What elements of royal authority does the portrait of Louis XIV in source 4 present to viewers? How would you compare this depiction of political power with images of modern-day politicians? How would you explain the differences?
What elements of royal authority does the portrait of Louis XIV in source 4 present to viewers? How would you compare this depiction of political power with images of modern-day politicians? How would you explain the differences?
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Q1: What elements of royal authority does the portrait of Louis XIV in source 4 present to viewers? How would you compare this depiction of political power with images of modern-day politicians? How would you explain the differences?
![THỊNKING LIKE A HISTORIAN
Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, political
treatise, 1709. In 1670 Louis XIV appointed
Letter of the prince of Condé, royal
governor of the province of Burgundy,
to Controller General Jean-Baptiste Colbert,
June 18, 1662. In this letter, the king's
representative in the province of Burgundy
reports on his efforts to compel the leaders of
the province to pay taxes levied by the royal
government. The Estates of Burgundy
comprised representatives of the three orders,
or estates, of society: the clergy, the nobility,
and the commoners.
What Was
Absolutism?
2
Bishop Bossuet tutor to his son and heir,
known as the dauphin. In Politics Drawn from
the Very Words of Holy Scripture, Bossuet
Historians have long
argued that royal power was divine and
absolute, but not without limits.
debated the nature
of "absolutism" in
It appears from all this that the person of the
king is sacred, and that to attack him in any way
is sacrilege. God has the kings anointed by his
prophets with the holy unction in like manner as
he has bishops and altars anointed. But even with-
out the external application in thus being anointed,
they are by their very office the representatives of
the divine majesty deputed by Providence for the
execution of his purposes. Accordingly God calls
Cyrus his anointed. "Thus saith the Lord to his
anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have
holden, to subdue nations before him." Kings
should be guarded as holy things, and whosoever
neglects to protect them is worthy of death....
There is something religious in the respect
accorded to a prince. The service of God and the
respect for kings are bound together. St. Peter
seventeenth-century
Europe. While many
historians have
Since then the Estates have deliberated every
emphasized the growth
day, persuaded that the extreme misery in this
province-caused by the great levies it has suf-
fered, the sterility [of the land] in recent years, and
the disorders that have recently occurred– would
induce the king to give them some relief. That is
why they offered only 500,000 for the free gift.
Then, after I had protested this in the appropriate
of state power in this
period, especially under
Louis XIV of France,
others have questioned
whether such a thing
manner, they raised it to 600,000, then 800,000,
and finally 900,000 livres. Until then I had stood
firm at 1.5 million, but when I saw that they were
on the verge of deciding not to give any more...
I finally came down to the 1.2 million livres con-
as "absolutism" ever
existed. The following
documents will allow
you to draw your own
unites these two duties when he
"Fear God.
tained in my instructions and invited them to de-
liberate again, declaring that I could not agree to
present any other proposition to the king and that
I believed that there was no better way to serve
their interests than to obey the king blindly. They
agreed with good grace and came this morning to
offer me a million. They begged me to leave it at
that and not to demand more from them for the
says,
conclusions about
Honour the king."... But kings, although their
power comes from on high, as has been said, should
not regard themselves as masters of that power
to use it at their pleasure;... they must employ it
with fear and self-restraint, as a thing coming from
absolutism.
God and of which God will demand an account.
free gift; and since I told them they would have to
do a little better to satisfy the king completely on
this occasion, they again exaggerated their poverty
and begged me to inform the king of it, but said
that, rather than not please him, they preferred to
make a new effort, and they would leave it up to
me to declare what they had to do. I told them that
I believed His Majesty would have the goodness
to be satisfied with 1.05 million livres for the free
gift, and they agreed.... So Monsieur, there is the
deed done.
ANALYZING THE EVIDENCE
1. What elements of royal authority does the portrait of Louis XIV in Source 4 present to
viewers? How would you compare this depiction of political power with images of
modern-day politicians? How would you explain the differences?
2. What justification do the sources offer for Louis's claim to exercise "absolute" political
authority? Based on his own words in Source 3, how do you think Louis would have
viewed the constitutional governments of England and the Dutch Republic?
3. Compare and contrast the evidence for Louis's power given in these sources with
evidence for limitations on it. What resources would a king have to muster to enlarge his
army drastically (Source 5)? What insight do the negotiations over taxation (Source 2)
give you into the ways the royal government acquired those resources?
510](/v2/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcontent.bartleby.com%2Fqna-images%2Fquestion%2F599ebb4c-dd94-407b-85f3-8fbd3e217ad7%2Ff121f182-134c-4741-92cf-4f0696caec91%2Fld8ixv_processed.png&w=3840&q=75)
Transcribed Image Text:THỊNKING LIKE A HISTORIAN
Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, political
treatise, 1709. In 1670 Louis XIV appointed
Letter of the prince of Condé, royal
governor of the province of Burgundy,
to Controller General Jean-Baptiste Colbert,
June 18, 1662. In this letter, the king's
representative in the province of Burgundy
reports on his efforts to compel the leaders of
the province to pay taxes levied by the royal
government. The Estates of Burgundy
comprised representatives of the three orders,
or estates, of society: the clergy, the nobility,
and the commoners.
What Was
Absolutism?
2
Bishop Bossuet tutor to his son and heir,
known as the dauphin. In Politics Drawn from
the Very Words of Holy Scripture, Bossuet
Historians have long
argued that royal power was divine and
absolute, but not without limits.
debated the nature
of "absolutism" in
It appears from all this that the person of the
king is sacred, and that to attack him in any way
is sacrilege. God has the kings anointed by his
prophets with the holy unction in like manner as
he has bishops and altars anointed. But even with-
out the external application in thus being anointed,
they are by their very office the representatives of
the divine majesty deputed by Providence for the
execution of his purposes. Accordingly God calls
Cyrus his anointed. "Thus saith the Lord to his
anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have
holden, to subdue nations before him." Kings
should be guarded as holy things, and whosoever
neglects to protect them is worthy of death....
There is something religious in the respect
accorded to a prince. The service of God and the
respect for kings are bound together. St. Peter
seventeenth-century
Europe. While many
historians have
Since then the Estates have deliberated every
emphasized the growth
day, persuaded that the extreme misery in this
province-caused by the great levies it has suf-
fered, the sterility [of the land] in recent years, and
the disorders that have recently occurred– would
induce the king to give them some relief. That is
why they offered only 500,000 for the free gift.
Then, after I had protested this in the appropriate
of state power in this
period, especially under
Louis XIV of France,
others have questioned
whether such a thing
manner, they raised it to 600,000, then 800,000,
and finally 900,000 livres. Until then I had stood
firm at 1.5 million, but when I saw that they were
on the verge of deciding not to give any more...
I finally came down to the 1.2 million livres con-
as "absolutism" ever
existed. The following
documents will allow
you to draw your own
unites these two duties when he
"Fear God.
tained in my instructions and invited them to de-
liberate again, declaring that I could not agree to
present any other proposition to the king and that
I believed that there was no better way to serve
their interests than to obey the king blindly. They
agreed with good grace and came this morning to
offer me a million. They begged me to leave it at
that and not to demand more from them for the
says,
conclusions about
Honour the king."... But kings, although their
power comes from on high, as has been said, should
not regard themselves as masters of that power
to use it at their pleasure;... they must employ it
with fear and self-restraint, as a thing coming from
absolutism.
God and of which God will demand an account.
free gift; and since I told them they would have to
do a little better to satisfy the king completely on
this occasion, they again exaggerated their poverty
and begged me to inform the king of it, but said
that, rather than not please him, they preferred to
make a new effort, and they would leave it up to
me to declare what they had to do. I told them that
I believed His Majesty would have the goodness
to be satisfied with 1.05 million livres for the free
gift, and they agreed.... So Monsieur, there is the
deed done.
ANALYZING THE EVIDENCE
1. What elements of royal authority does the portrait of Louis XIV in Source 4 present to
viewers? How would you compare this depiction of political power with images of
modern-day politicians? How would you explain the differences?
2. What justification do the sources offer for Louis's claim to exercise "absolute" political
authority? Based on his own words in Source 3, how do you think Louis would have
viewed the constitutional governments of England and the Dutch Republic?
3. Compare and contrast the evidence for Louis's power given in these sources with
evidence for limitations on it. What resources would a king have to muster to enlarge his
army drastically (Source 5)? What insight do the negotiations over taxation (Source 2)
give you into the ways the royal government acquired those resources?
510
![3
Louis XIV, Memoir for the Instruction of the
memoir
Dauphin. In 1670 Louis XIV finished
he had compiled for the education of his son
and heir. Presented in the king's voice-
although cowritten with several royal aides-
the memoir recounts the early years of
Louis's reign and explains his approach to
absolute rule.
I For however it be held as a maxim that in every
thing a Prince should employ the most mild mea-
sures and first, and that it is more to his advantage
to govern his subjects by persuasive than coercive
means, it is nevertheless certain that whenever he
meets with impediments or rebellion, the interest
of his crown and the welfare of his people demand
that he should cause himself to be indispensably
obeyed; for it must be acknowledged there is noth-
ing can so securely establish the happiness and
tranquility of a country as the perfect combina-
tion of all authority in the single person of the
Sovereign. The least division in this respect often
produces the greatest calamities; and whether it
be detached into the hands of individuals or those
of corporate bodies, it always is there in a state of
fermentation.
4
Hyacinthe Rigaud, portrait of Louis XIV, 1701. This was one of Louis
XIV's favorite portraits of himself. He liked it so much that he had many
... [B]esides the insurrections and the intestine
commotions which the ambition of power infalli-
bly produces when it is not repressed, there are still
a thousand other evils created by the inactivity of
the Sovereign. Those who are nearest his person are
copies of the portrait made; his successors had their own portraits painted
in the same posture with the same clothing and accoutrements.
the first to observe his weakness, and are also the
first who are desirous of profiting by it. Every one
of those persons have necessarily others who are
Growth of the French army.
subservient to their avaricious views, and to whom
Time Period
Size of Army
they at the same time give the privilege of imitat-
ing them. Thus, from the highest to the lowest is a
Middle Ages
10,000 men
systematic corruption communicated, and it be-
comes general in all classes.
1635 (Louis XIII and Richelieu enter Thirty Years' War)
125,000 men
1670s (Louis XIV wages Dutch War)
280,000 men
1690s (Louis XIV wages Nine Years' War)
340,000 men
LO
ouis XOV in Royal Costume, 1701, by Hyacinthe François Rigaud (1659-1743) (oi| on canvas
Musée du Louvre, Paris, France/Bridgeman Images)](/v2/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcontent.bartleby.com%2Fqna-images%2Fquestion%2F599ebb4c-dd94-407b-85f3-8fbd3e217ad7%2Ff121f182-134c-4741-92cf-4f0696caec91%2F30j5n2_processed.png&w=3840&q=75)
Transcribed Image Text:3
Louis XIV, Memoir for the Instruction of the
memoir
Dauphin. In 1670 Louis XIV finished
he had compiled for the education of his son
and heir. Presented in the king's voice-
although cowritten with several royal aides-
the memoir recounts the early years of
Louis's reign and explains his approach to
absolute rule.
I For however it be held as a maxim that in every
thing a Prince should employ the most mild mea-
sures and first, and that it is more to his advantage
to govern his subjects by persuasive than coercive
means, it is nevertheless certain that whenever he
meets with impediments or rebellion, the interest
of his crown and the welfare of his people demand
that he should cause himself to be indispensably
obeyed; for it must be acknowledged there is noth-
ing can so securely establish the happiness and
tranquility of a country as the perfect combina-
tion of all authority in the single person of the
Sovereign. The least division in this respect often
produces the greatest calamities; and whether it
be detached into the hands of individuals or those
of corporate bodies, it always is there in a state of
fermentation.
4
Hyacinthe Rigaud, portrait of Louis XIV, 1701. This was one of Louis
XIV's favorite portraits of himself. He liked it so much that he had many
... [B]esides the insurrections and the intestine
commotions which the ambition of power infalli-
bly produces when it is not repressed, there are still
a thousand other evils created by the inactivity of
the Sovereign. Those who are nearest his person are
copies of the portrait made; his successors had their own portraits painted
in the same posture with the same clothing and accoutrements.
the first to observe his weakness, and are also the
first who are desirous of profiting by it. Every one
of those persons have necessarily others who are
Growth of the French army.
subservient to their avaricious views, and to whom
Time Period
Size of Army
they at the same time give the privilege of imitat-
ing them. Thus, from the highest to the lowest is a
Middle Ages
10,000 men
systematic corruption communicated, and it be-
comes general in all classes.
1635 (Louis XIII and Richelieu enter Thirty Years' War)
125,000 men
1670s (Louis XIV wages Dutch War)
280,000 men
1690s (Louis XIV wages Nine Years' War)
340,000 men
LO
ouis XOV in Royal Costume, 1701, by Hyacinthe François Rigaud (1659-1743) (oi| on canvas
Musée du Louvre, Paris, France/Bridgeman Images)
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