1. Absolutism, part II
France

2. Huguenots Catherine de Medici Charles IX dies as does his mother
Mother of King Charles IX – too young to rule
Mother of Margot
Arranges a wedding for Margot to a Protestant Prince (Henry) in hopes of peace
Has Protestants in Paris murdered instead
St. Bartholomew’s Day 1572
Prince Henry “converts” to Catholicism out of fear
Charles IX dies as does his mother
Henry becomes King Henry IV, Margot is his queen

3. Henry heals France 1598 – Henry signs the Edict of Nantes
Allows Protestantism, lets them live in peace
Henry worked hard to rebuild France
Assassinated in 1610
His son Louis XIII becomes King
Weak king, but had a smart man advising him
Cardinal Richelieu

4. Cardinal Richelieu
Extremely ambitious man, despite his church position
Two steps he took as Louis XIII’s advisor
Limited Protestant rights
Forbade Protestant cities to have walls around them
Limited power of nobility
Forced them to tear down their castles

5. Philosophy Religious wars left French questioning religion
Idea emerged that nothing can ever be known for certain – Skepticism
Doubting old ideas was the way to find truth

6. Two philosophers
Montaigne – said whenever a new belief arose (or appeared) that it replaced an old one that used to be considered truth
And that new belief will probably be replaced by another one
Ultimately, one could never have absolute knowledge of truth

7. Two philosophers Descartes – brilliant thinker
Took Montaigne’s beliefs and tested them
The method he used to test them became known as the scientific method, still used today (i.e. – in science experiments)
System of observations, reasoning and arguments

8. Louis XIV Most powerful ruler in French history
“L’etat, c’est moi” – I am the state
At first, the real power was Richelieu’s successor Cardinal Mazarin
Louis XIV was four years old when he became king
Mazarin ends the Thirty Years War (which we will talk about Friday)
But becomes very unpopular with the French due to high taxes

9. Louis XIV Violent riots (mostly nobility) against Mazarin
Louis bitter about the nobles who rebelled and swore he would weaken them
Nobles rebellion fails for three reasons
Nobles distrusted each other
Government was violent in its response
Peasants and townspeople tired, were willing to live under an absolute monarch

10. Mazarin dies Louis XIV takes over completely (age 22)
Expelled nobles from all royal government posts
Replaced them with intendants, or government agents
Collected taxes, administered justice
Louis had tight control over them

11. Economic growth Colbert – becomes Louis’ finance minister
Goal: make France super-rich and self-sufficient
Q: What does self-sufficient mean?
Gave government money and tax benefits to French companies
High taxes on products imported from other countries
Big focus on French colony in Canada
Raw materials and trade

12. Economic growth
Colbert dies, Louis is left without a good finance minister
Big mistake – cancels the Edict of Nantes in 1685
Q: What did the Edict of Nantes do?
Thousands of Huguenot craftspeople and merchants left France
Huge negative impact on French economy

14. The Sun King Louis XIV was also known as the Sun King
Ended up reigning for 72 years – longest reign ever
100 nobles awaited him when he awoke every morning – to wait on him
Having his nobles at court had advantages
Made them dependent on Louis
Kept them away from their homes, making the intendants more powerful

15. Versailles One of the most magnificent royal palaces in the world
Many palaces around the world are copies of Versailles
$2.5 billion in today’s dollars to build this
36,000 laborers and 6,000 horses used to build it
5,000 acres of gardens

16. Versailles

17. Versailles – King’s bedchamber

18. Chapel at Versailles

19. Gardens at Versailles

20. Versailles – Queen’s bedchamber

21. Versailles – Hall of Mirrors

22. Louis XIV and the arts Opera and ballet more popular than ever
Louis even danced in the ballet The Sun King
Moliere – comedy writer
Tartuffe – mocks religious hypocrisy
Louis supports the arts more than anyone since ancient Rome
Purpose was now to glorify kings, not to glorify God or to glorify human potential

23. Louis and his disastrous wars
Under Louis, France becomes the most powerful nation in Europe
20 million residents (4 X as many as England, 10X as many as Holland)
Remember the Spanish Netherlands?
France invades to expand territory
Also invades the independent Netherlands
Dutch break open their dams, flood the land to prevent France from taking over
France gained very little

25. France has enemies European countries start to ally against France
England, Austria, Sweden, Spain form alliance
Spain ends up having a new king who is related to Louis XIV – Spain and France now allied
Other European countries alarmed

26. War of Spanish Succession
Allied countries attack France to prevent a merger with Spain
14 year long war
England is the big winner – they get Gibraltar at the tip of Spain which controls access to Mediterranean
War was expensive for France – about $21 billion in debt by end of the war (1715)