HY 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 44: Parlement, Calvinism, Jean-Baptiste Colbert
30 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Chapter 15 – Absolutism and Empire, 1660 – 1789
I.Introduction
A. Absolutism defined
1. A political theory that encouraged rulers to claim complete sovereignty within their
territories
2. Sometimes defined by "divine right"
B. Age of absolutism as an age of empire
1. Colonial rivalries
C. The rise of limited monarchies and republics
D. Russian autocracy
II. The Appeal and Justification of Absolutism
. Absolutism promised stability, prosperity, and order
A. Louis XIV (r. 1643-1715)
1. Squabbles among the nobility meant he had to rule assertively
B. Absolutist control
1. Command of the state's army
2. Control over the legal system
3. Right to collect and spend the state's financial resources
4. The need to create an efficient centralized bureaucracy
5. Weakening privileged "special interests"
C. Obstacles
1. Legally privileged estates of the nobility and clergy
2. The political authority of semiautonomous regions
3. Interference of parliaments, diets, and estates general
D. Religion
1. France, Spain, and Austria: attempts to "nationalize" the Church and clergy
2. Consolidating authority over the Church into the hands of the monarchy
E. The nobility
1. Important opponents of royal absolutism
2. Louis XIV: deprived the nobility of power but increased their social prestige (Versailles)
3. Peter the Great (r. 1689-1725): forced his nobles into lifelong government service .
Catherine II (r. 1762-1796): nobility surrendered administrative and political power into
the empress's hands
4. Prussia: the army was staffed by nobles
5. Joseph II (r. 1765-1790): denied the nobility tax exemption and blurred the distinction
between noble and commoner
III. The Absolutism of Louis XIV
. The façade that was Louis
A. Performing royalty at Versailles
1. A stage on which Louis mesmerized the nobility into obedience
2. Daily rituals and demonstrations of royalty
3. Royal "choreography"
4. Nobles were required to live at Versailles for part of the year
a. Raised their prestige
b. Louis could keep an eye on them
5. Louis was hard-working and conscientious
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
