-
Louis XIV, age 4, came to power
RED: Because such a young king came to power, the people who were supposed to be behind the king, helping him, saw this as a chance to carry out their belifs. -
Period: to
Louis XIV's Reign
-
Mazarin ended the Thirty Years' War
Mazarin, the real ruler behind Louis XIV, ended the Thirty Years; War. Mazarin was hated by his people because he increased the taxes and strengthened the central government. -
Anti-Mazarin Powers
RED:
Violent anti-Mazarin riots tore france apart. The nobles who led the riots sometimes threatened Louis’ life. Therefore he decided to become a strong ruler so that they could never threat him again.
This is RED because these violent forces tried to get rid of the ruler and this was a threatening factor to the rise of the French Monarchy. -
Mazarin's Death
After Mazarin's death, the 22-year-old Louis took over the government. This event is BLUE because Louis lowered the nobles' power by excluding them from his councils and raised the power of the government agents (intendants:collected taxes and administered justice.) -
Invasion of the Spanish Netherlands
Louis invaded the Spanish Netherlands in an effort to expand frances boundaries. through this campaign, he gained 12 towns. This is BLUE because this gave confidence to the king to keep going after the expansion of territories. -
Invasion of the Dutch Netherlands
Encouraged by his success at the previous 1667 war, he personally led an army into the Dutch Netherlands. The war ended in 1678 with the treaty of Nijmegen. France gained several towns and a region called Franche-Comté. This is BLUE because by another succession at wars, Louis gained personal satisfaction and grew tremendous interest in wars and land expansion. -
League of Augsburg, against France
The Dutch prince, William of Orange became the king of England. He joined the League of Augsburg, which consisted of the Austrian Hapsburg emperor, the kings of Sweden and Spain, and the leaders of several smaller european states. Together, these countries equaled France’s strength. France at this time had been weakened by a series of poor harvests. That, added to the constant warfare, brought great suffering to the French people. So, too, did new taxes, which Louis imposed to finance his wars. -
Cancelation of the Edict of Nantes
Louis canceled the Edict of Nantes, which protected the religious freedom of Huguenots. In response, thousands of Huguenots, artisans, and business people fled the country. Louis’ policy thus robbed France of many skilled workers. This is RED because the loss of a huge number of skilled workers could have led France into a very serious situation where the government loses power in order to regain the number of its citizens. -
Spain under France
The childless king of Spain, Charles II, died after promising his throne to Louis XIV’s 16 year old grandson, Philip of Anjou. The two greatest powers in Europe, enemies for so long, were now both ruled by the French Bourbons. This is BLUE because now that Spain, once a great enemy, was under Fance's control, they ha done less thing to worry about. -
The War of the Spanish Succession Begins
Other countries felt threatened by this increase in the Bourbon dynasty’s power. England, Austria, the Dutch Republic, Portugal , and several German and Italian states joined together to prevent the union of the French and Spanish thrones. The long struggle that followed is known as the War of the Spanish Succession. This is RED because the surrounding countries of Europe tried to bring both Spain and France down by starting an exhausting war. -
The War of the Spanish Succession Ends
The War of the Spanish Succession ended and the Treaty of Utrecht was signed. Under its terms, Louis’ grandson was allowed to remain king of Spain so long as the thrones of France and Spain were not united. This is BLUE because the war was over and a great amount of money was saved for both France and Spain. Also, because the power of the France over Spain somewhat remained to benefit France, this was a BLUE factor. -
Louis XIV's Death
Louis died in his bed. This is a GREEN factor because Louis' death really did not change anything at the moment. Except for the fact that wars were going to start happening less often and the amount of luxury is going to decrease, the French Monarch stayed pretty much the same.
