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Article: Fronde
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
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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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FRONDE
FRONDE.
The civil wars that divided France from 1648 to 1653 are known as the Fronde (from the French for 'sling' or 'slingshot'). They erupted when Anne of Austria (1601
–
1666) was governing the kingdom as regent for her minor son, Louis XIV (ruled 1643
–
1715). Although the various movements that formed the Fronde lacked clear unity, they had in common a defiance of the government of a foreign queen
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Anne was Spanish by birth
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and her principal minister, the Italian Cardinal Jules Mazarin (1602
–
1661). The Fronde was also a last attempt by some of France's leading political actors to bend the absolute rule established over their realm by previous ...