SS9 – Crossroads
-FrnchRv2 - Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette
Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette
Louis XIV (14th) ruled France for over 70 years started at the age of 7 and gave himself the nickname “The Sun King”.
Louis did little for his country and was a largely ineffective ruler who preferred to live a life of luxury and excess.
Louis fuelled the religious troubles of his country by persecuting Protestants and by claiming that he had special rights within the Roman Catholic Church.
The French gov’t was ineffective and did little to help the French people.
Taxes were high and plentiful, there was little infrastructure to support businesses and there wasn’t even a common law for the country.
Marie Antoinette was the Austrian bride of Louis XVI
(Louis’ XIV successor) and was a very unpopular Queen.
Marie was strong willed and opinionated, but had no learning or experiences on which to base her judgements. The result was often decision that affected gov’t and the people of France in a negative way.
SS9 – Crossroads
-FrnchRv2 - Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette
Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette
Directions: Read pages 62-67 in your text Crossroads – A Meeting of Nations.
1. On a separate piece of paper, provide definitions for the following terms;
Scandal Portfolio Deficit
Revolutionary Mediocrity
2. On a separate piece of paper, answer the following questions using COMPLETE
SENTENCES;
a) Who gave Louis XIV his nickname and why was he called the “Sun King” ( 2 mks for quality of answer)
b) Describe some of the problems associated with having to do business in France during the reign of Louis XIV. (2 mks for your description and your examples)
c) Why was Marie Antoinette hated by the French people? (2 mks for quality of answer and examples)
d) Describe and provide an example as to how Marie Antoinette did more harm than good when she interfered with the governing of France. (2 mks for quality of answer and example)
3. We often gain knowledge of people and events by asking questions.
The quality of the questions asked will often determine how
much knowledge can be gained.
Read “The Two Views of Marie Antoinette”
(found on page 67 of your text) and
devise a set of 5 questions that a person could have asked
Marie Antoinette to help determine what type of person she was
before she became Queen of France.
You will be marked out of 5 for your 5 questions and out of 5 for the quality of questions for a total of 10 marks.