Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
French absolutism - Coggle Diagram
French absolutism
Causes
Ambitious Monarchs: Kings like Louis XIV actively sought to centralize power and control all aspects of government.
Influence of Key Figures: Powerful ministers like Cardinal Richelieu and Cardinal Mazarin actively worked to weaken the nobility and strengthen the king's authority.
Rise of the Middle Class: Merchants and businessmen, who were not part of the traditional nobility, supported the king. They saw the king as a protector of their economic interests against the feudal lords.
The Fronde: This was a series of civil wars where nobles rebelled against the young King Louis XIV. Their failure strengthened the king's resolve to never again be challenged by the aristocracy.
Centralized Government: Kings developed strategies to control the nobility and administration directly, rather than relying on local power structures.
Religious Wars: The desire for peace and stability after years of conflict between Catholics and Protestants made people more willing to accept a strong central authority.
Military and Economic Control: Monarchs like Louis XIV controlled the military and the economy, often through mercantilism, to fund large armies and maintain power.
Decline of Feudalism: The power of local lords weakened, allowing the king to consolidate control.
Consequences
Social Inequality: The Third Estate (commoners) bore the majority of the tax burden, while the clergy and nobility were largely exempt.
Seeds of Revolution: The combination of economic hardship, social inequality, and the absolute power of the monarch created widespread resentment, leading to the French Revolution in 1789.
Economic Strain: Lavish spending on wars and projects like Versailles, along with the loss of skilled workers after the Edict of Nantes was revoked, strained the French economy.
Loss of Skilled Workers: The revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 led to the exodus of Protestant (Huguenot) skilled workers and merchants, damaging the economy.
Cultural Golden Age: This period saw a flourishing of arts, literature, and architecture, with the Palace of Versailles as a prime example.
Versailles System: Louis XIV deliberately kept the nobles at his Palace of Versailles to distract them with court life and keep them away from their traditional power bases.
Centralization of Power: The monarchy became all-powerful, with the king controlling the government, military, and economy.
Linked ideas
Ambitious Monarchs-Social Inequality
The monarchs aimed for a higher amount of power so consequently the commoners had almost no rights and the monarchs many privileges.
Decline of Feudalism-Centralization of Power
The decline of feudalism resulted in kings possesing an ineffable amount of power, making them so powerful they could do almost whatever they wanted.
Many consequences culminated in one, revolutions. Because of the greedyness of kings made people protest and cause a revolution.