InNo+tinapx2013+30.8.10

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The ruler of France at the time XVI

· Louis was an absolute monarch, which meant that he did not have to share his power with anyone else.

· Unlike Britain, he could do whatever he chose whenever he pleased.

· Louis lived in a thousand-room palace of Versailles, 18km outside of Paris.

· Thousands of nobles lived with him in the palace, serving him as courtiers and helping to run the affairs of the nation.

· Marie Antoinette was an Austrian archduchess who was Louis’ wife.

· They were married when he was 15 and she was 14.

· At first they had been popular with the French public, however, as the years passed, they lost popularity.

· Especially Marie Antoinette

o One of the reason was the fact that she was foreign.

o They called her the Austrian women, which in French, could be made to sound like “Bitch”

§ <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Austrichienne = Austrian

§ <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Chienne = bitch.

o <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">People also disliked her for spending huge amounts of money on clothes, jewelry and gambling, for having favorites at court, and especially because they thought she was unfaithful to Louis.

· <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In 1774 Louis gave Marie Antoinette her own small palace in the grounds of the palace of Versailles.

o <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It was called the Petit Trianon.

o <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Over the next five years, Antoinette spent huge sums of money creating beautiful gardens around the Petit Trianon.

o <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In parts of the garden she vuilt a village, known as the hamlet, of eight thatched cottages, with a barn, stables and dairy.

o <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">They were all made to look run down, like a real village.

o <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">She even had farm animals such as sheep, goats and cows.

o <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Most people thought it was pointless and silly.

o <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">One of her subject said:

§ <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A lot of money had been spent, if a little more were spent, she could get rid of the real poor villages around them

§ <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Or better yet, they could use that money to improve those villages

§ <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Instead of making fun of the poverty of your subjects…

o <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">However not all people criticized her:

§ <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Her foster brother said:

· <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Twelve rustic habitations were built at Trianon on the queen’s orders.

· <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In these, she settle twelve poor families, taking upon herself to provide them with constant maintenance.

§ <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Some modern historians have defended her:

· <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Like her aunt’s farm, it belongs in the context of new attempts to improve agriculture.

· <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The farm was run on commercial lines and brought in on average 6000 livres per year.

· <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It wasn’t only Marie who made the royal government un popular.

· <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Many people disliked that fact that the King had too much power.

· <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">One of the things that they disliked was the king’s use of “sealed letters”

o <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A sealed letter was a royal warrant ordering the imprisonment or exile of the person named on it.

o <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It was written on a single sheet of paper, signed by the king, folded and sealed with wax.

o <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The person whose name appeared on it stayed in prison or in exile for as long as the king wished.

o <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">People also hated the king’s ministers could use them as well.

o <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Anybody could have been sent a letter, because the ministers wanted to take revenge.

o <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">During the reign of Lousi 16, around 14000 sealed letters were issued, mainly against people who disagreed with the government.

o <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Some were sent into exile in distant parts of France. Others were put into royal prisons such as the Bastille in Paris.

· <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This was only one of the ways in which the King could impose his authority.

· <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">People criticized Louis of being a “despot”. This meant that a ruler was a dictator or tyrant.

· <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">One of the most urgent problem facing the country was the fact that his government was deeply in debt.

· <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The French government had been in deby for nearly a hundred years.

o <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This was because it spent more each year than it received in taxes.

o <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In 1786, the government minister in charge of finances, Calonne, informed Louis that the government was close to financial collapse.

o <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">They must either increases taxes, or reduce their spending, or borrow money.

· <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Calonne drew up up a plan to reform the tax system. The biggest change would be a tax on land which all landowners would have to pay.

· <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This would be difficult because

o <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The nobles would do what they could to get out of paying it.

o <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">They refuse to register, which would delay the new tax from coming into effect.

§ <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hoping to avoid the delay, Calonne invited 150 leading nobles and clergymen to Paris to discuss and approve the new tax.

§ <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As only loyal supporters of the king were invided, he thought they would give it their approval without much of a fight

§ <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">However, they refused to agree to the new tax. They claimed they did not have the power to approve new taxes.

§ <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">They said only the Estates General, had that power.

§ <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Estates General was sort of a national parliament elected by all three estates.

· <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Louis then dismissed them and tried to introduce the new tax without their approval.

· <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The nobles in the Paris Parlement, refused to register it.

· <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">They too said the person who had the power was the Estates General.

· <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">However, Louis insisted that he alone had that power, and ixeled the entire Parlement.

· <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">People everywhere in France protested angrily against this, some of it was even violent.

· <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In Grenoble, four people died in a “day of Tiles” when a mob of protesters pelted soldiers with tiles torn from the city’s rooftops.

· <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The protest went on for the next six motnhs.

· <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In August 1788, Louis gave in. he ordered elections to be held for an Estates General.

· <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The date of its first meeting was to be 1 May 1789.