The palace of Versailles was built by King Louis XIV of France and the Escorial was built by King Philip II of Spain. The two kings each had their differences about their beliefs on how to rule, yet there are some similarities. Louis XIV believed in showing off his power and being open. Philip II was a simplistic guy devoted to Catholicism. They both had military to spread their beliefs and ideas. Despite the kings’ beliefs, their palaces reflected their ideals. King Louis XIV was a showy and self-absorbed king. His palace was representative of his personality and ideals. The Versailles palace architecture displayed Louis XIV ideals of secular issues. He cared more about spending money to show off his power. Unlike the Escorial, Versailles was centered on “The Sun King” instead of religion. At one point Louis XIV stated that “he was the state”. This statement was saying that Louis XIV represented the center and best of France. An example of this was that King Louis XIV lived in the middle of Versailles. Versailles was also very ornate and had the atmosphere of freeness. However, the Escorial was very basic like Philip II. On the other hand, King Philip II was a more careful and simple king. The Escorial was more compact and closed in unlike the Versailles. Like the Versailles, the Escorial demonstrated Philip II ideals of religious issues. In the center of the palace, where Philip II would spend most of his time, was the church and monastery. Philip II considered himself King of Spain second and Catholic first. He preferred to sit in the monastery to look at historical records rather than Louis XIV’s conception of a king. Both palaces were Catholic but religion had a bigger role at the Escorial Palace. Also at the Escorial palace you saw more military surrounding it as for the Versailles it wasn’t as guarded. While the two kings had many differences their militaries were surprisingly similar. They both had military troops that guarded and walked around the palace. The kings’ military was not only used for protection but also for spreading their beliefs and ideals. Their military was alert and ready to protect if there was to be an attack on the palace. King Louis XIV and Philip II both would have enough troops to go to war and express their thoughts but also enough to protect the palace.
Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, was an absolutist monarch of France who sought to heavily suppress the power of novels while simultaneously promoting the ideals of a “divine right monarchy”. A man notorious for his incredible spending on various personal ventures, such as the extremely costly construction of a new palace at Versailles, Louis XIV was often the subject of criticism and mockery, especially from the nobles who hoped to discredit him and his absolutist regime. Overall, Louis XIV did predominantly act in a manner with his own personal agenda in mind, as seen through his Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, occurring as a result of his desire to have his country fall in line with his own beliefs, his unrelenting expenditures
While England lost its power to the nobles, France was able to control them .Instead of having the live among the peasants and the middle class, Louis XIV built the Palace of Versailles in order to force the nobles to be near the king to make sure that they were unable to create conflict with the will of the monarch. This way, the nobles no longer were the people that the middle class would run to when they had a
He moved his court because he did not feel safe in Paris and could watch over his court officials due to living so close to one another. This piece certainly provides evidence of what Louis himself valued, but perhaps these attributes are needed to effectively rule with absolutism. Throughout this entire document, the author is implying how great Louis is as a person and an effective ruler. He even goes to list his issues: “All his faults were produced by his surroundings...soon found out his weak point, namely, his love of hearing his own praises” (Saint-Simon). Louis cared deeply regarding his personal image and these weaknesses do not seem that drastic, but according to him, “It was this love of praise which made it easy for Louvois to engage him in serious wars” (Saint-Simon). The text gives historians information about Louis’ love-affair with Mademoiselle de la Valliere, compelling his courtiers to spend more than they earned creating a dependency, and other interesting details regarding his life that are excluded in textbooks. Overall, this document provides a deeper insight to King Louis XIV personality and justifications for why he chose the actions he did. Duc de Saint-Simon, someone that resided at the Palace of Versailles, can provide information about a man that ruled with an iron fist over his
Louis XIV of France used his grand and gaudy Palace of Versailles as a “pleasure prison” for the nobles while Peter the Great sent all of his nobles to St. Petersburg – both of these actions made it difficult for nobles to rebel. In France, Louis XIV ridiculed the nobility by sending them to the Palace of Versailles and busying them with silly little jobs and knit-picky rituals. He gave them these useless jobs to prevent them from ban...
nation. In order to become a true absolute ruler Louis xiv needed to make sure
This is known as divine right. King Louis XIV an earlier ruler before Louis XVI was a monarch that used this way to rule France. For, Louis XIV, the sun was his symbol of divine right. Apollo represented the Sun as the God of peace and was a heavenly body that gave life. “Like the Sun God, Louis XIV, the warrior hero, brought peace to his people; he protected the arts and dispensed all the graces” (History Court Characters, n.d). Being a monarch using your power of divine right isn’t bad cause in trying to harm your country, it is using your power in such a way to make life better for a nation. The Palace of Versailles was built to resemble this power “he insisted on the resemblance carved in stone: the decor of Versailles was filled with depictions and attributes of the god” (History Court Characters, n.d). When Louis XVI inherited the throne and resided in Versaille, it was not to live an aristocratic life, it was to show his divine right and resemble his ancestor Louis XIV “Sun King.” The Sun King represented peace and grace to his people. No harm was meant intentionally by his rule as
When Louis the XIV began his rule in 1643, his actions immediately began to suggest and absolute dictatorship. Because of the misery he had previously suffered, one of the first things he did was to decrease the power of the nobility. He withdrew himself from the rich upper class, doing everything secretly. The wealth had no connection to Louis, and therefore all power they previously had was gone. He had complete control over the nobles, spying, going through mail, and a secret police force made sure that Louis had absolute power. Louis appointed all of his officials, middle class men who served him without wanting any power. Louis wanted it clear that none of his power would be shared. He wanted "people to know by the rank of the men who served him that he had no intention of sharing power with them." If Louis XIV appointed advisors from the upper classes, they would expect to gain power, and Louis was not willing to give it to them. The way Louis XIV ruled, the sole powerful leader, made him an absolute ruler. He had divine rule, and did not want to give any power to anyone other than himself. These beliefs made him an absolute ruler.
Louis and Peter had quite a balance of similarities and differences between their politics. Louis and Peter both viewed themselves as above the law, however Louis thought this a bit more so than Peter. Louis XIV was quite arrogant and
Frightfully stimulated as a child from a home intrusion by Parisians during an aristocratic revolt in 1651, Louis XIV realized his rule would be decisive, militant, and absolute (458). His lengthy reign as Frances’ king and how he ruled would be the example that many countries throughout Europe would model their own regimes under. With this great authority also came greater challenges of finance and colonization. In the 17th century, the era of absolute monarchs were the means to restore European life (458).
Louis XIV is considered the “perfect absolutist” and he has been said to have been one of the greatest rulers in France’s history. He came up with several different strategic plans to gain absolute
In order to gain the power he desired as an absolute monarch, Louis used a few key techniques that were very successful. His first and most necessary step to get all control was to take all of the nobles’ power, and make it so they were completely under his control. He first did this by taking the nobles’ positions of power, and either getting rid of them by doing it himself, or giving the jobs to loyal middleclass or some nobles who were completely loyal and under his control. Louis had very simple reasoning for doing this, which was that if the nobles had any power or control, they would have a better chance of overthrowing him, and that since there can only be so much total power, the more they had, the less ...
One of the most important elements of Versailles that affected Louis XIV’s reign was the use of propaganda. The Palace contained “paintings, statues, tapestries” (Page) and a general grandness that significantly promoted Louis’ name. Louis himself was a “prominent subject in the artwork” (Montclos 330) and was portrayed as handsome and god-like. Even in the aspects of the Palace where Louis wasn’t literally being represented, the grand nature of Versailles sent out a message that the King was living lavishly, and was therefore very powerful. Louis XIV used the grandiosity of his Palace and the art inside to promote himself to his people.
These types of decisions define why Louis XIII is an important example of the primacy of the king over all other sources of political and governmental power in the 17th century. Certainly, Louis XIII’s rise to power defines the lack of checks and balances that would typically be a part of a lesser monarchy in which the aristocracy could have an influence on governmental decisions. However, this was not the case with Louis XIII, since he had gained complete control over the government through military might and the wealth of the royal family. This historical example defines the primacy of the absolute monarch within the context of the king’s role in governing in 17th century
The Palace of Versailles was the official home of the Kings of France from 1682 until 1790. Originally, a hunting lodge built in 1624 by Louis XIII, but then was expanded by Louis XIV in the beginning of 1669. With beautiful architecture and amazing landscape, it is one of the most well- known and beautiful palaces in France. Its garden is so unique and one of Europe's largest. It played a huge responsibility in French government and was used for some of the biggest meetings of Kings and Queens. It is a very reflective place for the French and showed a basis of culture for the people. The small structure became the base on which was constructed into one of the most extravagant buildings in the world. The Palace of Versailles is a famous French landmark due to its elaborate construction, its role as a center of government, and its influence on French culture.
...les of being a great ruler. They ruled in completely different styles, but nevertheless, they both had an extreme passion, the ability to inspire and they were both honorable and fair.