HIST 3367: Europe in the Age of Absolutism & Revolutions

Includes over 100 primary sources, edited for clarity and pedagogical utility, ranging from letters, political tracts, memoirs, and fiction, to essays,speeches, poems, and legal documents.

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 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. Includes explanatory notes, a chronology, a map, a genealogy chart, and images.

The memoirs of Hortense (1646-1699) and of Marie (1639-1715) Mancini, nieces of the powerful Cardinal Mazarin and members of the court of Louis XIV, represent the earliest examples in France of memoirs published by women under their own names during their lifetimes.

A diary kept by a boy in the 1790s sheds new light on the rise of autobiographical writing in the 19th century and sketches a panoramic view of Europe in the Age of Enlightenment. The French Revolution and the Batavian Revolution in the Netherlands provide the backdrop.

Wide variety of key documents--most of which appear in English for the first time here--this sourcebook reveals the origins, significance, and consequences of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), the first great, and catastrophic, pan-European conflict. Headnotes introduce each selection, and a general introduction provides both a brief history of the war and a discussion of its causes. An index, suggestions for further reading, a map, and several examples of seventeenth-century artwork are included

Selections include pieces by Locke, Rousseau, Mary Wortley Montagu, Denis Diderot, and more. A comprehensive introduction establishes the issues central to understanding the documents and provides important background on the political and social debates of the period.