Absolution in Europe

• Monarchs ruled by divine right (God created the monarchy; the monarch acted as God’s representative on earth) 

• Monarchs decided what was best for their state

• They ruled with unlimited power

•  And dictated the cultural of their state through patronage of the arts, performers, or religious ideas they enjoyed or by censoring the cultural aspects that weren’t suitable to them.  

Divine Right of Kings

• God has directly granted the king or queen the right to rule.

• They are not bound by any earthly authority or to the people.

• Monarchs were expected to abide by God’s moral and civil laws.

• Monarchs could only be judged by God.

• Any attempt to judge the monarch was in defiance to God’s law.

• Monarchs tended to rule with absolute authority. 

The 17th century witnessed the rise of absolution

• Circumstances that led to Absolutism

• Religious disputes (caused by the Reformation) strengthened kings and weakened the pope

• Territorial disputes - led to continuous warfare in Europe

  • Kings built armies to wage wars, which enabled them to levy heavier taxes, and then grew more powerful 

• Peasant revolts allowed kings to increase their power to suppress them

• Kings began to control churches, courts, and their economy

• Kings sought to free themselves from the limitations imposed by nobles or representative parliaments

17th century & the rise of absolution

• More Causes of Absolutism

• European populations in towns and cities favored monarchies and more centralized governments with national identities; this gave rise to powerful nation-states

• Kings tapped into the wealth of their colonies to finance their ambitions, wage wars, and patronize the arts

• After the Reformation kings of Europe had more free reign to enforce or control religion within their state be it Roman Catholic Church or Protestant Christianity

  • Kings censored and persecuted religious beliefs that they opposed
    

FRENCH ULTIMATE MONARCH

King Henry III of Navarre - established the Bourbon Dynasty

• He married the sister of the French King (Charles IX) in 1572.

• On his wedding day, the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre erupted in France in the midst of the Huguenot Wars

  • The massacre began at Henry’s wedding

  • A six week nationwide slaughter of the Huguenots were perpetrated by French Catholics

• Henry became the king Henry IV of France and established the “Bourbon Dynasty”

  • He later brought peace to France by ending the religious disputes of the Huguenot Wars in France

     

St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre 1572

• The massacre was instigated by Catherine de Medici the widowed mother of the bride, Margaret

• It was arranged for Margaret (a Catholic) to marry Henry III the king of Navarre (a Huguenot) an attempt to reconcile the religious tension between the two groups

• However most of the Huguenot princes attending the wedding that day were killed

Henry IV of France – The Bourbon Dynasty

• Henry inherited the French throne in 1589

• He converted to Catholicism – a political decision to win over the citizens of Paris

• He declared the Edict of Nantes - 1598

  • His edict (new law) enforced religious tolerance of Huguenot worship

  • And ended the Huguenot Wars in France

• He restored strength to the French monarchy, and laid the foundation for economic prosperity in France

France : Age of Absolution

• Louis XIII, Henry’s son, inherited the throne

• Too young & weak, his mother appointed:

• Cardinal Richelieu - as chief minister  to run the country from 1624-1642

• He laid the foundation for French Absolutism

    A Voice from the Past

    “What is done for the state is done for God, who is the basis and foundation of it.   Where the interests of the state are concerned, God absolves actions which if privately committed, would be a crime.” Richelieu

Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642)

• He Increase the power of the monarchy in France

  • He began by weakening the power of the French nobles 

    • By ordering them to level their fortified castles 

    • He swiftly executed nobles caught in the act of aristocratic conspiracies against the king

• He ordered the Huguenots to level their city walls 

  • So they could no longer defy the Catholic king and seek sanctuary behind fortified city walls

• He appointed members of the  middle class to fill government agencies

  • This prevented nobles officials who could challenge the king’s authority from filling those positions

• He made France a supreme power in Europe 

  • By involving France in the Thirty Years War to counter Habsburg power in Europe

    • The Habsburg kingdoms of Spain, Austria, and Germany completely  surrounded France 

Louis XIV

• Louis XIV’s reign began at age 5 in 1643

  • His father Louis XIII died one year after the death of Cardinal Richelieu

• Richelieu’s successor, Cardinal Mazarin, ruled France during the early years of Louis XIV

  • Under his watch, France became the strongest country in Europe in 1648 

    • (at the end of the Thirty Years War)

  • Mazarin raised taxes and increased the power of the central government

• Many nobles rebelled against Mazarin, all were unsuccessful

• Between 1648-1653 violent “anti-Mazarin” riots were initiated by French nobles 

  • even the life of young Louis was threatened

• Louis determined at an early age to become so strong that the French nobles would never be able to threaten him again

• When Mazarin died in 1661 

  • Louis XIV (age 23) and became the sole ruler of France 

  • He excluded nobles from his royal council

  • He elevated the middle class to the position of intendants – (tax collectors and those who administered justice)

France:  Louis XIV
“The Sun King”

• In 1643 Louis XIV became king of France and ruled 72 years 

• His Palace at Versailles 

  • He built a huge palace at Versailles 

    • and moved the French government there 

  • Brought Renaissance art into his palace 

    • The Mona Lisa hung in his bedroom 

  • Versailles represented the grandeur, power, and might of his monarchy and his power 

• Louis XIV believed in the divine right of kings

  • He adopted the sun as his symbol: so as the sun’s rays stretch far and wide so too did his power reach far and wide throughout Europe.

• He chose the sun as his emblem:

  • The sun was Apollo’s symbol - the Greek god of peace and art.

  • Like Apollo, Louis XIV was a warrior king, fighting to restore peace. 

  • While also a lover and patron of art.  

Jean-Baptiste Colbert

• Louis XIV’s economic advisor

  • Colbert believed in Mercantilism and worked to prevent wealth from leaving his country 

  • He made France self-sufficient increasing manufacturing for exports and relyed less on imports

    • The French govt. subsidized manufacturing companies

    • France placed a high tariffs on imported goods to protect French industries 

    • Exported more - Imported less - which provided a favorable balance of trade 

  • France relied on its Canadian colonies for resources and materials (fur trade)

• Colbert’s policies rapidly elevated France to the industrial leader of Europe. 

Louis XIV’s mistake

• Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes (in 1685) after Colbert’s death

• His motto was: “one king, one law, one faith”

• Louis, a devout Catholic, hated division and persecuted the Huguenots

• Many Huguenots (skilled workers and business leaders) left France

  • Suddenly Huguenots leaders in French government, were imprisoned as enemies of the state

  • Many left the country - for the New World

  • Inflation and a weaker economy soon followed 

Louis XIV’s Wars
Against the Dutch in 1672 failed 

• By the 1660’s France dominated Europe

  • The French population grew to 20 million people

    •  4x the population of Spain or England

  • France’s army doubled in size

• Louis XIV tried to gain territory in the Netherlands

  • His invasion of the Dutch-Netherlands in 1672 failed

    • William III of Orange a future king of England played a major role in stopping Louis XIV

The League of Augsburg  was formed to counter the strength of France

• As France grew more powerful under Louis XIV, the rest of Europe cringed

• The League of Augsburg was an alliance created by the European countries neighboring France to balance the rising threat of Louis XIV’s wars

  • In 1689 William king of England and the Netherlands signed an alliance with Leopold I of the Habsburg Monarchy (aka the Austrian Empire)

  • This alliance initiated a new defensive strategy in Europe to establish a Balance of Power between European nations

Economic woes in France

• A series of poor harvests led to inflation

• Louis XIV’s wars were financed by more and higher taxes

• While Louis XIV lived in luxury at Versailles

• The French people struggled & longed for peace and stability

  • To such a degree that many in France openly rejoiced upon hearing the news of Louis XIV’s death in 1715