Louis_XIV

January 17 Absolutism and Old Regime France

Louis XIV (aged 63) by Hyacinthe Rigaud

key terms: absolutism, divine right monarchy, Bourbons, duc de Richelieu, raison d'etat,
Huguenots, Louis XIV, Jean Baptiste Colbert, Estates General, mercantilism

Introduction

search for order
fiscal-military states

dynastic table

I. Absolutism: definition and theoretical justifications

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), Leviathan (1651)
Bishop Jacques Bossuet (1627-1704), Political Treatise on Kingship
Jean Domat (1625-1696), On Social Order and Absolute Monarchy

II. A case study in absolutism: France under Louis XIV

A. the problem of the nobles
nobility of the sword
B. the theatre of state power

medals of Louis XIV

images of Versailles: 1, 2
Chateau de Versailles
André Le Nôtre (1613-1700)

C. government and administration
          Jean Baptiste Colbert (1619-1693)
          generalités; intendants; nobility of the robe
          Estates General
D. religious policy
          Gallican Church
          Quietism; Jansenism
          Huguenots
E. foreign policy

Chronology: France under the Bourbons

1598	Henry IV issues the Edict of Nantes
1610-1643	reign of Louis XIII, who relies on the duc de Richelieu as his chief minister raison d'état; Huguenots
1614	last meeting of the Estates General until 1780
1643-1714	reign of Louis XIV; regency under Anne of Austria and Cardinal Mazarin
1648-1653	series of revolts known as the Fronde "L'état c'est moi" (1651)
1661-1714	personal rule of LXIV
1660s-1685	LXIV builds the palace of Versailles
1667-1668	war against Spain
1672-1679	war against the Dutch and then Spain, the HRE, and Bradenburg-Prussia
1685	LXIV revokes the Edict of Nantes
1688-1697	War of the League of Augsburg [aka the Nine Years' War]
1701-1714	War of the Spanish Succession

Conclusion