The Reign of Louis XIV
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Transcript of The Reign of Louis XIV
THE REIGN OF LOUIS XIV
Section 2
The Reign of Louis XIVReligious Wars and Power Struggles 1562-1598 Huguenots and Catholics
fought 8 religious wars, during this time chaos spread through France
Huguenots were French Protestants 1572 St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre
sparked 6 week war between Catholics and Protestants
1589 Henry IV (a Protestant king) takes throne and gives up Protestantism and becomes Catholic to bring peace
1598 Henry issues the Edict of Nantes that allowed Huguenots to live in peace across France and set up their own churches
After a generation of war people welcomed peace and Henry began to restore French monarchy and prosperity
The Reign of Louis XIV After the death of Henry his son, Louis XIII
took over 1624 he appointed Cardinal Richelieu as
his minister Richelieu was the real power in France Took steps to increase the power of the
Bourbon monarchy in FranceA. Took power from Huguenots, dictated
their living conditions B. Took power from nobles, made them
more dependent on the king for protection
C. Put middle class in more powerful government positions
D. Richelieu also became involved in wars with the most powerful European dynasty the Hapsburgs (the Thirty Years War)
The Reign of Louis XIVWriters turn toward Skepticism New French intellectual movement grew at
this time, they had witnessed the religious wars
Many turned to the idea of skepticism (nothing can be known for certain), and the began to doubt the teaching of the church
Montaigne- developed new for of literature, the essay, to express a writers thoughts and feelings
Believed that humans could never have an absolute knowledge of what is true
Descartes used observations to determine that we could never know what was true
Influenced modern thinkers by developing the scientific method
The Reign of Louis XIVLouis XIV Comes to Power Louis became king at age 4 in 1642 and ruled
for 72 years Believed that he and France were one (“I am
the state”) When Louis was young the real power behind
the throne was Cardinal Mazarin The nobles hated him because he raised their
taxes and made the central government stronger
1648- 1653 many riots broke out across France protesting Mazarin’s policies
Louis felt threatened and he never forgot about this, he decided to make the monarchy so strong that this would not happen again
Rebellions failed because peasants and townspeople grew tired of the fighting
Because they were tired of wars they accepted Louis oppressive laws
The Reign of Louis XIVWhen Mazarin died Louis took control of the
government himself◦Weakened power of the nobles by removing them
from his government◦ Increased the power of government agents who
collected taxes and administered justice (intendants), they were not part of the nobility
◦Louis made sure local officials kept in touch with him regularly
The Reign of Louis XIVEconomic Growth Louis used finance minister Jean Baptiste
Colbert to help France attain economic and political power
Colbert wanted France to become self sufficient and used mercantilist policies to meet his goalsExpanded manufacturingPlaced a high tariff on goods from other
countriesRecognized importance of colonies to help
economy After Colbert’s death in 1685 economic
progress slowed Louis canceled Edict of Nantes
Many Huguenot businessmen and artisans left France and it took many skilled workers out of the economy
The Reign of Louis XIV Louis surrounded himself with luxury at his palace
Versailles Palace became a symbol of wealth, seat of government,
home for nobles◦ Made nobles dependent on Louis ◦ Kept intendants in power in other parts of the country◦ By keeping nobles at Versailles it kept them from fighting each
other, they fought for favor of Louis Louis was a patron of the arts and he made ballet and
opera more popular The purpose of art was to glorify the king and promote
his absolute rule
The Reign of Louis XIV Under Louis France was the most powerful country
in the world France had the largest, best trained and equipped
army in Europe1667 Louis invades Spanish Netherlands to expand
French boundaries Dutch defeat French1680’s European alliance established to stop French
and achieve a balance of power across Europe (no single country could dominate others)
Alliance called the League of Augsburg (England, Spain, Hapsburg Austria, other smaller countries) they equaled French strength
Poor harvests and constant warfare and higher taxes weakened France at this time
The Reign of Louis XIVWar of Spanish Succession War fought between Spain and France, the two greatest
European powers Other European countries joined in War lasted for 14 years, ended by the Treaty of Utrecht Big winner was Great Britain British took over Gibraltar that controlled the entrance to
the Mediterranean Also gave the British French controlled territories in the
Americas
The Reign of Louis XIVLouis Death and LegacyLouis death was good news across
France, they were tired of the Sun KingLegacy
1. Made France a European power2. France became a military power3. Led other nations in the promotion of art,
literature4. Constant warfare left France in debt5. Tax burden and the abuse of power by Louis
would eventually lead to rebellion against the monarchy by the end of the 1700’s