To accomplish the first goal, Richelieu also issued an edict requiring the destruction of all nobles' castles not needed for national defense. Richelieu started a policy of getting the nobles to stay at court where they would be easier to watch and cut off from their local support. Control of local districts was given to royal officials, called intendants, directly responsible to the king.
Richelieu's second goal centered on weakening the power of the Hapsburgs. France was surrounded by the Hapsburgs. Spain was south of France. To the north were the Spanish Netherlands (now Belgium). To the east were Alsace and the Franche-Comte; further east was Austria. Richelieu waited for his chance and found it in the Thirty-Years' War.
France entered the war late and on the side of the Protestants. Though a Catholic country, France feared the Hapsburgs more than Protestantism. Richelieu's aims were to take Alsace from the Holy Roman Emperor and weaken the Hapsburgs in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy. France had already fought the Hapsburgs in the Netherlands, Italy, and Spain and had been secretly aiding the Germans with money. In 1635 French troops were sent against the Hapsburgs under the command of Prince Louis de Conde and Henri de Turenne. The French and the Protestants won the war in 1648 with the Peace of Westphalia. The war established France as the strongest country in Europe. The French victory was an important step in the decline of the Hapsburgs. The French defeated the Hapsburgs again in a series of wars lasting until 1659.
Richelieu was not an innovator. The principle change was in the application of force to gain submission to royal will and Richelieu's insistence that disobedience was both a sin and a state crime. His main accomplishments were a national postal service and the system of intendants to control local government. Both were devices to consolidate the nation behind the throne.
Richelieu had little concern for the common people who had to bear the heavy taxes he initiated. The people rejoiced at his death in 1642. Louis XIII died a year later. Louis' four-year-old son became Louis XIV; and Richelieu's successor Mazarin, controlled the government. Louis' mother, Anne of Austria, became regent.
The Fronde
Unrest surfaced dramatically from 1647 to 1652 in the civil conflict known as the Fronde. It was caused by several bad harvests, the beginning of a seventy-year-long decline in grain prices, and the discontent of provincial governors and old officeholders who were annoyed at being bypassed by Richelieu's administration. The English civil wars also encouraged the crisis.
The parliament of Paris, a court of law, complained about the wars, taxes, and absolutism and claimed a constitutional role in the government as protector of France's fundamental laws. The parliament called on other courts for revolutionary action. Officeholders demanded the recall of the intendants. In the summer of 1648, barricades went up in Paris. In January of 1649, Anne was forced to flee with Louis from Paris. This event was a humiliation Louis never forgot. Through negotiations and time the civil disorder receded. The revolutionists had only been able to agree on their dislike for Mazarin, and they left no legacy.
Louis XIV: The Sun King
Absolutism reached its zenith in the next three reigns. Proud, extravagant, and domineering, Louis XIV was the perfect example of an absolutist king. He regarded the welfare of the state as connected to his own personality. Like James I of England, Louis XIV believed in the divine right of kings. "L'etat c'est moi!" ("I am the state!") may not have been his exact words, but they are indicative of Louis' conception of his authority. Louis chose the sun as his official emblem to indicate his belief that France received her glory and sustenance from him as the planets received theirs from the sun. Louis XIV ruled with unlimited powers. To Louis' credit, no king worked harder. When Mazarin died, Louis became his own minister. He kept a regular schedule with many hours spent in consultations and paperwork. Louis personally supervised every department, and ministers had no duties but to obey his orders. Louis continued the policies of Henry IV and Richelieu in consolidating national power at the expense of local officials and the nobles. He continued to encroach on the jurisdiction of older officials and courts. These officials and courts continued to exist, but they no longer had any real function. Louis reorganized the army and strengthened the navy. Nevertheless, any good he may have accomplished was overshadowed by religious issues and wars.
Louis' religious intolerance was damaging to France. In 1685 he revoked the Edict of Nantes and began to persecute the Huguenots. About four hundred thousand fled to Prussia, England, and the English colonies and deprived France of some of her most progressive citizens.
