France also had a prosperous middle class, which they looked to for support against the nobility. However, there was one difference. England enjoyed geographical isolation that protected her against invasion. England had not been invaded since the Norman Conquest in 1066. As a result, her people felt secure, and rulers found it difficult to justify a standing army. England did maintain a large navy; but navies could not be used in the same way as armies, to overawe subjects and to suppress rebellions.
France faced constant threat of invasion. Her northeastern and eastern borders were poorly protected by geographical barriers and had been penetrated many times. French rulers were able to justify standing armies. Geography was not the only reason for the longer persistence of absolute government in France, but it was a major factor.
French absolutism evolved gradually. Some factors went back to the reigns of Philip Augustus, Louis IX, and Philip IV in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. They solidified their power by hiring mercenary soldiers and substituting national taxation for the feudal dues. They reserved the administration of justice to themselves and restricted the authority of the pope to regulate ecclesiastical affairs in France. The Hundred Years' War brought more power. Kings were able to introduce new taxation to support a standing army and were able to abolish the sovereignty of the nobles. The nobles were gradually reduced to the level of courtiers, dependent on the king for their titles and prestige.
The trend towards absolutism was interrupted in the sixteenth century. France became involved in a war with Spain and an internal struggle. A civil war between Huguenots and the Catholics contested which group would control the throne. The nobles took advantage of the confusion to reassert their power.
Henry of Navarre
In 1589 Henry III was assassinated and left no direct heir to succeed him. Henry of Navarre, the leader of the Huguenots, declared himself king. However, French Catholics and Philip II of Spain refused to recognize him. Henry had to fight, with help from England, for four more years. Finally, saying Paris was worth a Catholic mass, he became Catholic to restore peace and gain entry to Paris. Henry was crowned Henry IV in 1594, thus beginning the Bourbon dynasty.
Although he became Catholic, Henry did not forget the Huguenots. In 1598 he issued the Edict of Nantes which gave freedom of worship and political rights to the Huguenots. France became the first country to allow more than one religious group.
Henry concentrated on bringing the nobles back in line and rebuilding France after years of civil strife. Working with the minister, Maximilian de Bethune, the Duke of Sully, Henry promoted agriculture and public works. New canals and highways were built. A new annual tax, the paulette, on the offices of the state, was initiated. The revenues gained from the paulette allowed the reduction of the taille, a land tax on the peasantry. By tightening collection of taxes and reducing expenditures, Sully was able in one year to balance the state budget.
Henry's reign was intelligent and benevolent but nevertheless despotic. Henry laid the foundations that would later allow France to become the strongest country in Europe.
Richelieu
When Henry IV was assassinated in 1610, his eight-year-old son became Louis XIII. Louis' mother, Marie de Medici (from the Medici family of Italy), became regent. Her policies soon brought disorder again. The increased Italian influence and the pro-Spanish foreign policy antagonized many people. The opposition finally forced Marie to call the Estates General, the French legislative body, in 1614. The conflicting aims and hatreds of the nobility, clergy, and Third Estate made it a failure. The Estates General was not called again until 1789.
France seemed on the verge of repeating the disasters of the sixteenth century. Disaster, however, was prevented with the rise of Cardinal Richelieu, who had been secretary of state for war and foreign policy since 1616. Through Marie's patronage he became a cardinal in 1622 and two years later became the chief minister of France.
Richelieu was the real power behind Louis XIII. Though Louis disliked him, he gave Richelieu complete control. Richelieu increased French power more than anyone else. He had two goals, and he succeeded in both. First, Richelieu wanted to make the king all powerful in France. Second, he wanted to make France supreme in Europe.
To accomplish the first goal Richelieu attacked the political rights of the Huguenots. He attacked La Rochelle, the main Huguenot city, and forced the Huguenots to give up their privileges of having fortified towns garrisoned with their own troops. By the Peace of Alais, the Huguenots gave up their political and military rights they had gained in the Edict of Nantes; but they retained their civil rights. The reasons behind Richelieu's Protestant policy were not religious. He employed Protestants throughout the government, but his policy was based on expediency only. Richelieu wanted to destroy the potential political consequences of a separate group within the state.
