PERIODS OF EUROPEAN HISTORY PERIOD V., 1598–1715. _In Eight Volumes. Crown 8vo. With Maps._ =PERIODS OF EUROPEAN HISTORY= General Editor--ARTHUR HASSALL, M.A., Student of Christ Church, Oxford. The object of this series is to present in separate Volumes a comprehensive and trustworthy account of the general development of European History, and to deal fully and carefully with the more prominent events in each century. The Volumes will embody the results of the latest investigations, and will contain references to and notes upon original and other sources of information. It is believed that no such attempt to place the History of Europe in a comprehensive, detailed, and readable form before the English Public has yet been made, and it is hoped that the Series will form a valuable continuous History of Mediæval and Modern Europe. =Period I.--The Dark Ages.= A.D. 476–918. By C. W. C. OMAN, M.A., Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. 7_s._ 6_d._ =Period II.--The Empire and the Papacy.= A.D. 918–1272. By T. F. TOUT, M.A., Professor of History at Victoria University, Manchester. =Period III.--The Close of the Middle Ages.= A.D. 1272–1494. By R. LODGE, M.A., Professor of History at the University of Glasgow. =Period IV.--Europe in the 16th Century.= A.D. 1494–1598. By A. H. JOHNSON, M.A., Historical Lecturer to Merton, Trinity, and University Colleges, Oxford. 7_s._ 6_d._ =Period V.--The Ascendancy of France.= A.D. 1598–1715. By H. O. WAKEMAN, M.A., Fellow of All Souls College, and Tutor of Keble College, Oxford. 6_s._ =Period VI.--The Balance of Power.= A.D. 1715–1789. By A. HASSALL, M.A., Student of Christ Church, Oxford. 6_s._ =Period VII.--Revolutionary Europe.= A.D. 1789–1815. By H. MORSE STEPHENS, M.A., Professor of History at Cornell University, Ithaca, U.S.A. 6_s._ =Period VIII.--Modern Europe.= A.D. 1815–1878. By G. W. PROTHERO, Litt. D., Professor of History at the University of Edinburgh. THE ASCENDANCY OF FRANCE 1598–1715 BY HENRY OFFLEY WAKEMAN, M.A. FELLOW OF ALL SOULS COLLEGE TUTOR OF KEBLE COLLEGE, OXFORD AUTHOR OF ‘AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND’ _PERIOD V_ SECOND EDITION London RIVINGTON, PERCIVAL AND CO. 1897 [_All rights reserved._] PREFACE