1717thth Century’s Search for Century’s Search for OrderOrder

Absolutism in France and Eastern Absolutism in France and Eastern EuropeEurope

Constitutionalism with the English and Constitutionalism with the English and DutchDutch

The 17The 17thth Century Century

• Revolutionary transformation– Crisis in agriculture and industry

• Spain, France, Germany, England

– Armies grew to the biggest point since Rome• Burden fell to the population- taxation

– Urban disorder and peasant revolts

– Princes struggled to free themselves from obstacles to gain sovereignty

• Freedom from church interference• Freedom from competition with private armies• Ultimate authority resting with the State

– Two systems emerge: absolutism and constitutionalism

The Absolutist StateThe Absolutist State

• Sovereignty is embodied in the ruler– Ruled by divine right and answered to God– “L’etat, c’est moi!” Louis XIV– Controlled rivaling authorities

• Rooted out feudal legacies• Regulated religious sects• Abolished some traditional liberties

– Unlike medieval kings who bargained with nobles for financial support, they established bureaucracies that found alternative financing

– Armies became the symbol of the absolutist state

Absolutism vs. TotalitarianismAbsolutism vs. Totalitarianism

• Totalitarianism is a 20th century phenomenon– Seeks to direct all aspects of culture (art, education,

religion, economy, politics, etc.) toward the state’s interests

– Total regulation

• Absolutism foreshadowed Totalitarianism in 2 ways:– Glorification of the state over all aspects of culture– Use of war and expansionist foreign policy to divert

attention from domestic ills

France: Henry IV, Sully, RichelieuFrance: Henry IV, Sully, Richelieu

• Henry IV inherited an enormous mess– Starvation, war, pillage and plunder– Henry promised a “chicken in every pot”– Tried to gain protestant support by appointing

protestant Maximilien de Bethune, duke of Sully as chief minister

– He tried to keep France out of war • Brief but successful war with Savoy in 1601

– He and Sully helped France get back on its feet

The King is DeadThe King is Dead• Henry was assassinated in 1610 by a “crazed fanatic”• Queen-regent Marie de Medici ruled for their son

Louis XII• Feudal lords and princes began to assert control• Marie appointed Cardinal Richelieu to the council of

ministers who eventually became the prime minister and had tremendous influence over the young king– Pressed for total subordination to the monarchy

• Leveled castles to put down feudalism• Beheaded rivals (duke of Montmorency, Godson of Henry• Appointed royal commissioners to each of the 32 districts

– Appointed by and answer to the king

– Were not locals from the district

– Became the eyes and ears of the king

Strengthening the MonarchyStrengthening the Monarchy• Henry had drawn up the Edict of Nantes which

allowed protestants to maintain heir religions and their own garrisons

• Louis saw this as a state within a state and called for a unification of faith

• Battle ensues- LaRochelle– Protestant district with ties to the English and Dutch– The city fell and the Catholic liturgy was reinstated

• First mass was celebrated by the cardinal himself

• “Where the interests of the state are concerned, God absolves actions which, if privately committed, would be a crime.”

• Richelieu was succeeded by the regent for Louis XIV- Cardinal Jules Mazarin

The FrondeThe Fronde

• Mazarin was not as strong as Richelieu

• Period of civil wars

• 3 results:– Government would have to compromise with

the social elites and the bureaucracy– Economy was devastated– Was a traumatic experience that left a mark

on the young Louis XIV

Louis XIV: The Sun KingLouis XIV: The Sun King• Longest reign in European history (1643-1715)• Responsible for the “complete domestication of the

nobility”• Built the Royal Court of Versailles

– The Great Hall of Mirrors• Candles illuminated the ceiling which contained allegorical paintings

of the king’s victories

– Kept the nobility close at hand– Never called an estates general

• Nobility had no means of united expression

• Appointed Jean-Baptiste Colbert the controller general of finances

MercantilismMercantilism• Rigorously applied to France by Colbert• A nation’s international power was based on

the amount of gold they possessed– To accomplish this he insisted that France sell

everything abroad and buy nothing in return• Required self-sufficiency

– Subsidized and granted royal privileges to industry

– Created a powerful merchant marine• Invested tremendous funds in shipbuilding and the

training of sailors• Helped make Canada and eventually Louisiana part of

the French empire

The Edict RevokedThe Edict Revoked

• Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685– Destruction of Huguenot churches, closing of

schools, baptism of Huguenots and the exile of pastors

• French Religious toleration was never meant to be permanent

• Toleration was never a popular policy among the aristocrats

Eastern EuropeEastern Europe

• Serfdom had been reinstated between 1400 and 1650

• Tragic reversal of trends– Peasants were losing their free status– Lords began taking over peasant land and imposing

stiffer labor obligations • Up to 6 days a week with no pay

– Prior to this they were paying fairly negotiated rents – Local lord took over the legal system– In Poland, nobles could legally inflict the death

penalty at will– Subjugation became hereditary again

Possible Reasons Possible Reasons

• Can you imagine ay reason why this may have happened at this time?– Consider the depression of the 14th and 15th

centuries– Consider the prosperity in the 16th and 17th

Austria and PrussiaAustria and Prussia

• Strong kings began to emerge in the 17th

• War and the threat of war aided their consolidation

• Eventually the political power of the nobles was reduced but the power over their peasants was their compensation– First rulers began imposing taxes indiscriminately– Second they created permanent standing armies– Third they conducted relations with other states

The Hapsburgs in AustriaThe Hapsburgs in Austria

• Came out if the thirty years war impoverished• Their effort to get rid of the protestants and turn the HRE

into a real state was a failure• While the family retained the ancient title the power was

broken up among 300 separate political jurisdictions• Ferdinand II defeated the protestant bohemians and

gave their land to Catholic nobles• This helped him establish absolutism• Ferdinand III further consolidated the provinces• Suleiman the magnificent and the Ottoman Empire• Promoted a sense of unity in the Hapsburg Empire• Yet the absolute rule was on shaky ground

QuizQuiz

• Describe the transition to absolute rule in Prussia.

ConstitutionalismConstitutionalism

• Limitation of government by law– Balance between authority and power of the

government– And of rights and liberties of the people

• Constitution may be written, unwritten, or partly written

• Constitutionalism is not the same as a democracy

• Could be a monarchy or a republic– Could be seen as a step toward democracy

England’s Decline of AbsolutismEngland’s Decline of Absolutism

• Elizabeth I had incredible personal power• 17th century was different

– Little political stability• Civil war, executed king, military dictatorship, restored son of

murdered king– James Stuart, cousin of Liz and King of Scotland

became James I and set the century off to a bad start• Lacked the diplomacy and mystique of the Tudors• Lectured the house of commons on the divine right of kings• Gentry owned the majority of the nation’s wealth and had

gained considerable liberty under the Tudors– James and his son Charles I tried to tighten reigns on

the house of commons and the gentry in general

Religious IssuesReligious Issues

• Puritans posed a problem because they pushed for further reform or “purification.”– Vestments, stained glass, lavish ceremonies

• Many Englishmen were attracted to the tenets of Calvinism’s social strategy– The protestant ethic

• James and Charles were both Calvinist in philosophy but were sympathetic to Roman Catholicism– People feared the country would return to Catholicism

• The Book of Common Prayer was revised to include things that seemed Roman to the Scottish Presbyterians– They revolted and Charles had to call parliament in session to

get cash to raise an army

English Civil WarEnglish Civil War

• Ireland remained Catholic• Scotland remained Presbyterian• England was Anglican with Catholic sympathy• Charles’ hands were tied because he had no

army and parliament didn’t trust him– History of bad taxes, Ship money, etc.

• 1649 he was beheaded for treason• A commonwealth was established and puritan

Oliver Cromwell became the protectorate

Military AbsolutismMilitary Absolutism• Cromwell becomes head of government

• He gives parliament new powers

• Granted religious toleration to all Christians except Catholics– Considered Irish Catholicism as sedition

• Crushed rebellions there and granted land to Scots

• Navigation Acts– English goods on English ships– Colonial trade– Aimed at the Dutch

• Cromwell died in 1658

The RestorationThe Restoration

• After Cromwell’s death the English were fed up with military rule

• They recalled Charles II from exile• He was a relaxed guy and allowed parliament to

handle doctrinal matters– English had to receive communion in the Anglican

church• Hard to enforce

• He agreed to work with parliament and convene it regularly

The Secret DealThe Secret Deal

• 1670 Charles entered secret agreements with Louis XIV

• Charles had his name put on the French Payroll to the tune of 200,000 pounds per year – Charles had to relax laws against the Catholics, join

the French against the Dutch, and convert to Catholicism

• The deal leaked out and England was resentful toward the French and the Catholics– Parliament passed a bill precluding a Catholic

successor– Charles dissolved parliament

James IIJames II

• Charles’ brother James succeeded him• Louis’ Revocation of the Edict of Nantes

instilled fear in the English• James then appointed Catholics to

positions in the army, in the universities, and the government

• He then issues a declaration of religious tolerance to everyone– Including Catholics and protestant dissenters

Almost a Catholic DynastyAlmost a Catholic Dynasty

• James’ wife gave birth to a son (baptized Catholic)

• The English knew that this meant the restoration of Catholicism

• They offered the throne to James’ daughter Mary and her husband the Dutch Prince William of Orange

• James and his wife and son went to live with Louis

• William and Mary were crowned in 1689

The Glorious RevolutionThe Glorious Revolution• By accepting their crown from parliament Bill

and Mary accepted their authority– The king would rule with the consent of the people

• A bill of rights was enforced

• John Locke’s Second Treatise of Civil Government– Life, Liberty, and Property– When these are no longer protected the

government has failed and the people have the right to overthrow it.

QuizQuiz

• Answer #1 and chose either #2,3, or 4– 1. Saint Simon faulted Louis for encouraging

the nobles extravagance. Is that a justifiable criticism?

– 2. Using 3 examples from the reading, how did absolutism decline in England in the 17th?

– 3. Using 3 examples from the book, describe Puritanical Militarism.

– 4. Describe the rule of the Stuarts citing three of them in particular.