wh07_te_ch04_s02_MOD_s.fm Page 148 Monday, March 5, 2007 11:02WH07MOD_se_CH04_S02_s.fm AM Page 148 Thursday, January 25, 2007 1:33 PM A delicate, beaded shoe from Louis’s era Step-by-Step WITNESS HISTORY AUDIO SECTION Instruction 2 Life at Versailles At Versailles, the palace court of Louis XIV, life Objectives revolved around the king. Nobles waited days or weeks for the honor of attending the king while he As you teach this section, keep students dressed or bathed. Every evening the king was at focused on the following objectives to help the center of a lavish entertainment, followed by a them answer the Section Focus Question supper of dozens of rich dishes. The elaborate and and master core content. extravagant rituals that governed life at court ■ Understand how Henry IV rebuilt masked a very serious purpose—they were a way France after the wars of religion. for Louis XIV to control every aspect of court life and ensure his absolute authority. ■ Explain how Louis XIV became an Focus Question How did France become the absolute monarch. Louis XIV rides a powerful horse, displaying his leading power of Europe under the absolute rule ■ Describe how Versailles was a symbol strength and abilities. of Louis XIV? of royal power. ■ Identify Louis XIV’s successes and failures. France Under Louis XIV Objectives In the last half of the fifteenth century, France enjoyed a period of • Understand how Henry IV rebuilt France after peace. After driving out the English, the French kings were able to Prepare to Read the wars of religion. solidify their power within their own realm. But in the 1500s, • Explain how Louis XIV became an absolute rivalry with Charles V of Spain and then religious conflict plunged Build Background Knowledge L3 monarch. the kingdom into turmoil. Ask students to recall what they know • Describe how Versailles was a symbol of about the theory of the divine right of royal power. Henry IV Restores Order • Identify Louis XIV’s successes and failures. kings. Then ask them to predict how this In the late 1500s France was torn apart by turbulent wars of reli- theory might allow Louis XIV to Terms, People, and Places gion. A century later, France was a strong, unified nation-state strengthen royal power. Huguenots intendant ruled by the most powerful monarch in Europe. Jean-Baptiste Colbert Henry IV Religious Strife From the 1560s to the 1590s, religious wars L3 Edict of Nantes Versailles Set a Purpose between the Catholic majority and French Protestants, called Cardinal Richelieu levée ■ WITNESS HISTORY Read the selection Huguenots (HYOO guh nahts), tore France apart. Leaders on both Louis XIV balance of power aloud or play the audio. sides used the strife to further their own ambitions. AUDIO Witness History Audio CD, The worst incident began on St. Bartholomew’s Day (a Catholic Life at Versailles Reading Skill: Identify Supporting Details As holiday), August 24, 1572. While Huguenot and Catholic nobles were you read about the rule of Louis XIV and how he gathered for a royal wedding, a plot by Catholic royals led to the Ask Why did Louis XIV structure strengthened the monarchy, use a concept web massacre of 3,000 Huguenots. In the next few days, thousands more life at Versailles around rituals like the one below to record details that support were slaughtered. For many, the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre and extravagant events? (Doing so the main ideas in this section. Add as many circles symbolized the complete breakdown of order in France. enabled him to keep the nobles under as you need. Bringing Peace to a Shattered Land In 1589, a Huguenot his control at court and thereby depen- Made France dent on him.) the leading power prince inherited the French throne as Henry IV. For four years of Europe Henry fought against fierce Catholic opposition to gain control of ■ Focus Point out the Section Focus No meetings of France. Finally, to end the conflict, he converted to Catholicism. Estates-General Sun as symbol Question and write it on the board. “Paris is well worth a Mass,” he is supposed to have said. To pro- Tell students to refer to this question Louis XIV tect Protestants, however, in 1598 he issued the Edict of Nantes as they read. (Answer appears with granting the Huguenots religious toleration and other freedoms. Section 2 Assessment answers.) ■ Preview Have students preview the Section Objectives and the list of Vocabulary Builder Terms, People, and Places. ■ Have students read this Use the information below and the following resources to teach the high-use word from this section. section using the Guided Questioning Teaching Resources, Unit 1, p. 68; Teaching Resources, Skills Handbook, p. 3 strategy (TE, p. T20). As they read, High-Use Word Definition and Sample Sentence have students fill in the concept web erode, p. 152 v. to wear away or disintegrate with details about Louis XIV’s rule. Many years of disappointment had eroded Robin’s trust in people and the prom- Reading and Note Taking ises they made. Study Guide, p. 66 148 The Age of Absolutism WH07MOD_se_CH04_S02_s.fmwh07_te_ch04_s02_MOD_s.fm Page 149 Page Monday, 149 JuneMonday, 26, 2006 March 9:43 AM 5, 2007 11:03 AM Henry IV then set out to repair France. His goal, he said, was not the victory of one sect over another, but “a chicken in every pot”—a good Sun- Teach day dinner for every peasant. Under Henry, the government reached into every area of French life. Royal officials administered justice, improved roads, built bridges, and revived agriculture. By building the royal bureau- Henry IV Restores cracy and reducing the influence of nobles, Henry IV laid the foundations Order L3 on which future French monarchs would build absolute power. Instruct Cardinal Richelieu Strengthens Royal Authority When Henry IV was killed by an assassin in 1610, his nine-year-old son, Louis XIII, ■ Introduce Explain the religious wars inherited the throne. For a time, nobles reasserted their power. Then, in between the Catholic majority and the 1624, Louis appointed Cardinal Richelieu (ree shul YOO) as his chief Huguenots. Then display Color Trans- minister. This cunning, capable leader devoted the next 18 years to parency 95: St. Bartholomew’s Day strengthening the central government. Massacre. Ask What sort of place is Richelieu sought to destroy the power of the Huguenots and nobles— shown? (royal castles, rich homes) two groups that did not bow to royal authority. Although he allowed the What kinds of people are involved? Huguenots to practice their religion, he smashed their walled cities and (wealthy nobles). Point out Notre Dame outlawed their armies. Likewise, he defeated the private armies of the Cathedral and then ask Why is it in nobles and destroyed their fortified castles. While reducing their inde- the center of the scene? (as the cen- pendence, Richelieu tied the nobles to the king by giving ter of Catholic faith) Tell students that them high posts at court or in the royal army. so many people were slaughtered in the Richelieu also handpicked his able successor, Cardinal Maz- BIOGRAPHY ensuing months that bodies filled the arin (ma za RAN). When five-year-old Louis XIV inherited the rivers and people stopped eating fish. throne in 1643, the year after Richelieu’s death, Mazarin was BIOGRAPHY in place to serve as chief minister. Like Richelieu, Mazarin Color Transparencies, 95 worked tirelessly to extend royal power. ■ Teach Inform students that the St. What rights did the Edict of Nantes extend Bartholomew’s Day Massacre occurred to Huguenots? on the future King Henry IV’s wedding day. Ask How did Henry IV reunite France? (by becoming Catholic, grant- An Absolute Monarch Rises ing rights to Huguenots, and strength- Soon after Louis XIV became king, disorder again swept ening royal power) Which groups did France. In an uprising called the Fronde, nobles, merchants, Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin peasants, and the urban poor each rebelled in order to pro- weaken to increase royal power? test royal power or preserve their own. On one occasion, riot- Cardinal Richelieu (Huguenots and nobles) ers drove the boy king from his palace. It was an experience Armand Richelieu’s (1585–1642) parents expected ■ Louis would never forget. When Mazarin died in 1661, the great things from him. They even invited the king of Quick Activity Henry IV and Riche- 23-year-old Louis resolved to take complete control over the France to attend Armand’s christening, promising lieu made many improvements to government himself. “I have been pleased to entrust the gov- that someday he would be a leader of France. France but also extended royal power. ernment of my affairs to the late Cardinal,” he declared. “It is The young boy also aspired to greatness as he Hold a debate on whether their now time that I govern them myself.” was growing up. At first, he received training to changes were ultimately good or bad become a disciplined and authoritative military for France. “I Am the State” Like his great-grandfather Philip II of officer. Then, at his family’s request, he switched Spain, Louis XIV firmly believed in his divine right to rule. direction. At age 17, he began training to become a He took the sun as the symbol of his absolute power. Just as bishop in the Catholic Church. The path was Independent Practice the sun stands at the center of the solar system, he argued, different but the purpose was the same: to become Tell students that Henry IV’s goal—“A so the Sun King stands at the center of the nation.