Absolutism - answer Monarch claims absolute power often through divine right; involved
the decrease of noble power and the creation of a bureaucracy which directed
economic life by forcing tax increases or other means of raising revenue; kings also
employed armies and controlled all aspects of gov
Jean Bodin - answer16th century English writer who was the first to provide a
theoretical basis for absolutist states; wrote
during French Civil wars and came to strongly support the divine right of kings; believed
only absolutism could provide order
Thomas Hobbes - answer wrote the Leviathan (1651); claimed that the state of natural
human life was poor before organized society; people contracted a commonwealth of
gov to prevent chaos; commonwealth had unlimited, absolute power and subjects were
not to rebel
Bishop Bousset - answer French theologian and court preacher who was one of the
chief theorists of divine right monarchy in the 17th century; wrote "Politics Drawn from
the Very Words of the Holy Scripture" which supported divine right
Divine right of kings - answeridea used to support absolutism which held that right to
rule comes from God; monarchs were responsible to no one but God (not even
parliaments); limits on power only came in fear of God's judgement
First Estate - answerfirst class of French society made up of clergy (the church)
Second Estate - answersecond class of French society; had most power; made up of
nobles
Third Estate - answerthird and last class of French society; made up of peasants, the
urban poor, the working class, the middle class, and the bourgeoisie
Henry IV - answerfirst Bourbon king and important king in French history; rise to power
ended French Civil Wars and provided gradual course to absolutism; converted to
Catholicism to gain loyalty of Paris but gave Calvinists protections
Edict of Nantes - answergranted the Huguenots the liberty to conscience and the liberty
of worship; towns could be fortified; helped France reach absolutism and restored
internal peace in France
Bourbon Dynasty - answerlasted until 1555 until the overthrow of the French monarchy
in 1792; included Louis XIV through Louis XVI
,Nobility of the Sword - answerold, hereditary nobles of France; positions gained
militarily; must be weakened if Louis XIV is to exercise real authority
Nobility of the Robe - answerthe group of the French nobility that acquired their
positions by service or purchase; the "new" nobility of France; created by Louis XIV to
help him run his government
Duke of Sully - answerFinance minister under Henry IV; used Mercantilism to increase
power of monarchy, reformed the tax system, improved transportation, and reduced the
royal debt
Louis XII - answerin youth, nobles and princes increased power; later rule was
dominated by Cardinal Richelieu; rule became more centralized under him
Cardinal Richelieu - answerstrengthened the French monarchy by taking away the
political and military but not religious rights of the Huguenots; uncovered noble
conspiracies; expanded military; instituted Intendant system; POLITIQUE
Politique - answerA ruler who suppresses his or her religious designs for his or her
kingdom in favor of political expediency. Examples: Elizabeth I (England), Henry IV
(France)
Intendant system - answerSystem was introduced by Cardinal Richelieu under Louis
XIII; used to weaken the nobility of the sword; replaced local officials with intendents
who reported directly to the king
Peace of Alais - answeramendment to Edict of Nantes by Cardinal R; took away
Calvinist rights; Protestants kept their religion but had no political/military power
Louis XIV - answer"Sun King" and most famous absolutist; regent=Cardinal Richelieu;
Thirty Years' War=expansion of French power; mercantilist economic policies; built
Versailles to contain nobles
Fronde - answerNobles that resented centralized administrative power and Cardinal
Mazarin revolted, resulted in civil wars; Louis XIV grew up with distrust of nobles
Cardinal Mazarin - answerregent for Louis XIV after Richelieu's death; disliked by the
French because he was a naturalized Italian; was opposed during the Fronde
corvee - answerunpaid labor on public works like roads (later Versaille) used to control
peasantry; was part of taxes
Versailles - answerFrench center of society and culture created by Louis XIV; the most
glittering court in Europe was a symbol of Louis's power; was used to control nobility
, Edict of Fontainbleau - answerLouis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes which granted the
Huguenots the liberty of worship; provided for the destruction of Huguenot churches and
the closing of Protestant schools and drove many Huguenots to England/Germany
Jansenists - answerCatholics that resembled the Protestants in their emphasis on God's
grace, original sin, and in their austere religious practices; opposed the Jesuits and
advocated that humans could only achieve salvation through divine grace
Mercantilism - answeran economic system in 18th century Europe that sought to
increase a nation's wealth by government regulation of all of the nation's commercial
interests; was used to expand bureaucracy/armies (absolutism)
Bullionism - answerpart of mercantilism; idea that a nation's wealth was measured in
gold/silver
Jean-Baptiste Colbert - answercontroller of general finances under Louis XIV that used
mercantilism to increase wealth of France; founded new luxury industries within France
to decrease imports; built roads and canals; raised tariffs on foreign goods and built
merchant marine; debt problem could not be solved
balance of power - answeridea that no one nation should become too powerful in
Europe
Dutch Wars - answerWar of Devolution- Louis XIV invaded Spanish Netherlands without
declaring war and was turned away by a Dutch/Swedish/English alliance. Later, in the
second war, Louis invaded the United Provinces and was defeated by
Spain/Brandenburg/the HRE.
War of the League of Augsburg - answerLouis XIV invaded the Southern Netherlands
and attempted to expand west into the HRE; League of Augsburg formed of all the
major powers (Spain, England, the HRE, others) to stop him; brought famine to France
but war ended with no changes
War of Spanish Succession - answera grandson of Louis XIV (Phillip V) was left the
Spanish throne by Charles II; other European powers wanted to prevent
French/Spanish unification and Grand Alliance emerged
Peace of Utrecht - answerended War of Spanish Succession; confirmed Phillip V as a
ruler of Spain but affirmed separation of the French and Spanish thrones; Austria,
Brandenburg-Prussia, and England gained territories=end of Louis XIV expansionism
Phillip II - answerKing of Spain that strictly enforced Catholicism (the Inquisition) and
used military force (the Armada, Battle of Lepanto), thus laying foundations for
Absolutism
Escorial - answergrand Spanish palace constructed by Phillip II; his version of Versailles
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