Louis XIV

Mazarin and the Fronde

Richelieu died in 1642 and Louis XIII followed him to the grave a few months later, leaving to others the task of completing their work, The great cardinal was replaced by an Italian adventurer named Mazarin (1602-1661), who was also a prince of the Church. Louis was followed by his five-year-old son, Louis XIV (1643-1715). A regency was once more necessary, and as usual the office fell on the queen-mother, Anne of Austria. Mazarin quickly made approaches to Anne and became her lover, if not her husband. This assured his position, and from then until is death in 1661 he directed the affairs of state.

Strangely enough, the Italian Mazarin and the Habsburg Anne pursued the anti-Habsburg policy of Richelieu. Intervention in Germany was continued until victory was won. At the Peace of Westphalia, France received Metz, Toul, Verdun, and parts of Alsace. The The possibility of having to face a united Germany was removed for two centuries. the war with Spain was continued until 1659, when by the Treaty of the Pyrénées France received lands along both its southern and northern borders. Richelieu's dream had been realized. France had clearly replaced Spain as the dominant power in Europe. There was no longer danger that the Habsburgs would b able to draw an iron ring around the country.

The cost, however, had been terrific. Reform had once more been postponed, taxes were high, and the people complained. One serious revolt, known as the Fronde, took place between 1648 and 1653. Many of its causes were similar to those of the Wars of Religion-economic distress, the desire of the grat nobles to control the central government or to create semi-independent principalities in the provinces, and heavy taxation. There were two differences, however.

First, religion was no longer a factor. The Huguenots remained content with the liberty of cult left them by Richelieu.

Second, royal officials played a major role. For centuries, many government posts had been sold to raise revenue. thus, public office had become a property right, and its possessor could not normally be removed unless he was financially reimbursed, a feat no king could or would perform.

As a result, the crown exercised little control over its officials. Henry IV agreed to make offices hereditary in return for a fee. This action temporarily gave the king the support of the bureaucracy because this privilege was dependent on his pleasure. However, as people became more accustomed to the sale and inheritance of public office, officials felt less threatened. Soon they found courage to ignore royal directives, if not actively to resist the authority of the king. The crown had spent centuries trying to tame the old feudal nobility; now it was faced with a new hereditary nobility of officeholders.

To correct injustices committed by local officials and to ensure greater efficiency in government, the crown had adopted the practice during the sixteenth century of sending inspectors known as intendants out from Paris for limited periods of time. The intendants did not buy their offices and they therefore had to obey the king or risk dismissal. Gradually, the intendants expanded their activities; from being temporary inspectors in a few provinces, they became permanent administrators in all the provinces. This change probably took place during the last few years of Richelieu's ministry, and by the time of the Fronde the intendants had become important enough to threaten the position of the local royal officials who had purchased their offices. The local officials resisted, and in this they were supported by the members of the principal law courts at Paris. Thus, the Fronde consisted of three revolts: one by the lower and middle classes against heavy taxation, a second by the nobles to increase their political power, and a third by the officeholders to protect their position from various acclivities of the crown, including the use of intendants.

No important segment of the population actively supported Mazarin. He had to rely on those who sought personal rewards. Even the army was of little help. It followed the lead of its commanders, and its commanders sided with the rebels s often as not. Twice Mazarin was forced into exile. Only the rivalries between the great nobles and their difficulty in agreeing on a common program with the royal officials saved the cardinal. Finally, he was able to return to power, but only after much suffering had been inflicted on the people by the forces of the opposing sides. One result of the Fronde was that the French became willing to accept a much stronger, more centralized government under their king in order to prevent future civil wars. Another result was that the youthful Louis XIV determined to take whatever steps were necessary to avoid further disorders.

Louis XIV

During his youth, Louis was content to leave the government in Mazarin's hands, but when the latter died in 1661, the twenty-two-year-old king declared that henceforth he would be his own prime minister. From that day until his death over a half century later, he directed the affairs of state and dispensed the crown's patronage to ensure that power rested with him personally and not with a chief minister. Louis' character changed as he matured from a youthful, untried king to Europe's most powerful ruler. At first, he was a pleasure-loving monarch whose many mistresses caused comment in an age not readily surprised by such activities. As he grew older, he became more devout, his court became more moral, and he even married his lat mistress, although secretly. One aspect of Louis' character, however, never changed-his love of glory. Magnificence, generosity, and military conquests had long been considered the true marks of greatness. The seventeenth century added another criterion-the passion for system and order. Louis sought to achieve each of these attributes of greatness.

Louis was only of medium height and could scarcely have been called handsome, but he possessed a natural dignity and a commanding appearance that left no one in doubt that he was every inch a king. He was not well educated and possessed little imagination, but he had both the determination to master the details of government and the ability to direct the administration of the kingdom. He was unfailingly courteous and usually honest and straightforward, although he was a master of dissimulation when there was need. Had it not been for his desire for glory, he could have been a great king by modern standards rather than by the standards of his day.

it was the desire for system and order, for unity and obedience, that first claimed Louis' attention. He believed with a political theorist of his day "that the king alone is sovereign in his kingdom and that sovereignty is no more divisible than the point in geometry." all power had to be gathered in his hands. he denied the great nobles a significant role in the government, but to win their loyalty he brought them to court and treated them to a series of entertainments. He heaped on them titles, honorary positions, and pensions. To their younger sons went the richest ecclesiastical benefices. When court life became dull, there was usually a war on which king and noble could embark in search of honor and glory. No noble could hope for advancement without winning favor at court, and royal generosity was a heavy financial drain on France. Louis finally tamed the French nobility, but in doing so he became their captive. From the time of his reign, the fortunes of king and great noble were so closely bound together that they could not be separated. Their alliance led to their mutual destruction in the Revolution.

By enticing the great nobles to court, Louis broke their tie with the lesser nobles who remained in the provinces. They became to all intents two separate classes, and the duke or prince could no longer count on a host of clients ready to revolt at his call. Louis curbed the authority of the local royal officials who purchased or inherited their offices and of the elected town officials by expanding the duties of the intendant. The old bureaucracy was left its offices, the towns kept their officials, and the nobles retained their privileges, but the administration of the provinces was actually carried on largely by the intendants, and the chief royal advisers were drawn from the lesser nobility and the middle class. As long as the crown could prevent the intendants from escaping its control, its directives were certain to carry weight throughout the kingdom.

To prevent the army from rebelling under the lead of its commanders, Louis saw to it that, for every colonel drawn from a great noble family, there was an experienced lieutenant-colonel drawn from one of the lesser noble families who owed his advancement to royal favor. Troops were raised and paid in the name of their king, not their captain. Uniforms came into frequent use for the first time, and some barracks were built to house the troops. Inspectors were sent out from the royal council to make certain that regulations were complied with. These measures made for obedient officers and disciplined soldiers. No longer would an army follow its commander into revolt against the king, and the crown had an effective force that would be used for military conquest and the suppression of rebellions.

To celebrate the glories of his reign, Louis became a patron of arts and letters. His taste was not always good, and the controls he established limited the development of the artists' individuality; but his palaces were decorated in a magnificent manner with paintings celebrating the conquests of Alexander, Caesar, and Louis. Historians were not above drawing similar parallels, though in his youth Louis had insulted their profession by having Mézeray's History of France read at night to ut him to sleep. The censor was not neglected. His task was to see to it that unfavorable comments were not published in France. Louis became the most admired and emulated monarch in Europe. French culture spread everywhere.

The finest example of Louis' desire for magnificence may be found in the palace at Versailles. It was large, so large that it took 35,000 people more than three decades to build it. The interior was magnificently furnished with mosaics, paintings, and mirrors. surrounding the palace were acres of gardens, lakes, and fountains. The cost in lives and money was staggering, but Louis pushed the work to completion, for here was a palace suitable for the greatest of kings. Louis insisted on the most elaborate court etiquette. From the time he arose in the morning until the time he went to bed at night, he was attended by the leading nobles of the realm. A prince might be permitted to hand him his shirt, but a mere count could hope to do no more than watch the royal toilette. The elaborate etiquette would have bored all but the most devotet adherent of the cult of kings, but Louis manfully followed the pattern of life which he thought led to greatness. Indeed, the palace did not have the most elementary comforts by modern standards. It was totally lacking in plumbing; perfume was the accepted substitute fort he bath. Nevertheless, the splendor of Versailles did much to impress the Europeans of the day, and before long even the petty German princes were imitating the ways of the "Grand Monarch."

To support so much magnificence a sound fiscal system and a good economy were necessary. In this respect, Louis' minister, Colbert, was invaluable. Colbert cut the cost of collecting taxes, reduced graft and corruption, and adopted an accurate system of bookkeeping. He tried with slight success to equalize taxation between the various provinces. Industry and agriculture were encouraged, and efforts were made to create free trade between the interior provinces of the kingdom.

Colbert's fiscal measures were wise and some of his economic measures were helpful, but in the long run Louis' policies destroyed any beneficial effects of Colbert's. In 1685, Louis revoked the Edict of Nantes because his growing interest in religion made tolerating impossible. The Huguenots were compelled to choose between conversion to Catholicism, persecution, and flight form the country. About 200,000 chose the last course, and France lost some of its most valuable workers, although this loss was less serious than has sometimes been supposed.

Far more harmful were Louis' wars. He fought many, and before his death he realized that they had cost too much in money, in blood, and in reforms postponed. He was further saddened by the death of his son and heir and two grandsons. His throne was to pass to his great-grandson, and in 1715 the dying monarch called this sickly led to him and said, "My child, you will soon be the king of great realm. Never forget your obligations towards God; remember that you owe him all that you are. Try to preserve peace with your neighbors. i have been too fond of war. Do not imitate me in that, nor in the too great expenditures I have made. Lighten the burdens of your people as soon as you can, and do that which I have had the misfortune not to accomplish myself." A few days later, Louis XIV, the Grand Monarch, died after a reign of seventy-two years. He, Richelieu, and Mazarin had broken the power of Spain. They had expanded France a long way towards its present boundaries, but they had bankrupted their people. They had created an absolute monarchy, but they had failed to make the type of reforms necessary to ensure loyalty to the crown.