The Reign of Louis

XIV

Religious Wars and Power Struggles

• Between 1552 and 1598, Huguenots (French Protestants) and Catholics fought eight religious wars

• In 1589, Henry IV becomes king– He’s a Huguenot– First Bourbon king

• He was opposed by many Catholics, so he gave up his Protestantism and became a Catholic– “Paris is well worth a mass.”

• 1598, Henry issued the Edict of Nantes which granted religious tolerance to Huguenots

• Henry rebuilt France, made it prosperous, and strengthened the monarchy– He was stabbed to a death in 1610 by a religious fanatic

Henry IV of France

Henry IV stabbed to death in his royal carriage

Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu• Henry’s son, Louis XIII, becomes king• He is a weak king, but he has a strong a minister,

Cardinal Richelieu, a leader of the Catholic Church

• Richelieu basically rules France• Richelieu takes two steps to increase the power

of the monarchy:– Restricted Huguenots (no walls) so they

couldn’t defy the king– Weakened power of the nobles• No fortified castles• Gave government jobs to middle class

people• Wanted France to be strongest state in Europe– Led to involvement in Thirty Years’ War

Cardinal Richelieu

Louis XIV Comes to Power• The strengthening of the French

monarchy paved the way for the most powerful ruler in French history – Louis XIV

• Louis XIV believed that he and the state were one and the same– “L’etat, c’est moi” = “I am the state”

• Liked to be called the Sun King because all power radiated from him

Louis XIV said, “L’etat, c’est

moi”

Louis, the Boy King• Became king when he was four years old• The true ruler, was Cardinal Mazarin, who

replaced Cardinal Richelieu• The nobles hated Mazarin because he

increased taxes and strengthened the central government– Nobles rebelled and threatened Mazarin and

Louis– Rebellion failed when peasants and townspeople

got tired of fighting and disorder– They preferred the oppression of an absolute

king to the chaos

Louis XIV at Seven

Louis Weakens the Nobles’ Authority

• When Mazarin died, Louis took control• He furthered weakened the power of the

nobles by excluding them from his councils• He increased the power of the intendants,

who collected taxes and administered justice– Intendants were like “civil servants”; they were

appointed by the king to make sure his rule was being followed all over France

• He made sure that local officials communicated with him regularly

Economic Growth• Louis wanted France to be economically,

politically, and culturally strong• His minister of finance, Jean Baptiste

Colbert, believed in mercantilism –Wanted France to keep its wealth by being

self-sufficient, rather than relying on imports• Helped expand manufacturing• Placed high tariff (tax) on imported goods• Recognized importance of colonies for raw

materials and market for French goods– Fur trade from Canada

• After Colbert’s death, Louis canceled the Edict of Nantes, which protected religious freedom for Huguenots

• Thousands of Huguenot artisans and business people left France

• France was left without many of its skilled workers

• Economic progress was slowed• Who does that remind of you of?

The Sun King’s Grand Style

• Louis spent a fortune surrounding himself with luxury

• Built the huge palace at Versailles near Paris– Palace was 500 yards long– Ornate decoration and furnishings– Intended to clearly show Louis’s wealth

and power

Louis Controls the Nobility

• Louis required hundreds of nobles to live at Versailles

• They were kept busy with elaborate rituals surrounding Louis– The Levée

• Increased royal authority in two ways:– Made the nobility dependent on Louis– Took them away from their homes so the

intendants had more power

• Kept them under Louis watchful eye

Patronage of the Arts

• Versailles was a center of arts• Louis made opera and ballet more

popular• Most famous writer – Moliere–Wrote comedies

• Louis supported the arts as a way to glorify the king and promote values that supported his absolute rule

Louis Fights Disastrous Wars

• Under Louis, France was the most powerful country in Europe

• He attempted to expand France’s boundaries by invading the Spanish Netherlands, but he only gained a small region

• Decided to fight other wars, but other countries joined together to keep France from becoming too strong

• A poor harvest, high taxes to finance the wars, and constant warfare brought suffering to the people of France

War of Spanish Succession

• In 1700, king of Spain dies with no heir• He promised the throne to Louis XIV’s

grandson, Philip• Spain and France had been enemies, but

were now both ruled by the French Bourbon family

• Other countries were threatened by this increase in the Bourbon’s power and joined together to stop it

• Led to the long War of Spanish Succession

• War lasted until 1714• Ended with the Treaty of Utrecht which

said Louis’s grandson could remain king of Spain, but the thrones of Spain and France could not be united

• British came out of the war with Gibraltar (a fortress controlling the entrance to the Mediterranean), permission to send African slaves to the Spanish colonies in the Americas, and some of France’s territories in North America

Louis’s Death and Legacy• Died in 1715• Positive legacy:– France was a great power– Leader in European art and literature– Military leader of Europe– Had a strong empire of colonies

• Negative legacy:– Left huge debt from wars and building

Versailles– Resentment by the poor over taxes and Louis’s

abuse of power eventually led to revolution