Absolutism, part II France

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Versailles

Versailles – King’s bedchamber

Chapel at Versailles

Gardens at Versailles

Versailles – Queen’s bedchamber

Versailles – Hall of Mirrors

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

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

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

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)