7.3.1 Text资料文件与下载

7.3 Three Absolute Monarchs

1. The English revolution changed England from an absolute monarchy into a constitutional monarchy. But England was an exception. The seventeenth century was an age of absolutism in Europe. Absolute monarchy is a form of monarchy in which one ruler has supreme authority and that authority is not restricted by any written laws, legislature, or customs, and the absolute monarchy is often, but not always, hereditary. The political theory of the divine right of kings which initiated since the early seventeen century was the theological justification for absolute monarchy. Now let’s look at three absolute monarchs: Louis XIV 1643-1715 of France，Frederick William, the Great Elector of Brandenburg-Prussia 1640-1688, Tsar Peter the Great 1682-1725 of Russia.

2. Louis XIV of France 1643-1715

Louis XIV was French king from 1643 to 1715, known as Louis the Great or the Sun King. During Louis XIV's reign, he successfully increased the royal authority over the church and aristocracy, thus consolidating absolute monarchy in France. France replaced Spain as the greatest nation in Europe. Louis XIV was from the House of Bourbon, he ruled for 72 years and 110 days, the longest record in European history. During his reign, France was the leading European power. It fought three major wars: the Franco-Dutch War, the War of the League of Augsburg, and the War of the Spanish Succession.

3. Cardinal Mazarin. Louis XIV was son of Louis XIII. When he was crowned he was only 4 years old, the regent was his mother Anne of Austria, and the Chief Minister was an Italian-born cardinal Mazarin. Before Louis XIV’s reign, Mazarin succeeded his mentor Cardinal Richelieu as the first Minister of Louis XIII. Mazarin was the de facto ruler of France; he played a crucial role in the negotiations of the Peace of Westphalia.

The Fronde

The costs of the Thirty Years' War made Mazarin's government had to levy new taxes; this caused the opposition from the nobles, the Parliament of Paris and most of the French people. A series of civil wars fought in between 1648 and 1653 which was called Fronde. The word fronde in French means "sling", Parisian crowds used slings to smash the windows of supporters of Cardinal Mazarin. The term frondeur was later used to refer to anyone who suggested that the power of the king should be limited. Finally Cardinal Mazarin and the king won the war. Royal authority was strengthened. The Fronde facilitated the emergence of absolute monarchy. Mazarin died in 1662, and then the 13-year-old Louis XIV began to rule.

4. The Palace of Versailles was the greatest palace of the greatest king of the greatest country in seventeenth century Europe. It was built by Louis XIV, the royal residence of French kings from 1682 until the French Revolution in 1789 during the reign of Louis XVI. Now it is the second-most visited monument in Paris, just behind the Louvre and ahead of the Eiffel Tower. This Palace has 2,300 rooms, 1,400 fountains, 1,200 horses and hundreds of carriages, 5000 people lived there and among them 500 served the king alone. How much it cost? No one knows because Louis XIV ordered to burn the official receipts. Every morning leading noblemen of France had to get up at dawn and came to his bedroom to watch him be awakened and hear his first words, and followed him from room to room watching how he washed, dressed and ate.

5. How great of the palace

6. Hall of Mirrors is the central gallery of the Palace; its principal feature is the seventeen mirror-clad arches that reflect the seventeen arcaded windows overlooking the gardens. This hall was used daily by Louis XIV when he walked from his private apartment to the chapel. Courtiers assembled to watch the king and members of the royal family pass and to express their loyalty.

7. The German Empire was declared in 1871 from here.

8. The Treaty of Versailles was signed here by the victorious powers of World War I in 1919.

9. Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685. The Edict of Nantes was signed in 1598 by King Henry which had granted the Protestant Huguenots the right to practice their religion without persecution from the state. Now Louis XIV canceled the law and the Huguenots were outlawed. Over 200,000 highly skilled Huguenots fled France to Protestant states England, Holland and Brandenburg and enriched these countries.

Louis XIV died on September1, 1715 at the age of 76, his last words were: "I depart, but the State shall always remain."

10. Frederick William, the Great Elector of Brandenburg-Prussia Known as "the Great Elector", Frederick William was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia, from 1640 and to his death in 1688.

We know that in 1356 the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV from the House of Luxembourg issued the Golden Bull, formally defined the election proceedings of the Holy Roman Emperor. It was named the Golden Bull for the golden seal it carried. The kings were elected by seven Prince-electors including three bishops and four secular noblemen. Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire; its ruler was one of the 7 electors.

11. The Duchy of Prussia was established as a result of secularization of the State of the Teutonic Order during the Protestant Reformation in 1525. Secular is a word to describe things that have no connection with religion. The Teutonic Order was a Catholic religious order founded as a military order in the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1190. The State of the Teutonic Order was a crusader state formed by the Teutonic Knights or Teutonic Order during the 13th century Northern Crusades along the Baltic Sea.

12. Frederick William was from the House of Hohenzollern, Based in Brandenburg, the main branch of the Hohenzollern intermarried with the branch ruling the Duchy of Prussia, and secured succession upon the latter's extinction in the male line in 1618. As the ruler of both Brandenburg and Prussia, Frederick William is known for his military and political achievements. As a great military commander, he built up a strong army to defend the country.

The Battle of Warsaw was a battle took place near Warsaw in 1656, between the armies of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the allied armies of Sweden and Brandenburg, commanded by King Charles X of Sweden and Elector Frederick William. In the battle, a smaller Swedish-Brandenburg force defeated the enemy force superior in numbers. The victory of the battle marked "the beginning of Prussian military history". By1678 Frederick William raised a powerful army of 40,000 soldiers.

Frederick William was a devoted Calvinist but adopted a policy of religious tolerance, Brandenburg-Prussia benefited from this policy. He also promoted trade vigorously. These reforms gave Prussia a strong position in the post-Westphalian political order of north-central Europe, under his son and successor the Duchy of Prussia was elevated to the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701. In 1772 the Kingdom of Prussia was annexed by the Royal Prussia. If a country annexes another country or an area of land, it seizes it and takes control of it, like Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

13. Peter the Great

In 1585 Ivan the "Terrible", the first Tsar of Russia died. Russia experienced the Time of Trouble from 1598 to 1613 and the Polish–Russian War started from 1605.  In 1613 Michael Romanov was elected tsar and by the help of Sweden he led Russians drove the Poles away. He was the first tsar of the House of Romanov, Romanov dynasty ruled Russia from 1613 until the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II on 15 March 1917, as a result of the February Revolution.

Peter the Great was another great Tsar from the Romanov dynasty, he ruled Russia for 44 years, first the Tsar of the Tsardom of Russia from 1682 then the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 1721 until his death in 1725.

14. The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition army led by Peter of Russia successfully challenged the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. After the war Peter expanded the land of the Tsardom of Russia into a much larger empire that became a major European power and also laid the groundwork for the Russian navy after capturing ports at Azov and the Baltic Sea.

He led a cultural revolution which was modern, scientific, westernized. He wanted to drag his country into the modern would. In 1697 Peter traveled to Western Europe on an 18-month journey with a large Russian delegation called "Grand Embassy". Although he used a fake name but was easy to be recognized because he was far taller than most others. He invited foreign scholars to be the head of the new school and foreigners to oversee the new departments of the state. He sent the sons of the nobility to the west to study and recruited foreign engineers and architects to build his new capital Saint Petersburg.

15. From this map we can see the expansion of Russia. Saint Petersburg situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, it was founded by Tsar Peter the Great in 1703. Its name changed to Leningrad and changed back to its original name in 1991. It was the capital of Imperial Russia. In 1918, Moscow became the new capital. Today Saint Petersburg is Russia's second-largest city after Moscow and the cultural capital of the country.

16. Key words: Absolute monarchy, Louis XIV, Palace of Versailles, Frederick William, Brandenburg-Prussia, Saint Petersburg

This is the end of 7 point 3