The State in Early Modern France

New Approaches to European History #5

by James B. Collins

A new edition of James Collins's acclaimed synthesis that challenged longstanding views of the origins of modern states and absolute monarchy through an analysis of early modern Europe's most important continental state. Incorporating recent scholarship on the French state and his own research, James Collins has revised the text throughout. He examines recent debates on 'absolutism'; presents a fresh interpretation of the Fronde and of French society in the eighteenth century; includes additional material on French colonies and overseas trade; and ties recent theoretical work into a new chapter on Louis XIV. He argues that the monarchical state came into being around 1630, matured between 1690 and 1730 and, in a new final chapter, shows that the period May 1787 to June 1789 was an interregnum, with the end of the Ancien Régime coming not in 1789 but with the dissolution of the Assembly of Notables on 25 May 1787.

Genres: History, France, Nonfiction

438 pages, Paperback

First published September 28, 1995

Reviews

[Christopher G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collins begins with a quote by Guillaume Du Vair speaking to King Louis XIII that the salvation of his state rested solely upon the monarch. This sets the stage for Collins to unfurl the history of how France progressed towards an absolutist monarchy with stability in society ebbing and flowing. Collins takes the reader on a journey of how early France, or the "polyglot empire" of varying regional voices, might culminate in the singular executive voice of the monarch under the rule of King Louis XIII. The history of the judicial and legislative emphasis of the monarchy is explored but Collin’s focus is on the executive era.

The eponymous crucible of chapter 1 is a double entendre that may signify the forging of the state and the commonwealth under the sole rule of the king while simultaneously referring to the testing of catholicism as the ultimate authority in Christianity. As the church struggled with its identity and power with the rise of protestantism, Louis XIII mirrored this effort with his attempts at securing his absolute power and the evolution of the French State which came to a head with the siege of Rochelle. To reorganize and regain control of the state, Louis XIII assembled the “Notables” who all agreed on how to restructure France. This reorganization was successful in making France a stronger state making it powerful enough to ally itself with Holland and Sweden and wage war with Spain.

Collins begins chapter two with lackluster detail about the war with Spain with which the outcome set France up as the dominant power of Europe. Continuing the theme of France having financial issues from the first chapter, France had a hard time paying their armies, leading to an increase in taxes. This led to many interesting rebellions and uprisings that were eventually disbanded but most provinces never really payed their taxes, making war efforts impractical. Spain was worse off with much internal revolting leading to independence for some provinces marking an end to their “Siglo de oro.” In any event the war with Spain solidified a new weapon of choice in battle, the gun.

France began to spend more money on the arts, science became important and Louis the XIII went to great effort to preserve the French language, assembling the greatest writers to document it. It is my opinion that giving such importance to the arts, science, and preserving the language increased unity in France although it ebbed and flowed. France and the crown were obsessed with order and feared that if Louis XIII died, disorder would ensue. They were right.

After Louis XIII died, the absence of an adult King crippled the government. Anne, Queen Regent, shuffled councils and governorships which led to political instability. The new government was ineffective in that they were unable to collect taxes, had alienated the royal officers, lost control of old clientage networks and were unable to stabilize the provinces. The Fronde saw years of infighting and sieges and declarations and articles of peace being signed. After the death of Mazarin, the adult King Louis XIV restructured his government and stabilized France. Fouquet and Colbert fought for control of finances with Fouquet winning out until the king’s jealousy led to a trial that tested the absolutist monarchy. Colbert, as the controller general in charge of finances, led France in what is now considered a mercantile system.

King Louis XIV led France in many successful wars in Europe, which added greatly to its territory and influence in Europe. Not all attempts were viewed as a success, the most notable of which was the war with Holland. France isolated itself from its traditional allies that would prove unfavorable in future disputes.

In my opinion, the most interesting part of the reading has to do with Louis’ interaction with religious groups. It appears as though Louis, although a Catholic, was not a fan of the Pope and deliberately exacerbated their quarrel. He often allied with the Pope to strip the Huguenots of religious freedoms especially in the revocation of the Edict of Nantes but he relied on the Jansenists during his conflicts with the Pope. Collins describes the Edict of Fontainebleau as a prime example of royal absolutism. Louis annihilated Protestantism and in doing so renewed religious fervor amongst the Catholics.

Collins goes on to point out the corruption in finances with the mercantile system and issues in manufacturing problems with the bourgeois. Essentially the bourgeois didn’t want to work more than they needed to in order to fill other’s pockets and this was seen as lazy by the crown. Colbert intended to reform the French economy but it proved unsuccessful. It was also at this time that France saw an effort to reform the judicial system but ran into problems with a conflict of law and privilege. Land ownership brought about innumerous lawsuits. This judicial conflict led to revolts and revealed that relationships outweighed absolutism.

Collins begins chapter 4 with the Great War which he considers the first global European war. This is evident in that the fighting spread outside of Europe into the New World. Collins focuses on the two main wars included in the Great War which began with the War of the League of Augsburg and ends with the War for Spanish Succession. Collins states that he used to not consider adjacent conflicts as related to the Great War but now includes the Great Northern War and the Long Turks War. Essentially Collins lays out the exhaustive lengths France went to to increase its influence, land and power. Through alliances and wars France suffered many defeats in that they were bleeding money and had enormous casualties from war.

France lucked out a few times, the most notable being when Louis XIV’s grandson Phillip gained the crown in Spain. The titular “debacle” I believe is the fact that France was looking for peace at any cost and were offered a deal that included Louis taking out his own grandson if he refused to give up the Spanish crown. The chapter goes on to discuss women and peasant suffrage through Louis’ edicts and widespread famine over a thirty year period. By the end of his life, the people of France weren’t too sad to see him go.

Chapter 5 is almost entirely about finances and how Louis XIII and XIV changed the government. If I’m honest, I would have called this chapter “The Debacle” because I had a hard time getting through it. I found it completely boring and void of action. While it is extremely informative and important in understanding revenue systems and financial revolution in France, I just didn’t care. The most interesting parts for me in chapter 5 were about the military revolutions in France and how they were behind the English and Dutch.

The chapter also discusses the marriage alliances within the tight group of the royal government. One notable mention of the finances is the Law system of paper money. Law believed that having more paper money would be beneficial so he carelessly issued millions. This left the system in ruins. The French monarchy was billions in debt after the many wars and conflicts and had no way of ever repaying their debts.

The king undermined Colbert’s sound money policy for outdated ones. However flawed the crown was in handling finances, the men in charge of finances in the late seventeenth century were committed to fairness and equity. Collins says that they did create more equity and even helped increase revenue for the crown.

Collins begins by detailing how Louis XV was not set up for success. The French were starting to grow discontent with their government, suffering under another plague and high taxes. French people of this time found their identity in their professions. Manufactured production began to take over and many small local merchants lost out to mass production. Collins argues that manufactured production and colonial trade altered French society in the early eighteenth century.
France held a monopoly on colonial trade in French controlled colonies, specifically in Canada. The sugar trade became so popular that Parisians rioted over it’s cost. The French began moving where they could find work which led many to the ports along the sea leading to economic and population growth in certain pockets of France. One city might become prosperous while a neighboring city would stagnate.

Society also changed rapidly. France began to see an increase in literacy amongst its citizens and a shift from one on one education to many students in one classroom. Community policing worked for a while, but over time the public relied on authorities to handle matters of theft and conflict. In regards to the poor, the state decided which of its citizens were the “deserving” poor to receive assistance. The “undeserving” poor received imprisonment. A plague led to state interventions in health matters. The early eighteenth century saw a large increase in medical doctors.

King Louis XV was very involved in governing but was also very debaucherous, leading to conflicts with the Catholic church. Louis borrowed and spent money just as much as his predecessors, borrowing from Farmer’s General to pay for almost everything, including his oldest daughter’s wedding. Louis XV more than doubled military spending on conflicts like the War of Polish Succession. The king wanted cash more than anything which he traded for favors and tax breaks for his lenders.

Paris became the hub of French culture. A shift in influence from the courts to a Parisian audience changed public opinion. The public opinion of the concept of absolute monarchy subsided by the mid 18th century partly due to secularization of elites and the Bull Unigenitus. Critics like Voltaire began writing of free English people that could choose their own religion. Later he began critiquing the church. The focus of the enlightenment was that of separation of church and state. Montesquieu wrote critiques of the state. In 1759, the Parlements declared that the Parlement and the king together wrote the laws, further discrediting Louis XV’s absolute monarchy.

Collins argues that there were four areas of massive change in the late eighteenth century; the economy, social structure, political life and patterns of thought. Public opinion began to trump the judicial system. The late eighteenth century saw a loss in male dominance over women. The rising power of merchants created political stress as they often allied with lawyers. The increase in standard of living led to new patterns of consumption; regular people read newspapers, articles, etc… and would discuss politics, leading to a broader based public opinion as never seen before. However, the common people were still setback by famines and bouts of unemployment due to overproduction.

Collins considers The Seven Years War the end of the Old Regime. Essentially the War led France to ally with Austria finally seeing the Hapsburgs and Bourbons united. Unfortunately the French lost the majority of their key battles. Britain emerged dominant, gaining all of Canada. France lost French Louisiana to Spain. According to Collins, The Seven Years War was the worst Bourbon performance. France never recovered from the debts of the war. France’s financial instability, more than anything else, led to the collapse of the government.

After the Seven Years War the state tried many reform programs. Louis the XVI was unsuccessful in establishing a consistent policy. Even though they were broke, France aided the US in the American War of Independence but to little advantage for the French. Religious toleration was increasing during this time and Louis XVI put a protestant by the name of Necker as head of finance. Necker published an exaggerated but insightful report of finances to the King to much public fanfare. The 1788 public budget was the first of its kind and led to more financial reforms. Collins makes the incredible argument that constant financial reforms indicate a failed government. In the end the king knew that times had changed and in order to remain in power he would have to change with them.

[Valentina · Rating 1 out of 5]

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[Anthony Zupancic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Convincing account of the formation of France as state, primarily under Louis XIV. Argues, successfully, against the use of "absolutism" as interchangeable with "totalitarianism" or even "despotism."

[Anna]

Collins provides his own intervention into the question of absolutism and state formation in France, but this is also an excellent narrative account of the period.