AP European History
Dr. Lavoie
Module 1.2 - Reading Guide 3
Absolutism and Louis XIV
Textbook reading Due Today:

Kagan, pp 179-190
Key Terms: (bold and italicized terms are from the AP Key Terms List)
 Louis XIV
 Cardinal Richelieu and Cardinal Mazarin
 The Fronde
 parlement
 Versailles
 Jacques-Benigne Bossuet
 Divine right of kings
 Absolute monarchy
 Jean-Baptiste Colbert
 Gallican liberties
 Jansenism
 Peace of Utrecht
 Mississsippi Bubble
Questions to Consider
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8.
In what ways did Louis XIV’s strategies for the consolidation of royal authority differ from
that of his predecessors?
What strategies did Louis employ to decrease the power of the nobility?
What function did the palace of Versailles serve in consolidating royal power?
Compare the claims of divine right of kings to the reality of those areas where Louis sought to
have royal power dominate.
What were Louis’ foreign policy goals and how did his wars seek to advance them. Was he
successful?
How did Louis try to exert royal authority over religious matters in France?
What factors account for the decline in royal authority and the rise of aristocratic influence
after the death of Louis XIV?
How are “New Monarchs” different from “absolute monarchs”? Is there a meaningful
difference other than chronology?
Source Reading due today


Bossuet, Divine Right (handout)
Revocation of Edict of Nantes (Kishlansky)
Questions to Consider:
1.
2.
How does Bossuet seek to justify absolutist rule?
What reasons does Louis give for revoking the Edict of Nantes?
In Class Activities:
Louis XIV chart – areas of absolutism
Image analysis – Rigaud’s portrait
Source discussion – absolutism in theory and practice – comparison to New
Monarchs