France in the early modern period

France from the late 15th century through the French Revolution, shaped by Valois and Bourbon rule, religious conflict, overseas expansion, and the growth of centralized monarchy.

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Absolute monarchy in France: A system of royal government that sought to concentrate political authority in the French crown. It captures the Bourbon monarchy’s effort to turn royal supremacy into a governing principle.
Valois dynasty: A French royal dynasty that ruled from 1328 to 1589, including during the later Hundred Years’ War and the Italian Wars. The Valois kings governed France through the early modern period’s opening crises and expansion.
Henry IV of France: King of France from 1589 to 1610 and the first French monarch of the Bourbon dynasty. His conversion and settlement helped end civil war and restore royal authority.
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes: Louis XIV’s 1685 cancellation of the protections for French Protestants established by the Edict of Nantes. It reversed Henry IV’s compromise and drove many Huguenots into exile.
English Civil War: A series of conflicts in the 1640s between royalists and parliamentarians that led to the execution of Charles I. Its outcome contrasts with France’s continued strengthening of hereditary royal government.
Intendants: Royal commissioners who administered provinces and carried out central government policies in France. Their provincial work extended royal authority beyond the court and capital.
Louis XI of France: King of France from 1461 to 1483, known for strengthening royal authority and expanding the crown’s territory. His consolidation of power helped shape the monarchy inherited by later Valois rulers.
Cardinal Richelieu: French chief minister from 1624 to 1642 who strengthened the crown and pursued France’s interests in Europe. His policies targeted rival power centers at home while expanding French influence abroad.
Huguenot diaspora: The dispersal of French Protestants, especially after restrictions and persecution intensified in the seventeenth century. Exile drained France of skilled communities and spread French Protestant networks abroad.
Dutch Republic: A federal republic formed in the northern Netherlands, independent in practice from Spain by the late sixteenth century. Its decentralized republican structure offered a European alternative to Bourbon monarchy.