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Negative impacts of louis xiv reign
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Cyrano de Bergerac I chose how french society in the late 1600s compare to how society was portrayed in Cyrano de Bergerac. There are many layers to french society in the late 1600s. France in those times had a rising middle class. There were three orders in the middle class known as the nobility, the commoners, and the clergy, and each order broke off into smaller divisions.
Prior to the French Revolution, French society was divided into three distinct estates: the First Estate, the Second Estate, and the Third Estate. Each estate was represented by individuals of a certain repute who had different roles in 17th century French society. In his written play, Cyrano de Bergerac, Edmond Rostand portrays this class division through his many characters and their place in society. In the 17th century, Roman Catholicism was at its prime in French society.
Catholicism was the dominant religion in this period . The king’s position upheld great respect as the people believed his power was sourced from God . The 18th century in France is known as the Age of Enlightenment as influential figures such as Voltaire and Rousseau inspired the Third Estate . These Philosophes introduced ideas of freedom. Voltaire believed the “single man” should become ruled “by law alone” to gain independence .
Furthermore, Louis XVI Built the palace of Versailles specifically to control the nobles. He had all of the nobles come and live with him. In their place, he sent his loyal workers to spread his control throughout the land. With the nobles at Versailles, all the people of France were all directly connected to their king, and he had all of their loyalty. This was a feat never accomplished in England, the nobles were never totally controlled.
Nobles lost their advantaged position in French society causing, among other things, loss of life, a perceived forced emigration to other lands, loss of property, and the end of seigneurial rights and income. Some of these advantages were subsequently recovered during Emperor Napoleon’s reign but many pre-Revolutionary rights were forever
The three estates system was used to rule France in the eighteenth century. Each estate was composed of the clergy, nobles, and commoners respectively. However, this system of governance allowed the first and second estates, which comprised only 10% of the population, to outvote the third estate, which was made up of 90% of the people. By questioning the fairness of the system, the third estate was able to revolutionize and abolish the unfair system. Without the questioning of the decisions and ideas of the second and first estate, the third estate would’ve continued to be taken advantage of.
Throughout history, there has always been a fracture between those of different social castes. Whereas these minute differences may at first seem inconsequential, they inevitably lead to a large division within the society. A prime example of this is the three-tiered system that was in place in pre-Napoleonic France. In this system, France was divided into those of the clergy, the nobility, and the peasantry, creating one of the most prominent class divisions in modern history.
Around the eighteenth France was an autocratic monarchy. The French monarchs had limitless power and referred to themselves as the "Representative of god". They would buy themselves unneeded clothes, jewelry, and more. They would also arrest any person with no reason at any time. A few examples that portray this monarchy and riches include Louis XIV famous remarks is "I am the state", Louis XV was when France became bankrupt because of luxury and wars, Louis
The boundless loop of power struggles takes one final stop in France, specifically, the French Revolution. Starting in the late 1700s, the people of France had little rights, the economy was a mess, and there was a food shortage. More than 17,000 people had been executed during this time. Aristocrats were said to have committed "crimes against society". The crimes they committed were living a lavish lifestyle as the commoners below them suffered.
The most conspicuous group at court was the civil aristocracy. Based in the capital city of Kyoto, this group of people was the ruling class in society. As an illustration, scholars found this group consisted of around five thousand aristocrats were in the service of the emperor and empress in court (Sansom, 1953; Morris, 1964; Hall, 1970; Hempel, 1983; Hane, 1991; 2013; Adolphson, 1997; 2012; Mason and Caiger, 1997; McCullough, 1999a; 1999b; McCullough, 1999; Shivley and McCullough, 1999; Varley, 2000; Totman, 2005; Schalow, 2007; Hérail, 2013). These aristocrats served the emperor and empress because they were the only source of power in society. In fact, as the only source of power, aristocrats occupied the court that gave them access to
The ‘Ancien Régime’ is the term used to describe the political and social system of France prior to the French Revolution of 1789. It included the reign of the late Valois and Bourbon dynasties. After centuries of religious wars, multiple upheavals, the Bourbon dynasty reached its true height during the long reign of Louis XIV. During this period, the aristocrat class expanded from only “nobles of the blood”, to include “nobles of the robe” who were nouveau riche merchants that aspired for higher societal rank. In order to reign in, and keep the aristocrats in check, Louis XIV forced them to come to court and entertain him.
French society was defined by the the “Ancien Regime” the system of three estates (Clergy, Nobility, and Peasantry). The clergy and nobility were respected and had a higher position in society and the peasants were left to carry the country, by working farms, generating the wealth, and paying a large majority of taxes. This largely contributed to the tensions arising in 1780’s France. Meanwhile, France was engaged in the Age of Enlightenment people were demanding that church and state be separate, the King resigns and a new logic based system of government is to be established.
In this paper I discuss the four phases of the French revolution and how they influenced one and other, these phases consist of The National assembly/ The Constitutional Monarchy, The Reign of Terror, The Directory, and the Age of Napoleon. The First phase of the French revolution is the National assembly or Constitutional Monarchy. " Constitutional monarchy, system of government in which a monarch shares power with a constitutionally organized government.
One of the major reasons why the Revolution came to pass is due to the Old French Social Order, also known as the Old Regime. In the years directly preceding the Revolution, French society was sharply divided into social classes, some highly privileged, others much less so; and all classes increasingly expressed dissatisfaction with traditional sociopolitical order, making the demand for and implementation of systemwide change inevitable. The social order of Continental Europe was anchored firmly on the assumption of human inequality. The privileged were divided into churchmen, or the First Estate, and the aristocracy, the Second Estate. More than twenty-four million Frenchmen, artisans, town laborers and countryfolk, were grouped in the unprivileged
Nobility was considered to be in the class by being born into the hierarchy or becoming