Absolutism
The Seventeenth Century saw the rise of a new theory and practice of government
that historians denominate Absolutism. This theory claimed for the monarchy
an unlimited power over its subjects in every aspect of life. All power
flowed from the Monarch. There were no independent or autonomous sources
of authority. This is in contrast to Medieval monarchy which was bound
by tradition and corporate institutions (Church, estates etc.), and whose
areas of activity were quite limited, usually to war and justice. Though
the English monarchy failed to achieve a full absolutist authority, one
of the clearest expressions of absolutist authority comes from an English
king.
It was not England that Absolutism flourished, but in France, which
became the model and envy of rulers throughout Europe. It was not easy,
however. At the end of the 16th century France was still recovery from
the Wars of Religion that had fragmented the country, allowed separatist
tendencies to flourish, and provided the nobility with the opportunity
to increase their own power at the expense of the crown. Although the beginnings
of French Absolutism can be traced back into the 16th Century, it made
its greatest strides under the prime minister of Louis XIII, Cardinal Richelieu.
In this document he recalls the program which he and the king followed.
Note that Richelieu equates the public good of all France with the Monarchy
as opposed to the private goods of all the Monarchy's opponents and competitors.
The military power of the nobility was the source of its independence
in the face of the Monarchy. Simple, but bold action sought to eliminate
that power.
Under Louis XIII, but especially under Louis XIV, the nobility were
called to the royal court whose magnificence exceeded anything seen in
Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire. Versailles was both the playground
and the prison of the high nobility who were caught up in the petty intrigues
and the round of entertainments that the king provided. Bread and circuses
for the upper classes. Though this particular document was written by a
woman, both men and women were fully entangled in the affairs of court.
Having withdrawn the nobility from their rural fortresses, the monarchy
proceeded to exclude them from the business of government. In there place
were civil servants drawn from the middle classes, such as Colbert, minister
under Louis XIV. The monarchy also encouraged the middle class by devoting
itself to the economy and its improvement by direct state intervention.
There was no precedent for such a policy or such practices. It is generally
known as Mercantilism.
A more traditional area of royal interest was the Church, an institution
that was firmly in the hands of the monarchy already by the end of the
16th Century. The religious divisions of the Reformation era still remained
in France since the Huguenots (Protestants) enjoyed a toleration granted
by the Edict of Nantes (1598). The presence of the Huguenots, however,
marred the vision of a united France and posed a challenge to the authority
of the Catholic King. The Revocation of the Edict Nantes, a move that led
to oppressive conditions in France for the Protestants and, as a result,
mass emigration, was thus as much a product of secular power political
considerations as it was of religious intolerance. In the text the "RPR"
refers to the Protestant Church.
No content with controlling the political, social, economic and religious
life of the nation, the monarchy also embarked upon a cultural program
that included the patronage of artists, writers, scientists and scholars
in order to enrich France culturally, but also to propagate French power
throughout Europe. There was no precedent for this program, but France
and other nations have pursued even since. The concern with the unity and
glory of France made the French language an obvious target of reform and
regulation since France it was much divided by its regional languages and
dialects. The French Academy was designed to address that concern. It still
exists and continues to fulfill its original mandate.