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The Reign of Louis XIV
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The Reign of Louis XIV

Slide 1:

  1.  In France, after King Henry the 2nd died, he left four young sons that ruled one after the other, but all were incompetent.
  2. Real power behind the throne during this time was their mother Catherine de mEDICIS.
  3. Catherine tried to preserve royal authority but growing conflicts between catholics and huguenots (french protestants) rocked the country.
  4. eight religious wars would be fought between the catholics and huguenots

Slide 2: 

  1. 1572 the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre occurred when many huguenot nobles were in Paris.
  2. They were attending the marriage of Catherine's daughter to a huguenot prince, Henry of Navarre
  3. Henry of Navarre descended from medieval king Louis IX.
  4. Henry was robust, athletic, and handsome.
  5. Prince henry inherited the throne and became King Henry the IV. First king of the Bourbon Dynasty.

Slide 3:

  1. As king he was decisive, fearless in battle, and a clever politician.
  2. Many catholics, including the people of Paris, though opposed Henry.
  3. In 1598 Henry declared huguenots could live in peace in France and set up their houses of worship in some cities
  4. Declaration was called the edict of nantes

Slide 4: 

  1. Henry devoted his reign to rebuilding France and its prosperity.
  2. Restored the french monarchy to a strong position.
  3. Henry also ushered in an era of peace, after a long period of war .
  4. Some people did not like Henry for his religious compromises and in 1610 a fanatic leaped into his royal carriage and stabbed him to death. Edict of Nantes

Slide 5:

  1. After Henry IV’s death his son Louis XIII ruled.
  2. He was a weak king, who appointed a strong minister who made up for it.
  3. Cardinal Richelieu (RIHSH-uh-loo) became, essentially, the leader of France.
  4. Richelieu was a hard worker leader of the Catholic church in France. Was also very ambitious.

Slide 6:

  1. Richelieu took two steps to increase the power of the bourbon monarchy
  2. First, he strengthened his position against the huguenots by forbidding protestant cities from having walls.
  3. Did this so the protestants could not defy the king and then withdraw behind strong defenses
  4. Second, sought to weaken nobles’ power.
  5. ordered nobles to take down their fortified castles.
  6. increased the power of government agents from the middle class, so there was less need to use noble officials

Slide 7:

  1. He was trying to make France the strongest state in Europe.
  2. Greatest obstacle he believed was the Hapsburg Rulers, whose lands surrounded France.
  3. Hapsburgs Ruled Spain, Austria, the Netherlands and parts of the Holy Roman Empire.
  4. Richelieu would get France involved in the 30 years’ war.

Slide 8: 

  1. A new intellectual movement was occurring in France during this time. Skepticism.
  2. The idea that nothing can ever be known for certain.
  3. Expressed an attitude of doubt toward church that claimed to have the correct set of doctrines.
  4. Believed doubting old ideas was the first step to finding truth

Slide 9:

  1. Two of the big thinkers of the time were Michel de Montaigne and Rene Descartes
  2. Montaigne pointed out in an essay that whenever a new belief arose it replaced an old belief that people once accepted as truth.
  3. He said this process would continue over and over again. so he believed that humans could never have absorbed absolute knowledge of what is true.

Slide 10:

  1. Rene Descartes used observations to create a philosophy that influenced modern thinkers and helped to develop the scientific method.
  2. Becomes an influential figure during the enlightenment

Slide 11:

  1.  Monarchy became more powerful because of Henry IV and Richelieu and this paved the way for the most powerful ruler in french history
  2. Louis XIV
  3. He believed he and the state were one.
  4. Was only four years old when he became king.

Slide 12: 

  1. Louis became king after his father Louis XIII died
  2. The true ruler was Cardinal Mazarin who ended the Thirty Years’ War
  3. Many people in france included the nobles hated Mazarin because he raised taxes and strengthened the central government
  4. Riots would break out that would sometimes threaten the young kings life.
  5. Louis never forgot this and became determined to get so much power the nobles could not threaten him again.  

Slide 13 Rebellion failed for three reasons

  1. The nobles distrusted each other more than the king
  2. The government used violent oppression
  3. Peasants and townspeople were weary of fighting and felt oppressive laws was better than the consequences of rebellion.

Slide 14:

  1. Mazarin died in 1661, leaving the 22 year old Louis in charge.
  2. weakened the power of the nobles by excluding them from councils.
  3. increased the power of intendants who collected taxes and administered justice.
  4. communicated regularly with local officials

Slide 15:

  1. His minister of finance Jean Baptiste Colbert believed in the theory of mercantilism.
  2. tried to make france self sufficient and wanted everything manufactured in house.
  3. gave government funds and tax benefits to French companies.
  4. placed high tariffs on goods from other countries.

Slide 16:

  1. Also knew the importance of colonies which provided raw materials and a market for manufactured goods.
  2. Encouraged people to migrate to France’s colony in canada.
  3. There the fur trade added to their wealth.

Slide 17: 

  1. After Colbert’s death Louis announced a policy that slowed that slowed economic progress:
  2. Canceled the edict of nantes, which protected the religious rights of the protestants.
  3. Thousands of huguenot artisans and business people fled the country
  4. Robbing france of many of its skilled workers.

Slide 18: 

  1. Spent a fortune on luxury items for himself. Had over 500 cooks, waiters and servants
  2. Every morning he would be woke up at 830 by 100 nobles  and four of the most privileged nobles got the honor of handing him his slippers or holding his sleeves.
  3. Forced nobles to spend large amounts of time at the palace away from their homes. this helped him keep power.

Slide 19: 

  1. They stayed at the palace of versailles
  2. Courtyard stood a statue of king louis. palace itself stretched for 500 yards.
  3. Looked like a small city. demonstrated Louis wealth.

Slide 20:

  1. Versailles was a center for the arts
  2. Louis made opera and ballet more popular. he even starred in “the sun king”
  3. His favorite writer was Moliere who wrote the funniest plays in french literature.
  4. One of his famous comedies is Tartuffe, which mocks religious hypocrisy.
  5. Purpose of the arts in France was to glorify the king and promote values that supported Louis's absolute rule.

Slide 21:

  1. France had 20 million people, which was four times the amount of England and ten times bigger than the dutch.
  2. French army was far ahead of other states in size training and weaponry.
  3. Louis tried expanding his territory into the spanish netherlands. Dutch opened the dikes and flooded the countryside saving their country
  4. Same tactic they used against spain a century earlier.
  5. War ended with the treaty of nijmegen. france gained several towns and a region known as Franche Comte.

Slide 22:

  1. Louis tried to fight other wars but europeans formed alliances to stop france. weaker countries could now match france’s strength
  2. Dutch prince William of Orange became the king of england and joined the league of augsburg
  3. It consisted of austrian Hapsburg emperor, kings of Sweden and Spain, and the leaders of several smaller european states
  4. France became weak by a series of bad harvests.
  5. This and new taxes added suffering to the french people

side 23:

  1. In 1700 king charles II of spain dies and has no heir to the throne.
  2. It goes to Louis XIV’s grandson Philip of Anjou
  3. Two greatest empires that were enemies for so long were now both ruled by the french bourbon
  4. England, Austria, Portugal, the Dutch republic, several German and Italian states joined together to prevent the union of the spanish and french throne

slide 24:

  1. known as the war of the spanish  succession
  2. dragged on until 1714. treaty of utrecht was signed
  3. louis’ grandson was allowed to be king of spain as long as the thrones of france and spain did not unite.

slide 25:

  1.  Big winner is Britain. it gains gibraltar, a fortress that controls the Mediterranean.
  2. Also gets a company an asiento, permission to send enslaved Africans to spain’s american colonies.
  3. Britain also gains Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and the abandoned hudson bay region.
  4. Austrian hapsburgs get the spanish Netherlands and spanish lands in italy
  5. Prussia and savory were recognized as kingdoms

Slide 26: 

  1. Louis regretted what he did in later years, but died in bed in 1715. news of his death brought joy to the french people.
  2. Louis reign was good and bad
  3. He increased the power of france, who was not only the military leader, but lead in art and literature a swell.
  4. had a strong empire of colonies which provided resources and goods for trade.

Slide 27:

  1. However constant warfare and construction of the palace of Versailles plunged France into debt.
  2. Resentment over the tax burden imposed on the poor and louis abuse of power would plague his heirs and lead to revolution
  3. Absolute rule does not die with Louis XIV
  4. Enemies in Prussia and Austria are experimenting with their own forms of absolute monarchy