Monarchy Test 10-29

Saint-Simon's View of Louis XIV

Viewed him as a monarch with high mental capabilities but lacking natural talent; gifted from birth but propelled farther by circumstances. Driven by vanity and loved glory and regularity. Preferred lower-born ministers he could completely control over high-ranking nobles.

Weaknesses of Absolute Monarchy (Saint-Simon)

Ministers can manipulate policy by flattering the king's ego (e.g., Louvois pushing Louis into costly wars); time wasted on minor details like uniforms while major policy is left to ministers; courtiers ruined without explanation due to secret reports and personal prejudices.

Strengths of Absolute Monarchy (Saint-Simon)

Maintains strict order, enforces royal presence with constant supervision of the nobility, and allows rapid adjustment to issues without needing approval from others.

Life at Versailles & Control of Nobles

Versailles was structured, competitive, and expensive to keep nobles dependent on the king. Louis required daily court attendance, marked absent nobles ("I do not know him"), encouraged lavish spending on clothing/gambling to make them reliant on royal gifts, and used symbolic honors (like holding his candlestick) to incite rivalry.

Original Edict of Nantes

Allowed Huguenots (R.P.R.) to practice their religion, meet for public worship, establish judges to administer justice, and maintain the tranquility of the kingdom.

Louis XIV's Justification for Revoking the Edict of Nantes

Claimed King Henry IV issued it as an emergency measure to calm France; argued nothing helped religion more than reducing public exercise of Huguenot worship and suppressing bi-partisan courts.

Impact of Revoking the Edict of Nantes on Huguenots

Abolished Huguenot rights and declared their religion "false." Destroyed Protestant churches, closed schools, forced conversion to Catholicism, and caused up to 200,000 Huguenots to flee France to England, the United Provinces, and Germany.

Motives Behind Revoking the Edict of Nantes (Saint-Simon)

Driven by Louis XIV's ignorance, stubbornness, and weakness in religion. Influenced by the Jesuits (who promised glory/divine favor to repair past sins) and Madame de Maintenon.

Bishop Bossuet: Source of Royal Power

Kings obtain power directly from God via Divine Right (supported by St. Paul and biblical references like Solomon sitting on the Lord's throne).

Bishop Bossuet: Purpose of Absolute Power

Required to suppress evil and maintain good without fear of opposition; acting against the king is sacrilegious because the king sits on God's throne.

Bishop Bossuet: Limits on Monarchical Power

Kings are bound by divine and moral limitations (God's law), self-restraint, and fear of God, but not by human limitations or human accountability. They will ultimately die and be judged as men by God.

Jean Domat: Necessity of Government

Necessary to maintain good order and suppress injustice when human differences cause unequal status; functions like a family structure where authority enforces duty and obedience.

Jean Domat: Duties of the People

First duty is obedience to monarchs; respect and fear rulers, pay taxes, refrain from forbidden acts, contribute to government, and follow orders without passing judgment or discussion.

Jean Domat: Powers & Duties of the Sovereign

Holds absolute power derived from God as an instrument of divine providence. Responsible for managing finances wisely, putting general welfare above personal interest, appointing capable ministers, and ruling with ultimate justice according to divine law.

Common Traits of New Monarchs

Impose peace, limit noble power, and unite the people under a centralized state.

Louis XI ("The Spider") [r. 1461–1483]

Valois King of France who strengthened the state using the "taille" (annual direct tax on land/property) for regular income. Built up a royal army, eliminated reliance on noble armies, and played nobles against each other.

Henry VII [r. 1485–1509]

First Tudor king of England who ended the Wars of the Roses by abolishing private noble armies, limited taxes to win support, and sold monopolies to raise money.

The Star Chamber (Henry VII)

High court created by Henry VII to convict nobles, seize their property, or execute them. Operating without noble juries, it disobeyed the Magna Carta and made nobles fear the king.

Ferdinand and Isabella

Monarchs whose marriage united Castile and Aragon to form Spain. Made Catholicism the state religion, created the Spanish Inquisition to root out non-believers, and expelled Jews (1492) and Muslims (1502).

Ivan IV ("Ivan the Terrible") [r. 1533–1584]

Crowned first Czar of Russia (1547). Centralized autocratic power, adopted serfdom, built St. Basil's Cathedral, expanded Russia east by 50 sq mi/day, waged an 8-year reign of terror crushing the boyars (nobles), and accidentally killed his own son.

Absolutism & Sovereignty Defined

Absolutism is a system where the monarch holds total power linked to Divine Right (God-given power). Sovereignty is supreme and independent power (which rested with the king in absolutist regimes, vs. with the people in America).

Powers of an Absolute Monarch & Potential Checks

Monarch makes/unmakes laws, levies taxes, controls state officials, and determines foreign policy with no checks. Threatening checks traditionally included the Church, Nobles, Representative Bodies (legislatures), Towns, and Universities.

Jean Bodin

Provided a theoretical basis for absolutism; believed only absolute monarchy could provide order and force people to obey the government.

Louis XIV ("The Sun King") [r. 1643–1715]

Came to throne at age 4 (governed by Cardinal Mazarin until age 23); survived The Fronde (rebellion to overthrow child king in 1648). Termed "The Sun King" as the source of light for all his people. Famous for saying "I am the State!" ("L'état, c'est moi").

Louis XIV: Political Control & The Estates-General

Forced peasants into free labor for the government 1 month/year; never called a meeting of the Estates-General; created new noble titles to dilute existing nobility and build loyalty; removed nobles from the Royal Council.

Mercantilism & Jean-Baptiste Colbert

Economic theory where national prosperity depends on a large supply of gold and silver (bullion) via a favorable balance of trade (more exports than imports). Colbert raised tariffs on foreign imports, increased finished exports, and used colonies solely to benefit the mother country.

Louis XIV: Standing Army & Financial Drain

Maintained a standing army of 400,000 men and fought 4 major wars between 1667 and 1715. Waged 20% of French dead and crippled the French economy due to high war expenses.

Balance of Power Concept

Policy created by the Dutch where no single country was allowed to dominate Europe; led to coalitions formed specifically to counter and stop Louis XIV's expansion.

War of the Spanish Succession & Treaty of Utrecht (1713)

Fought to prevent Louis XIV from consolidating the French and Spanish thrones. Opposed by the Grand Alliance (UK, Dutch Republic, Portugal). Treaty of Utrecht ended war, stopped French expansion, let Louis's grandson take Spain's throne (prohibiting union of thrones), and gave Britain Spanish territories.

Versailles Architecture & Symbolism

Expanded from his father's small hunting lodge. Featured the Hall of Mirrors (dance/state room) and its own private Chapel so "church comes to him." Host to constant entertainment/gambling to keep nobles diverted.

Magna Carta (1215) & Parliament (1295)

Magna Carta forced on King John by nobles, establishing that the king must get noble consent to tax and accused nobles must have a jury trial. English Parliament (1295) established "power of the purse" over new taxes.

Tudor Dynasty Background (Elizabeth's "Bargain")

Monarch controlled foreign policy while Parliament held the power to tax and debate bills.

The "Stuart Sandwich" Succession Line

James I -> Charles I -> Oliver Cromwell (Interregnum) -> Charles II -> James II.

James I [r. 1603–1625]

Pro-Catholic Scottish Stuart king who sought absolute power ("Louis XIV wannabe"). Alienated Parliament and Puritan gentry by lecturing them on Divine Right. Ordered the King James Bible (1611).

Gunpowder Plot (1605)

Catholic conspiracy led by Guy Fawkes attempting to blow up James I and Parliament. Fawkes was discovered and executed (Guy Fawkes Day).

Charles I [r. 1625–1649]

Son of James I; pro-Catholic and loved Church ceremony/ritual. Believed in Divine Right and ruled without Parliament for 11 years ("Personal Rule").

Ship Money Controversy

Reinstated an obsolete medieval coastal defense tax by Charles I to raise money across all of England without Parliamentary consent.

Petition of Right (1628) & The Long Parliament

Charles I signed the Petition of Right to get taxes, then dissolved Parliament and ignored it. Forced to recall Parliament due to war with Scotland. The "Long Parliament" passed laws to protect itself; Charles attempted to arrest 5 MPs, triggering civil war.

English Civil War: Cavaliers vs. Roundheads

War between Royalists/Cavaliers (House of Lords/King seeking absolutism) and Parliamentarians/Roundheads (House of Commons seeking protected authority).

Oliver Cromwell & New Model Army

Cromwell led the New Model Army (made of extreme Puritans/Independents) to defeat the King. Tried Charles I for treason and executed him (Jan 30, 1649).

The Interregnum & Puritan Commonwealth

Monarchy abolished. Cromwell ruled as "Lord Protector" with the Rump Parliament (Puritan dictatorship). Foreign nations refused to recognize it due to the regicide. Cromwell dissolved the Rump Parliament; after his death, his son Richard was ousted.

The Restoration (1660–1688) & Charles II

Parliament voted to restore the Stuart monarchy under Charles II as a limited monarch. Avoided his father's mistakes and was a Catholic sympathizer.

James II & The Glorious Revolution (1688)

Devout Catholic king who appointed Catholics to government and claimed power to veto laws at will. Parliament invited William of Orange and Mary to invade ("Bloodless Revolution"). James II fled to France.

English Bill of Rights (1689) & Constitutional Monarchy

Settled power balance between King and Parliament, barring Catholic monarchs and requiring parliamentary permission to rule. Served as a model for the U.S. Bill of Rights (First 10 Amendments).

William and Mary

First true limited constitutional monarchs who ruled by permission of Parliament rather than Divine Right. Passed the Toleration Act of 1689 granting Puritans free worship.

Russia Before Peter the Great

Stuck in a medieval era (missed Renaissance/Scientific Rev); landlocked with no direct warm-water sea access; governed by Orthodox Church customs; traumatized by Ivan the Terrible.

Peter the Great: Personality

Standing 6'7", energetic, headstrong, and hands-on. Passionate about Westernization, modern tech, and naval science. Dedicated to duty (contracted fatal illness saving drowning sailors in freezing Baltic waters).

Peter the Great: "Great Embassy" (1697)

16-month tour of Western Europe in disguise. Studied shipbuilding (apprenticed in British fleet), surgery, dentistry, anatomy, printing, and iron casting to modernize Russia.

Peter the Great: Military & Religious Reforms

Built Russia's navy from scratch, imposed 25-year peasant conscription, melted church bells for cannons, defeated Sweden at Battle of Poltava, and reduced the Orthodox Church's political power by using its resources for military expansion.

Peter the Great: Westernizing Reforms & St. Petersburg

Forced nobility to shave beards and wear short Western clothes. Relocated capital from Moscow to Baltic port of St. Petersburg (1703). Established Russia's first newspaper, hospitals, museums, and specialized schools.

Thomas Hobbes: Key Work & Ideology

Wrote Leviathan (1651); advocated for Absolutism and sided with the King against Parliament.

Thomas Hobbes: View of Human Nature

Believed humans are naturally cruel, guided by a ruthless struggle for self-preservation, and have no capacity for self-government.

Thomas Hobbes: Social Contract & Authority

Absolute power depends on a free and rational agreement (social contract) by which people accept it to prevent political disorder; freedom of action lies entirely in the hands of the ruler as part of this contract.

Thomas Hobbes: Religion & Divine Right

Maintained a secular view of power that did not rely on Divine Right; quoted from the Bible, but the Bible itself did not influence his political philosophy.

John Locke: Key Work & Ideology

Wrote Two Treatises of Government (1690); advocated for Constitutionalism, self-government, and a liberalist view.

John Locke: View of Human Nature & Religion

Believed people are reasonable and naturally equal/free; believed a monarchy brings trouble and that moderate religion was good.

John Locke: Natural Rights

Believed all individuals possess natural rights from birth: life, liberty, and property.

John Locke: Social Contract & Right to Rebel

Government exists solely to protect natural rights on the conditions of a social contract; if government breaks this contract or takes away liberty, the people have the right to rebel and form a new government.

John Locke: Historical Impact

His ideas led directly to the English Bill of Rights in 1689 and heavily influenced the American Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution.

Hobbes vs. Locke: Shared Views

Both believed good government is part of human purpose and that state authority must be based on a social contract or agreement upon authority.