the nature of absolutism, including the role of the church

Question 1

Louis

Answer 1

• King of France in 1774 aged 20
• Married to Marie Antoinette in 1770
• Lived at Versailles
• God representative on Earth / divine right
• Had the letters de cachet which he could use to imprison anyone

Question 2

was Louis an absolute monarch

Answer 2

yes
- in theory there was no legal limit to his power and ability to initiate directives
- during his coronation he swore an oath to God and not the people showing that his power came form God and not the people
No
- took advice from advisers meaning they also had select powers
- bound to follow laws and customs previously established withing the system
- needed the consent of the nobles in order to rule

Question 3

government structure

Answer 3

• operated at the palace of Versailles
• ## Louis meet with ministers individually instead of in a cabinet style

Question 4

Central government

Answer 4

• Consiel s erat - dealt with major issues of state and foreign affairs
• Conseil des depeches - dealt with church affairs
• Conseil royal des finances - managed state finances and economic policy
• Ministers did not hold their positions for long and were more focused on protecting their reputations and maintaining support

Question 5

role of the Intendants

Answer 5

• Royal agents to main rule in Provence and feedback information
• Responsible for finances policing and justice
• Overworked and understaffed
• Could not make decisions by themselves and needed to obtain order form the king’s council

Question 6

problem with the order of government

Answer 6

• huge disparities and complexities existed in the laws and customs of France at the time
• establishment of 36 generalities by previous French monarchs which split the country into 36 sectors each run by an intendants

Question 7

Local government

Answer 7

• Provincial governments (nobility) were responsible for maintaining order in their regions
• Theoretically they were the kings representatives but some post had become entrenched in certain families
• pays d’etats negotiated directly with the crown and paid a lump sum of taxes
• Seigneurs had their own courts and power

Question 8

Law and the parlements

Answer 8

• 13 parlements which were sovereign courts
• Paris court most important
• Controlled guilds corporations and local governments finances and law and order
  -Registered the kings
  edicts
• Could question and criticise decrease forcing the king to think about them again
• King could force them to accept the edicts via his lit le justice
• Louis had restored the parliament after it had been abolished in 1771

Question 9

First estate

Answer 9

• 150000 members - 0.5%
• The clergy
• Church seen as essential to the well being by providing mass, marriages, education, and care for the sick and elderly
• Church was a wealthy institution
• Income from the tithe and rents for use of church land (10% of French land)
• Archbishops and bishops came from the nobility and were well off
• But the majority of clergy were poor

Question 10

privileges of the 1st estate

Answer 10

• Not required to pay the taille (main direct tax) and instead would offer a don gratitude to the king
• 16 million livres but only equated to 5% of church income
• Could only be persecuted in the church courts
• Did not perform military service

Question 11

Second estate

Answer 11

• 200000 members - 1%
• Nobility
• Serve and advise the king
• Owned ¼ of french land
• Noble of the sword were hereditary and include the princes of the blood
• Sent their sons into the military or the church
• Nobles of the robe acquired status via venality
• By 1789 there were 70,000

Question 12

privileges of the 2nd estate

Answer 12

• Nobles had the right to be beheaded rather than hung
• Did not pay the taille
• Avoided indirect taxes
• exempt from conscription

Question 13

Third estate

Answer 13

• rest of the population
• Had to earn their living
• Wealthiest were the bourgeoisie
• merchants , doctors and lawyers
• May be more wealthy than the nobility or clergy
• Skilled and unskilled workers in the town
• Peasants in the countryside
• Worked the land under a seigneur

Question 14

privileges of the 3rd estate

Answer 14

• Had no privileges
• Paid direct taxes such as the taille vingtime and capitation
• Indirect taxes like the gabelle (salt tax), aides on drinks, taxes on tobacco and tithe to the church
• Every male was liable for military service and corvee royal to maintain the roads
• Feudal peasants subject to seigneurial dues