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Article: France
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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FRANCE
FRANCE.
France was both the largest state in early modern Europe and the most centrally situated. Its population of roughly 20 million dwarfed all rivals: in 1620 the country had ten times the population of the Dutch Republic, four times that of England, twice that of
Spain, and a third more than that of all the German states combined. On both north and south it bordered territories of the Habsburg kings of Spain, and it adjoined other Habsburg territories to the east; to the west there was Britain, which until 1544 maintained small outposts on the mainland, and even after could easily invade. The combination of size and centrality shaped much of French history during the early ...