Man in the Iron Mask (1998)

Absolutism in France 17th t0 18th Centuries

No French monarch more embodied Absolutism than did Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; (1638-1715). By the end of his reign in the 18th century, Louis XIV had completely centralized his government, even lowering the nobility of power.

Louis was only four years old when he became France’s king. Too young to rule directly, Louis’ mother, Ann of Austria, served as his regent (representative). Anne often let Louis’ chief minister, Cardinal Mazarin, to make the day-to-day decisions on the young king’s behalf.

When Mazarin died in 1661, Louis was ready to rule. Intending to become a diligent and conscientious ruler, Louis created a reign which brought him great power. The French government centered around him. Louis XIV became known as the “Sun King”, for he was the light which directed the state.

To solidify his power, Louis progressively weakened the French nobility. He had developed a fear of the aristocracy since childhood. The nobility supported a rebellion against the French government when Louis was a child. At one point, the royal family had to escape from the revolutionists. Prior to that, the royal family had been terrorized by mobs, with one breaking into the palace and frightening the young Louis. Although the threat had been suppressed by Cardinal Mazarin, it left Louis psychologically scarred for life.

Louis made several moves to limit the power of the nobility. He did not allow aristocrats to hold the highest state offices. He also sold aristocracy titles to those willing to pay, thus bringing non-aristocrats into the aristocracy. This irritated the nobility, but there was little they could do.

After eliminating the aristocrats from high public office, Louis began selecting capable middle-class men as his advisors. One of his greatest ministers was Jean Baptiste Colbert. Chose as Louis’ Finance Minister following Cardinal Mazarin’s death, Colbert was able to double France’s income within ten years. He did so by eliminating government waste and inefficiency, not by raising taxes. Colbert also developed a system called mercantilism, which allowed France to be less reliant on foreign imports and generated income by exporting French-made goods. During the reign of Louis XIV, Frances population grew to 17 million people, by far the largest in Europe. No other nation could rival the power of the French state under Louis. With the help of efficient ministers such as Mazarin and Colbert, Louis continued to consolidate his power. Louis XIV is said to have described his singular importance to France with the phrase, “I etat, c’est moi” (“I am the state”).

Divine Right Theory

By the mid-1S00s, religious wars between Roman Catholics and Protestants were sweeping Europe, weakening the Church's power and strengthening the authority of Europe's monarchs. These rulers began to claim that they ruled by divine right. This meant that their authority was granted to them directly from God, not through the will of the people, a parliament, or even the pope. During the early reign of Louis XIV of France, French bishop Jacques-Benigne Bossuet became an important promoter of divine right theory. His study of the Bible convinced him that monarchs were God's chosen representatives on Earth.

According to Bossuet,no one had the right to participate in government except the monarch. Anyone who opposed the monarch was opposing God as well. The excerpt below is from Bossuet's 1679 book, Politics Drawn from the Very Words of Scripture.

"The royal power is absolute.... The prince need render account of his acts to no one .... Without this absolute authority the king could neither do good nor repress evil. It is necessary that his power be such that no one can hope to escape him .... The prince, as prince, is not regarded as a private person: he is a public personage, all the state is inhim; the will of all the people is included in his. As all perfection and all strength are united in God, so all the power of individuals is united in the person of the prince.What grandeur that a single man should embody so much!" Source: history.hanover.edu/texts/bossuet.htm

Activity & Classwork

Film: Man in the Iron Mask (1998)

Activity #1: Absolutism - How Absolute Rulers Justify Their Rule?

Activity #2: Palace of Versailles Comprehension Analysis Worksheet