Overview

This collection of documents with commentary explores the meaning of absolute monarchy by examining how Louis XIV of France became one of Europe's most famous and successful rulers. In the introduction, Willliam Beik integrates the theoretical and practical nature of absolutism and its implications for the development of European states and society. The documents, newly translated and carefully selected for their readability, examine the problems of the Fronde, Colbert's grasp of the economic and fiscal dimension of the kingdom, the taming of the rural nobility, the interaction of royal ministers and provincial authorities, the repression of Jansenists and Protestants, popular rebellions, and royal image making. Explanatory notes, a chronology, and twelve images and maps further strengthen this volume's usefulness in the undergraduate classroom.

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9780312133092

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Reviews

'Beik has selected documents that offer an appropriate balance between elite and popular views and experiences of Louis XIV's absolute monarchy, and between the center of power and the periphery. The translations are consistently lively, and the topics should generate some spirited discussion. The general introduction, the chapter introductions, the headnotes, and the editorial interjections are well crafted and have just the right touch of informality to appeal to undergraduate students' - Albert N. Hamscher, Kansas State University 'William Beik supplies us with a comprehensive. yet accessible array of documents that illustrate the complex dynamics of political power during the reign of Louis XIV. These primary sources lead us away from the trite simplifications connected to 'absolutism' and provide us with a much more accurate view of the actual day-to-day functioning of the French government in this period. This collection will appeal to a broad range of students at different levels and provides instructions with an excellent new cache of transalted documents on early modern France' - Sarah Chapman, Oakland University 'This book offers a wide range of valuable documents on the critical issues of seventeenth-century French history. Professor Beik has done a fine job of translating documents he chose judiciously and has also provided insightful commentaries. This volume is bound to captivate students and lays the foundation for stimulating class discussions' - John Hurt, University of Delaware

Author Information

WILLIAM BEIK is professor of history at Emory University. An authority on the social and institutional history of seventeenth-century France, he has written numerous books and articles.

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