Origins of French Absolutism

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Origins of French Absolutism

• 1515-1681

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INTRODUCTION

1. The French Nation
2. The French Wars of Religion (1560-94)
3. The Massacre of Saint Bartholomew (1572)
4. The Edict of Nantes (1598)
5. Le dieudonné (The God-given)
6. The Fronde Civil Wars (1646-1658)
7. Je serai mon propre premier-ministre. (1661)
8. Revitilising the French state
9. Bringing the nobles to heel Versailles, Lully
   and Molière

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1. The French Nation

• In 1515 is anything but.
• The history of France is really just a history of
  nation building
• Which leaves nobody happy and everybody nasty,
  brutish and short.

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1. The French Nation Cont'd

• 1515 François I becomes king
• Known as Valois-Angoulême because he is a
  descendant of the youngest son of Charles VI
• He is married to the only child of the last king,
  Louis XII of the Orléans branch of the House of
  Valois (the second eldest son of Charles VI

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1. The French Nation Cont'd

• François I decrees that all the business of
  government will be in French
• Only French is to be spoken at court
• Decrees that no part of the French state can ever
  be separated from itself its part of the body
  politic
• It is eternal and cannot be dissolved
• Le roi est mort, vive le roi!

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1. The French Nation Cont'd

• He and his heirs, therefore, will rule over a
  state that has a common language, but little
  else.
• It is a loose association of territories, jealous
  of their own prerogatives, exemptions, andstatus
• Each major area of the country has its own
  Parlement

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1. The French Nation Cont'd

• Institution which grew out of the medieval
  Conseil du roi or Kings council
• It had rights of consultation and deliberation.
• Which means it could sit around and chit chat
  about laws, but not make them

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1. The French Nation Cont'd

• Parlements therefore were not legislative.
• BUTthey could refuse to register the laws of the
  King, and if they did that
• The King was forced to invoke a lit de justice,
  literally a bed of justice.
• Basically, the King went to a parlement and
  forced it to register the acts of government.
• The most powerful parlement in the land was of
  course, the one in Paris.

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1. The French Nation Cont'd

• Thus the special character of France makes it
  prone to internal struggles
• Everything works okay as long as you a) have a
  strong king
• b) Your nobles are occupied and
• c) the king lives a long time.

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2. The French Wars of Religion

• François I will be succeeded by his younger son,
  Henri II in 1547

• Henri II had the robust constitution of the
  Valois he should have reigned for a long time

• But he dies in a tragic jousting accident in
  1559.

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2. The French Wars of Religion

• His death was predicted by Nostradamus
• He dies in a horrible jousting accident in the
  rue Saint Antoine (get off at Bastille Metro
  Station)
• They pull spikes out of his eye that are 9cm long
• He lives in unbearable pain for NINE MORE DAYS

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2. The French Wars of Religion Cont'd

• He is succeeded by his 3 idiot sons

a) François II (1559-60)
b) Charles IX (1560-74)
c) Henri III (1574-1589)
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2. The French Wars of Religion Cont'd

• Meanwhile, as you already know, Calvinism is
  spreading throughout France.
• As you have seen, it gives the nobility something
  to do

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3. The Massacre of Saint Batholomew

• in 1572, in an attempt to preserve peace in the
  kingdom Catherine de Medici (wife of Henri II)

arranges a marriage between her Catholic
daughter Margeurite (Margot)
and the Protestant Henri de Navarre
(He of the Paris vaut bien une messe fame.)
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3. The Massacre Cont'd

• Neither bride nor bridegroom wants it
• Charles IX, who is the king at this time, has to
  put his hand on the back of his sisters head to
  get her to agree.
• But the marriage is solemnized on August 18, and
  there are 3,000 or so Protestants in Paris to
  celebrate the new marriage.

About a week later, there will be 3000 or so less
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4. The Edict of Nantes

• The massacre scars the French national psyche for
  centuries to come
• Every part of the country was affected by it,
  because the Protestants came from everywhere
• So to bring peace back to France Henri III names
  his brother-in-law, Henri de Navarre, his heir
  should Henri III die heirless (i.e. without a
  son)
• He doesnt intend to do this, but he is
  assassinated in 1589 by a crazy monk
• And thus there are 11 more years of religious
  warfare

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4. The Edict of Nantes Cont'd

• By 1594, France is in a stalemate.
• Henri de Navarre has conquered all he needs too,
  except Paris, the capital
• Its obvious to all that he wont be able to do
  it without a long, long seige.
• So he agrees to convert, and is crowned Henri IV.
• But for Protestants, he grants an edict of
  toleration, allowing Protestants freedom of
  conscience and freedom of association, the Edict
  of Nantes (a Protestant city)

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4. The Edict of Nantes Cont'd

• Henri IV is the most beloved of French monarchs
• The French remember him with much more love than
  Louis XIV
• He brings peace to the land and a chicken in
  every pot, to his people
• He has good sense, is surrounded by good
  councilors, puts Frances finances back in the
  red
• And is assassinated in 1610. ?

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5. Le dieudonné

• Henri IV is succeeded by his son Louis XIII.

He marries the Spanish Infante, Anne of Austria.
The hate each other, and after 5 miscarriages
refuse to see each other for 23 years
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5. Le Dieudonné Cont'd

• But, by a freak weather incident (a
  thunderstorm), in 1638 the King is forced to stay
  with his wife.

And 9 months later, a gift from god, le dieudonné
Louis, is born.
And a year after that, a brother! Philippe
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6. Le Fronde (The Slingshot Wars)

• Louis XIII will die in 1643, and leaves therefore
  a 5 year old monarch, a widow, and,
  unfortunately, an elder brother, Gaston dOrléans

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6. Le Fronde (The Slingshot Wars)

• Hes been waiting for 25 years to be king, and
  then its all ruined
• Hes angry.
• Hes bitter.
• Hes also not very smart

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6. Le Fronde (The Slingshot Wars)

• He starts a series of civil wars with a) aid from
  Spain
• And b) by promising nobles greater power if he is
  made King.
• So there is civil war on and off in France from
  1644-1654 approx.

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6. Le Fronde (The Slingshot Wars)

• The nobles dont take much convincing because
  France is being run by Anne of Austria
• And this man Cardinal Mazarini, an Italian.
  (Frenchified to Mazarin)
• Who wants to be told by a woman and an Italian
  what to do? (after all, we all know what Italians
  like to do ) )

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6. Le Fronde Cont'd

• What matters most about the Fronde is the
  psychological damage it will do on the young
  king, Louis XIV
• At one point, the Paris mob break into the Louvre
  and threaten the royal family
• At another, they are forced to flee the city by
  the Paris Parlement.
• And throughout his early years, the king and his
  family are forced to live in abject poverty
• Louis XIV will never forget this

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6. Le Fronde Cont'd

• Consider
• The King had Monsieur (his brother) sleep in his
  bedroom even tho it was so small that only one
  person could get through at a time. In the
  morning, when they woke up the King, without
  thinking, spat on Monsieurs bed, who immediately
  and on purpose spat on the Kings. The King, a
  little angry now, spat in Monsieurs face.
  Monsieur then leapt on the Kings bed and pissed
  on it the King did the same on Monsieurs
  bedand soon after they grappled and started to
  fight

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7. Je serai mon propre premier-ministre. (1661)

• Louis XIV never forgave a) Paris or b) his
  nobility for the humiliation they subjected him
  to.
• And so when, in 1661, Cardinal Mazarin died,
  Louis decided to reign alone.

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8. Revitilising the French state

• He creates a standing army
• He expands the navy, develops and expands
  Frances overseas colonies, creates new academies
  for dancing, painting, etc.
• Promotes industry and the development of
  manufacturing in France (Goblens for tapestry,
  Sevre for porcelain
• He creates offices and promotes from within the
  ranks of the upper bourgeoisie, and en-nobles
  them (la noblesse de la robe)

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9. Bringing the Nobles to heel

• By promoting the bourgeoisie, Louis excludes the
  nobility from participation in government.
• However, he builds them a pleasure palace,
  Versailles, from which he will rule.
• It takes over 20 years.
• The court is officially installed in 1680.
• Now, if anyone wants anything, they have to be at
  Versailles.
• And if you want to be at Versailles, youd better
  be dressed appropriately. )

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9. Bringing the Nobles to Heel Cont'd

• Louis XIVs two most feared rebuffes were
• I never see him and I dont know him.

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9. Bringing the nobles to heel Cont'd

• Versailles was built in 4 stages
• 1664-68

2. 1669-72
3. 1678-84
4. 1699-1710
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9. Bringing the nobles to heel Cont'd

• But he also built

Marly (1679-84)
Le Grand Trianon (1687-1701)