Alabama Social Studies SS24.8.14b
The Standard
- SS24.8.14
- Summarize the rise of absolutism and explain how absolute monarchy differed from governing practices in Europe before the seventeenth century.
Analyze the rise of absolutism in France under Louis XIV, including the divine right of kings.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain how Louis XIV increased royal control in France. They describe how Versailles, royal officials, and the army helped him rule, and how divine right was used to justify his authority.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can explain why keeping nobles at Versailles gave Louis XIV more control. They can distinguish a way he exercised power, such as appointing officials, from his claim that God gave him the right to rule.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think divine right was a law that gave the king unlimited power, rather than a claim used to justify his rule. They may also think the nobles lost all power or that Louis XIV personally made every local decision.
How to Assess It
- On an exit ticket, ask: “Name one way Louis XIV strengthened his control of France. How did divine right help him defend that control?”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs paper role cards for the king, nobles, and intendants; have them build an arrow chart showing who appointed officials and enforced royal orders.
Ask students to write three sentences answering: “How did Versailles help Louis XIV control nobles, and how did divine right justify his rule?”
Run a four-card sort with Versailles, intendants, the army, and divine right; students label each as a tool of control or a justification.
Show a current school rule and ask who has authority to make it; students compare that source of authority with Louis XIV’s divine right claim.
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Related Standards
- SS24.8.14a
Explain how the Thirty Years’ War and the Peace of Westphalia led to the rise of absolutism.
- SS24.WH.2
Assess the causes and consequences of the French Revolution.
- SS24.8.7d
Analyze the effects of political events in Europe during the Middle Ages, including the coronation of Charlemagne, the Norman Conquest, and the Hundred Years’ W...
- SS24.8.14
Summarize the rise of absolutism and explain how absolute monarchy differed from governing practices in Europe before the seventeenth century.
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