Collins, The State in Early Modern France, 125-49.
1. What did Louis XIV achieve as a result of the War of the League of Augsburg?
2. What were the chief features of court life at Versailles? Who resided at court? Why? Who did not reside at court? (Click on the above link and explore the website, especially those related to "The Chateau, the museum" and the panoramas of the Hall of Mirrors and the King's Bedchamber.)
3. What do the capitation records tell us about the structure of the nobility?
4. Collins informs us that "the members of the Parlement of Burgundy owned three times as many coaches as all the nobles of the province combined" (pp. 138-39). Is this fact simply a piece of trivia or does it have greater historical significance? 5. Why can we call "a government in which three families monopolized all important ministries" a "modern bureaucratic government" (p. 142)?
6. How did the monarchy evolve from 1500 to 1700? Why does Collins comment: "People leave, but the state remains" (p. 144)?
7. Identify two major changes evident in the system of justice under Louis XIV. What are the significance of these changes?
8. Why does Collins entitle Chapter 4 "The debacle"?
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