3.1 European Rulers

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• Middelbare school
• mavo
• Leerjaar 2

Regents & Monarchs

What do you already know about...
Period 6: Regents and monarchs
1600-1700

3.1 European Rulers

At the end of this lesson, you will know:

• How King Louis XIV expanded French territory and increased his power in France.
• How the English king became less powerful.
• How the Netherlands was governed.

The French King 

King Louis XIV became the most powerful king of Europe during 1643 to 1715
Louis was the absolute ruler. He strived for

absolutism: a government system in which the monarch has absolute power. 
The Sun King 

The French King 

L'etat, C'est moi: 
- No power for the nobles

- Great & strong army

- No rights for the protestants (Huguenots) 
- Built an incredibly large palace in Versailles

Palace of Versailles

20 kilometers outside Paris

2 billion euros (now)

6,000 paintings, 1,500 drawings, 5,000 engravings, and 2,500 fountains

The English King

The English Catholic king James II also wanted absolute power. 

He had a problem, protestant nobles  held a lot of power. 
They rebelled against James in 1688. 

Royal couple

They wanted to replace him with his Protestant daughter Mary and her husband, the Dutch prince William III of Orange. 

With their support, William invaded England in 1688

The government of the Republic

The Dutch Republic consisted of seven small provinces 
The highest form of government in each province were the States
The administrators (bestuurders) were called regents
All cities were governed by a few rich families. Such a government by a small group is called an oligarchy

highest regent was the stadtsholder, always a member of the Royal family of Orange.

The government of the Netherlands in 2025

verwerking

Choose one of the tasks below. (week 2/3) 

Next week so 1.4 The Dutch Revolt!

With workbook: 4, 5, 7

Without workbook: Research the English Sea Wars and describe the course of one of the four wars. Use 200 words.

Creative: Make a clear and detailed drawing of the government of the Dutch Republic. Your teacher might use this in the explanation.