🇪🇺 AP EURO - Units 3.6-3.7 (Balance of & Approaches to Absolute Powers Pt.1)

France: Absolute Monarchy

Background to Absolutism

• Henry IV: First Protestant king, issued Edict of Nantes ($1598$) granting religious toleration to Huguenots (Protestants).

• Assassinated by a Catholic fanatic, leading to instability.

• Louis XIII: Became king at age $8$; his mother, Marie de' Medici, initially served as regent.

• Louis XIII displayed immaturity and disinterest in governance.

Cardinal Richelieu

• Served as Louis XIII's chief minister from $1624$ to $1642$, effectively ruling France.

• His goals were to centralize power under the monarchy and crush the power of the nobility.

• Key actions:

  • Convinced Louis XIII to involve France in the final phase of the Thirty Years' War.

  • Introduced the intendant system: government agents (often from the middle class) reported on local affairs, ensuring royal oversight.

  • Strengthened the power of the middle class (bourgeoisie).

  • Crushed a Huguenot revolt in $1628$, signaling Catholic dominance in France.

• Impact:

  • Elevated France to the most powerful continental European nation after the Treaty of Westphalia.

  • Louis XIII died five months after Richelieu, reportedly from stress after having to make his own decisions.

Cardinal Mazarin

• Succeeded Richelieu as chief minister when Louis XIV inherited the throne at age $4$.

• Continued Richelieu's policies, including wars and cracking down on Protestants.

The Fronde ($1648$)

• A series of revolts by French nobles against Mazarin and the young Louis XIV.

• Nobles sought to limit royal power, similar to movements in England aiming for a constitutional monarchy.

• Degenerated into infighting among nobles over land and power.

• Impact on Louis XIV: Traumatized him, instilled a deep distrust of the nobility and a desire to control them and move out of Paris.

Louis XIV: The Sun King

• Reigned for $72$ years ($1643-1715$), the longest of any European monarch.

• Embodied absolutism and the Divine Right of Kings.

• Famous quote: "I am the state."

• Social Class System (Estates):

  • $1^{st}$ Estate: Church ($1\%$ of population), no taxes.

  • $2^{nd}$ Estate: Nobility ($3-4\%$ of population), no taxes.

  • $3^{rd}$ Estate: Everyone else ($95\%$ of population), paid all taxes.

• Intendant System: Louis XIV expanded its use, giving power (tax collection, policing, judicial roles) to the bourgeoisie, creating