This analysis of the provincial reality of absolutism argues that the relationship between the regional aristocracy and the crown was a key factor in influencing the traditional social system of seventeenth century France.

This unique 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, William Beik succinctly 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 dimensions 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, a map, a geneaology chart, and 9 striking images further strengthen this volume’s usefulness in the undergraduate classroom.

Annotation Most Seventeenth Century European Monarchs ruled territories which were culturally and institutionally diverse. Forced by the escalating scale of war to mobilise evermore men and money they tried to bring these territories under closer control, overriding regional and sectional liberties. This was justified by a theory stressing the monarchs absolute power and his duty to place the good of his state before particular interests. The essays of this volume analyse this process in states at very different stages of economic and political development and assess the great gulf that often existed between the monarchs power in theory and in practice.

A magisterial history of French society between the end of the middle ages and the Revolution by one of the world's leading authorities on early modern France. Using colorful examples and incorporating the latest scholarship, William Beik conveys the distinctiveness of early modern society and identifies the cultural practices that defined the lives of people at all levels of society. Painting a vivid picture of the realities of everyday life, he reveals how society functioned and how the different classes interacted. In addition to chapters on nobles, peasants, city people, and the court, the book sheds new light on the Catholic church, the army, popular protest, the culture of violence, gendered relations, and sociability. This is a major new work that restores the ancien régime as a key epoch in its own right and not simply as the prelude to the coming Revolution.