Aim: How did absolute monarchs

justify (defend) their rule? Do Now: Copy the definition of an “absolute

monarch.”

Absolute Monarch: is a King or Queen that has total control of their country and colonies.

Answer the following question:

“Which person in this school is closest to being an absolute monarch? Why?

Homework: Louis XIV was known as the Sun King because everything in France revolved around him like the planets around the sun. What powers did he possess that led his people to describe him this way? Answer in a paragraph.

France Under Louis XIV

Setting the Scene:

"I have had an idea that will give much pleasure to the people here” wrote Louis XIV. His plan was to throw a grand party. Each guest

would receive a ticket for a prize of jewelry, and every ticket would be a

winner. At Louis's bidding, some 600 noble guests flocked to the

royal palace for a week of sumptuous feasts, pageants, sports, dances, plays, and music. This show

was the first of many spectacles organized by Louis XIV. By the late 1600s, Louis was absolute monarch

of France and the most powerful ruler in Europe. Yet, just 100 years earlier, France had been torn apart

by wars of religion.

NOTES:

I. Absolute Monarchy

A. Louis XIV

1. King of France, ruled 72 years

(1643-1715)

2. Ruled with total power—no one was to challenge him.

3. Nicknamed the “Sun King” because everything revolved around him and that he was all powerful.

Louis XIV, the Sun King

1643 - 5 year-old Louis XIV inherited the throne

"Le Roi du Soleil"

(the Sun King)

NOTES CONTINUED:

4. He was the first “Divine Right” King, which meant he stated that God had selected him to rule France. Disobeying him was the same as disobeying God.

5. French people were heavily taxed to provide the King with a luxurious (fancy) lifestyle.

A. "I Am the State" Louis XIV firmly believed in divine right and took the sun as the symbol of his absolute power

Notes:

6. Palace at Versailles was built for the King and he used it to house over 10,000 nobles (upper class) and clergymen (church). Louis XIV kept his friends close and his enemies closer to prevent (stop) rebellions.

Versailles Entrance

Versailles, Symbol of Royal

Power Louis XIV turned a hunting lodge into the palace of Versailles, the grandest in Europe

Versailles, Symbol of Royal

Power

Louis supported a "splendid century" of the arts; French culture replaced Renaissance Italy as the new standard

Strengthening Royal Power

Finance minister Jean Colbert practiced mercantilist policies that made France the wealthiest state in Europe

Jean Baptiste Colbert, 1619-1683

Successes and Failures Louis XIV ruled France for 72 years, longer than any other monarch

Louis XIV and his Family as Olympian Gods

Jean Nocroit, 1670