Document 2 |
-performance at Versailles, 1674 |
DBQ QUESTION |
| Using your knowledge of
European history between the late 17th to early 18th centuries and the following
documents, assess the validity of the following statement: Louis XIV, the "Sun King" of France, can be considered an 18th century enlightened despot. |
Document 1 |
| "Complaints and petitions arrived in
great numbers but I did not allow that to put me off...They enabled me to inform myself in
detail about the condition of my people...When cases of injustice came to my attention I
made further inquiries and sometimes stepped in to rectify them. One or two examples
of this kind prevented a thousand similar abuses." - Louis XIV, commenting on the Code Louis, 1670
|
Document 2 |
-performance at Versailles, 1674 |
Document 3 |
| "After the king's Mass a dozen members of the
Academy were informally present at the dinner of His Majesty, who was served at a small
table. Monsieur le Duc was there, Monsieur le Prince de Conti.....the archbishop.
The king said to Monseiur de Vendome: 'You, sir, who are a man of parts, should
belong to the Academy.' 'I have no merit, sire, but perhaps they might overlook that,
since no great intelligence is necessary.' 'What!' exclaimed the king. 'Not necessary?
Look at Monsieur the archbishop, Monsieur de Bussy and all these other gentlemen,
if you consider intelligence not necessary.' Then they spoke of the difficulties of
effective oratory. The discussion lasted throughout the king's dinner; after this,
the archbishop, the ten Academicians and I went to dine with the Chamberlain. The
king had commanded Livry to serve us well. We were six hours at the table, where the
health of the Protector of the Academy was not forgotten..." -Bussy-Rabutin on the reception of the king's induction into the French Academy as Protector, 1670 |
Document 4 |
| "Yet while God has created all men
according to His image...it is nonetheless true that it is in the person of kings that He
has imprinted the most vivid colors, and it is there that He carved the most perfect
characters of divinity...There is only one God in the world, and in the kingdom there is
only one king to whom alone one should render honor and duty...the power of kings is
without limits...God loves all His creatures, but not equally...one cannot doubt that,
among all the mortal creatures, kings and monarchs are the most cherished by God..." -De Montmeran's view of Louis XIV's rule over France, 1683 |
Document 5 |
| "Louis the Great, the sun that gives light to the day...the sun that makes the birds sing..." - Inscription on an Architectural arch in Tournai, 1680
|
Document 6 |
-Louis being wheeled around the garden by his courtiers, 1688 |
Document 7 |
| "The people of the court are like a foreign
nation within the state, made up of men drawn from many different places. They are
not men of intelligence, but they are all possessed of an admirable politeness, which
serves them in its stead....The courtiers are prey to profound boredom, but they would not
leave for anything in the world." - Passage from the abbe de Saint Real describing the life of a courtier, 1700 "I have every reason to be satisfied since the very Christian king has treated me most civilly and others have done all that they can to give me pleasure..." - Letter from Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark to his father on his trip to the court of Louis XIV,1701 |
Document 8 |
-Louis signing the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 1685 |
Document 9 |
| "God gave no power to any ecclesiastical
authority over kings and sovereigns in temporal matters and they cannot be deposed either
directly or indirectly by the authority of the heads of the church...The church of France
does not approve the opinion of those who tamper with these decrees...The rules, customs,
and constitutions which are traditional in the kingdom must be adhered to...Although the
pope has the principle role in questions of faith and although all his decrees
concern all churches and every church in particular, his judgement in not immutable unless
the consent of the church is given..." -Bossuet's drafted declaration concerning the authority of the pope, March 19, 1682
|
Document 10 |
| "...By this date the king is receiving almost
daily reports of the conversion of whole towns to the Catholic church. The king,
somewhat taken aback, has concluded that God wishes to make use of him to bring to
perfection the holy work he has begun which is the conversion of all his subjects...he is
the invincible hero destined by eternal wisdom to destroy the terrible monster of
heresy..." -Orator of the Assembly of the Clergy reporting after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, September 15, 1685 "If God grants the King life, in twenty years time there will not be a single Huguenot in France." -Madame de Maintenon, April 5, 1681 |
