absolutism/french power/sovereignty

absolutism in france and spain

foundations of french n spanish absolutism

-henry of navarre(4th) made a foundation for his successors louis the 13th n 14th go centralize france

-louis is the epitome of a absolutist (endless wars, taxes, economic regulation, and his gloriously beautiful palace of Versailles)

-most of his success was dependent on noble collabs (absolutist rule required compromises)

-spain’s economic instability was exposed once american silver became less prominent of a currency, so france became a major political power

-edict of nantes paved the way for louis to centralize power

absolutism essays!

-a tutor hired by Louis argued in his book Politics Drawn from the Very Words of Holy Scripture, he said that royal power was sacred and divine, but not with limits

-according to him (Jacques-Béigne Bossuet) he says that service to God and respect for the King are one in the same/bound together

-Louis argues in his narrative that safety, security, and happiness cannot occur without an absolute ruler (one person in power → similar to Hobbes’ Leviathan idea)

-he says that without Sovereignty, there is a systemic corruption of each man trying to get more power, and it trickles down to all classes (basically, he is saying that there are many evils and corruption without Sovereignty)

foundations of french n spanish absolutism(cont.)

-after henry iv issued the edict of nantes, in hopes of reaching peace with religious tolerance, he was assassinated by a catholic zealot

-his minister after this death, cardinal richelieu (in place of his young son louis the 13th) was against protestantism, and tried to strengthen french power instead of focusing on religious tolerance (which he succeeded in! He created a sort of bureaucracy/representative system where officials would handle things like tax collection, etc… increased power throughout France!!)

-he supported protestants in the 30 years war just so he could go against the habsburgs (politique! Political motivations outweigh his religious motivations!!)

-in the early reign of louis the 14th, magistrates of the Paris Parliament were outraged by the excessive royal and governmental control, and encouraged revolts by peasants

-after louis was old enough to inherit the throne, much of the rebellion died down (french crown prohibited women from being queen… so anna of austria acting as a regent was a time of instability)

absolutism n louis the 14th!

-louis believed in the divine right to rule; god appointed kings as rulers on earth, and therefore are the most powerful (leviathan..?)

-he danced in a ballet dressed as the sun (i.e. “sun king”, showing how the world revolved around him)

-in his painting, he displays so many signs of wealth, and being the absolutist leviathan! his scepter and his sword are used as props, showing how it doesn’t even matter to him[a]

-he wanted almost complete control of all decisions; even though he had councils, he insisted on making the final decisions. He also avoided having a cardinal to avoid a cardinal richelieu situation

-although louis personally didn’t care that much about religious sects, he hated that it caused division in his land, so he revoked his grandpa’s edict of nantes (example of absolutist rule)

-louis still had checks and balances on his power; he needed to abide by rule of ruling to prove his “divine rule” (virtuous, according to god) and appeal to the nobles because he needed their cooperation to keep his iron grip on all the land he owned (court life of the palace of versailles)

-louis was THE divine right ruler; paved the way for other absolutist rulers

life at versailles

-nobles would fight for his favor in the palace, and it became the center of political, social, and economic power

-although louis liked to glamourize it, there were many complaints of smell, noise, and space. it was open to peasants (some hours of the day), servant quarters, and for nobles

-there was a lot of prestige and courtiership surrounding louis; he wanted perfect routine ceremony, and order

letter from versailles essay

-elizabeth-charlotte (highest ranking woman in french court) expresses her disliked and boredom for court life

-she says “...no one any longer knows what politeness is. The young men think only of horrible debauchery. I do not advise any one to send their children here…”

-she clearly thinks that the social order is coming to chaos, directly blaming louis rule over the court

-she says that although it is quite luxurious in france, she misses the integrity and frankness of germany

-these courtiers (including her) likely only stayed at this palace because they feared what louis would do in retaliation; plus, he was the god appointed “divine ruler”

life at versailles(cont.)

-it was becoming clear that his palace wasn’t as glorious as he was making it out to be; many of his favorite servants were off making their own palaces and grand pieces of architecture in order to show off their wealth, power, and centralization

-there was a system of patronage in the palace; lower ranking officials would pledge allegiance to higher ranking ones to establish power. High ranking officials did this so they could receive loyalty and keep their position. Louis didn’t mind this, because it made the official cooperate with him

-noblewomen often had a lot of control behind the scenes. The duke of saint-simone says about louis secret second wife/mistress “Many people have been ruined by her, without having been able to discover the author of the ruin, search as they might.”

-louis was a big patron of the arts, starting the era of “Louis the 14th as French Classicism”

-nobles started to have a pretentious style of speaking, and people mocked them calling them “précieuses” (precious). Versailles became the center of the the movement of art in europe

the french economic policy of mercantilism

-jean-baptiste colbert was a financial genius; really helped out louis because he was struggling a little with finances. he helped to enforce mercantilism and insisted on making most products france needed in france

-he supported old industries, as well as establishing new ones; specifically textiles (company of west indies to compete with dutch for asian trade however unsuccessful)

-this allowed louis to expand a lot of his power (even to the new world!) without drastically raising taxes and upsetting his people

louis the 14th wars

-louis believed that conquering was a noble and honorable thing, so he kept france at war for 33 out of his 54 year rule

-he expanded france a lot during this time, up to the spanish netherlands and the city of strasbourg as well

-after colbert was succeeded, the wars of 1680-90 were unfruitful and put a lot of strain on french power and economy

-after charles ii of spain died, he accepted power for his grandson to rule over spain, which caused spanish war of succession

-the english, austrian, dutch, and prussians allied against louis. the peace of utrecht said it so philip could remain king, but recognize that spain and french crowns could never be united

-the peace of utrecht balanced out french power, and marked the end of french expansion (louis, without the assistance of colbert, had struggled financially; however he did not want to rely on anyone else so refused any council to deal with financial issues. all the years of war and expansion led to a loss of money, and they were on the brink of bankruptcy under his rule. When he died in 1715, people were just as relieved as they were sad)

the decline of absolutist spain in the seventeenth century

-at the beginning of the 17th century, france was not very powerful, and they dare not go against spain. however, weaknesses in the spanish economy became apparent around 1610-1650 (around the time of the netherlands WOR) including excessive inflation, lack of power over the new world, and the worth of silver declining. eventually they had to declare bankruptcy, and expelled moriscos (former muslims) which reduced the amount of merchants

-this just led to a snowball of taxes and lack of production. **spain also ignored scientific methods that could have helped their agriculture/manufacturing

-the kingdom of spain was crumbling. philip iii handed the crown over to duke of Lerma, who extorted the position for personal/familial gain

-philip the iv wan’t much better, leaving management to Count-Duke of Olivares. He wasn’t bad, but he believed that stability lie in 16th century principles (returning to the medieval!). however that meant returning to war with the dutch and with the french. (this led to getting tied up w/ the thirty years war)

-they also suffered civil wars, and with the treaty of the pyrenees, it led to the end of french-spanish conflict, but a significant amount of power was lost from spain. their era of rule was over

-the pyrenees were also a geographical barrier between spain and france

absolutism in austria and prussia

-eastern european politics and absolutism were built on different principles than western europe. a lot of eastern european monarch focused on strong military due to wars and instability

-nobles and monarchs have agreements, but the serfs (per usual) got the short end of the stick

the return of serfdom in the east

-west → peasants could escape serfdom because of the black death, so there demographically was less people so they could have more land

-east → peasants basically lost all ability to own their own land. in the east, dealing with labor shortage meant keeping their peasants from leaving to other countries to find better work

-runaway peasants, by prussian law (1500), required that runaway peasants be captured and returned

-the lack of power that peasants had was largely due to the amount of power local lords had. they controlled the court, taking the role of the prosecutor, judge, and jailor. there would be no justice if the lord did not agree with it (absolutism..? on a minor scale)

-commercial agriculture was a big part of eastern european economy. lords would take peasants’ “excess” products and sell them to wealthier western europeans

-this new system hurt local towns as well, because landowners would sell the crops directly to the west, instead of passing through local towns

the austrian habsburgs

-like most of europe, the habsburgs were poor and tired after the thirty years war

-their plan of crushing protestantism didn’t really work out (peace of westphalia!!)

-even though the habsburgs technically were ruling, there was a lot more power given to the variety of political jurisdictions

-after the habsburgs had a victory over bohemia (a largely protestant domain!), bohemia lost a lot of power

-3 days of unpaid labor a week became normal for bohemian peasants under habsburg rule (absolutist rule!! protestantism was also “stamped out”)

-for the first time in forever the habsburgs had an army ready to get rid of any civil uprisings

-even though hungarians were somewhat conquered by the habsburgs, they didn’t let the full extent of habsburg absolutism reach their land. after the war of spanish succession, when the habsburgs were economically unstable, the hungarians rose in a rebellion (prince francis rákóczi). although they lost, their fight made the habsburgs agree to restoring most of their traditional hungarian values and aristocracy (sooo… hungary never was fully affected by the absolutist habsburg rule!)

-german (the language) spread around the entire habsburg state

prussia in the seventeenth century

-the hohenzollern family ruled the prussian empire

-fredrick william became the elector of prussia, and their territories included brandenburg, prussia, silesia, and territories along rhine

-although they all spoke german, they were their own estates and were ruled by nobility and land-owning classes (the “junkers”)

-he profited from the european wars because it let him have leverage to force junkers to accept taxes w/o consent, to fund an army (junkers agreed as long as they could have complete power over their estates)

-fredrick slowly became an absolute monarch by removing prussian cities from estates and implementing more taxes. the estates’ power declines, but the great elector he now had financial and political independence

-fredrick says to his son “when the finances are in a good state again, then you will have enough means, and you will not have to request money from the estates or address them.” he makes it clear that financial power and absolute power is very important for him

-fredrick TRIPLED state revenue and expanded their army. although they were 4th largest, they were regarded as the best and most precise in all of europe

-after aiding the HRE in the spanish wars of succession, he gained the title of King (fredrick I)

the consolidation of prussian absolutism

-as king, fredrick i (nicknamed “the soldiers king”) removed the last traces of parliament and local governments to assure his absolutist rule

-he was a strong military ruler, that was his main goal as a ruler

-he took a lot of pride in his army. for example, he wanted tall, handsome soldiers in his army. he also dresses them in bright red outfits to distinguish them from the peasant class

-although prussia didn’t have a very large population, they had the 4th largest and the best army in all of europe

-even though their army was very good, it came at a price. the people were very unhappy with the taxes and inscription that were enforced, and would even injure themselves to avoid being drafted (1713 it was declared lifelong)

-the nobility became commanders of the armies, because the king appointed the junkers to appease them

-the junker tyranny, peasant bondage, and the policies of frederick william I led a foundation for a highly militaristic absolutist state

the development of russia and the ottoman empire

-Empire extended from North Asia to the Pacific. Occupied Eurasian states w borders along eastern Europe and southwest Asia. It adapted elements from both cultures.

-The decline of the Great Mongol Empire allowed the Russian empire to grow.

-Peter the Great conquered a lot of territory for Russia and forced western traditions onto it.

-The rest of Europe viewed Russia/the Ottomans as outsiders.

-Ottoman empire practiced toleration by giving security and protection to

mongol rule in russia and the rise of moscow

-Russia had been under the Mongols since the 13th century, and the princes were forced to serve the Mongols -the grand duchy of Moscow became the best at serving the Mongols, and they were able to eventually take down other rival princes. Ivan III (1462-1505) was abe to expand the principality of Moscow towards the Baltic Sea in the east and to the Ural mountains in the west -eventually Ivan was strong enough in 1480 to declare autonomy. the loyalty from boyars led to stronger power for Muscovite princes -after the fall of Constantinople, Moscow princes saw themselves as heirs of the Byzantine emperors, and of Orthodox Christianity -the tsars (contraction of Caesar) considered themselves holy rulers (an Orthodox Christian idea). holy Russia was considered the “third Rome”, especially after Ivan III married the last emperor of the Byzantine empire’s daughter

building the russian empire

-Ivan the Great, after losing his mother at age 8 (possible poisoning??) and crowning himself tsar at age 16 with gold coins, he already had quite the reputation

-after his wife suddenly died, he took to killing leading members of the boyar families, and to replace them he made a “service nobility”, who were loyal in order to keep their land, power, and titles

-peasants fled the persecution and harsh taxes into the newer conquered “wild lands” and made small communities called Cossacks

-Ivan responded by making life harder for them, by binding them to their land owners, and also crunching down on the middle class and putting a check on how much power they could get. even very wealthy merchants had to rely on their tsar for security

-his internal oppression and external aggression led to a successful empire. remnants of the mongols were stomped out, and with help from cossack warriors, was able to take over muslim khantes of Kazan and Astrakhan. the fertile land of Volga River was also taken

-by enforcing control through promise of land grants, Russian control over farther lands like Siberia is similar to the ways of Spanish conquering in the past (again, religion wasn’t too important; they didn’t care about enforcing Orthodox Christianity as much)

-after Ivan died, Russia entered a “time of trouble” (1598-1613)

-nobles were struggling for power (Ivan's relatives), but so were the peasants and Cossacks. the common folk revolted against the higher powers, which simultaneously brought the nobles together in order to crush this rebellion. this brought Michael Romanov to power, and led to the powerful and successful rule of the Romanovs (modern example of absolutism… the Romanovs were in power until the Russian revolution of 1917).

-Russia gained Ukrainian territories in 1667, and completed their conquest of Siberia by 1700. this increase of power was in conjunction with the growth of the bureaucracy and army -the profits from Siberia funded the Romanovs’ rise to a great power status

-however, all this expansion and prosperity did not help the serfdom of Russia. lords were able to control the common people however they wanted

-the painting of Peter the Great shows his power as a warrior and ruler. the ermine fur is a symbol of honor, and in the background displays his fleet and fortress [b]

-a revolt caused by Cossacks in 1670 disrupted the peace but it was stopped in 1671 and speaks to the power the Russian empire have over its people

peter the great and foreign experts essay

-John Deane, a shipbuilder, sends a very positive message about the ships in Russia to his patron (marquess of Carmarthen) in England -he speaks very highly of Peter’s skill, saying that the mold and frame are so expertly crafted, and in a short time as well -at a Christmas party, there were French, English, Dutch, and other foreigners in attendance. he suggests that the foreign experts are very skilled and are able to live a somewhat lavish life for their skill

the reforms of peter the great

-Peter’s campaign after the initial Romanov rule was to accelerate the process of state building -his main goal was to gain access to the sea because his state was basically landlocked -he conquered the Ottoman fort of azov so he could achieve that goal, and made a navy base in 1697. he and a group of 250 official toured europe for 18 months to observe their technology, and hoped to make an anti-Ottoman alliance with them -although his anti-Ottoman alliance fell through, he learned a lot from Dutch leaders, and brought a lot of foreign experts with him back to Russia -his next goal was to conquer Sweden, which he thought would be easy since the king (Charles XII of Sweden) was young and weak. however, Peter was blindsided by the power Charles’ army held and eventually took a defeat to him in the Great Northern War (1700-21) -Peter responded to this defeat by strengthening his state power and forcing nobles to serve in army or civil service (for life) -he also created schools and universities because he knew strong armies required training and education. young noblemen were required to get education for 5 years away from home -this is similar to the Zhou Dynasty and Confucianism, because even non-nobles could rise the ranks of the bureaucracy -Peter’s way of imperial rule was ahead of other imperialist states in Europe -this “new war machine” was able to take down the small Swedish presence in Ukraine (1709) -much of Estonia and Latvia, as well as Sweden came under Russian territory. this was expensive though, and military expenses were around 80-85% -St. Petersburg, which used to be a swamp land, was transformed into a great city. thousands of peasants a year were sent to work on it without pay (Shi Huangdi??? building the Great Wall??) -for Peter, modernization means westernization. he encouraged nobles to shave their beards, and made them wear western clothes -his reforms weren’t very popular, because of unigeniture which said that only one son was able to inherit property, which cut out other family members and daughters -his reforms also led to an even more great gap between the serfdom and nobility, and also increased the taxes for the serfs -even though the reforms were unpopular, they eventually would lead to enlightenment in thought and ideas similar to the rest of Europe, especially under the rule of Catherine the Great

the ottoman empire

-the ottomans were viewed as “[an] empire as driven by an insatiable lust for warfare and conquest.’

-the fall of constantinople was a catastrophe for them, and the taking of the balkans was a tyrannical loss

-however, to the ottomans, they had liberated constantinople from the declining byzantines, and the balkans were a haven for refugees escaping the “intolerance of Western Christian powers.”

-the empire was a safe place of refuge for jews, muslims, and christians escaping from the inquisition and wars of religion

-their peak was in the mid 16th century, and their main territory was in turkey (anatolia at the time)

-during the early time of the ottoman empire, they originally were conquering around europe; however vlad the impaler (the “real life” dracula) scared them off and they moved to anatolia

-the setup of the government in the ottoman empire was interesting: there was a lack of private property because agricultural property was the sultan’s property, and peasants had to pay taxes to use that land. so, there was a lack of hereditary nobles, and instead a bureaucracy, which employed slave corps. muslims aren’t allowed to enslave other muslims, so they took slaves from near the borders of their empire (they put into effect a ‘tax’ of 1000-3000 male children per year in the conquered Christian territory of Balkan)

-the slaves were trained to fight and administer, and the children were raised as muslims. unlike the treatment of africans in western european colonies, ottoman slaves had a chance to have high ranking positions in the bureaucracy (wealth and power!!)

-the less talented slaves formed the janissary corps: the core of the sultan’s army

-by 1683 the army became so prestigious that it was no longer required to conscript; it became a volunteer army

-the ottoman empire was divided into religious communities (millets, or nations) and they were allowed governmental autonomy under religious leaders. ottomans recognized orthodox and armenian christians, muslims, and jews, however the empire was explicitly islamic

-millet system allowed a way to appease the people through religious tolerance (necessity for modern era and strong nation!!!)

-istanbul (constantinople) was the capital, and the “old palace” was where the female family members of the sultan lived, looked over by eunuchs (castrated men; basically neutered)

-sultans would often marry women of higher status; but only have children with concubines (woman of lower social status) so that wealthier families could not have power over their government

-each concubine was also only allowed one male heir. these heirs would go with their mothers to rule provinces to prevent civil wars (absolutism…?)

-due to sultan suleiman, who married his concubine and had multiple kids with her, imperial wives began to gain more power. this led to thing like arranged marriages with sultan’s daughters, etc, which overall declined the absolute power of the monarch and led to a more bureaucratic administration

-the sultans that followed suleiman weren't very good, being raised in harems. their finances also suffered because the dutch and portuguese had taken many trade opportunities. likewise, they suffered the same issue with spain and inflation, and a loss of population

-they didn’t modernize their military tactics like most of western europe had, which eventually led to the territories of hungary and transylvania being lost to the habsburgs. they recovered eventually, but not to the height they had under the rule of suleiman

individuals in society: hürrem

-hürrem, wife of the great sultan suleiman, was originally captured from the kingdom of poland (modern day ukraine). although she wasn’t super pretty it was said that she had a good sense of humor, and was graceful and charming

-she quickly became the favorite, enough so that suleiman broke the “rules” and married her, a concubine and a slave. she was even allowed to stay in the palace for the rest of her life, and gained a great deal of power. many of the people in the empire disapproved, but because the sultan loved her they dare not say anything

-she had a hand in diplomatic relations, helping to inform her husband of any revolts or political uprisings. she helped poland to obtain its diplomatic status (she was originally from there)

-with her pension, she contributed a mosque, two schools, a hospital, a fountain, and two public baths in istanbul

-she made soup kitchens and hospices for pilgrims/poor in mecca

-historians and media alike sensationalize her; she used her cunningness to fight her was in the competitive harem, working her way from a slave to the sultan’s wife. she also demonstrated diplomatic skill (“sultanate of women”)

beginning of the modern era (in class)

-medieval era → ended with peace of westphalia

-the main leaders in the medieval were the papacy and monarchs

-from the years of 1517 (95 theses n protestant reformation) to 1688 (glorious revolution and parliament!)

-they learn that you need to appeal to the masses; therefore you must listen to them, and appease them with parliamentary/constitutional monarchy

-gotta have political stability over religious unity soooo religious tolerance! (learned from the mass death from the german wars of religion :/)

-the peasants and masses have to be included in the country; through work, infrastructure, and religious freedom so they don’t realize they have power in numbers (prevent revolt!)

-spread out power (democracy!), a voice for people, some sort of political power(sovereignty), steady revenue, offensive power and being able to defend (military!)

-locke and hobbes' expression of sovereignty are secular! devoid of religion

-there is a big shift from council of trent to peace of westphalia

-180 degree shift of politics to 360 (far left and far right!)

-the ideas are: do you conform due to your good morals, or fear of punishment? end goal is same: therefore there are different forms are government that are mostly the same amount of effective

-the 5 core elements must be there to make an effective country (whether politically it is more “locke” or “hobbes”)

-transition of “religion wars” to “land wars” (politically motivated)

-this fight for power, etc, won’t stop until one country is mutually agreed as the most powerful and cannot be fought against (example! u.s. after they bombed japan <3)

-Austria, Prussia, and Russia have some traits of the modern state but lack some of them. Because of this, they are not able to keep up with France. France has the five necessary elements of the modern state. -(generalization) What makes absolutism strong in the short term?= (hint shades of Caesar Augustus used power to create order)The Nobles gain control of the surfs= there is not room for innovation (new sturpus and such are not made). In the Modern era, the state is supposed to improve and advance but if it stays static, it ca44nnot advance and gain money. The most powerful of these states will be the ones who have an awakened lower class. The support of the people is gained through their love through the state (Nationalism, patriotism).

louis (in class)

formative influences

-the fronde: mentioned above, but because when a regent is ruler it is a time of instability, the nobles decided to revolt and separate france! back into a medieval era!

-lowkey childhood trauma so louis was determined to control the nobles with an iron fist

-his advisors (henry 4th, his grandpa, and cardinal richelieu, a centralizer of france). He takes advice from them, even though they are dead, to rule as an absolute monarch)

-colbert!!! an amazing economical genius!! helped to secure the economy of france so he could expand his empire. He enforced mercantilism, and encouraged and supported many industries in france

-bossuet!! a tutor who believed in his divine right, even though he says there are some checks and balances. Intertwines religion + his divine right

-mazarin!! a cardinal, slightly worse that richelieu, however he was still helpful

-maria teresa!!

domestic politics

-the palace of versailles!! mentioned above as well, however it was an absolute grandiose building. It was practically a city, everyone envied the garden and hunting cabin. it was a place of entertainment and fun. people fought for his approval (nobles too!!). it was a “gilded cage”

-now many paintings (baroque era!!!) were about painting nobles and royals rather than the church

-by the time of the french revolution, there was so much debt from the building of the palace (colbert was gone)

-peasants are still devout catholics!! even though they are enlightened!!

-bureaucracy is led by commoners. louis says “you should know I don’t give power to anyone else by who I give my trust too” so true louis so true.

-at the time, louis the 14th has the best military in europe

-he wants mercantilism!! supported a lot by colbert, the polar opposite of capitalism. make everything in the country, and lessen the imports. this is like an indirect/direct connection to strong military because of the money you get

-edict of nantes… repealed because even though louis was religiously tolerant, he hated religious division in his state because it represented less power for him

foreign policies -he fought a lot, however he didn’t even gain than much land -the War of Spanish Succession -Philip of Anjou! (grandson of Louis the 14th) he took the throne, but with the Peace of Utrecht they say that French and Spanish crowns will never be one in the same -Peace of Utrecht, also gave the Strait of Gibraltar to England (kinda irrelevant) -on his deathbed, Louis told his successor the 15th, don’t try to fight and conquer so much, and listen to the people -Louis 15th didn’t take his advice (L) legacy -a “balance of power” diplomacy: alliances are made between countries that aren’t together to fight a larger power; thus, a balance of power -a “domesticated” nobility: they don’t realize what is going on around them; peasants and commoners! -similar to “the Masque of Red Death” story by Edgar Allen Poe; a shut off community, the Palace of Versailles -he also had a generational debt, just terrible, awful debt. there was no more Colbert to help them

[a]

painting:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Louis_XIV_of_France.jpg/270px-Louis_XIV_of_France.jpg

[b]

painting: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Peter_I_by_G.Musikiyskiy_(1723%2C_Hermitage).jpg/1200px-Peter_I_by_G.Musikiyskiy_(1723%2C_Hermitage).jpg