Student's Book 4
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1 The Old Regime FIND OUT ABOUT: • The nature of the Old Regime Monarchs and their palaces • The ideas of the Enlightenment In the 18th century, monarchs projected an image • Enlightened despotism of power and splendour, as well as cultural • The Bourbon reforms in Spain sophistication. Royal palaces were a symbol of the monarch's absolute power. They were monumental KNOW HOW TO: and richly decorated buildings, which were • Compare two Enlightenment intended to impress the monarch's subjects and texts foreign visitors. • Analyse scientific advances during the Age of Enlightenment S C A O E T S L A H N D T D N R A DENMARK L O E N I R N TA I R I B T A E R NETHERLANDS G H O LY R O E M A N E M P I R Versailles Palace of Versailles Louis XV of France (1715- 1774) F R A N C E SWISS CONFEDERATION S A V N O A Y E C I N O PA S C I T Madrid N A I S L A N D S CORSICA L C R I T A E A L A B WORK WITH THE IMAGE M E D I T E R R A N E A N S E A • What palaces can you see on these pages? Which countries are they in? A A I L G S E I • What do the palaces have in R I A N common? Are they impressive? U T • What is the function of these palaces today? • Which monarchs are shown? When and where did they reign? Royal Palace of Madrid Carlos III of Spain (1759-1788) Royal Palace of Stockholm Gustav III of Sweden (1771-1792) Winter Palace of Saint Petersburg Catherine the Great of Russia (1762-1796) N E D D E N W A L S N I F Y F A W O R Saint Petersburg O N M Stockholm O A D E S G H N T I A R DENMARK K E O S R U S S C I A N I T L A B A S I R U S NETHERLANDS U R G P N B P O L D E A N N A D H R O B Potsdam LY R O E M A N E M P I R B A U S T R I A A V Vienna A R I A A SWISS V CONFEDERATION Y A R O S H U N G D A L V O O Y M Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam I A C H WA L L A K S E A Frederick the Great of Prussia (1740-1786) I A A C TUSCANY R B B L S E PAPAL O STATES T I A CORSICA T N O M E KINGDOM M A R OF NAPLES A N E SARDINIA M P I R E M E HOW DO WE KNOW? D I T E R R A N E A N S E A SICILY Palaces are a valuable source of A I information about royal figures and their S I circles. The rooms, furniture, paintings N U and decoration all provide a window into T the lives of past monarchs; they show the image that they wished to project. • If you have visited a royal palace, describe what most interested or Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna surprised you. Joseph II of Austria (1765-1790) THE SOCIAL PYRAMID OF THE OLD REGIME 1 The Old Regime nobility and clergy The Old Regime (also called the ‘Ancien Régime’) was the political, social and economic system that was found in many parts of Europe up to the 18th century. This type of society was based on estates commoners and an agrarian economy, and was ruled by an absolute monarch. The society of estates Society was divided into three estates: the nobility, the clergy and the commoners. This society had two main characteristics: • Privilege. The clergy and the nobility were the privileged estates. They enjoyed major advantages over commoners; for example, they were judged by special laws, and they did not pay taxes. • Lack of mobility. Except for the clergy, a person's estate was determined at birth. In general, commoners did not move up, and nobles did not move down. The clergy was divided into high and low clergy: • The high clergy, such as archbishops and bishops, were often the younger sons of noble families. • Members of the low clergy, like priests and The cup of chocolate, by Jean Baptiste Charpentier. monks, were from commoner families. The nobility was also divided into high and low: • The high nobility owned vast lands, received WORK WITH THE IMAGES income from rents, and occupied all the high positions in the government and the military. 1 Analyse the social pyramid and answer the • The low nobility had less money, and sometimes questions. married into wealthy bourgeois families. a Which were the privileged estates? The commoners, or third estate, made up the b Where is the third estate on this pyramid? majority of the population. These were the 2 What impression does the painting give you bourgeoisie and peasants. about the lifestyle of the nobility? • The bourgeoisie was made up of merchants, doctors or artisans. Some were wealthy, but their political power was limited to city government. The bourgeoisie demanded greater participation in ACTIVITIES national government and equality before the law, but the privileged estates resisted these demands. 3 What were the differences between the high • The peasantry was the largest group, but had and low clergy, and between the high and little social influence. Most worked on the land of low nobility? nobles or the Church as tenants, day labourers or 4 Which people were considered commoners? serfs. They paid rent to noble landowners, taxes to Were there big differences between the king, and a tithe (10% of their crops) to the commoners? Explain your answer. Church. Serfs needed their lord's permission to leave the property. 14 The storm, by Louis-Joseph Watteau. The agrarian sector THINK ABOUT IT Crop agriculture and livestock farming were the main economic In the 18th century, drought or activities in the 18th century. In most of Europe, peasants practised flooding caused crop failure, and subsistence farming, and they mainly grew grains using very basic people went hungry. Quite often tools. Crops depended on the climate, and they were lost in times of this caused riots. Today, adverse drought or flooding. When this happened, prices rose, food became weather phenomena can still scarce and there was widespread famine. increase the price of certain Most land belonged to the nobility and the clergy. A noble's land crops. However, in developed could not be divided because the law required the entire estate to be economies, these foods usually inherited by the eldest son. Moreover, part of the clergy's land was remain abundant in legally protected, and could not be sold. As a result, a lot of land was supermarkets. Why do you think not farmed productively. the situation has changed? Artisanal activity and trade Guilds controlled most artisanal activity. These were associations of ACTIVITIES artisans who worked in the same trade. Artisans worked in small workshops and used simple tools. Guilds regulated production, and 5 Explain why the agrarian this was an obstacle to innovation. sector was not very The domestic system was a new system of production in the textile productive in the 18th industry. A merchant provided cloth to peasants, who then made century. textile products in their own homes. The merchant collected the 6 Draw a schematic diagram finished products and sold them. that shows how triangular Royal factories belonged to the monarchy. They were very large trade worked and which workshops, where weapons and luxury goods were made. items were bought and sold. Foreign trade grew due to increased exchange with America and 7 Investigate the Atlantic Asia. Some companies, like the English East India Company, were slave trade. Find out how granted trade monopolies in certain regions and imported products many people died, and like tea and cotton. The company owners and the Crown shared the when it ended. In what huge profits. ways should it be Triangular trade developed between Europe, Africa and America. commemorated today? European ships sailed to Africa, where they traded items of little value Share your viewpoint with for slaves. They took the slaves to America and sold them there. With the your classmates. profits, they brought products such as cotton and sugar back to Europe. 15 2 Systems of government FRENCH ABSOLUTISM Absolutism Absolutism was the system of government in many POWERS OF THE MONARCH parts of 18th century Europe. Under absolutism, the monarchs held full legislative, executive and judicial powers. They governed, introduced and ratified laws, and named judges. According to the divine LEGISLATIVE EXECUTIVE JUDICIAL right of kings, God was the source of a monarch's POWER POWER POWER power, and he was above the law. He decided laws He headed the He was the To exercise their powers, the monarchs made use of and applied administration highest judicial numerous officials and powerful armies. Some them through and led the authority. decrees. army. issues, such as new taxes, had to be approved by assemblies like the Estates General in France or las Cortes in Spain. These parliaments were made up of representatives of the three estates. However, the monarch rarely called them. The monarch held all the powers of state. The economic policies of absolute monarchs were based on mercantilism.