Unit 3 - Absolutism and Constitutionalism

Hierarchy of European Society

• Called the “Great chain of Being”

  • monarch - semi-divine

  • clergy - intermediaries between God/saints and subjects

  • nobles - privilege from battle/family history

    • mercantile families - lower nobles, recently received titles for royal service

  • peasants/artisans - expected to show deference

patriarchy in European Society

• seen as God-given

• Father was ‘king’ → allowed to use physical violence, imprisonment to impose will but expected to be loving

rural European life

• most Europeans were peasants in rural areas

• independent farmers (own land) were leaders

• small landowners/tenant farmers sold goods for money for rent/taxes/food

• dependent laborers and servants - worked for money

• In central Europe, serfs worked for nobles while in the Ottoman empire all land was owned by the sultan

Economic crises of the 17th Century

• bad agricultural tech + low crop yield + little ice age = lots of famines

  • this + increased disease + lower fertility = decreasing population

  • impacted economy bc major export was woolen textiles

  • food prices and unemployment went up, wages stayed the same

• rebellions (usually by women because mothers got leniency) sprung up and became armed riots across Europe

  • rebels had the power to facilitate releases from prison/deals bc killing rebels created martyrs and occupying cities was costly → gov. hands were tied

Moral economy

needs of community over competition or profit

effect of the 30 years’ war

to pay for the war/damages, taxes raised (more pressure on the population)

Main goals of European states

• expanding frontiers (especially in the new world)

• consolidating control (adopted wartime measures as the norm, subdued privileged groups, came closer to sovereignty)

• raising taxes

Introduction of standing armies

• state building was facilitated by standing armies

  • officers had to be loyal + obey the state (for the first time), soldiers were trained, and armies expanded quickly

  • English did this but with the navy

Development of Baroque art

• Jesuits/papacy commissioned intensely emotional art to encourage faith + admiration of the newly reformed church

  • drew drama, motion, and striving from the church

• Visual Baroque art became especially popular in Catholic countries (though popular in Protestant areas 2)

appeal of Baroque art

tension + bombast reflected violence + controversy of the time

Peter Paul Rubens

• Most famous Baroque painter

• studied in Flanders (home) and Italy → inspired by High Renaissance artists like Michelangelo

• style: colorful, rich, animated figures, large size, contrast

Johann Sebastian Bach

• most famous Baroque composer

• involved in Lutheran churches → wrote secular AND religious works

• dynamic, emotional, tension-filled music

Henry IV’s legacy

• took a country @ civil war, suffering from starvation bc of bad harvests, and declining commercial activity and made France stable again

  • rebuilt economy (taxes down, officials had to pay to keep their positions hereditary)

  • improved infrastructure

  • Edict of Nantes (murdered by Catholic zealot tho

Cardinal Richelieu’s legacy

• served as minister of the French crown on Louis XIII (Henry’s son)’s behald

• strengthened power of intendants (governors of districts, appointed by monarch) to strengthen the centralized state

• seiged La Rochelle (Protestant stronghold) to prevent rebellion + bc Catholic

• supported Habsburg enemies in TYW to weaken them

the Fronde

• Cardinal Jules Mazarin, chief minister of Louis XI, tried to raise French revenue 4 the TYW

• Parliament of Paris encouraged violent uprisings by common people → spread to warrior nobles → no civil order

• ended when Louis XIV became king 

  • French accepted Louis’s absolutism bc they wanted peace + stability

Basis of Louis XIV’s authority

• absolutism of his predecessors

• divine richt of kings (but believed kings had to obey God’s laws)

  • nicknamed the “Sun King”

How Louis XIV limited noble power

• governed the country without a first minister → used councils of state instead where he partook in decision-making

• never called Estates General (rep. assembly of clergy, nobility, and commoners) → nobles had no power

• Installed talented common ministers → no noble influence or power

Louis XIV and Religion

• believed religious unity brought stability → revoked edict of Nantes

  • required baptism of Huguenots, destruction of churches and schools → Protestant exodus

Checks on Louis XIV

• had to be a divine (benevolent) ruler

• had to uphold predecessors’ laws

• had to curry favor with nobles 4 their local power 4 unification

How Louis XIV controlled the nobility w/ Versailles

• all nobles had to attend for part of the year →Louis XIV could keep an eye on them

  • the nobles competed for his favor

• elaborate etiquette rituals → courtiers competed for closest tasks (ex. giving the king his shirt) bc that meant he favored them

  • king controlled all resources → favor meant access to lots of money etc

Patronage

• high society protected low society for loyalty and services

  • spread to rural areas

  • Louis got powerful nobles to cooperate

Women in Versailles

• relatives, wives, and mistresses of the king recommended ppl for honors, advocated for policies, and brokered alliances

• noble women created powerful social networks through marriage

précieuses

• aristocratic ladies having cultured discussions abt recent events

• mocked by Moliere (playwright) in plays for Louis XIV (who patroned the arts, esp. theater → Moliere, Racine)

Louis XIV’s motivation 4 war

• encouraged war for dynastic glory + to expand France to its “natural” border

François le Tellier

• marquis de Louvois, secretary of state 4 war, established a state permanent professional army

  • uniforms

  • promotion system

Louis XIV war successes

• captured commercial centers in the Netherlands and Flanders

• captured the province of Franche Comté

• captured Strasbourg and Lorraine

War of Spanish Succession

• Louis experienced no successful expansion after the successes

• war was bc Louis XIV put his grandson, Philip of Anjou, on the Spanish throne

  • ignored the agreement between him and the HRE where the Spanish territory would be divided between the two when the childless king died

• Peace of Utrecht → Philip remained king but Spanish + French crowns couldn’t unite

  • France ceded North American land 2 england

  • end of expansion bc France was BROKE