Grade 7 Lesson at a Glance: Chapter 17, Lesson 1

Houghton Mifflin Social Studies
Across the Centuries

Lesson at a Glance
Chapter 17, Lesson 1, The French Monarchy (pp. 452-456)

The Big Idea
Framework Concept: Rights During a long period of religious tension between Catholics and Huguenots, French kings and their prime ministers consolidated enormous power, reducing the threat to their authority from nobles and Protestants and creating an absolute monarchy.

Write the headings "absolute monarch" and "medieval king" on the board. Tell students that during the 1600s, French kings held enormous power, controlling everything from court etiquette to troop movements. The power of such kings would have been unimaginable to medieval kings, who often relied on feudal contracts and loyalties. Ask students to brainstorm the advantages and disadvantages to peasants and nobles of the two different kinds of kings. How would their individual rights be different? Discuss how French kings might have gone about undercutting the power of their nobles.

Lesson Outline
Use the Lesson Outline to preview the content of the lesson. You may wish to print it for your students as a guide during reading.

Check for Understanding

Ask students to imagine that they are nobles at Versailles. Have them write a letter to a family member back home on the estate about life at the palace of Louis XIV.
Have students create a flow chart showing how Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV increased the power of the monarchy, turning it into an absolute monarchy.

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