Chapter 13: Paths to Constitutionalism and Absolutism—England and France in the Seventeenth Century

Reading and Study Guide

(Divide and Conquer)

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BIG QUESTIONS: (as you work through the chapter, keep these questions in mind)

1. What were the key factors behind the divergent political paths of England and France in the 17th

Century?

2. What were the conflicts between Parliament and the king over taxation and religion in early Stuart England, the English Civil War, and the abolition of the monarchy?

3. What were the Restoration and the development of Parliament’s supremacy over the monarchy after the

“Glorious Revolution?” 4. Why did France establish an absolutist monarchy under Louis XV?

5. What were the religious policies of Louis XIV? 6. What wars did Louis XIV fight?

Introduction: Both England and France developed two very different political structures—Constitutionalism and

Absolutism. Neither one should be considered better than the other; neither one should be considered worse than

the other. Both systems worked equally well in their respective countries.

After decades of fierce civil war and religious conflict, England developed

into a monarchy with a policy of toleration. Parliament, composed of the House of and the of Commons, shared responsibility for

with the monarch. Which House had to stand for election every three years?

Proscribe: to prohibit

something that is

considered undesirable

by those in authority

By contrast, France developed an , centralized form of government dominated by a that

shared little power with any other national institutions. Its authority resided in a complex set of relationships with

, guilds, and in its ability to support the largest in Europe. What happened to

Henry IV’s policy of religious toleration? Were “absolute monarchs” of France and other European nations truly absolute? What limited their power?

Two Models of European Political Development

• What increased the cost of warfare in the second half of the 16th

century?

• How did the French monarchs achieve absolute rule? • How did politically active groups in England resist their monarchs’

intrusion into their affairs?

• Who did Louis XIV make dependent upon his goodwill and

patronage? What did he

give them in return?

Parlement: French regional courts

dominated by hereditary nobility. The

most important was the Parlement of

Paris, which claimed the right to

register royal decrees before they

could become law. NOT TO BE

CONFUSED WITH PARLIAMENT!

Estates-General: French parliament; it consisted of three

separate groups or “estates:”

clergy, nobility, commoners

• Which religious movement actively opposed the Stuart

monarchy in England? Who supported Louis XIV’s anti-

Protestantism?

• What group occasionally met to grant certain revenues to the

French king? • What prevented any type of opposition to the French monarchy?

• What types of guys were present at this time to guide French and English political development?

o France: Richelieu & Mazarin o England: 4 Stuart monarchs

• In England & France, who stood at the top of the social hierarchy?

o Why did the nobles distrust the monarchs? • What conditions would change dramatically in both nations by the late 17

th century?

Constitutional Crises and Settlement in Stuart England

James I

• Who succeeded Elizabeth I as king of England?

• What problems did he inherit with the crown?

• What “kingly philosophy” did he embrace?

• What was the purpose of Parliament?

• What were impositions? Why were members of Parliament disgruntled? • What religious problems festered under James I?

• What was the Millenary Petition? What was his reaction to the Petition?

• What was the Hampton Court conference? What book was commissioned?

• How did James offend Puritans? Sports? • What group of religious dissenters left England? Where did they go?

• What was “wrong” with James’ court? Who was his favorite? Why did he anger the nobility?

• What peace treaty was seen as a sign of pro-Catholic sentiment?

• Why did James not have to depend on Parliament?

• Was he loyal to the Anglican Church? Why was his loyalty questioned? • Why did England enter into a war with Spain?

Charles I

• Why would Parliament not fully support the war?

• How did Charles I attempt to raise taxes? • When Parliament met in 1628, why were its members angry?

• What Petition did Parliament present to Charles? Did he agree to it?

Years of Personal Rule

• Did Buckingham’s death resolve the hostility between

king and Parliament?

• What is “popery?” What was considered acts of treason? • Why did Charles dissolve Parliament?

• Why did Charles make peace with France and Spain?

• Why did Puritans fear that Charles would bring back Roman Catholicism? (2

reasons)

• Who was Thomas Wentworth and what was thorough? What were its goals? What

did its success depend upon?

• What was the ship tax? Who challenged this tax? What was the ultimate

consequence of this challenge?

• On what basis did the nobles fear their loss of prestige?

• What was Charles’ religious policies towards Scotland?

o Who was Charles Laud?

o What kind of religious worship did he want?

o Who led the Scot rebellion?

o Why did Charles summon Parliament? Why was it called the “Short Parliament?”

The Long Parliament

• What type of support did Parliament receive from the

people?

• Who did the House of Commons impeach? What

happened to them? What is a bill of attainder?

Impeach: to charge a

serving government

official with serious

misconduct while in

office

• What two courts did Parliament abolish?

• Could Parliament be dissolved? In how many years would Parliament have to

meet? What was Parliament’s reasoning for its actions?

• What BIG ISSUE divided Parliament?

Eruption of Civil War

• What was the “Grand Remonstrance?” • Why did Charles invade Parliament?

• What was the “Militia Ordinance?” • What were the two main issues of the English Civil War?

• Who were Charles supporters? Nickname

• What was the nickname of the Parliament supporters? What people made up this

group? Which religious group favored Parliament?

Oliver Cromwell and the Puritan Republic

• What two factors led to Parliament’s victory?

o What was the Solemn League and Covenant? o Who was Oliver Cromwell?

• What was the significance of the Battle of Marston Moor (1644)? Naseby? • What was “Pride’s Purge” and the Rump Parliament?

• Who ordered Charles’ execution?

• What title did Cromwell take on for himself?

• What was the Puritan Republic? Was it truly a republic? Was it religiously tolerant?

• What was Cromwell’s challenge? Did he succeed?

Charles II and the Restoration of the Monarchy

• What were Charles II’s secret sympathies? Can patriotism and religion be separated? • What was the Clarendon Code?

• What were the navigation acts? Which country was specifically singled out? How did these acts affect the American colonies?

• Why did France give money to England? What was the Treaty of Dover?

• What was the Declaration of Indulgence? Why did Charles issue it? • What was the Test Act? At whom was it aimed? Why?

• Who was Titus Oates and what did he say? What was the Popish Plot? • Why did Charles II not have to call Parliament in session between 1681 and 1685?

• Did he convert to Catholicism?

James II and Renewed Fears of a Catholic England

• How did James II alienate Parliament? • What was the difference, if any, between Charles II’s

Declaration of Indulgence and James’? • Was there a true fear of a Catholic England?

• What was James II’s goal for his monarchy?

• Why did a united Parliament call for James’ removal

from the throne? Who did Parliament hope would take the throne? Who did Parliament invite to invade England?

The “Glorious Revolution”

• When William’s army arrived from Holland, what did

James do and where did he go?

Alienate: to cause somebody to change his or

her previously friendly or supportive attitude

and become unfriendly, unsympathetic, or

hostile Tories: a member of an English political party, active

from the late 17th century until the 1830s, that supported

the social order represented by the monarchy and the

Church of England

Whigs: a member of a reforming British political party

that supported the aristocracy and later the business

community, finally becoming the core of the Liberal

Party

• What was the first action by the joint monarchs, William and Mary? What did this Bill of Rights

guarantee? What are the consequences of this concerning the monarchy?

• What was the Toleration Act?

• What was the Act of Settlement? Why was this law established?

• What is the gist of John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government? How does this document tie in with later

American and French revolutions?

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Rise of Absolute Monarchy in France

• Who subjected his subjects to “one king, one law, one faith?” Of what faith did he speak?

• What was Louis XIV’s genius? Why did the nobles support him? Who would be the “senior partner” in

nobility-monarchy relationships?

Henry IV and Sully

• When Henry came to power, who did he target to curtail the privileges

of nobility?

• What were intendents? What was its important function?

• Who was the duke of Sully? What was his job? • What is the corvée?

Curtail: to reduce the

length or duration of

something; cut short

Louis XIII and Richelieu

• Who served as regent to the 9-year old king? Why did she sign the Treaty of Fontainbleau 1611?

• Why did Marie de Medicis promote the career of Cardinal Richelieu? • Why would Richelieu support Protestant Europe? Who did he support in the Thirty Years’ War?

• According to Richelieu how many laws were in France and who was in charge?

• What did Richelieu do to disobedient nobles? • What did the Peace of Alais do to the Edict of Nantes?

• What is raison d’état?

Young Louis XIV and Mazarin

• Who did Louis ultimately alienate? • Who served as his regent?

• What was the Fronde?

o Who initiated the revolt?

o Who cheered them on?

o What did the people believe was better than inefficiency and anarchy? The Years of Louis’ Personal Rule

• What was the purpose of appointing no single chief minister? • What do you think “kings of straw” implies? • What actions did Louis take to create a political image?

• What were his intentions towards the nobles?

King by Divine Right

• What is a maxim of French law and popular opinion? • On what did Louis XIV defend absolute royal authority?

• Who was Bishop Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet?

o On what did he base his claims?

o What is l’état, c’est moi?

Versailles

• What did Louis use to exert political control?

Maxim: a succinct or pithy saying that

has some proven truth to it; a general

rule, principle, or truth

• What was a “true temple to royalty?”

• How was life at court organized to keep the nobles tamed? • Who had no real or potential power bases in the provinces? What was their purpose at court?

Suppression of the Jansenists

• What did Louis believe would bring political unity and stability?

• Why were the Jesuits banned from France by Catherine de Medicis? • What did Henry IV require of the Jesuits (after he lifted the ban against them)?

• Were the Jesuits easily harnessed?

• What is Jansenism?

o Whose teachings did they follow?

o What were their feelings about Jesuit free will?

o What powerful family allied with the Jansenists? Why?

o What was Blaise Pascal’s objection to Jesuit moral theology?

o What was the Ad Sacram Sedem (1656)?

o How did Louis XIV kill the best hope for bringing religious unity to France?

Government Geared for Warfare

• In what areas was France superior to other European nations?

• What was Louis’ main military and foreign policy goal?

o Colbert: what did he do? How did he do it? What is the taille?

o Louvois: what did he do? How did he do it?

o Vauban: what did he do? How did he do it?

Louis’ Early Wars

• War of Devolution

o What was the reason for this war? How is this a prime example of

marriage for political/territorial gain?

o What is the meaning of “devolve?” o What forces united in the Triple Alliance? o What were the terms of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle?

• Invasion of the Netherlands

o Besides England, who allied with the Dutch in the Treaty of Dover?

o How did this assist Louis in his plans to invade the Netherlands?

o Why did he feel he had to neutralize Holland?

Neutralize: to make

something ineffective,

especially by removing

its ability to act as a

threat or obstacle

Hegemony: control or

dominating influence by one

person or group, especially by

one political group over society

or one nation over others

o Who came to power as a result of Louis’ invasion? • How did William galvanize the 7 provinces into a

fighting force?

Revocation of the Edict of Nantes

• What actions did Louis take to alienate the Huguenots?

• Why did he do so?

• Why is the revocation of the Edict considered a MAJOR blunder?

o Why did he say that God was in his debt?

Louis’ Later Wars

• The League of Augsburg and the Nine Years’ War

o Why ws the League of Augsburg created?

o Who supported the League? o How did the War end?

• War of the Spanish Succession: Treaties of Utrecht and Rastadt

o How did Louis and Leopold claim the Spanish throne?

Galvanize: to stimulate

somebody or something into

great activity

o Who was feared most, the Habsburgs or France?

o Who won the throne?

o What was the Grand Alliance? For what purpose was it formed? • What was the importance of Flanders? Where is it?

o What was France’s state of preparedness for the War of the Spanish Succession? What ws England’s?

o What happened at Blenheim? A Ramillies?

o What hurt France internally in 1708-09?

o What demands did the Grand Alliance make of Louis?

o What were the terms of the Treaty of Rastadt? • What were the long-term consequences?

o When Louis was on his deathbed, what did he warn the dauphin not to do?

Louis XIV’s Legacy

• What did Louis’ wars do to France?

• What self-image was created? • What were the consequences of Louis’ policies of centralization?

• How did Louis lay the groundwork for a new French Empire?

• How did Louis’ absolutism compare with totalitarian systems of the 20th

Century?

o In what areas did Louis’ absolutism function best?