French absolutism. Richelieu's reforms. Central and local government.
The period of absolute monarchy in France lasted from the 16th to the 18th centuries.
Prerequisites for occurrence.
In the 16th century, manufactories appeared in France - the first stage of capitalist industrial production. Strengthening economic and political ties between individual provinces of the country leads to the formation of a single nation. All these transformations led to major shifts in the social structure of society. In addition to the ruling class - the feudal lords - a new class of large owners appeared - the bourgeoisie. The main part of the bourgeoisie was the urban patriciate - rich merchants, moneylenders, bankers. Many bourgeois considered it profitable for themselves to buy a position in the courts (parliaments) or administrative bodies. The government, constantly in need of funds, began to sell positions, that is, the right to occupy a certain position in the administrative apparatus and the court.
Major changes in the government system.
Changes in the socio-economic structure of French society also determined the transformation of the state. The most important factor contributing to the strengthening of royal power was the special balance of class forces that developed in France. A peculiar relationship between two classes was established in the country - the nobility, which began to weaken, and the bourgeoisie, which was increasingly gaining strength. The bourgeoisie could not yet claim a dominant role in the country, but in the economic field and partly in the state apparatus, it successfully opposed the nobility. Using the contradictions between the two classes in its policies, the royal power achieved significant relative independence.
By the beginning of the 16th century, the absolute monarchy had largely taken shape. Absolutism was characterized, first of all, by the fact that all power was concentrated in the hands of the head of state - the monarch, who held this post for life and in the order of succession to the throne. The secular government, represented by the king, strengthened its control over the church. Bologna Concordat 1516 gave the king the exclusive right to appoint candidates for the posts of the highest hierarchs of the Catholic Church in France. Very soon the subsequent approval of these candidates became a formality.
The concentration of all power in the hands of the monarch led to the cessation of the activities of the Estates General. The rights of parliaments and, above all, the Paris Parliament were sharply limited. Louis 4 actually completely abolished the institution of Remonstrance. Parliament was obliged to freely register all ordinances and other normative acts emanating from the king. Parliament was prohibited from considering any matters relating to the government and the administrative apparatus.
All French were considered subjects of the king, obliged to obey him unquestioningly. The bulk of the nobility served as support for the throne. The fact is that the absolute monarchy steadily and consistently defended the fundamental, class-wide interests of the nobility. Only with the help of centralized state power could the suppression of the intensified anti-feudal struggle of the peasantry be ensured.
Richelieu's reforms.
Cardinal Richelieu played an important role in the formation of the state apparatus. For 20 years, he, having subordinated King Louis13 to his influence, virtually ruled the country undividedly. His policy was aimed at protecting the interests of the nobility. He saw the path to achieving this main goal in strengthening absolutism. Under his leadership, the centralization of the administrative apparatus, courts, and finances was greatly strengthened.
At that time, this presented considerable difficulties, firstly, because the government was selling many government positions, and a great many officials flooded the country. The holders of many positions felt relatively independent in relation to the monarchy, which could not dismiss them from public service. Secondly, because during religious wars and political crises, the government, in order to attract the nobility to its side, was forced to transfer to its representatives some important posts in the state apparatus: governors, bailiffs, provosts. These positions then, by tradition, became the property of individual aristocratic families. As a result, part of the state apparatus created during the period of the estate-representative monarchy ended up in the hands of those circles that tried to strengthen their corporate autonomy. The government could change the personnel composition of individual parts of the state apparatus, but this could cause discontent among the nobility and the bourgeoisie.
The problem was solved in a different way. The old state apparatus was preserved, but along with it they began to create a new system of state bodies. The most important posts in it began to be occupied by persons appointed by the government, which could recall them at any time. As a rule, these were ignorant people. But they have special knowledge, and most importantly, they are devoted to the monarchy. The most important management functions were transferred to their jurisdiction. As a result, government bodies operated simultaneously in the country, which could be conditionally divided into two categories. The first included institutions inherited from the past, with a system of salable positions and partially controlled by the nobility. They were in charge of a relatively minor area of public administration. The second category was represented by bodies created by absolutism and which formed the basis of governance. The officials of these institutions were appointed by the government and were not for sale.
Central management.
The dominant role belonged to the bodies created during the period of absolutism. They were headed by the Comptroller General of the Exchequer and four Secretaries of State for Military, Foreign, Naval and Household Affairs. The position of Comptroller General was essentially equivalent to the position of First Minister. His competence included many issues:
Management of the collection and distribution of monetary and other material resources of the kingdom;
Checked the activities of local officials;
He was in charge of industry, trade, finance, government work (construction of ports, fortresses, roads, etc.), and communications.
Each secretary was in charge of a certain number of governors. Formally, the Comptroller General and Secretaries of State were subordinate to certain royal councils. But in reality they obeyed the king.
The king decided on the most important issues of domestic and foreign policy in a narrow circle of people who enjoyed his special trust. Among them, the Comptroller General and the Secretaries of State occupied one of the first places. These meetings became known as the Small Royal Council.
At the same time, other institutions functioned, for example, the State Council. It included representatives of the highest court aristocracy. The State Council practically became the highest advisory body under the king. It was supplemented by special councils: the council of finance, the council of dispatches, etc.
A special place was occupied by the Privy Council, which was responsible, in particular, for cassation review of a certain category of cases, and the office of the Chancellor - the king's honorary representative, who presided over the councils in his absence. Some of these bodies operated constantly (the light of dispatches, the council of finance), but others worked sporadically or were not convened at all. Nevertheless, officials of these institutions continued to be in the public service and received huge salaries.
Local authorities.
During the period of absolutism, the territory of the kingdom was divided into generalités, governorates, dioceses, intendancies, corresponding to the territorial divisions of the financial, military, ecclesiastical, judicial and administrative departments.
In local government there were two categories of government bodies. The first were created during the class-representative monarchy. During the period of absolute monarchy, they lost their primary importance; they were all relegated to the background by intendants - special representatives of the royal government in the localities. The intendants supervised the local administration and court. People of humble origin were usually appointed to this post. The government could remove them at any moment. In the districts into which the intendancy was divided, real power was vested in subdelegates appointed by the intendant and subordinate to him.
The provincial states, where they remained, were convened only with the permission of the king and held meetings under the control of the intendant or a person authorized by him. The competence of the provincial states mainly included the distribution of taxes and the collection of one-time donations to the crown.
The right of feudal ownership of land. The Middle Ages were characterized by the exclusive privileges of the nobility and clergy on land. Free peasant property disappeared by the 11th century. Feud became the main and practically the only form of land ownership. Everywhere in France the principle “there is no land without a lord” was in effect. The law consolidated the hierarchical structure of feudal land ownership, clearly separating the powers of the supreme and direct owner of the land (split property rights). The glossators constructed a provision on the simultaneous existence of several proprietary rights to the same thing. A “direct right of ownership” began to be recognized for the lord, and a “useful right of ownership” for the vassal. In practice, the vassal retained the right to collect feudal rent, and the lord, as the supreme owner, had administrative and judicial rights and control over the disposal of the transferred plot. Subinfeodation required until the 11th century. the consent of the lord to dispose of the land, then this became possible, but with restrictions under customary law (kutyums allowed to dispose of 1/3 to 1/2 of the land). From the 13th century it was forbidden to transfer lands to the church, since the “killing of the fief” was taking place (the church was not bound by the obligations of military service). The rights of the land owner were considered not as individual, but as family-tribal. The disposal of land was placed under the control of relatives. From the 13th century relatives retained the right to redeem family property for 1 year and 1 day after its sale. In the country of customary law, the Kutyums did not know the ownership of land as such, but recognized special possessory rights - sezina, which was considered as a land holding dependent on the lord, but recognized by customary law and protected as property in court. Sezina could take the form of a fief and be transferred to a vassal with the help of investiture. The rights of the land holder took on a stable character as a result of the long-standing possession of the land plot. The right of feudal ownership of land was associated with the ownership rights of peasants, which were limited but permanent. The peasants could not alienate the land without the consent of the lord, but the lord could not arbitrarily drive even a personally dependent serf off the land. From the 13th century Census spread: the censitary was freed from personal duties and had greater freedom to dispose of the land, but the peasant economy was burdened with feudal exactions, since the peasant right to land was considered as a derivative of the lord's land ownership right. Until 1789, feudal land ownership was combined with elements of communal peasant land use. Under Louis XIV, a triage law was passed, which allowed the nobles to seize a third of the communal land for their own benefit. In cities, land ownership was influenced by the structures of Roman law and, in its legal regime, approached unlimited private property.
22. Absolute monarchy in France.
Absolute monarchy in France (Absolutism)(XVI-XVIII centuries)
France is a classic example of absolutism.
By the end of the 15th century. political unification was completed, France became a single centralized state (thus, a unitary form of government was gradually established).
Social order
Beginning of the 16th century characterized by rapid development of industry, various technical improvements, a new loom, etc. appear. Small-scale production is being replaced by larger ones based on wage labor - manufactories. They have a division of labor and use the labor of hired workers. The process of initial capitalist accumulation occurs, capital is formed, first of all, by merchants (especially those who conducted overseas trade), by the owners of factories, by large artisans, and craftsmen. This urban elite formed the bourgeois class, and as wealth grew, its importance in feudal society increased. So, in the field of industry there is a development of the capitalist mode of production. But the bulk of the population was employed in agriculture, and in it there were feudal-serf relations, feudal fetters, i.e. There is a feudal structure in the village.
The social structure is changing. There are still three classes. As before, the first estate is the clergy, the second is the nobility. At the same time, the nobility dates back to the 15th century. is stratified into the nobility of the "sword" (the old hereditary nobility that has access to all officer positions) and the nobility of the "robes" (people who bought a noble title and a court position for a high sum). The nobility of the “sword” treats the nobility of the “robes” who occupy judicial and similar positions quite disdainfully, as upstarts. Among the nobility of the “sword,” the court aristocracy, the king’s favorites, especially stands out. People who hold office under the king (sinecura). On the basis of the third estate, the bourgeois class is split, with the big bourgeoisie (financial bourgeoisie, bankers) being singled out. This part merges with the court nobility; it is the king’s support. The second part is the middle bourgeoisie (industrial bourgeoisie, the most significant, growing part of the bourgeoisie, which is more opposed to the king). The third part of the bourgeoisie is the petty bourgeoisie (artisans, small traders; this part is even more opposed to the king than the average).
Peasants everywhere bought off personal dependence, and the majority of peasants (we saw this in the previous period) are now censitaries, i.e. Those who are personally free, obligated to pay cash rent to the lord, are in land dependence, they are subject to the main tax, the main levies in favor of the state, and in favor of the church, and in favor of the lord fell.
And at the same time, the proletariat (pre-proletariat) is born - the workers of factories. Close to them in position are journeymen, apprentices who work for their masters.
At a certain stage, when feudal relations develop in the depths of the feudal system, a kind of balance of power is established between two exploiting classes, neither of which can outweigh. The bourgeoisie is economically strong but lacks political power. She is burdened by the feudal order, but has not yet matured before the revolution. The nobility clings tenaciously to its rights and privileges, despises the rich bourgeoisie, but can no longer do without them and without their money. Under these conditions, taking advantage of this balance, using the contradictions between these two classes, state power achieves significant independence, the rise of royal power occurs as an apparent mediator between these classes, and the form of government becomes an absolute monarchy.
Political system.
It is characterized by the following features:
1. An unprecedented increase in the power of the king, the fullness of all power. And legislative, and executive, and financial, and military... Individual acts of the king become law (the principle that was in effect in the Roman state).
2. The States General are convened less and less often, and finally, from 1614 they are not convened at all until the beginning of the French bourgeois revolution (Great French Revolution) in 1789.
3. Reliance on the bureaucratic apparatus, the formation of a bureaucratic branched apparatus. The number of officials is growing sharply.
4. The unitary form of government is approved.
5. The basis of the king’s power, in addition to the bureaucracy, is a standing army and an extensive network of police.
6. The seigneurial court was destroyed. Both in the center and locally it has been replaced<королевскими судьями>.
7. The church is subordinate to the state and becomes a reliable support of state power.
The establishment of an absolute monarchy began under King Francis I (1515-1547) and was completed thanks to the activities of Cardinal Richelieu (1624-1642). Francis already refused to convene the States General. Francis I subjugated the church. In 1516, a concordat (literally “cordial agreement”) was concluded between him and Pope Leo X in the city of Bolonia, according to which appointment to the highest church positions belongs to the king, and the pope carries out ordination.
Under the successors of Francis I, the Huguenot wars broke out (Protestants fought with Catholics for a long time). Finally, Henry IV of the Huguenots decided to convert to Catholicism, saying: “Paris is worth a mass.” The final establishment of absolutism in France is associated with the activities of Cardinal Richelieu. He was the first minister under King Louis XIII. The cardinal said: “My first goal is the greatness of the king, my second goal is the greatness of the kingdom.” Richelieu set the goal of creating a centralized state with unlimited royal power. He carries out a series of reforms:
1. Carried out public administration reform
A) secretaries of state began to play a larger role in the central apparatus. They constituted the "small royal council". They consisted of the king's officials. This small council had a real impact in management. There was a large council of “princes of the blood.” It begins to play an increasingly decorative role, i.e. The big council loses its real significance, the nobility is removed from management.
B) locally: officials “intendants” - officials, controllers over governors - were sent to the provinces from the center. They obeyed the small council and played an important role in overcoming localism, local separatism of governors, in centralization, in strengthening the central government.
2. Richelieu launched an attack on the Parisian Parliament, which (in addition to its judicial function) had the right to register royal edicts and, in connection with this, had the right to protest, to remonstrate, i.e. the right to declare one's disagreement with the royal law. Parliament was forced to submit to the will of Richelieu and practically did not exercise its right to remonstration.
3. Richelieu, while encouraging the development of industry and trade, at the same time brutally dealt with those cities that were still trying to show their independence and increase their self-government.
4. An important part of Richelieu’s policy was to strengthen the army and navy, while he paid great attention to intelligence and counterintelligence activities. An extensive police apparatus was created.
5. In the field of financial policy, Richelieu, on the one hand, said that it is impossible to increase taxes particularly excessively, that the situation of the people must be taken into account, i.e. on the one hand, he opposed excessive tax increases. At the same time, in practice, taxes under him increased 4 times, and he himself writes in the same book: “The peasant, like a pier, deteriorates without work, and therefore it is necessary to collect appropriate taxes from him.”
The heyday of absolutism in France falls during the reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715), he is called the “Sun King”, he said: “The kingdom is me.” The power of the king is not limited in any way, it relies on the bureaucracy, on the police, while officials and police officers, among other things, receive unlimited powers, and police supervision is established. “Orders in sealed envelopes” are becoming widespread, i.e. the official receives a form with an arrest order; it is enough to enter any surname, any name, for the person to disappear without a trace. That is, the arbitrariness of the highest degree of bureaucracy, police and bureaucracy. This is all characteristic of an absolutist state.
: Azil, Sauter, Tardenoise
Neolithic: KLLK, Rossin, La Haugette
Copper Age: SUM, Chasse, KKK
Bronze Age: Burial fields
Iron Age: La Tène, Artenac
French absolutism- an absolute monarchy that established itself in France in the last two centuries of the Ancien Regime. Absolutism replaced the period of class monarchy and was destroyed by the Great French Revolution.
General description of the situation
Richelieu
At this meeting, the Bishop of Luzon (later Cardinal) Richelieu came forward as a deputy from the clergy. A few years later he became the chief adviser and all-powerful minister of Louis XIII, and for almost twenty years he ruled France with unlimited power. Richelieu finally established the system of absolutism in the French monarchy. The goal of all his thoughts and aspirations was the strength and power of the state; to this goal he was ready to sacrifice everything else. He did not allow the Roman Curia to interfere in the internal affairs of France and, for the sake of the interests of the French monarchy, took part in the Thirty Years' War (delaying France's entry into it for as long as possible until the internal problems of the state were overcome), in which he stood on the side of the Protestants. His domestic policy also had no religious character; his struggle with the Proestants ended in the “Peace of Grace,” which preserved freedom of religion for the Huguenots, but deprived them of all fortresses and garrisons, and virtually destroyed the Huguenot “state within a state.” Richelieu was a nobleman by birth, but his cherished dream was to force the nobles to serve the state for the privileges and lands that they owned. Richelieu considered the nobility to be the main support of the state, as indicated in his “Political Testament,” but demanded from him compulsory military service to the state, otherwise he proposed to deprive them of noble privileges. The noble governors were accustomed to look upon themselves as a kind of heir to the feudal dukes and counts; to monitor their actions, Richelieu sent special royal commissioners to the provinces, whom he chose from the minor nobility or townspeople; from this position little by little arose the permanent position of quartermasters. The fortified castles of the nobility in the provinces were razed; duels, which were very common among the nobles, are prohibited under penalty of death. Such measures disposed the people in favor of the cardinal, but the nobles hated him, conducted court intrigues against him, formed conspiracies, and even resisted with weapons in their hands. Several dukes and counts laid their heads on the block. Richelieu, however, did not take away from the nobility the power that it had over the people: the privileges of the nobility in relation to the third estate and its rights over the peasants remained inviolable. Richelieu could not make peace with the Huguenot organization, which was a state within a state. French Protestants at their district meetings and at the national synod of the Reformed Church often made purely political decisions, even entered into negotiations with foreign governments, had their own treasury, controlled many fortresses and were not always obedient to the government.
Richelieu at the very beginning of his reign decided to cancel all this. A war followed with the Huguenots, in which they received assistance from the English king Charles I. After incredible efforts, Richelieu took their main fortress, La Rochelle, and then defeated them at other points. He reserved to them all their religious rights, taking away only fortresses and the right of political assembly (1629). Building a modern state on the ruins of the old medieval building of the class monarchy, Richelieu was most concerned about concentrating all government in the capital. He established a state council completely dependent on the government to decide all the most important matters. In some provinces he destroyed the local states, consisting of representatives of the clergy, nobility and townspeople, and everywhere, with the help of intendants, he introduced strict subordination of the provinces to the center. The old laws and customs did not constrain him at all; in general, he used his power with the greatest arbitrariness. The courts lost their independence under him; he often removed various cases from their jurisdiction for consideration in emergency commissions or even for his own personal decision. Richelieu wanted to subordinate even literature to the state and created the French Academy, which was supposed to direct poetry and criticism along the path desired by the government. Louis XIII outlived his minister by only a few months, and the throne passed to his son, Louis XIV (1643-1715), during whose childhood his mother, Anna of Austria, and Cardinal Mazarin, the successor of Richelieu’s policies, ruled. This time was marked by unrest that coincided with the first English revolution, but did not have its serious nature; they even got the name frond from a children's game. The Parisian parliament, the highest nobility and the people took part in this movement, but not only was there no unanimity between them - they were at enmity with each other and switched from one side to the other. The Parliament of Paris, which was essentially only a high court and consisted of hereditary members (due to the corruption of positions), put forward several general demands regarding the independence of the court and the personal integrity of its subjects and wanted to assign to itself the right to approve new taxes, that is, to obtain the rights of government officials. Mazarin ordered the arrest of the most prominent members of parliament; the population of Paris built barricades and began an uprising. Princes of the blood and representatives of the highest nobility intervened in this internecine war, wanting to remove Mazarin and seize power or, at least, force cash distributions from the government. The head of the Fronde, the Prince of Condé, defeated by the royal army under the command of Turenne, fled to Spain and continued to wage war in alliance with the latter.
Louis XIV
The matter ended with the victory of Mazarin, but the young king brought back extremely sad memories from this struggle. After the death of Mazarin (1661), Louis XIV personally began to rule the state. The troubles of the Fronde and the English Revolution instilled in him hatred of any manifestation of public initiative, and all his life he strove to strengthen royal power more and more. He is credited with the words: “I am the state,” and in fact he acted quite in accordance with this saying. Since the time of the concordat of 1516, the clergy in France was completely dependent on the king, and the nobility was pacified through the efforts of Richelieu and Mazarin. Under Louis XIV, the feudal aristocracy completely turned into the court nobility. The king left to the nobility all their rights and privileges that were burdensome for the people, but completely subordinated them to his power, attracting them to court life with well-paid positions, monetary gifts and pensions, external honor, luxury of surroundings, and the fun of social pastime. Not liking Paris, with which he had painful childhood memories, Louis XIV created for himself a special residence not far from it, a purely court city - Versailles, built a huge palace in it, established gardens and parks, artificial reservoirs and fountains. A noisy and cheerful life was going on in Versailles, the tone of which was set by the royal favorites La Vallière and Montespan. Only in the old age of the king, when Madame Maintenon influenced him most, did Versailles begin to turn into a kind of monastery. The court of Versailles began to be imitated in other capitals; The French language, French fashions, French manners spread throughout high society throughout Europe. During the reign of Louis XIV, French literature began to dominate in Europe, also taking on a purely courtly character. And earlier in F. there were patrons of writers and artists among the aristocracy, but from the middle of the 17th century. The king himself became the main, and even almost the only, patron of the arts. In the first years of his reign, Louis XIV awarded state pensions to many French and even some foreign writers and founded new academies (“inscriptions and medals,” painting, sculpture, sciences), but at the same time demanded that writers and artists glorify his reign and not deviated from accepted opinions (see French literature).
The reign of Louis XIV was rich in remarkable statesmen and commanders. In its first half, the activities of Colbert, the Comptroller General, that is, the Minister of Finance, were especially important. Colbert set himself the task of raising the people's well-being; but, contrary to Sully, who believed that France should be primarily a country of agriculture and cattle breeding, Colbert was a supporter of manufacturing and trade. No one before Colbert brought mercantilism into such a strict, consistent system as prevailed under him in France. The manufacturing industry enjoyed all kinds of incentives. Due to high duties, goods from abroad almost ceased to penetrate into F. Colbert founded state-owned factories, ordered various kinds of craftsmen from abroad, issued state subsidies or loans to entrepreneurs, built roads and canals, encouraged trading companies and private enterprise in the colonies, worked on the creation of a commercial and military fleet. He tried to introduce more order into financial management and was the first to begin drawing up a correct budget for each year. He did something to relieve the people from tax burdens, but he paid his main attention to the development of indirect taxes to increase treasury funds.
Louis XIV, however, did not particularly like Colbert for his economy. The Minister of War Louvois, who spent the funds that Colbert collected, enjoyed much greater sympathy. Louvois increased the French army to almost half a million, it was the best in Europe in weapons, uniforms and training. He also opened barracks and provision stores and laid the foundation for special military education. At the head of the army were several first-class commanders (Conde, Turenne, etc.). Marshal Vauban, a remarkable engineer, built a number of beautiful fortresses on the borders of France. Lyonne was especially distinguished in the field of diplomacy. The external splendor of the reign of Louis XIV terribly depleted the strength of the population, which at times was very poor, especially in the second half of the reign, when Louis XIV was surrounded mainly by mediocrity or mediocrity. The king wanted all his ministers to be his simple clerks, and gave preference to flatterers over somewhat independent advisers. Colbert fell out of favor with him, as did Vauban, who dared to speak about the plight of the people. Concentrating the management of all affairs in his own hands or in the hands of ministers, Louis XIV finally established a system of bureaucratic centralization in France. Following in the footsteps of Richelieu and Mazarin, he destroyed provincial states in some areas and abolished the remnants of self-government in cities; all local affairs were now decided either in the capital, or by royal officials acting on instructions and under the control of the government. The provinces were governed by intendants, who in the 18th century. often compared to Persian satraps or Turkish pashas. The intendant was involved in everything and intervened in everything: he was in charge of the police and the court, the recruitment of troops and the collection of taxes, agriculture and industry with trade, educational institutions and religious affairs of the Huguenots and Jews. In governing the country, everything was measured by one standard, but only to the extent necessary to strengthen the central government; In all other respects, provincial life was dominated by a purely chaotic variety of outdated laws and privileges, inherited from the era of feudal fragmentation, which often hampered the development of people's life. Attention was also paid to landscaping. The police received extensive powers. Book censorship, surveillance of Protestants, etc. were subject to its jurisdiction; in many cases it took the place of proper judgment. At this time, the so-called lettres de cachet appeared in France - blank orders for imprisonment, with the royal signature and with a space for entering one or another name. Constraining the rights of the church in relation to royal power and expanding them in relation to the nation, Louis XIV quarreled with the pope (Innocent XI) over appointments to episcopal positions and convened a national council in Paris (1682), at which Bossuet passed four provisions on liberties Gallican Church (the pope has no power in secular affairs; the ecumenical council is higher than the pope; the French church has its own laws; papal decrees in matters of faith are valid only with the approval of the church). Gallicanism placed the French clergy in a fairly independent position in relation to the pope, but it strengthened the power of the king himself over the clergy. In general, Louis XIV was a devout Catholic, was friends with the Jesuits and wanted all his subjects to be Catholics, departing in this regard from Richelieu’s toleration. Among the Catholics themselves there were many dissatisfied with the immoral teachings of Jesuitism; Even a party of Jansenists, hostile to them, was formed, which to some extent adopted the Protestants’ view of the meaning of God’s grace. Louis XIV launched a real persecution in this direction, acting this time in complete unanimity with the papacy. He especially showed his religious exclusivity in relation to Protestants. From the very beginning of his reign, he constrained them in various ways, which forced almost the entire Huguenot aristocracy to return to the fold of the Catholic Church. In 1685 he completely revoked the Edict of Nantes. To forcefully convert the Huguenots, military outposts were used in their homes (dragonades), and when those persecuted for their faith began to emigrate, they were caught and hanged. There was an uprising in the Cevennes, but it was soon suppressed in the most brutal manner. Many Huguenots managed to escape to Holland, Switzerland and Germany, where they brought with them their capital and their skills in crafts and industry, so the repeal of the Edict of Nantes was also unprofitable for F. write and publish works in which they attacked the entire system of Louis XIV. In foreign policy, France under Louis XIV continued to play the role created for it by Richelieu and Mazarin. The weakening of both Habsburg powers - Austria and Spain - after the Thirty Years' War opened up the opportunity for Louis to expand the borders of his state, which, after the acquisitions just made, suffered from stripes. The Iberian Peace was sealed by the marriage of the young French king with the daughter of King Philip IV of Spain, which subsequently gave Louis XIV a reason to lay claim to the Spanish possessions as his wife's inheritance. His diplomacy worked zealously to establish F.'s primacy in all respects. Louis XIV did not stand on ceremony with small states when he had reason to be dissatisfied with them. In the fifties of the 17th century, when England was ruled by Cromwell, F. still had to reckon with its outstanding international position, but in 1660 the restoration of the Stuarts took place, and in them Louis XIV found people who were ready to fully follow his plans for monetary subsidies . The claims of Louis XIV, which threatened the political balance and independence of other peoples, met constant resistance from coalitions between states that were not able to fight F. on their own. The main role in all these coalitions was played by Holland. Colbert announced a tariff that imposed very high duties on the import of Dutch goods into France. The republic responded to this measure by excluding French goods from its markets. On the other hand, around the same time, Louis XIV decided to take possession of the Spanish Netherlands (Belgium), and this threatened the political interests of Holland: it was more profitable for her to live in the vicinity of a province of distant and weak Spain than in direct contact with the powerful, ambitious F. Soon after the first During the war that Holland had to wage against Louis XIV, the energetic William III of Orange became the stadtholder of the republic, to whom the coalition against Louis XIV was mainly responsible for its emergence. Louis XIV's first war, known as the War of Devolution, was caused by his intention to take over Belgium. This was opposed by Holland, which concluded a triple alliance with England and Sweden against F. The war was short-lived (1667-68) and ended with the Peace of Aachen; Louis XIV was forced to limit himself to the annexation of several border fortresses from Belgium (Lille, etc.). In the following years, French diplomacy managed to distract Sweden from the triple alliance and completely win over the English king Charles II to its side. Then Louis XIV began his second war (1672-79), invading Holland with a large army and having Turenne and Condé under his command. The French army skillfully skirted the Dutch fortresses and almost took Amsterdam. The Dutch broke the dams and flooded the low-lying parts of the country; their ships defeated the combined Anglo-French fleet. The Elector of Brandenburg, Frederick William, hastened to help Holland, fearing for his Rhine possessions and for the fate of Protestantism in Germany. Frederick William persuaded Emperor Leopold I to go to war with F.; later Spain and the entire empire joined the opponents of Louis XIV. The main theater of war became the region along the middle reaches of the Rhine, where the French barbarously devastated the Palatinate. Soon England abandoned its ally: Parliament forced the king and the ministry to end the war. Louis XIV encouraged the Swedes to attack Brandenburg from Pomerania, but they were defeated at Fehrbellin. The war ended with the Peace of Nymwegen (1679). All the conquests made by the French were returned to Holland; Louis XIV received a reward from Spain, which gave him Franche-Comté and several border towns in Belgium. The king was now at the height of power and glory. Taking advantage of the complete disintegration of Germany, he autocratically began to annex border areas to French territory, which he recognized as his own on various grounds. Special accession chambers (chambres des réunions) were even established to study the issue of F.'s rights to certain areas that belonged to Germany or Spain (Luxembourg). By the way, in the midst of deep peace, Louis ΧΙ V arbitrarily occupied the imperial city of Strasbourg and annexed it to his possessions (1681). The impunity of such seizures could not have been more favorable than the situation of the empire at that time. The powerlessness of Spain and Germany before Louis XIV was further expressed in the formal agreement they concluded with F. in Regensburg (1684): it established a truce for twenty years and recognized for F. all the seizures it had made, as long as no new ones were made. In 1686, William of Orange managed to conclude a secret defensive alliance (“League of Augsburg”) against Louis XIV, which covered almost all of Western Europe. This coalition was attended by the emperor, Spain, Sweden, Holland, Savoy, some German electors and Italian sovereigns. Even Pope Innocent XI favored this type of union. It lacked only England, but the second English revolution (1689), which ended with the enthronement of William of Orange, also tore this state away from the alliance with France. Meanwhile, Louis XIV, under various pretexts, made a new attack on the Rhine lands and took possession of almost the entire country from Basel to Holland. This was the beginning of the third war, which lasted ten years (1688-1697) and terribly exhausted both sides. It ended in 1697 with the Peace of Ryswick, according to which F. retained Strasbourg and some other “annexes”. The fourth and last war of Louis XIV (1700-14) is called the War of the Spanish Succession. With the death of King Charles II of Spain, the Spanish line of the Habsburgs was supposed to end. Hence, plans arose for the division of Spanish possessions between different claimants, about which Louis XIV negotiated with England and Holland. In the end, however, he preferred to take possession of the entire Spanish monarchy and, for this purpose, obtained from Charles II a will that proclaimed one of the grandsons of Louis XIV, Philip of Anjou, heir to the Spanish throne, under the condition that the French and Spanish crowns would never be united in one and the same. same face. Another contender also appeared for the Spanish throne, in the person of Archduke Charles, the second son of Emperor Leopold I. As soon as Charles II died (1700), Louis XIV moved his troops to Spain to support the rights of his grandson, Philip V, but met resistance from the new a European coalition consisting of England, Holland, Austria, Brandenburg and most of the German princes. At first Savoy and Portugal were on the side of Louis XIV, but soon they too went over to the camp of his enemies; in Germany, his allies were only the Elector of Bavaria, to whom Louis XIV promised the Spanish Netherlands and the Palatinate, and the Archbishop of Cologne. The War of the Spanish Succession was fought with varying degrees of success; Its main theater was the Netherlands, with adjacent parts of France and Germany. In Italy and Spain, first one side or the other took the advantage; in Germany and the Netherlands, the French suffered one defeat after another, and by the end of the war, the position of Louis XIV became extremely embarrassing. The country was ruined, the people were starving, the treasury was empty; one day a detachment of enemy cavalry appeared even in sight of Versailles. The elderly king began to ask for peace. In 1713, France and England made peace with each other in Utrecht; Holland, Prussia, Savoy and Portugal soon joined this treaty. Charles VI and most of the imperial princes who took part in the war continued to wage it for about another year, but the French went on the offensive and forced the emperor to recognize the terms of the Peace of Utrecht (1714) in the Treaty of Rastatt. The following year, Louis XIV died.
Louis XV and Louis XVI
Three quarters of the 18th century, which elapsed from the death of Louis XIV to the beginning of the revolution (1715-1789), were occupied by two reigns: Louis XV (1715-1774) and Louis XVI (1774-1792). This was the time of development of French educational literature, but at the same time, the era of France’s loss of its former importance in matters of international politics and complete internal decay and decline. The system of Louis XIV led the country to complete ruin, under the burden of heavy taxes, huge public debt and constant deficits. Reactionary Catholicism, which triumphed over Protestantism after the repeal of the Edict of Nantes, and royal absolutism, which killed all independent institutions, but submitted to the influence of the court nobility, continued to dominate France in the 18th century, that is, at the very time when this country was the main center of new ideas, and beyond its borders, sovereigns and ministers acted in the spirit of enlightened absolutism. Both Louis XV and Louis XVI were carefree people who knew no other life than that of the court; they did nothing to improve the general state of affairs. Until the middle of the 18th century. all the French, who wanted reforms and clearly understood their necessity, pinned their hopes on royal power as the only force that would be able to carry out reforms; Both Voltaire and the physiocrats thought so. When, however, society saw that its expectations were in vain, it began to have a negative attitude towards this power; ideas of political freedom spread, the exponents of which were Montesquieu and Rousseau. This made the French government's task even more difficult. At the beginning of the reign of Louis XV, who was Louis XIV's great-grandson, the Duke of Orleans, Philippe, ruled during the king's childhood. The era of the regency (1715-1723) was marked by the frivolity and depravity of representatives of power and high society. At this time, France experienced a strong economic shock, which further upset matters, which were already in a sad situation (see Law). When Louis XV came of age, he himself had little interest and was busy with business. He loved only secular entertainment and paid special attention only to court intrigues, entrusting affairs to ministers and being guided in their appointment and removal by the whims of his favorites. Of the latter, the Marquise of Pompadour, who interfered in high politics, was especially outstanding for her influence on the king and her insane spending. France's foreign policy during this reign was not consistent and revealed the decline of French diplomacy and military art. France's old ally, Poland, was left to its fate; in the War of the Polish Succession (1733-1738), Louis XV did not provide sufficient support to his father-in-law Stanislav Leszczynski, and in 1772 he did not oppose the first partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the War of the Austrian Succession, France acted against Maria Theresa, but then Louis XV took her side and defended her interests in the Seven Years' War. These European wars were accompanied by rivalry between France and England in the colonies; The British drove the French out of the East Indies and North America. In Europe, France expanded its territory by annexing Lorraine and Corsica. The domestic policy of Louis XV was marked by the destruction of the Jesuit order in France during the ministry of Choiseul. The end of the reign was filled with struggles with parliaments (see the corresponding article). Louis XIV kept the parliaments in complete obedience, but, starting with the regency of the Duke of Orleans, they again began to act independently and even enter into disputes with the government and criticize its actions. In essence, these institutions were ardent defenders of antiquity and enemies of new ideas, proving this by the burning of many literary works of the 18th century; but the independence and courage of parliaments in relation to the government made them very popular in the nation. Only in the early seventies did the government take the most extreme measures in the fight against parliaments, but chose a very unfortunate pretext. One of the provincial parliaments opened a case on charges of various iniquities of the local governor (Duke of Aiguillon), who was a peer of France and therefore subject only to the jurisdiction of the Parisian parliament. The accused took advantage of the location of the courtyard; the king ordered the case to be stopped, but the capital parliament, whose side was supported by all the provincial ones, declared such an order contrary to the laws, recognizing at the same time that it was impossible to administer justice if the courts were deprived of freedom. Chancellor Mopu exiled the recalcitrant judges and replaced the parliaments with new courts dubbed the “Mopu Parliaments.” Public irritation was so great that when Louis XV died, his grandson and successor Louis XVI hastened to restore the old parliaments. By nature a benevolent person, the new king was not averse to devoting his energies to serving his homeland, but was completely devoid of willpower and the habit of work. Soon after ascending the throne, he made a very famous physiocrat, one of the prominent figures in educational literature and a remarkable administrator, Turgot, Minister of Finance (Comptroller General), who brought with him to the ministerial post broad reform plans in the spirit of enlightened absolutism. He did not want the slightest diminution of royal power and from this point of view did not approve of the restoration of parliaments, especially since he expected from them only hindrance to his cause. Unlike other figures of the era of enlightened absolutism, Turgot was an opponent of centralization and created a whole plan for rural, urban and provincial self-government based on an unclassified and elective principle. By this, Turgot wanted to improve the management of local affairs, interest the public in them, and at the same time promote the development of public spirit. As a representative of the philosophy of the 18th century, Turgot was an opponent of class privileges; he wanted to involve the nobility and clergy in paying taxes and even abolish all feudal rights. He also planned to destroy workshops and various restrictions on trade (monopolies, internal customs). Finally, he dreamed of returning equality to Protestants and developing public education. The minister-reformer armed against himself all the defenders of antiquity, starting with Queen Marie Antoinette and the court, who were dissatisfied with the economy he introduced. The clergy, the nobility, tax farmers, grain dealers, and parliaments were against him; the latter began to oppose his reforms and thereby challenged him to fight. They irritated the people against the hated minister with various absurd rumors and thereby stirred up unrest, which had to be pacified by armed force. After two less than two years of managing affairs (1774-1776), Turgot received his resignation, and what little he managed to do was canceled. After this, the government of Louis XVI submitted to the direction that dominated among the privileged classes, although the need for reform and the strength of public opinion were constantly felt, and some of Turgot's successors made new attempts at reform; they lacked only the broad mind of this minister and his sincerity; in their transformative plans there was neither originality, nor integrity, nor the bold consistency of Turgot.
The most prominent of the new ministers was Necker, a skilled financier who valued popularity, but lacked broad views and strength of character. During the four years of his first ministry (1777-1781), he carried out some of Turgot’s intentions, but greatly curtailed and distorted, for example, he introduced provincial self-government in two regions, but without urban and rural, moreover, with a class character and with fewer rights than he expected Turgot (see Provincial Assemblies). Necker was removed for publishing the state budget without hiding the enormous expenses of the court. At this time, France further worsened its finances by interfering with
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absolute monarchy power judicial
The relevance of the research topic is due to the fact that the problem of absolutism is one of the central places in the study of socio-economic, political, cultural and other aspects of European history of modern times. This factor is completely unusual - the emergence of European absolutism is determined by the border of the 15th - 16th centuries, and the departure from the historical arena by the beginning of the 20th century (in particular, the destruction of monarchies in Germany, Russia, and Austria-Hungary). Based on this, the absolutist state, which arose along with the period of New History, closely connected with the entire course of the historical process, ends its existence along with the era of Modern Time.
The definition of absolutism, despite some clarifications, is traditional in reference, scientific and educational literature. As one example, the following interritation of this concept can be given. And so, absolutism is qualified as a political regime of centralized monarchies of the New Age, according to which power must be completely concentrated in the hands of the supreme ruler. At the same time, the very concept of “unlimitedness” is symbolic, since the meager number of educated officials, the elongation of communications, the arrogance of the church and aristocracy and other factors make it impossible to introduce total control and centralization. Absolutism replaced the estate-representative monarchy in Europe, and in Asia it developed from other state forms. At the same time, the monarch is considered as the only begotten source of the law and his power is not limited either by custom or by any authority; only he manages the treasury and sets taxes, has at his disposal a qualified army and a multidisciplinary apparatus of officials with certain functions, which leads to the unification of management. The absolutist state actively intervened in the economy, increased its militarization, protected national production in accordance with the principles of mercantilism, while the unquestioned authority of the highest authorities was supported ideologically.
Prerequisites
The origin and development of bourgeois relations. The industry has entered a period of technical re-equipment. Private production is being replaced by the largest. The master, who created the product from start to finish, is being replaced by manufacturing - this was the technical division of labor.
The emergence of absolutism as a new form of monarchy in France was caused by profound changes that took place in the estate-legal structure of the country. These transformations were caused primarily by the emergence of capitalist relations.
The development of capitalism, as a rule, proceeded faster in industry and trade; in agriculture, feudal ownership of land became an ever greater obstacle for it. The archaic class system, which came into conflict with the needs of capitalist development, became a dangerous brake on the path of social advancement.
The largest strata of French society were interested in the transition to an absolute monarchy, although it was accompanied by a further increase in the king’s autocracy. Absolutism was necessary for the nobility and clergy, because for them, due to the growing economic difficulties and political pressure from the third estate, the strengthening and centralization of state power became the only opportunity to preserve their extensive class privileges for some time.
The formation of absolutism in the 16th century. had an increasing character, since royal power contributed to the completion of the territorial unification of France, the formation of a single French nation, the more rapid development of industry and trade, and the rationalization of the administrative management system. However, with the increasing decline of the feudal system in the 17th-18th centuries. an absolute monarchy, including due to the self-development of its power structures themselves, rising more and more above society, breaks away from it, and enters into insoluble contradictions with it.
Reasons for the emergence of absolutism
The inevitable result of the formation of the capitalist system and the beginning of the decomposition of feudalism was the emergence of absolutism. The transition to absolutism, although it was accompanied by a further strengthening of the king's autocracy, was of interest to the broadest strata of French society in the 16th and 17th centuries. Absolutism was necessary for the nobility and clergy, because for them, due to growing economic difficulties and political pressure from the third estate, the strengthening and centralization of state power became the only opportunity to preserve their extensive class privileges for some time.
The growing bourgeoisie was also interested in absolutism, which could not yet lay claim to political power, but needed royal protection from the feudal freemen, which again stirred up in the 16th century in connection with the Reformation and religious wars. The establishment of peace, justice and public order was the cherished dream of the bulk of the French peasantry, who pinned their hopes for a better future on a strong and merciful royal power.
When internal and external opposition to the king (including from the church) was overcome, and a single spiritual and national identity united the broad masses of the French around the throne, the royal power was able to significantly strengthen its position in society and the state. Having received broad public support and relying on increased state power, royal power acquired, in the conditions of the transition to absolutism, great political weight and even relative independence in relation to the society that gave birth to it.
The formation of absolutism in the 16th century. was progressive in nature, since royal power contributed to the completion of the territorial unification of France, the formation of a single French nation, the more rapid development of industry and trade, and the rationalization of the administrative management system. However, with the increasing decline of the feudal system in the XVII-XVIII centuries. an absolute monarchy, including due to the self-development of its power structures themselves, rising more and more above society, breaks away from it, and enters into insoluble contradictions with it.
Thus, in the policy of absolutism, reactionary and authoritarian features inevitably appear and acquire primary importance, including open disregard for the dignity and rights of the individual, for the interests and welfare of the French nation as a whole. Although the royal power, using the policies of mercantilism and protectionism for its own selfish purposes, inevitably spurred capitalist development, absolutism never set as its goal the protection of the interests of the bourgeoisie. On the contrary, he used the full power of the feudal state in order to save the feudal system, doomed by history, along with the class and estate privileges of the nobility and clergy.
The historical doom of absolutism became especially obvious in the middle of the 18th century, when a deep crisis of the feudal system led to the decline and disintegration of all links of the feudal state. Judicial and administrative arbitrariness has reached its extreme limit. The royal court itself, which was called the “grave of the nation,” became a symbol of senseless waste and pastime (endless balls, hunts and other entertainments).
The period of absolutism in France
In historical and sociological terms, absolute monarchy was defined as an expression of the political dominance of the “feudal class,” which consolidated in its social community in parallel with the obsolescence of the institutions and institutions of the estate-representative (in other variations - estate) monarchy. Reflecting, as a form of state organization of society, not only narrow class interests, but in general the needs of social development of the stage of late feudalism, absolutism also expressed the interests of the emerging bourgeoisie. Thus, the historical role of the absolute monarchy was considered to be changing: progressive-centralizing at the stage of its formation and conservative-reactionary at the stage of the crisis of feudalism and the beginning struggle of the bourgeoisie for its new class status. This, it seemed, ensured the scientific closure of the evolution of state-political institutions with the evolution of socio-economic types of relations (which was considered a mandatory axiom of Marxist social science in any variations of the special sciences)
In countries with a developed commodity economy, a “pure seigneury” system, cash rent and rent, the economic independence of peasants has increased. The peasant elite benefited from the new situation; and the poor and part of the middle peasants became poor and ruined. The lords also suffered damage, mainly where Chinshevik peasants predominated. Their fixed rent was less than the rent and quickly depreciated in the conditions of the price revolution. In order to compensate for losses, the lords tried to levy long-forgotten duties, arbitrarily increase ranks, and impose taxes on new sectors of peasant income, which also infringed on the peasant elite; the result is an intensification of the class struggle of the peasants. Without strong authorities in the center and locally, collecting taxes became extremely difficult. The existing class monarchy did not have such forces, but the tendency towards increased independence of the actions of royal power was inherent in it. Louis XI in France, Henry VII in England already showed a tendency to turn their personal power, so to speak, into arbitrary power.
Estates under the absolute monarchy in France
At the stages of development of medieval society in France, class and intra-class struggle, as well as the political forms in which it took place, acquired the most striking and typical features. French feudalism as a whole provides us with classic examples of how profound changes in the economic and political structure of society entail an inevitable and natural change in the forms of organization of the state. Accordingly, the history of the medieval state in France can be divided into the following periods:
1) seigneurial monarchy (IX-XIII centuries);
2) class-representative monarchy (XIV-XV centuries);
3) absolute monarchy (XVI-XVIII centuries).
The deep crisis of the entire feudal system led in 1789 to a revolution, the result of which was the collapse of absolutism, and with it the entire old regime.
By the 16th century The French monarchy lost its former representative institutions, but preserved its own class nature. As before, the main class in the state was the clergy, numbering about 130 thousand people (out of 15 million population of the state) and holding 1/5 of all territories in their own hands. The clergy, while completely maintaining their own classical hierarchy, was distinguished by great heterogeneity. Conflicts intensified between the top of the church and the parish priests.
The clergy revealed integrity only in their own zealous desire to restrain class, crystalline feudal privileges (collection of tithes, etc.).
The connection between the clergy and the royal power and nobility became closer. According to the concordat concluded in 1516 by Francis I and the Pope, the king received the right of appointment to church positions. All the highest church positions, associated with great wealth and honors, were granted to the noble nobility. Many younger sons of nobles sought to receive one or another clergy. In turn, representatives of the clergy occupied important and sometimes key positions in government (Richelieu, Mazaarini, etc.).
Thus, between the first and second estates, which previously had deep contradictions, stronger political and personal bonds developed.
The dominant place in the social and state life of French society was occupied by the class of nobles, numbering approximately 400 thousand people. Only nobles could own feudal estates, and therefore most (3/5) of the land in the state was in their hands. In general, secular feudal lords (together with the king and members of his family) held 4/5 of the lands in France. The nobility finally became a purely personal status, acquired mainly by birth. It was necessary to prove one's noble origin up to the third or fourth generation. In the 12th century. In connection with the increasing frequency of forgeries of noble documents, a special administration was established to control noble origin.
Nobility was also granted as a result of a grant by a special royal act. This was associated, as a rule, with the purchase of positions in the state apparatus by the rich bourgeois, in which the royal power, which was constantly in need of money, was interested. Such persons were usually called nobles of the robes, in contrast to nobles of the sword (hereditary nobles).
The old family nobility (the court and titled nobility, the top of the provincial nobility) treated with contempt the “upstarts” who received the title of nobleman thanks to their official robes. By the middle of the 18th century. there were approximately 4 thousand nobles in robes. Their children had to perform military service, but then, after appropriate length of service (25 years), became nobles of the sword.
Despite the differences in birth and positions, the nobles had a number of important social class privileges: the right to a title, to wear certain clothes and weapons, including at the king’s court, etc. The nobles were exempt from paying taxes and from all personal duties. They had the preferential right of appointment to court, state and church positions. Some court positions, which gave the right to receive high salaries and were not burdened with any official duties (the so-called sinecures), were reserved for the noble nobility.
The nobles had a preferential right to study at universities and at the royal military school. At the same time, during the period of absolutism, the nobles lost some of their old and purely feudal privileges: the right to independent government, the right to duel, etc.
The overwhelming majority of the population in France in the XVI-XVII centuries. constituted the third estate, which became increasingly heterogeneous. Social and property differentiation has intensified. At the very bottom of the third estate were peasants, artisans, laborers, and the unemployed. At its upper levels stood the individuals from whom the bourgeois class was formed: financiers, merchants, guild foremen, notaries, lawyers.
Despite the growth of the urban population and its increasing weight in the social life of France, a significant part of the third estate was the peasantry.
In connection with the development of capitalist relations, changes have occurred in its legal status. In fact, servage, formalization, and the “right of the first night” have disappeared. Menmort, according to the past, was taken into account in legal customs, but was used occasionally. With the penetration of commodity and currency relations into the countryside, farmers are distinguished from wealthy peasants, capitalist employers, and agricultural workers. But most of the farmers were censitaria, that is, holders of seigneurial territory with the attendant classic feudal duties and obligations. At this time, the censitaries were almost completely freed from corvee affairs, however, despite all the above, the nobility continuously strived to increase the qualifications and other land taxes.
Additional burdens for the peasants were banalities, as well as the right of the lord to hunt on peasant land.
The system of numerous direct and indirect taxes was extremely difficult and ruinous for the peasantry. Royal collectors collected them, often resorting to direct violence. Often the royal power farmed out the collection of taxes to bankers and moneylenders. Tax farmers showed such zeal in collecting legal and illegal fees that many peasants were forced to sell their buildings and equipment and go to the city, joining the ranks of workers, the unemployed and the poor.
Creation of a centralized management apparatus
Under absolutism, the central organs grew and became more complex. However, the feudal methods of governance themselves prevented the creation of a stable and clear state administration. Often the royal power created new government bodies at its own discretion, but then they aroused its displeasure and were reorganized or abolished.
In the 16th century The positions of secretaries of state arise, one of which, especially in cases where the ruler was under the age of majority, practically performed the functions of the chief minister. There was no official duty; however, Richelieu, for example, managed 32 government positions and titles in one person. However, under Henry IV, Louis XIV, and even under Louis XV (after approximately 1743), the king himself led the government of the state, removing from his entourage persons who could have great political influence on him. Old government positions are eliminated (for example, constable in 1627) or lose all significance and turn into mere sinecures. Only the chancellor retains his former weight, who becomes the second person in public administration after the king.
The need for a specialized central administration led at the end of the 16th century. to the increasing role of municipal secretaries, who are entrusted with specific areas of government (foreign affairs, military affairs, maritime affairs and colonies, internal affairs). Under Louis XIV, secretaries of state, who at first (especially under Richelieu) played a purely additional role, are approaching the king's person and playing the role of his own civil servants.
The expansion of the range of functions of state secretaries leads to rapid growth of the central apparatus and its bureaucratization. In the 18th century the position of deputy secretaries of state is introduced, with them significant bureaus are created, which in turn are divided into sections with strict specialization and hierarchy of officials.
A major role in the central administration was played first by the Superintendent of Finance (under Louis XIV he was replaced by the Council of Finance), and then by the Comptroller General of Finance. This post acquired enormous importance starting with Colbert (1665), who not only compiled the state budget and directly supervised the entire economic policy of France, but practically controlled the activities of the administration and organized work on the drafting of royal laws. Under the Comptroller General of Finance, over time, a large apparatus also emerged, consisting of 29 different services and numerous bureaus.
The system of royal councils, which performed advisory functions, was also subjected to repeated restructuring. Louis XIV in 1661 created the Grand Council, which included the dukes and other peers of France, ministers, secretaries of state, the chancellor, who presided over it in the absence of the king, as well as specially appointed councilors of state (mainly from the nobles of the robe). This council considered the most important state issues (relations with the church, etc.), discussed draft laws, in some cases adopted administrative acts and decided the most important court cases. To discuss foreign policy affairs, a narrower Upper Council was convened, to which secretaries of state for foreign and military affairs and several state advisers were usually invited. The Council of Dispatches discussed issues of internal management and made decisions related to the activities of the administration.
The Finance Council developed financial policies and sought new sources of funds for the state treasury.
Local administration was particularly complex and confusing. Some positions (for example, lords) were preserved from the previous era, but their role was steadily declining. Numerous specialized local services appeared: judicial management, financial management, road supervision, etc. The territorial boundaries of these services and their functions were not precisely defined, which gave rise to numerous complaints and disputes.
The individuality of the local administration often stemmed from the preservation in certain parts of the kingdom of the old feudal structure (the limits of the former seigneuries), and church land affiliation. Therefore, the political figure of centralization, which was carried out by the tsarist administration, did not in any way affect the entire region of France at the same level.
At the beginning of the 16th century. Governors were the body that carried out the policies of the center locally. They were appointed and removed by the king, but over time these positions ended up in the hands of noble noble families. By the end of the 16th century. the actions of governors in a number of cases became independent of central government, which contradicted the general direction of royal policy. Therefore, gradually the kings reduce their powers to the sphere of purely military control.
To consolidate their positions in the provinces, starting from 1535, the overlords sent commissioners there with various fleeting tasks, but soon the extreme ones became permanent officials inspecting the tribunal, the administration of megacities, and money. In the 2nd half of the 16th century. they are given the title of intendants. They no longer worked simply as controllers, but as true administrators. Their administration began to take on an authoritarian disposition. The Estates General in 1614, and then the meetings of the notables, protested against the actions of the intendants.
In the first half of the 17th century. the powers of the latter were somewhat limited, and during the period of the Fronde, the post of intendant was generally abolished. In 1653, the intendant system was again restored, and they began to be appointed to special financial districts. The intendants had direct connections with the central government, primarily with the Comptroller General of Finance. The functions of the intendants were extremely broad and were not limited to financial activities. They exercised control over factories, banks, roads, shipping, etc., and collected various statistical information related to industry and agriculture. They were entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining public order, monitoring the poor and vagabonds, and fighting heresy. The quartermasters oversaw the recruitment of recruits into the army, the quartering of troops, providing them with food, etc. Finally, they could intervene in any judicial process, conduct investigations on behalf of the king, and preside over the courts of the bailage or seneschalship.
Centralization also affected city government. Municipal councilors (eshvens) and mayors were no longer elected, but were appointed by the royal administration (usually for an appropriate fee). There was no permanent royal administration in the villages, and lower administrative and judicial functions were assigned to peasant communities and community councils. However, in the conditions of the omnipotence of intendants, rural self-government already at the end of the 17th century. is falling into disrepair.
Main features of the political system
1. French absolutism reached the highest stage of its development during the independent reign of Louis XIV (1661 - 1715). A feature of absolutism in France was that the king - the hereditary head of state - had full legislative, executive, military and judicial power. The entire centralized state mechanism, the administrative and financial apparatus, the army, the police, and the court were subordinate to him. All residents of the country were subjects of the king, obliged to obey him unquestioningly. From the 16th century to the first half of the 17th century. absolute monarchy played a progressive role.
fought against the division of the country, thereby creating favorable conditions for its subsequent socio-economic development;
needing new additional funds, she promoted the growth of capitalist industry and trade - she encouraged the construction of new manufactories, introduced high customs duties on foreign goods, waged wars against foreign powers - competitors in trade, founded colonies - new markets.
In the second half of the 17th century, as soon as capitalism gained such significance that its upcoming suitable formation in the depths of feudalism became impracticable, the absolute monarchy lost all the limited modern features that had previously been characteristic of it. The upcoming development of the productive forces was hampered by the persistence of absolutism:
privileges of the clergy and nobility;
feudal order in the village;
high export duties on goods, etc.
Bodies of state power and administration
With the strengthening of absolutism, all state power was concentrated in the hands of the king.
The activities of the Estates General practically ceased; they met very rarely (the last time in 1614).
From the beginning of the 16th century. secular power in the person of the king strengthened its control over the Church.
The bureaucratic apparatus grew, its influence intensified. The central bodies of government during the period under review were divided into two categories:
institutions inherited from the estate-representative monarchy, positions in which were sold. They were partially controlled by the nobility and were gradually pushed into the secondary sphere of government;
institutions created by absolutism, in which positions were not sold, but were replaced by officials appointed by the government. Over time, they formed the basis of management.
The State Council actually turned into the highest advisory body under the king.
The State Council included both the “nobility of the sword” and the “nobility of the robe” - adherents of both old and new institutions. The old governing bodies, in which positions were held by the authorities and which actually did not work at all, included special recommendations - a hidden committee, the installation of the chancellor, a committee of dispatches, etc. The bodies created during absolutism were headed by the general controller of finance (in accordance with the essence of 1- 1st Minister) and 4 municipal secretaries - in accordance with military affairs, foreign affairs, maritime affairs and court affairs.
Indirect tax farmers, who are also state creditors, were of great importance in financial management.
In local government, as in central authorities, two categories coexisted:
lords, prevos, governors who lost a significant part of their real powers, whose positions were rooted in the past and were replaced by the nobility;
The intendants of justice, police and finance, who actually led the local administrative department and court, were special representatives of the royal government in the localities, to whose posts persons of humble origin were usually appointed. The commissaries were divided into districts, the real power in which was vested in subdelegates appointed by the intendant and subordinate to him.
Judicial system
The judicial system was headed by the king, who could accept for his personal consideration or entrust to his proxy any case of any court.
The following courts coexisted in legal proceedings:
royal courts;
seigneurial courts;
city courts;
church courts, etc.
During the period of absolute monarchy there was an increase and strengthening of the royal courts. In accordance with the Ordnance of Orleans and the Ordinance of Moulins, they had jurisdiction over most criminal and civil cases.
The edict of 1788 left the seigneurial courts in the field of criminal proceedings only with the functions of preliminary inquiry bodies. In the field of civil proceedings, they had jurisdiction only over cases with a small amount of claim, but these cases could, at the discretion of the parties, be immediately transferred to the royal courts.
The general royal courts consisted of three instances: the courts of the prevot, the court of parliament and the courts of parliament.
Special courts functioned, where cases affecting departmental interests were considered: the Accounts Chamber, the Chamber of Indirect Taxes, and the Mint Department had their own courts; there were maritime and customs courts. Military courts were of particular importance.
The creation of a standing army under absolutism was completed. They gradually abandoned the recruitment of foreign mercenaries and switched to staffing the armed forces by recruiting soldiers from the lower strata of the “third estate,” including criminal elements. Officer positions were still held only by the nobility, which gave the army a pronounced class character.
Conclusion
Thus, as a result of our study, having analyzed the works of various historians and the course of historical events, we came to the following decisions.
The emergence and development of the bourgeoisie in the countries of Western Europe gave rise to a confrontation between the declining feudal class and the rising bourgeoisie. The latter circumstance turned out to be decisive for the emergence of a new form of political superstructure of feudal society - an absolute (unlimited) monarchy, which ignored class-representative institutions, primarily in France and England. Taking advantage of the contradictions between the nobility and the bourgeoisie, absolutism remained a form of political domination of feudal lords in changed historical conditions, a form that had a certain independence of action in relation to entire classes of society. The main support of royal absolutism were the middle and small nobles, who formed the core of his standing army. The power of the monarch becomes more or less unlimited (absolute) and acquires a certain independence in relation to both fighting classes as a whole. An absolute monarch relies on a standing army, an administrative apparatus (bureaucracy) subject to him personally, a system of permanent taxes, and subordinates the church to the goals of his policy. Absolutism was a very effective form of state that used bourgeois development in the interests and to preserve the positions of the ruling class of feudal lords.
Of all Western European countries, only in France did absolutism take the most complete, classical form, and class-representative institutions (Estates General) were not convened for a long time
The individuality of absolutism in various states depended largely on the proportion of forces of the nobility and the bourgeoisie, on the level of influence of the bourgeois parts on the policy of absolutism (in Germany and in the Russian state the influence was probably not significant to the same extent as in France and especially in Great Britain) .
From the 16th century to the first half of the 17th century, the absolute monarchy certainly played a progressive role in the development of the French state, as it maintained the division of the state and contributed to the rise of capitalist industry and trade. During this period, the construction of new manufactories was encouraged, the highest customs duties were established on imported products, and colonies were built.
However, with the increasing decline of the feudal system in the XVII-XVIII centuries. an absolute monarchy, including due to the self-development of its power structures themselves, rising more and more above society, breaks away from it, and enters into insoluble contradictions with it. Thus, in the policy of absolutism, reactionary and authoritarian features inevitably appear and acquire primary importance, including open disregard for the dignity and rights of the individual, for the interests and welfare of the French nation as a whole. Although the royal power, using the policies of mercantilism and protectionism for its own selfish purposes, inevitably spurred capitalist development, absolutism never set as its goal the protection of the interests of the bourgeoisie. On the contrary, he used the full power of the feudal state in order to save the feudal system, doomed by history, along with the class and estate privileges of the nobility and clergy.
One of the most significant and unique phenomena in the legal life of France was the reception of Roman law, that is, its assimilation and perception by medieval society. After the fall of the western part of the empire, Roman law did not lose its validity, but with the formation of barbarian states, the scope of its application in Western Europe narrowed. It was preserved primarily in the south, among the Spanish-Roman and Gallo-Roman populations. Gradually, the synthesis of Roman and Germanic legal cultures led to the fact that Roman law began to influence the legal customs of the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Franks and other Germanic peoples.
The works of humanist lawyers prepared the basis for the subsequent application of Roman legal systems in the post-revolutionary legislation of France. Thus, it is possible to conclude that in the Middle Ages Roman law acted NOT only as an important source of valid law, but also as an integral element of the emerging state legal culture.
List of used literature
Prudnikov M.N. History of the state, law and legal proceedings of foreign countries: textbook for university students studying in the specialty 030500 “jurisprudence” / M.N. Prudnikov.-M.: UNITY-DANA, 2007. - 415 p.
Sadikov V.N. Reader on the history of state and law of foreign countries: textbook. Benefit / comp. V.N. Sadikov. - 2nd ed., revised. And additional - M.: TK Welby, Prospekt Publishing House, 2008. - 768 p.
Pavlenko Yu.V. History of world civilization: Sociocultural development of humanity: Textbook. Ed. 3rd, stereotype. / Rep. ed. and author of the stand. words by S. Krymsky. - M.: Education, 2001. - 360 p.
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Thus, from the internal turmoil and turmoil of the second half of the 16th century, French absolutism emerged victorious - the nobility needed it to protect their morals and privileges, as well as the bourgeoisie, because it was looking for strong royal power, tired of feudal freemen. These forces will be used by Henry IV (1589-1610) in his future policies.
Henry IV had outstanding personal qualities, but it was not they that allowed him to become a strong king, but the fact that he survived when the fighting forces were exhausted. The same thing happened as in England at the time of the accession of Henry VII. The task of pacifying the country was partially resolved by him by signing the Edict of Nantes; the rather shaky royal throne had to be strengthened. He brought his former enemies closer to himself through bribery and distribution of high positions, lowered taxes and abolished arrears, and tightened control of tax farmers. These measures made it possible to overcome the devastation. Henry became the founder of French manufactory; 40 of the 47 manufactories operating during his reign were opened with the help of subsidies from the treasury. These measures strengthened the state, despite the murder of the king in 1610 and the minority of the heir to the throne, Louis XIII, the dynasty survived. Cardinal Richelieu played a big role in this. His first appearance in the political arena took place in 1614 at the States General; in 1624 he became a member of the council of state, and in 1630 he became first minister under a mediocre and vain king. Richelieu's political program included the elimination of the Huguenot state within the state, the limitation of the claims of the nobility and the rise of France in Europe. The cardinal personally led military expeditions to Languedoc and La Rochelle, emphasizing that the struggle was not with infidels, but for the integrity of the country. The particularism of the provinces was curbed by the approval of the Michaud Code - a system of unified law, the restriction of the rights of parliaments, and the imposition of new local authorities (intendants). In the financial sphere, the cardinal pursued a policy of mercantilism. Under him, three squadrons were built for the Atlantic and one for the Mediterranean. Together with trading companies, they marked the beginning of French colonial conquests. The cardinal's foreign policy doctrine is the doctrine of European balance. He understood that French hegemony was impossible here, which means that no other hegemony should be allowed. Richelieu's contribution to the development of the French state allows him to be considered one of the “fathers of the nation.” Through his efforts, a classic model of absolutism was created, characterized by the following features: the bureaucratic nature of the state administration apparatus; protectionist nature of economic policy; rejection of confessionally oriented policies; expansionist nature of foreign policy.
France is a country of classical absolutism. In the first half of the 17th century, the French state was headed by major political figures - Henry IV and Cardinal Richelieu. Henry IV came to power after a long and difficult struggle, when the state was literally torn apart by civil war. A former Huguenot who became a Catholic and did not take religious issues to heart, Henry knew how to find compromises to restore peace in the country. The figure of Henry IV is largely idealized in foreign and domestic literature. The tone, perhaps, was set by Talleman de Reo: “You cannot remember a more merciful sovereign who would love his people more; however, he tirelessly cared for the good of the state.” Although the famous French wit also noticed negative aspects in the character of the former Navarian, people still have good rumors about Henry IV. The “peaceful” reign of Henry IV saw the strengthening of state power, the centralization of the country and the revival of France. The credit for this belongs not only to Henry, but also to his first minister and Minister of Finance Sully (he was a Protestant).
In the field of economics, the government:
1) weakened the tax burden - the total tax amount decreased from 16 to 14 million livres;
2) all arrears were destroyed and debts were written off;
All these events were carried out in the interests of the state, first of all, and in the interests of the nobility. For a poor peasant could not feed the nobility, rich “only in valor.” In addition, in France it was the peasants who were the main taxpayers. Henry IV began to pursue a systematic mercantilist policy for the first time. He encouraged the development of agriculture, founded and subsidized privileged manufactories, established a more or less equal system of customs relations with Holland and England, organized extensive road construction, and even encouraged industrial espionage. In his administrative policy, Henry IV relied on the Small Council of State, consisting of 3-6 people, and never assembled the Estates General. In the political life of France during the reign of Henry IV, two features typical of French absolutism intensified: centralization and bureaucracy. On the one hand, officials of the state apparatus, according to the law of 1604, achieved hereditary rights to government positions, on the other hand, Henry IV began to send special intendant officials to manage the provinces more often than his predecessors. The main sphere of their authority was finance, but in fact the entire provincial life was placed under their control. Henry's reign is called "peaceful". Indeed, serious upheavals began after his death. He knew how to “use revenge or bribe to reduce the anger of his subjects.”
In 1610, Henry IV was assassinated by the Catholic fanatic Ravaillac. His son Louis was only 9 years old. From 1610 to 1624, his mother Maria de Medici was regent for the young king. In 14 years, much was lost: small civil wars began (1614-1629); the nobility rebelled, demanding pensions, gifts, and sinecures. The third estate wanted to participate in the political life of the state. In 1614, the Estates General were convened and although they did not lead to anything, they showed that there was a division between the forces of the old feudal nobility and the bourgeoisie. In the early 20s of the 17th century, the country was also rocked by peasant uprisings. It seemed that a crisis of absolutism was beginning again. But the rise to power of Cardinal Richelieu left the French with hope.
Who is Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal and Duke of Richelieu (1586-1642)? The future first minister came from a noble family, at the age of 23 he became the bishop of the city of Luson in Poitou, and took part in the Estates General of 1614. His speech there made an impression, although according to Talleman de Reo, Richelieu “knew how to judge things, but did not develop his thoughts well.” Since 1616 he has been a member of the Council, and soon its chairman under the regent. In 1624, the cardinal joined the Royal Council, and in 1630 he became the first minister of the kingdom. What about Louis XIII? One of the historians said well about him: “He must be given credit for the fact that he, incapable of being great, willingly tolerated near him the greatness of his devoted servant, to whom he gave complete freedom of action.” Already in the first years, Richelieu outlined three main directions of his activity:
1) the fight against all internal opponents of centralization, primarily against the old separatist-minded nobility and Huguenot Calvinists;
2) suppression of peasant uprisings, i.e. maintaining social peace in the country;
3) achieving hegemony of the French state in Western Europe.
All these goals were achieved at the end of the life of the first minister.
In 1621, the Huguenots revived their republic in the south of the country. From 1621 to 1629, the state waged war with the Huguenots. In 1628, Richelieu personally led the campaign against La Rochelle, and the stronghold of the opposition was over. In 1629, the government issued the “Edict of Grace”, according to which the Huguenots lost all their fortresses, were deprived of political rights and retained only freedom of faith. During the minor civil wars, in 1626, the “Royal Declaration on the Demolition of Castles”, these nests of feudal separatism, was adopted. It stated, in particular, “that in all fortified places, be they cities or castles, located within our kingdom and provinces... the fortifications should be demolished and destroyed... for the benefit and peace of our subjects and the security of the state.” In the same year (a little earlier) the “Edict against duels” was adopted, because the cardinal believed that “an unbridled passion for duels” leads to the death of “a large number of our nobility, which is one of the main foundations of the state.”
These punitive measures pursued constructive goals, the main one being the strengthening of the state. The cardinal's administrative reform was also connected with this. It was as follows: Richelieu legitimized the institution of intendants. They were appointed from loyal people and in the provinces they replaced governors and the old municipal authorities. The intendants dealt with taxes, justice and other economic and social issues. It should be emphasized that the intendants came, as a rule, from the third estate. In the apparatus of the central government, secretaries of state (ministers) were increasingly promoted; they came from the nobility of the “mantle”. Gradually, ministers pushed the so-called "Grand Royal Council", consisting of princes of the blood.
Along with progressive economic policies that encourage entrepreneurship and foreign trade, as well as success in foreign policy, France has become one of the strongest states in Europe. But the power of France was not unlimited, since it was based mainly on the size of its territory and large population, and not on the rise of the economy. Agriculture and industry changed slowly. The country lagged significantly behind England and the Netherlands. Richelieu, like Henry IV, pursued a mercantilist policy. He nurtured grandiose plans to involve France in world colonial trade, even promising merchants a title of nobility for success in maritime enterprises. However, merchants and their children preferred to buy land and government positions and not engage in business. The nobles, in accordance with the morals of their class, disdained activities aimed at making a profit.
Therefore, participation in the Thirty Years' War was not easy for the country. At the beginning of the war, France provided only diplomatic and financial support to the anti-Habsburg coalition. But after the death of the Swedish king Gustav Adolf, the imperial troops won one victory after another. And in 1635, France openly entered into hostilities with the House of Austria. This led to an unprecedented increase in the tax burden, which coincided with the deterioration of the economic situation. All taken together aggravated the internal situation, and a wave of popular uprisings swept across the country. The cardinal dealt harshly with the rebels. After the death of Richelieu in 1642 and Louis XIII in 1643, there was a weakening of royal power, which was unable to control the struggle of various political factions. Only after the period of noble revolts and the Fronde, the absolute monarchy, having triumphed over the aristocratic parties and bureaucrats, reaches its peak. This happened during the reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715).
France is a country of classical absolutism. In it, state-legal science achieved brilliant development. Jean Bodin and Cardin Lebret put forward and substantiated the principle of royal sovereignty, i.e. concentration of supreme legislative power in the hands of the monarch. Despite this, the absolute monarch was obliged to strictly follow the traditional system of customs and privileges; violating it was considered permissible only in cases of extreme state necessity.
The theoretical premises of French absolutism are reflected in Richelieu’s “State Maxims, or Political Testament.” “My first goal was the greatness of the king, my second goal was the power of the kingdom,” wrote Richelieu. If one can doubt the literal meaning of the first, then he sought to assert the power of absolutist power by all available means. In Chapter XIII “On the Principles of Government” Richelieu writes: “Punishment and reward are the two most important principles for the management of a kingdom.” Richelieu puts punishment in first place compared to reward, because rewards, according to the first minister, are forgotten, but insults are never forgotten. The social nature of French absolutism is clearly visible in Chapter III, “On the Nobility.” A nobleman by birth, Richelieu believed that “the nobility should be considered as one of the main nerves of the state.” This class, on the one hand, should not be disbanded, but on the other hand, it should be supported in every possible way, for it is “rich only in valor.” “The bourgeoisie, that is, financiers, officials, lawyers, is a harmful class, but necessary for the state,” believes Cardinal Richelieu. As for the people, “they should be compared to a mule, which, having become accustomed to heaviness, deteriorates more from prolonged rest than from work.” At the same time, Richelieu believed that “the work of a mule should be moderate, and the weight of the animal should be commensurate with its strength, and the same should be observed regarding the duties of the people.” Richelieu urged monarchs in difficult times to “take advantage of the wealth of the rich before unduly depleting the poor.” The latter remained only a good wish during the reign of the cardinal himself.
Thus, “Political Testament” is a theoretical justification for absolutism in its heyday.
The national features of French absolutism are as follows:
1) the high role of the state bureaucracy, which emerged from the nobility of the “mantle”;
2) active protectionist policies, especially during the reigns of Louis XI, Francis I, Henry IV, Louis XIII and his Cardinal Richelieu;
3) active expansionist foreign policy as a sphere of national interests (participation in the Italian Wars, the Thirty Years' War);
4) a departure from confession-oriented policies as the religious-civil conflict smoothes out.
Topic 6. Habsburg Empire (2 hours).
1. Spain in the late Middle Ages.
2. Dutch bourgeois revolution.
3. Italy in the late Middle Ages.
4. Thirty Years' War.
Literature:
1. Literature:
1. Alekseev V.M. Thirty Years' War: A Manual for Teachers. L.,
2. Altamira-Crevea R. History of Spain: Trans. from Spanish M., 1951. T. 2.
3. Arsky I.V. The power and decline of Spain in the 16th-17th centuries. // Historical magazine, 1937. No. 7.
4. Brecht B. Mother Courage and her children. Chronicle of the Thirty Years' War. (Any edition)
5. Vega Carno L.F. (Lope de Vega). Grand Duke of Moscow (1617). Dog in the manger (1618). (Any edition)
6. Vedyushkin V.A. The dignity of labor through the eyes of classes. Spain XVI-XVII centuries. // European nobility of the 16th-17th centuries: Borders of estates. M., 1997.
7. Delbrune G. History of military art within the framework of political history. M. 1938. T. 4.
8. Krokotvil M. The amazing adventures of Ian Cornell. M, 1958.
9. Marx K. Chronological extracts. Archive of Marx K. and Engels F. T. 8.
10. Kudryavtsev A.£. Spain in the Middle Ages. M., 1937.
11. Meyer K.F. To Pope Gustav Adolf // Novels. M, 1958. 10.
12. Mering F. Essays on the history of war and military art (any edition).
13. Porshnev B.F. The Thirty Years' War and the Moscow State. M., 1976.
14. Porshnev B.F. Political relations between Western and Eastern Europe in the era of the 30 Years' War // VI. 1960. N 10.
15. Cervantes Miguel de. The cunning hidalgo Don Quixote of La Manche. (Don Quixote.) (Any edition)
16. Chistozvonov A.N. The social nature of the Dutch burghers under feudalism and during the transition from feudalism to capitalism // Social nature of the medieval burghers. - M.: 1979.
17. Schiller F. Wallenstein. (Any edition)
See also the works of Vedyushkin V.A., Denisenko N.G., Litavrina E.E.
By the 16th century The Spanish monarchy owned vast territories in Europe and America. When King Charles I of Spain became emperor under the name Charles V in 1519, a huge empire was formed, which changed the vector of Spanish history.
The end of the Reconquista marked the beginning of the country's economic and political rise. It continued throughout the first half of the 16th century. The basis for this rise was the general stabilization of the situation in the country, demographic growth, and the influx of American gold and silver. Rising prices allowed the free Spanish peasantry to improve their financial situation.
Olives and wine were the main agricultural products; the establishment of a maximum price for grain, as well as climatic conditions, led to the curtailment of its production. The shortage was made up for by purchasing it through Dutch merchants.
The interior arid regions of Spain practiced transhumance. Places- the organization of Castilian sheep farmers achieved a perpetual lease of land, freedom from duties, and its own jurisdiction. Wool was exported to the Netherlands, Italy, and Flanders, which subsequently led to the decline of Spanish clothmaking.
The uniqueness of the social structure of the country's population was manifested in a larger number of nobility than in the rest of Europe. During the Reconquista, the title hidalgo Any distinguished warrior could receive it, but he had to conquer the land for himself. This is how a layer of landless nobility emerged - the main force Conquests. The upper strata of the nobility - grandees and average - caballero were also interested in it. The spoils came through the royal treasury into their pockets in the form of pensions and salaries for service.
The royal administration since the time of Ferdinand and Isabella has grown indomitably. In local government bodies there was action in favor of the nobility "half positions" rule.
The weakness of the commercial and entrepreneurial strata of Spain does not have a clear scientific explanation. Researchers point to the fact that in the high Middle Ages it was Arabs and Jews who were expelled from the country, and the short duration of the economic recovery did not allow national entrepreneurship to strengthen. It was unable to create a national market: the north was associated with France, England, and the Netherlands; The south was drawn into Mediterranean trade, the center was oriented towards the colonies. The burghers of Spain did not realize their own value (there was no Reformation and Protestant work ethic), its goal was annoblation. The new nobility abandoned their previous occupations, which led to the erosion of the class and the outflow of capital into the sphere of prestigious consumption.
Since 1492, Spain owned significant territories in southwestern Europe: Sardinia, Sicily, the Balearic Islands, the Kingdom of Naples and Navarre.
1. Since the end of the 15th century, Spain has unusually quickly become a colonial power. This was facilitated by the voyages of Christopher Columbus and Fernando Magellan.
2. Its territory in Europe itself is significantly increasing. This process ended with Spain finding itself part of an even broader association - the Holy Roman Empire. In 1516, Charles I became the Spanish king, and since 1519, under the name of Charles V, he has been elected Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation. In the 15th century, the biggest issue in European politics was the so-called "Burgundy Question". Mary of Burgundy (she was also the heiress of the Netherlands) became the wife of the German Emperor Maximilian I (son of Frederick III). From this marriage she gave birth to a son, Philip, nicknamed Handsome. On the other hand, Ferdinand and Isabella, the “Catholic sovereigns” of Spain, had a daughter, Juana the Mad. In 1500, a son, Charles, was born from the marriage of Philip and Juana. Philip the Fair died in 1506. His wife, due to mental illness, could not inherit the throne. In 1516, after the death of his grandfather Ferdinand the Catholic, Charles became king of Spain under the name Charles I. And in 1519 he was elected German emperor (Charles V). This is how a huge empire was formed. But it should be emphasized that its center was outside Spain, in the Holy Roman Empire.
Already in the II half. XVI century the decline begins and continues throughout the 17th century. Agriculture was ruined:
- 10% tax alcabala,
- taxation of grain prices,
- expansion of the Place,
- demographic decline due to numerous wars and outflow of population to the colonies.
The development of industry was hampered, in addition to the previously mentioned circumstances, by the lack of protectionism in the policies of Charles and his heirs. Being universalist monarchs, they considered Italian, Dutch, and Spanish entrepreneurs and traders as their subjects. Meanwhile, in the face of an Italian or Dutch, the Spanish merchant was uncompetitive due to lack of experience and connections. Colonial trade did not decline, but it was not the Spaniards who benefited from it, but the Netherlands, who were given the right to trade with the colonies.
The lack of capital in the country forced the kings to turn to foreign capital. The Fuggers financed the crown; they were given all the grandmaster's income, mercury-zinc mines, and permission to trade with the colonies. These German monopolists were subjects of Charles as emperor, but for his son Philip, who was not emperor, they became foreigners.
It should be noted that the economic development of Spain during this period was extremely heterogeneous, and this heterogeneity was both in the temporal and spatial-territorial dimensions:
1. The 16th century, especially its first half, was a time of economic recovery, the development of market relations, new forms of organization of industry and trade, and a time of urban growth.
2. Second half of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries. - economic decline, reduction in foreign and domestic trade, naturalization of economic life.
Different regions of Spain were unevenly developed. In particular, Castile was more developed than Valencia and other areas. And even in Castile itself, the North lagged behind the South.
It should be noted that Spain had the most favorable starting conditions:
a) as a result of geographical discoveries, it owned vast colonies. The country was the monopoly owner and distributor of American treasures. According to the American historian Hamilton, for 1503-1660. Spain received 191,333 kg of gold and 16,886,815 kg of silver. Moreover, at first only gold was exported. This is only official data. Obviously, there was smuggling;
b) in the first half of the 16th century there was continuous population growth. By the end of the century it reached 8 million people. But these material wealth did not contribute to the development of the national economy, but rather, on the contrary, intensified the economic crisis.
Common causes of the crisis:
1. One of the reasons was the so-called. "price revolution" It affected all countries, but nowhere were its consequences as disastrous as in Spain. The rise in prices began in the third decade of the 16th century and continued with sharp fluctuations throughout the century. In the first half of the 16th century, prices increased by 107.6%, with another sharp jump in the second half. The “Golden Age” in Spain resulted in a 4.5-fold increase in prices. The heaviest impact of the rise in prices was on wheat (over 100 years, wheat prices in England increased by 155%, in Spain - by 556%). Which segments of the population benefit from rising prices? For grain producers to the market! But in the Spanish countryside these were not peasants, but nobles; it was they who created large latifundia in the south, where they even used hired labor. Vedyushkin V.A. wrote about this in his articles. The purchasing power of peasants, artisans and proletarians decreased by 1/3.
Here we can distinguish three components of decline:
a) the severity of taxes, first of all, alkabala - 10% tax on each trade transaction;
b) the existence of a system of taxes - an artificial restraint by the state on bread prices. In 1503, the government first set a maximum price for bread. In 1539 the tax system was finally approved. Since the country had a fixed feudal rent, those who sold grain lost. Moreover, it was especially difficult for ordinary peasants, while wholesalers circumvented official prohibitions. The Cortes of Castile in one of the petitions demanded the abolition of taxes, “... because many people are leaving the lands, and more and more fields are left without sowing..., many of those who lived by agriculture have turned into vagabonds and beggars...”;
c) the crisis in agriculture was also associated with the activities of the Mesta - a privileged organization of sheep farmers that arose in the 13th century. For three hundred years it has significantly expanded its privileges. It included nobles and clergy (3,000 members). Every autumn, Mesta's herds followed three main routes - cañadas from North to South, and in the spring - back to the North. The place was beneficial to the state, as it exported raw wool to France, the Netherlands, and Italy. The king received stable income from export duties. Therefore, the Place had many privileges: sheep farmers were exempt from paying many duties; they practically freely seized communal lands for pasture; The cañadas were narrow, and during the movement of sheep they caused damage to peasant fields and vineyards.
All together led to the decline of agriculture. The peasants left their lands, therefore, there was a concentration of land ownership in the hands of the largest feudal lords. Along with peasant farms, small noble households are also going bankrupt.
3. Already at the beginning of the 16th century in Spain, complaints were heard about the ruin of the craft. Although the real crisis in this industry came at the turn of the 16th-17th centuries. The reasons for it were laid down earlier.
The crisis in industry was caused by the anti-mercantilism of Spanish absolutism. Spanish products were very expensive, even on the domestic market they were more expensive than imported ones, that is, Dutch, French, English. When the demand for wool and fabrics in the colonies increased, Spain exported to America not its own, but foreign fabrics, primarily Dutch. The Spanish manufacture could not withstand the competition with the Dutch one. The fact is that the Spanish government considered the Netherlands as part of its state, so duties on wool imported there were low, and the import of Flemish cloth into Spain was carried out on preferential terms. And this happened precisely when the fledgling Spanish manufacture needed to be supported. By the 17th century, not a trace remained of the once thriving cities and crafts. Industry collapsed with amazing speed. In one of the quarters of Toledo in 1665, only 10 artisans remained out of 608. In the former capital of Castile, 50 thousand people were previously employed in the wool and silk weaving industry, in 1665 there were only... 16 weaving looms.
Due to the decline of crafts, the population of cities and towns decreased. In Medina del Campo in the 16th century there were 5 thousand householders, at the beginning of the 17th century only 500 remained. Madrid in the mid-16th century - 400 thousand people, in the middle of the 17th century - 150 thousand.
In 1604, the Cortes complained: “Castile is so depopulated, there are not enough people for agricultural work, in many villages the number of houses has been preserved from 100 to 10, or even not a single one remains.” Some of them were sent to the colonies, some of the dispossessed died in wars. Manufactures and the declining urban craft could not absorb them all.
4. These phenomena led to the creation of a special socio-psychological climate in the country, which often forced foreign contemporaries to believe that the Spaniards were not inclined to economic activity. One Venetian ambassador wrote: “Economy is a word from a language unknown to the Spaniards; disorder becomes a matter of prestige and honor.”
Against the background of the decline of agriculture and industry, colonial trade still flourished for a long time. Its highest rise occurred at the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th century. However, this trade no longer brought wealth to Spain, because in the colonies it sold foreign-made goods, for which it paid in American gold.
In addition, the funds that Spain received from the robbery of the colonies went to the unproductive consumption of the feudal clique. All this taken together allowed Karl Marx to say that Spain was one of the first countries to embark on the path of primitive accumulation of capital. However, the specific features of socio-economic development, as discussed above, prevented Spain from following the path of progressive development.
Thus, the gold of America, pumped out by Spain, became the most important lever of the PNC in other countries and primarily in the Netherlands, significantly accelerating the process of development of capitalism there. In Spain, at the beginning of the century, capitalism develops; in the middle of the century, its development stops and refeudalization begins. That is, the decomposition of the old feudal is not accompanied by the strong formation of a new progressive - this is the main result of the economic state of the country. It should also be added that, due to the circumstances listed above, the Spanish bourgeoisie not only did not strengthen, but was completely ruined. The impoverishment of the bourgeoisie was accompanied by the enrichment of the Spanish high nobility. It lived by robbing the people of its country and colonies. Within it, a group like the English “gentry” or the French “nobility of the robe” did not develop. It was extremely reactionary and adapted the entire economy of Spain and the colonies to its interests. This was expressed in the peculiarities of Spanish absolutism, which will be discussed below.