Y313: the Ascendancy of France 1610-1715 | OCR A-Level History A (H505)

Y313: the Ascendancy of France 1610-1715

140 questions
13 subtopics
Thematic study and historical interpretations, one of twenty-one
Y301 to Y321

The Ascendancy of France 1610–1715 is unit Y313 of OCR History A, one of the twenty-one options in unit group 3, the thematic study and historical interpretations; a student sits one of them.

Its four key topics and three depth studies are the development of absolute monarchy and the role of ministers, religious developments, social developments and opposition, France as an international power, Richelieu’s relations with the French court and nobility, the Fronde 1648–1653, Versailles and image-making. 140 recall questions across 13 subtopics.

Sample questions from Y313: the Ascendancy of France 1610-1715

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

The development of absolute monarchy and the role of ministers: absolutist theory, regencies and chief ministers

Who governed France in the years immediately after Henry IV's assassination in 1610?

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His widow Marie de' Medici ruled as regent for the boy Louis XIII, leaning heavily on the Italian favourite Concino Concini.
The development of absolute monarchy and the role of ministers: ministers, intendants, taxation and privilege

Which was the main direct tax in France, and who escaped it?

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The taille, which fell overwhelmingly on the peasantry, because the nobility, the clergy, many officeholders and certain towns and provinces were exempt.
Religious developments: relations with the Huguenots, significance of Jansenism and royal reactions

Why did Richelieu leave Huguenot worship untouched after 1629?

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His purpose was political rather than confessional: once their armed independence was destroyed they were loyal subjects, and persecution would have divided France while he was preparing to fight the Catholic Habsburgs.
Social developments and opposition: the social order, noble conspiracies and peasant revolts

Describe the rising of the Va-Nu-Pieds in 1639.

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The 'barefoot' rebels of Normandy in 1639, who rose against the extension of the salt tax and attacked tax officials before the rising was crushed with great severity by royal troops under Gassion.
France as an international power: the wars of Louis XIV and the Treaty of Utrecht

Explain what was meant by the reunions.

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In the early 1680s special French courts awarded Louis XIV territories that they judged to be legal dependencies of lands already ceded to him, allowing him to annex places such as Strasbourg in 1681 in time of peace.
Depth study: Richelieu’s relations with the French court and nobility — extent of his authority

What did Marillac and the dévots want instead of Richelieu's policy?

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Michel de Marillac, Keeper of the Seals, wanted peace with the Habsburgs, a campaign against Protestantism and internal reform of justice and administration, set out in the Code Michau of 1629, rather than a ruinously expensive foreign war.
Depth study: The Fronde 1648–1653 — causes of the Fronde and French defeat at Lens

Why did the regency itself weaken the crown?

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A royal minority meant that authority rested on a queen mother who was Spanish by birth and on an Italian cardinal, and opponents could claim to be attacking evil ministers while professing loyalty to a child king.
Depth study: The Fronde 1648–1653 — the Fronde of the princes, failure and interpretations

How did the Fronde affect Louis XIV personally?

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He was driven from his capital in the freezing flight of January 1649, was forced to lie still while crowds inspected his bedchamber in 1651, and was declared of age that September, returning to Paris in triumph in October 1652.

The 13 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
The development of absolute monarchy and the role of ministers: absolutist theory, regencies and chief ministers	Recall questions on absolutism and divine right, absolute versus arbitrary rule, the regency after 1610, Louis XIII’s coup of 1617, the Estates General of 1614, Richelieu’s aims, the regency of 1643 and Louis XIV’s decision of 1661.	9
The development of absolute monarchy and the role of ministers: ministers, intendants, taxation and privilege	Recall questions on Fouquet’s arrest, Colbert, Le Tellier and Louvois, intendants and governors, Versailles, the parlements, the taille and indirect taxes, the new taxes of 1695 and 1710, and noble privilege.	11
Religious developments: ‘Most Christian King’, relations with the Jesuits and Catholic Orders	Recall questions on the Most Christian King, kings and ministers relations with the French Church and the Papacy, relations with the Jesuits and Catholic Orders.	9
Religious developments: relations with the Huguenots, significance of Jansenism and royal reactions	Recall questions on relations with the Huguenots, the significance of Jansenism and royal reactions to it.	11
Social developments and opposition: the social order, noble conspiracies and peasant revolts	Recall questions on the orders of society, sword and robe nobility, ennoblement, clergy, merchants and peasants, the conspiracies against Richelieu, duelling, the Fronde, the peasant risings and the nobility by 1715.	20
France as an international power: aims and the struggle with the Habsburgs to 1659	Recall questions on French aims and encirclement, the regency’s policy, the Valtelline and Mantua, war against the Habsburgs and entry into the Thirty Years War, Rocroi, Westphalia and the Peace of the Pyrenees.	12
France as an international power: the wars of Louis XIV and the Treaty of Utrecht	Recall questions on the attack on the Spanish Netherlands, the Dutch War, the reunions, the Nine Years War, the War of the Spanish Succession and its defeats, the Treaty of Utrecht and France’s position in 1715.	8
Depth study: Richelieu’s relations with the French court and nobility — extent of his authority	Recall questions on the extent of his authority.	11
Depth study: Richelieu’s relations with the French court and nobility — statesmanship	Recall questions on his statesmanship, his principles e.g. raison d état’, his edicts and methods, his policies towards the nobility and court e.g. the edict banning duelling, patronage and clientage.	9
Depth study: The Fronde 1648–1653 — causes of the Fronde and French defeat at Lens	Recall questions on the causes of the Fronde and French defeat at Lens.	8
Depth study: The Fronde 1648–1653 — the Fronde of the princes, failure and interpretations	Recall questions on the end of the first phase, the Fronde of the princes, Condé and de Retz, religion, Mazarin’s response, the violence of 1652, the effect on Louis XIV, the Fronde’s failure and significance, and its interpretation.	12
Depth study: Versailles and image-making — cultural impact and political significance of Versailles	Recall questions on the cultural impact including entertainment and the political significance of Versailles.	12
Depth study: Versailles and image-making — cost, criticism and image-making	Recall questions on the cost and claimed benefits of Versailles, Colbert’s objections, its international standing, contemporary criticism, the fabrication of Louis XIV, the effectiveness of royal image-making and historians’ disagreements.	8

Y313: the Ascendancy of France 1610-1715 is 140 of the 6,240 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £8

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.