Divine Kings

• 16th century monarch treated their realms as
  their own personal property
• 17th century monarchs governed as leaders of a
  nation-state
• As rulers delegated power, they gained more
  symbolic control over their nations
• Governments became more organized and more
  bureaucratic
• There were permanent departments of government
  attended by government officials
• Rulers tried to show the world their grandiose
  style of living
• A great display of wealth, like at Versailles,
  would show others their pride and strength

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• Rulers wished to be seen as the strongest nation
  in Europe
• grand castles and clothes
• paintings of themselves
• plays were written about particular rulers
• a divine theory of rule was put forth by Jean
  Bodin in the 16th century and accepted by many
• Kings had divinely ordained sovereign powers
  and divinely ordained responsibilities to his
  subjects.
• The right to rule came from God.

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Jean Bodin
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Court and Courtiers

• To carry out the duties of governing
• 17th century monarchs enlarged royal courts and
  increased the size of royal councils
• Together they made and administered policy
• Government was still highly centralized and
  dominated by the kings favorites
• In France, for example, Cardinal Richelieu
  (1585-1642) used his privileged position at court
  to consolidate the power of Louis XIII and
  accumulated the largest private fortune in France
  for himself

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Cardinal Richelieu
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Louis XIII
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Cardinal Richelieu

• Gained active control of the government of France
  as a servant and administrator of Louis XIII
• Had a two-fold policy
• to make royal power supreme in France
• to make France supreme in Europe
• Richelieu believed the high nobility and the
  Huguenots were threats to royal absolutism. So
  he destroyed the nobles castles and hanged some
  who would not give in to his way of thinking. He
  then disbanded nobles private armies.

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• Richelieu stripped Huguenots of special military
  and political privileges but were able to keep
  their religious and civil liberties
• For governing
• Richelieu divided France into 30 districts called
  generalites
• Each was under the control of an intendant, an
  agent of the crown who had absolute power over
  local affairs
• affectionately known as the 30 tyrants of France
• chosen from the bourgeoisie

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• Richelieu also led Catholic France into the 30
  Years War on the side of the Protestants so he
  could weaken his rivals, the Habsburgs
• Richelieu died in the arms of his king in 1642
• Richelieu, through his system of generalites ,
  tried to help Louis XIII unify his state and
  power.

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Crises of the Royal State

• 17th century European nations were brought to the
  breaking point, crisis point because of
• taxation
• increase in state regulation
• increase in population
• bad harvests warfare
• Elites and peasants joined together in protest.
  They began to question the divine right of kings
  and began to resist what they felt was tyranny.

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The Need to Resist

• Famine, plague, and warfare led to a great
  decline in population
• There were now fewer people being asked to pay
  more
• This decline affected the economy negatively
• There was not enough food to feed the people who
  were left because of war and bad harvests
• This led to revolts in the countryside
• In France, the Nu-Pieds, barefooted peasantry,
  protested increased taxes in the late 1630s
• This led to temporary concessions from authorities

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• In England, peasants and gentry (landed class)
  joined to protest enclosures in the Midland
  Revolt of 1607
• Enclosures were the forced change of grain fields
  into pasture land for sheep (wool)
• Italy, however, had the most explosive revolts
• Residents of Palermo and Naples rose up against
  the Spanish tax on foodstuffs, like fruit and
  bread, in 1647
• They failed to get the support of the elites of
  society and the revolts were crushed

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Right to Resist

• When protests of the people did not have elite
  support, they posed no threat to the state
• When rural and urban rebels allied themselves
  with the nobility, there was a powerful political
  crisis
• In France, Huguenots began what they saw as
  legitimate resistance to ungodly kings in the
  16th century
• Unhappy commoners and nobles of the 17th century
  built on these foundations in their revolts
  against civil authority
• Writers such as Juan de Mariana (1536-1624) said
  it was a citizens right to resist the tyranny
  of monarchs

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Juan de Mariana
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• John Milton (1608-1674), an English poet, wrote
  in 1649 that a king swore to uphold the law and
  his subjects promised to obey. Failure to meet
  these obligations broke the contract.
• Portugal put these theories of resistance into
  practice and broke with Spain in 1640
• France, too, began to see noblemen join with
  peasants to resist the kings authority
• Cardinal Mazarin, advisor and administrator to
  Louis XIII after Richelieus death in 1642 and
  then advisor to the 5 year old king Louis XIV,
  was dedicated to crushing any opposition to
  French absolute power

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John Milton
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• He got his chance after he imposed new taxes on
  officeholders, landowners, and the nobility in
  1648
• The rebellion that followed was called the Fronde
• It spread to various provinces before it was
  crushed in 1652

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Cardinal Mazarin
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Louis XIV
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France

• Cardinal Jules Mazarin became the chief
  administrator to Louis XIV when his father died
  in 1643
• Louis XIV was only 5 years old when he came to
  the throne
• His mother was Anne of Austria and acted as
  regent with Mazarins help until Louis XIV came
  of age
• She had to fend off challenges to Louis royal
  authority
• Louis XIV became known as Louis le Grand or the
  Sun King
• He began to rule on his own at the of 23 after
  the death of Mazarin

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• By that time France was the most powerful nation
  in Europe
• Louis was not the smartest or the most
  intellectually gifted king, but he had lots of
  common sense and a sense of responsibility
• He reigned for 72 years
• He believed he was Gods appointed ruler
• Louis had councils and bureaus to attend to the
  details of governing
• He used the bourgeoisie in these positions
  because he didnt trust the nobles

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• Louis government worked efficiently
• There was no popular participation in government
• People were to serve and obey the king
• There was a parliamentary body in France called
  the Estates General, but it had not been called
  together for 131 years

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The King and His Court

• Louis XIV moved the seat of his government to
  Versailles, 11 miles outside of Paris at that
  time
• Here he built a palace worthy of a divinely
  ordained ruler
• 35,000 workmen worked on it for 35 years
• The record of the expenses was destroyed
• There was the best of everything marble,
  tapestries, paintings, wood, gardens, parks,
  walks, canals, and lakes
• He then brought in the nobles to attend to his
  needs
• Household staff 10,000 soldiers and 4,000
  civilians
• He subsidized French authors and artists
• People did not appreciate his extravagance.
  There was discontent.

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Colbert and the French Economy

• Jean-Baptiste Colbert became Louis finance
  minister
• he was ambitious and proved to be indispensible
  to the king
• Colbert was not of the nobility
• He was able to with great skill balance the
  French budget, even with Versailles
• Colbert
• protected French industries by the use of tariffs
• subsidized exports and new industries
• guarded raw materials
• Promoted imperial and commercial activity in
  India and in North America
• Built a large French navy to protect its
  interests
• Enforced high standards for French products
• Colbert died in 1683 when France was enjoying
  economic prosperity

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Jean-Baptiste Colbert
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Problem with the Huguenots

• Huguenots were subjected to persecutions
• The Edict of Nantes was revoked in 1685 and their
  religion was outlawed
• Huguenots were forbidden to leave France, but ¼
  million left anyway
• They were industrious, well-educated, prosperous
  citizens
• They took their wealth, their skills, and
  economic knowledge with them when they left
• A great loss for France
• Many went to England, the Netherlands, and the
  English colonies in North America

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Louis XIVs Wars of Aggression

• Louis wanted to extend his rule to Frances
  natural frontiers, the Rhine River
• To do this, Louis would have to fight the rest of
  Europe Spanish Netherlands, Dutch Netherlands,
  and many German states
• England would be upset because the balance of
  power would be disturbed
• Louis had great military advisors
• He spent the last 40 years of his 72 year reign
  fighting 4 wars of aggression

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• Louis did win only a small area of the Spanish
  Netherlands, Burgundy, and Strasbourg
• There was the war to conquer the Spanish
  Netherlands
• A war with the Dutch
• A war to gain Alsace-Lorraine
• The War of Spanish Succession
• All these wars used up Colberts surplus of money
• Louis XIV outlived his popularity and died in
  1715
• He was the ruler all others wished to emulate

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England

• The Tudor Kings and Queen ruled during the 16th
  century
• Henry VII
• Henry VIII
• Elizabeth I
• The rulers who proved successful were those who
  wanted for England what the populace wanted as
  well peace, prosperity, religious reform, and
  success in foreign wars
• Near the end of the 16th century, Tudor rule
  ended because of mounting tensions

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Henry VII and Henry VIII
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Elizabeth I
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Tudors

• There were economic problems
• Changes in agriculture, manufacturing, and trade
  machines were taking jobs away from people
• As a result, life became better for the
  landowners, merchants, lawyers, and
  manufacturers the haves
• These people then wanted more say in government
  to protect their interests and to improve their
  social status
• The have-nots led lives of poverty and social
  shame

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• There were religious problems
• Puritans wanted a more fundamental Anglican
  Church less Catholic, fewer rituals, and more
  scripture
• In 1603, with the death of Elizabeth I, her
  distant cousin, James, became king. She left no
  closer heirs.
• James I was a Stuart, not a Tudor

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James I

• Absolutist
• Believed God put him on the throne to rule as he
  pleased
• Proved politically inept
• During his reign, those against absolutism grew
  greater in number and in strength
• Called the wisest fool in Christendom
• He had to deal with
• Crop failures and population growth
• Inflation and the changes in demand for English
  wool
• Changes in foreign alliances against France
• Tried to make peace with Spain at end of 30
  Years War -- seen as pro-Catholic

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• James I was not able to hold absolutist monarchy
  together
• Lacked an organized bureaucracy and military
  force
• Had little control over local governments
• Had only limited money available to king
• Clashes with Parliament
• Primarily over money
• Parliament wanted to discuss other issues with
  the king before talking about money for wars in
  Europe
• King did not wish to discuss other issues
• He dismissed Parliament
• James tried other ways to get money through the
  courts. Parliament said he was abusing the law
• There were no clear limits stated for either the
  King or Parliament.

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Charles I, (1625-1649)

• He succeeded his father, James I
• Absolutist as well
• Needed money requested it of Parliament
• Parliament wished to discuss other issues with
  Charles
• Parliament presented Charles I with The Petition
  of Rights, 1628, that said King had to stop
• wartime restrictions in peacetime
• levying taxes without Parliaments approval
• imprisoning citizens without trial
• quartering soldiers in private homes

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Charles I
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• Charles accepted the Petition of Rights but later
  did not wish to follow it where taxes were
  concerned
• Charles dismissed Parliament for 11 years
• Religious issues led Charles to call Parliament
  again in 1640
• The problem was that the Archbishop of Canterbury
  began to change the Anglican Church
• He emphasized
• Greater ritual and episcopal authority
• The doctrine of free will
• He de-emphasized preaching, scripture
• reading, and simplicity

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• People were afraid England was returning to
  Catholicism
• Many Puritans fled to the New World
• Others revolted.
• The result was that Charles called on Parliament
  to give him money to put down the revolt
• This was called The Short Parliament it was
  dismissed after 3 weeks when it questioned royal
  authority
• The Long Parliament was called soon after because
  the Scots were revolting against a new prayer
  book Charles I had introduced Scottish soldiers
  invaded England
• Not formally dismissed for 20 years

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• Parliament then legislated the end of absolutism
  of Stuart Kings
• It abolished certain Kings courts
• It dismissed some of the Kings ministers
• It curbed the power of the King to dismiss
  Parliament they had to be called at least every
  3 years
• It limited the Kings power to tax without
  Parliaments approval
• Charles accepted this, so he could get money to
  fight the Scots
• Parliament had strengthened its powers while
  limiting the Kings, without bloodshed --- yet.

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• Charles didnt take this lying down
• In 1642, Charles declared war on Parliament
• There were 2 main factions
• Cavaliers who backed King Charles I, were mostly
  of noble background, and were for absolutism
• Roundheads were Puritans led by Oliver Cromwell
  who were poor and oppressed. There were some
  nobles who supported them, and many from the
  middle class
• Civil War broke out

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Oliver Cromwell
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English Civil War

• In the early years, 1642-1643, the Cavaliers were
  winning
• 1643, the Roundheads created an effective army
  led by Oliver Cromwell, a simple Puritan farmer
• The army was disciplined and very religious
• It was eventually called, The New Model Army
• It had selected paid troops
• They were well equipped and very businesslike
• In 1646 Cromwells army crushed the Cavaliers,
  and Charles I was forced to surrender

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• No settlement could be worked out with Charles
• During this time, factions appeared within the
  Roundheads
• Moderates who wanted a limited monarchy and a
  Presbyterian religious order
• Independents wanted more radical religious reform
  with independence of local churches and freedom
  of conscience
• Levellers wanted the end of the monarchy,
  democratic elections, redistribution of wealth,
  and many more in the New Model Army

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• Moderates ordered the army to disband ( out of
  fear) and turned back to Charles I who was ready
  to make concessions
• Cromwell, an Independent, led and won the fight
  in 1648 to make sure their cause wasnt lost
• He then got rid of all those in Parliament who
  didnt back his cause
• He set up the Rump Parliament with authority over
  the land
• On his urging, Cromwell had Charles I executed in
  1649 as a traitor, a tyrant, and a murderer

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• Cromwell and his group ruled England for 11 years
  after Charles death -- no more King
• They always needed an army to assure their
  position
• Cromwell tried to establish a Commonwealth in
  1649
• A one-house Parliament, the Supreme Authority
• State Council of 41 members ran the daily affairs
  of government
• Toleration to all Protestants
• Aggressive foreign policy colonies and
  commerce
• Cromwell was always seen as the killer of Charles
  I and as a Puritan extremist

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• The Commonwealth failed in 1653 because it lacked
  backing
• Cromwell then set up a Protectorate that had a
  written constitution, a one-house Parliament, and
  Cromwell as the Lord Protector
• He did achieve success in some areas
• Central administration was honest
• Restored traditional patterns of local government
• Religious toleration and freedom of religious
  choice for Protestants
• His foreign policy quieted rebels in Scotland
  and Ireland
• Extended overseas colonization
• Promoted commerce

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• Cromwell died in 1658
• His son, Richard, succeeded him
• Richard was very weak and was ousted
• The monarchy and Parliament of old were restored
  in 1660

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The Restoration

• Charles Stuart, son of Charles I, became King in
  1660 and reigned until 1685
• He was known as Charles II
• there was an air of compromise between king and
  Parliament
• However, his friendship with Catholic France
  brought back tensions
• England was afraid he would take their country
  back to Catholicism
• To that end, the Test Act was passed that
  excluded Catholics from all public offices

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Charles II
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James II

• Charles II was succeeded by his brother, James II
  who reigned from 1685-1688

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• James II had many backers in Parliament and
  strong finances
• He also had a Catholic wife and son
• When England feared James Catholic son would take
  over the throne from his father, Parliament
  invited Mary, James Protestant daughter, and her
  husband, William of Orange of the Netherlands to
  rule in England
• James II fled to France

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The Glorious Revolution in England

• The ascension of William and Mary to the throne
  was a bloodless coup
• Parliament passed a Bill of Rights
• Gave parliament the power to depose a king and
  appoint a new one
• Members of Parliament had the right to free
  speech, immunity from prosecution for statements
  made, and freedom from intervention in elections

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• The Bill of Rights forbade
• taxation without Parliamentary consent
• dispensing with laws
• standing army in peacetime
• excessive bail
• depriving citizens of court trials in regular
  court
• interfering with jurors
• The Bill of Rights implied that government was
  based on a contract between governor and governed

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Other Actions of William and Mary

• Brought Ireland under British, deposing Irish
  landlords
• Joined Scotland and Britain to form the United
  Kingdom, called Act of Union. 1707
• Set up cabinet system
• Royal ministers were able to secure approval of
  Parliament of Kings wishes
• Had the responsibility of operation of government
• One member would be called Prime Minister who was
  the spokesman for the group and had the backing
  of the leadership in the House of Commons
• First real Prime Minister was Robert Walpole

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Robert Walpole
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• The functions of government in Great Britain were
  carried out in the name of the monarch by a
  circle of party leaders who could command a
  majority in the House of Commons but who were
  likewise required to answer to that body for
  their conduct of public affairs.
• The system gained strength and acceptance because
  of rulers like Anne (r. 1702-1714), George I (r.
  1714-1727), and George II (r. 1727-1760) who were
  not particularly interested or qualified to run
  the administration.

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Queen Anne
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George I
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George II
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Europe

• In Europe, political leaders worked to
  consolidate the powers of the kings into absolute
  monarchies
• Representative bodies lost power
• Armies expanded as absolute monarchies sought to
  tighten their control over their subjects

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Absolutism in the East

• In Eastern Europe, Frederick William, the Great
  Elector of Brandenburg-Prussia (R. 1640-1688) was
  a very successful absolutist

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Frederick William

• He had inherited a scattered collection of
  war-torn territories, surrounded by powerful
  neighbors surrounded by powerful Sweden and
  Poland
• He inherited a weak military receiving little
  support from towns in the form of men and
  supplies
• Frederick William imposed a commodities tax in
  his towns in 1650s and built a powerful military
  using that money
• He set up a Department of War to oversee military
  affairs and taxation
• This helped set up an efficient bureaucracy in
  Prussia

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Russia

• Peter I (1682-1725) loved most things western
  military techniques and taxation methods
• He introduced the draft to create a standing army
  in which promotion was based on merit, not family
  standing

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Peter I

• Used army to defeat Swedes at the Battle of
  Poltava in 1709
• Emerged as the dominant Baltic power
• Took all the ruling power into his own hands and
  created one of Europes strongest monarchies
• Took control of the Orthodox Church
• Made men in his court shave their beards
• All men and women at court had to dress in
  western European clothes and learn to speak French

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Dutch Netherlands

• Had system of government with considerable
  freedom for most citizens
• led the world of the day in commerce, banking,
  the arts and the sciences
• Was formerly a Spanish colony
• Won independence in 1598
• Ruled by William of Orange and his sons
• Had seafaring economy founded on the fishing
  industry then diversified
• Set up Dutch East India Company in 1602 by
  capturing Portuguese holdings in the East Indies

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• Dutch Netherlands had excellent harbors and
  carried most of the trade of Europe
• It built most of the ships of the day
• Bank of Amsterdam (1609) was the chief money
  lender and exchangers of the day
• Amsterdam became chief commercial and financial
  center
• Economy determined the politics of the day
• The bourgeoisie was very strong and controlled
  governments in each of 7 provinces
• Monarch saw to it that the government was
  decentralized

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• The only national body was the Estates General
  with representatives from all 7 provinces it had
  limited power
• The national policy was what was acceptable to
  the merchants
• Hollanders desired peace in order to foster
  commerce
• They had economic, political, and religious
  freedom
• Such freedom attracted intellectuals and artists
  of Europe to the Netherlands Rene Descartes of
  France, John Locke of England, and Baruch Spinoza
  of Portugal

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Rene Descartes
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John Locke
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Baruch Spinoza
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• The Dutch had a free press
• It became the worlds chief publisher of books
• There was a Golden Age of Dutch
• Paintings glamorized and sometimes glorified the
  middle and lower classes
• Artists like Jan Vermeer and Rembrandt van Rijn

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Girl with the Pearl Earring by Jan Vermeer
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• There were scientists there who invented the
  telescope and the microscope
• The Dutch atmosphere fostered creativity in many
  areas
• 17th century Dutch joined the English, French,
  and Spanish in exploring and claiming territory
  in the Americas
• Spanish took large areas in Central and South
  America, plus some areas in the Caribbean and
  North America looking for silver mines
• The Dutch, French, and English expanded the
  production of cash crops tobacco, sugar, and dyes

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• In Asia the Dutch broke in on the Portuguese
  spice trade and took areas for a time in Brazil
  for sugar
• The Dutch also took part in the slave trade and
  supplied slaves to Spanish plantations and others
  in the New World
• New World became profitable for the Dutch,
  Spanish, French, and English
• They grew or found sugar, tobacco, rice, dyes,
  silver, timber, furs, and hides
• Some used indentured servants and slaves
• Others besides these conquerors went to the New
  World to start again

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• Some were looking for religious freedom (pilgrims
  at Plymouth)
• Some just wanted a fresh start
• As more arrived, the various countries tried to
  organize their colonies so as not to lose out on
  profits