levo

Y313: The Ascendancy of France 1610–1715

The development of absolute monarchy and the role of ministers: ministers, intendants, taxation and privilege

  • 3 things to know
  • Unit group 3

Overview

Recall questions on Fouquet’s arrest, Colbert, Le Tellier and Louvois, intendants and governors, Versailles, the parlements, the taille and indirect taxes, the new taxes of 1695 and 1710, and noble privilege.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

Which was the main direct tax in France, and who escaped it?

Key term

Define the office of intendant.

Key term

Name three indirect taxes or revenue devices the crown relied on.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Explain the political significance of the arrest of Nicolas Fouquet in 1661.

    Model answer

    The fall and trial of the Superintendent of Finances showed that no servant of the crown would be allowed the independent wealth, patronage or splendour that might rival the king's own.

  2. 2

    Summarise Colbert's economic policy.

    Model answer

    He pursued mercantilism: building up French manufactures and exports behind protective tariffs, founding state and privileged workshops and trading companies, expanding the navy and merchant marine, and improving roads, canals and ports so that bullion flowed into France rather than out.

  3. 3

    Outline the changes Michel Le Tellier and his son Louvois made to the French army.

    Model answer

    They turned it into a royal rather than a proprietary force, raising it to around 300,000 men in wartime, regulating promotion by the ordre du tableau, appointing army intendants and inspectors, and organising pay, drill, uniforms, barracks and supply magazines.

  4. 4

    Define the office of intendant.

    Model answer

    A commissioner sent out by the crown, holding revocable powers of justice, police and finance in a province, who could override local officials and answered directly to the royal councils rather than owning his post.

  5. 5

    How did the position of provincial governors change during the period?

    Model answer

    Governorships remained prestigious posts for great nobles, but the crown shortened tenures, moved holders between provinces, kept many at court and transferred their real administrative work to intendants, leaving the office chiefly one of prestige, patronage and military command.

  6. 6

    In what sense was Versailles a symbol of absolutism?

    Model answer

    Once the court settled there in 1682 the palace made the king's person the physical centre of the kingdom, gathering the nobility around a daily routine of ritual in which favour flowed only from proximity to the monarch.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

1Closed book
2Open book
3Closed book

The 3-step method, run for you

Answer cold, learn it, then prove it stuck. Levo tracks the jump between your first attempt and your last.

Y101: Alfred and the Making of England 871–1016
Y102: Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest 1035–1107
Y103: England 1199–1272
Y104: England 1377–1455

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

Franz Ferdinand was shot at in June.
SarajevoBelgradeVienna

Blank Blitz makes facts automatic

Rapid timed gap-fills on the terms and numbers you need to recall without thinking.

AA republic replaced the sultanate.
BThe caliphate was abolished in 1924.
CThe Latin alphabet was adopted.

Build It gets the exam shape right

Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

Simony means the buying and selling of Church office.
TrueFalse

Test It catches misconceptions

Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

721941163128510

Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

Every question in Y313: The Ascendancy of France 1610–1715, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.