Absolute Monarchy in France: Characteristics and Limits

Vocabulary flashcards covering the characteristics, key figures, religious rituals, and traditional and material limits of the French absolute monarchy.

Absolute Monarchy (Monarchie absolue)

A political system where power is not divided among institutions, and the king concentrates all three powers: legislative, executive, and judicial.

Pouvoir arbitraire (Arbitrary power)

The power of the king to make decisions based on his own will without needing agreement from an assembly representing the people.

Lettres de cachet

Letters bearing the royal seal that allowed the king to make direct decisions, notably imprisoning individuals without trial.

Monarchie de droit divin (Divine right monarchy)

A monarchy in which the king's power is considered to come directly from God, making him God's representative on Earth accountable only to God.

Clovis

The King of the Franks whose conversion to Catholic Christianity (traditionally dated 496) created a crucial alliance between the monarchy and the Catholic Church.

Sacre (Coronation)

A religious ceremony in which the king is consecrated, beginning traditionally with Pépin le Bref and continuing through the 19th century to reinforce divine authority.

Sainte Ampoule (Holy Ampulla)

A vial containing holy oil traditionally believed to have been brought by God to Clovis, used during the sacre to anoint the king.

Roi thaumaturge (Thaumaturgic king)

The concept that the king possesses miraculous healing powers given by God, notably believed to cure scrofula (écrouelles).

Écrouelles (Scrofula)

A disease affecting the lymph nodes that the king was believed to heal with the phrase "Le roi te touche, Dieu te guérit."

Lois fondamentales du royaume (Fundamental laws of the kingdom)

Traditional rules considered superior to the king's personal will that serve as boundaries to royal power.

Conversion of Henri IV (1593)

The event where the Protestant Henri IV converted to Catholicism in 1593 ("Paris vaut bien une messe") to unify the kingdom before being crowned in 1594.

Primogéniture masculine (Male primogeniture)

The rule of royal succession giving priority to the king's eldest male heir.

Loi salique (Salic law)

A fundamental law preventing a woman from inheriting the French throne and preventing claims to the throne through a female line.

Guerre de Cent Ans (Hundred Years' War)

A conflict from 1337 to 1453 triggered in part when Édouard III claimed the French throne through his mother Isabelle de France, leading the French to choose Philippe VI de Valois instead.

Domaine royal (Royal domain)

The lands belonging to the Crown which the king was required to preserve and pass on rather than treat as personal property.

Material limits of royal power

Practical limits caused by vast territory and slow travel, where horses were the fastest transport and a trip like Paris-Lyon took about a week.