The Rise of Sovereignty

Louis XIV: Absolutism personified

r. 1643-1715

By the end of the 11th century, and for the following 200 years, kings and powerful lords imposed greater order in their territories.

Where these kings succeeded, strong dynastic states emerged. Where the monarchs failed, as they did in the Holy Roman Empire and Italy, no viable states evolved until the 1860’s.

Spain• 1469 Ferdinand and Isabella

– Reconquista– Purity of Blood – Orthodoxy of Faith/Inquisition– 1492!

• 1516 Charles V- height of the Spanish Empire

• 1556 Philip II- wars against the Muslims, Dutch and the English bankrupted Spain-squandered all the gold and silver from Spanish America

The Hapsburg empire of Charles V. 1516-1556

Austria

• The Hapsburgs- used marriage, Catholicism and foreign threats to consolidate power

• Thirty Years War, Peace of Westphalia, 1618-1648 tightened Hapsburg control over eastern states of HRE and control of Bohemia and Hungary.

• War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713) Austria emerged, along with England, as a major force in European political life

Prussia

• 1415- Hohenzollern family ruled Brandenburg• 1616 Inherited Prussia as a fief from Polish king; began

a dream to unite two provinces… further holdings grew through marriage and inheritance

• 1653 – Frederick William - deal with nobles: made serfdom permanent but lost their voice in governing.

• Frederick William I: The Soldier-king: No natural boundaries emphasized defensive army

• The military class (Junkers) served as the bureaucracy• Frederick the Great (1740-1786) established Prussia as

a great power

Russia• 1584-1613 “time of troubles” ended with

the election of Mikhail Romanov as Czar

• 1682-1725 Peter the Great– Copied Prussia's political

arrangement guaranteeing serfdom to be permanent

– Ignored advice from the aristocracy– Reformed the army in the manner

of France– Built a navy- learned ship-building

from the Dutch– Declared himself head of Orthodox

Church– Built St. Petersburg- “window to the

west”

Holy Roman Empire

• Failed to create a unified state- Emperor (a Hapsburg) was an elected office dependent on the Catholic church and the nobility

• Emperors preoccupied with Italy and the Pope• Charles V fought wars against Lutherans, Turks

and French as well as his own fiercely independent princes

• 1555 Peace of Augsberg granted religious toleration to each ruling family, (ending any possibility

for religious unity.)

Francis I (1515-1547) concluded an agreement

with Pope Leo X (Concordant of Bologna) permitting the king of France to nominate and therefore appoint his choice of Bishops to the

French church (the Gallican church.

• Henry IV (1589-

1610) “Paris is well worth a mass”

Louis XIV:1638-1715 Reigned: 1643-1715

• The Sun King

"The State is the King and I am the King“ -

l'etat c'est moi

Louis XIII Anne of Austria

Cardinal Richelieu, PM 1624 - 1642

• First modern Prime Minister

• “raison d'etat”• Broke power of

the nobility• Created

Intendants• Harrassed

Huguenots

Cardinal Mazarin,

PM1643-1661

Le Fronde, 1648-1653

The Palace of Versailles, 1662-1682

The Hall of Mirrors, 225 ft long!

The Nobility

Domestic policies

• Intendants

• Edict of Nantes

• Lettres de cachet

• The “Old Bargain”

• Tax Farmers

• Mercantilism

Jean-Baptiste Colbert, 1619-1667Economic policy of Mercantilism

• Favorable balance of trade• Self-sufficient empire/colonies• Govt subsidies to establish new industries• Abolished internal tariffs/raised external• Forbid exportation of foodstuffs• Built roads and canals• Expanded navy• Created “standards of excellence” of everything

French

Foreign Policy-War

• The 1st Dutch War, 1667-1668

• The 2nd Dutch War, 1672-1678

• War with the League of Augsberg, 1688-1697

• War of the Spanish Succession, 1702-1713

• *** For 46 of his 72 year reign France was at war – goal: secure natural boundaries (Rhine river)

The impact of Louis XIV:

• 20% of population died during his reign

• Famine and unrest were common

• Trade disrupted

• Tax system ruined

• Treasury bankrupt

The End...any questions?