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Marie antoinette influence on french revolution
Marie antoinette influence on french revolution
Marie antoinette influence on french revolution
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There were many negative comments and many positive comments about Louis XIV and his court. In Louis XIV’s court, the closer a person was to the king, or the more he did for a person, the more that person likes him. The more distant you were from the king, the more you disliked him.
People that were more distant from the king disliked him more. Madame de Motteville’s Account of The Parisian Disturbances (which was a second hand account) painted a positive picture of the court. Madame de Motteville was a person who was closer to the king. She painted a positive picture because she liked the king due to her good position in the court. “And without considering the duty they owed to Marshal La Meilleraye, they threw rocks at him.” (I, 24) The quote reflects that she thinks of the nobles and upper class as better, and assumes they are correct, while the peasants are lesser and wrong. She states in the above quote that the peasants threw rocks without thinking of the duty that they owed to the Marshal. She disregarded reasons why the peasants would be throwing rocks and went straight to why the peasants should not be throwing rocks.
Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who was a French minister, held the king in high esteem because he had a good position in the royal courts. “He [Colbert] also thought that it would be necessary to strike a large number of medals, to consecrate for posterity the memory of the great deeds which the king had already achieved and which he foresaw would be followed by deeds even greater and more noteworthy.” (VIII, 200) Colbert thought so highly of the king that he assumed the above quote. He thought of the king so highly because of the good position he had and how much the king liked him.
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...han the feeling that the heart belongs to another creature [Madame de Montespan] when God would like to have it. How hard it must be to withdraw from this arrangement! Still, it must be done, Sire, or there is no hope of salvation.” (VII, 171) Bossuet tell Louis XIV this without stressing over losing his popularity with the king and therefore power and influence on other important people because Bossuet is a Bishop, so the king could not simply disregard him, as he could with nobles.
The more positive things Louis XIV could do for a person, the more that person liked him (or at least pretended to like him), such as Madame de Motteville’s and Jean-Baptiste Colbert. On the contrary, if Louis XIV had more of a negative effect on a person’s life, the less that person liked him, such as the peasants and Esprit Fléchier.
Works Cited
Louis XIV and His Court. n.d.
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
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
Orgon was swindled by Tartuffe out of all his possessions because he agreed to marry Tartuffe to his daughter, Mariane. In addition to this, Tartuffe also got hold of Orgon’s strongbox that held papers of an enemy of the king that Orgon was hiding. Instead of providing a punishment the king shows mercy for Orgon’s crime in the Gentleman’s soliloquy. The Gentleman tell of how “the King now [chooses] to invalidate the deed of gift that cost you your estate, and finally he pardons your offense in shielding even a friend at his expense” (1935). These were actions that Orgon did incorrectly and therefore “the courage that [Orgon] once displayed against [the King’s] enemies” has now led to the mercy that the king gifts him (1939). The Gentleman finished this praise of Orgon by the king with a characteristic of him that is also meant for flattery. He reminds Orgon that the king “remembers help better than harm” (1944). King Louis XIV would be honored if his subjects remembered this about him even if it was not completely true. Tartuffe captures the king as this type of person and will be remembered this way because this is a timeless and still famous story in
The reading depicted the surprising visit of King Louis XIV, together with six hundred nobles and thousands of court servants at Chantilly in 1671. The host Prince de Condé and his most trusted headwaiter Francois Vatel was given fifteen days to be prepared for the arrival of the gigantic royal party. A spontaneous event of mis-arrangements during the preparation has gradually built up the stresses on Vatel which ultimately broke down his stress threshold and led to his tragic ending. Madame de Sévigné who was a talented letter writer in 17th century decided wrote down the tragic story of a courtier in her letter, even though she was never there to see it in person.
A Comparison of the Characteristics of the Absolutist Rule of Charles I of England and Louis XIV of France
In the Age of Absolutism, both England and France had strong absolute monarchies and leaders. Though Louis XIV, monarch of France, and Charles I, leader of Britain, both served as their country’s king and served in this role in different ways.
At the beginning of the 17th century, France was a place of internal strife and bickering bureaucrats. The king, Louis XIII, had come to the throne in 1610 at the age of nine, leaving the running of the kingdom to his mother, Marie de Medici. One of her court favorites, Armand de Plessis de Richelieu, rose through the ranks, eventually gaining the title of Cardinal and becoming one of Louis’ key advisors and minister. His political manifesto, Political Testament, was a treatise for King Louis XIII that offered him advice mainly concerned with the management and subtle subjugation of the nobles and the behavior of a prince. Beneath all of the obeisant rhetoric, Richelieu was essentially writing a handbook for Louis XIII on how to survive as a king in a political landscape increasingly dominated by the aristocracy. Richelieu’s ideology shows a pragmatic attitude reminiscent of The Prince, a political work by 15th century Florentine politician Niccoló Machiavelli.
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.
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
Power- something so potent, yet so easy to misuse. Not everyone can obtain power, however those who possess it often acquire arrogance. Louis XIV held total control of France, abusing his dominance. Louis called himself ‘the Sun King’, believing that everything revolved around him. His pompousness led him to making foolish decisions, as he considered himself to be superior. If you don’t use your brain, you will ultimately lose it, as Louis was beheaded by the determined citizens of France. Likewise, in Antigone, King Creon is the ruler of Thebes. Creon makes an arbitrary ruling, swearing the ‘disloyal’ Polyneices should never be buried. When Antigone goes against this, Creon is infuriated. Creon lets his arrogance take over, and continuously makes unwise decisions. Power simply creates narcissism, as Creon’s pride causes him to commit foolish actions.
Louis drew much of his political authority from his divine connections, yet he weakened that same authority through his choices. While he certainly presented himself as a divine idol to the people of France, he failed to publicly follow christian morals, inadvertently undermining his own authority and revealing himself to be a false idol. Principally, Louis’ adulterous behavior in his personal life caused many to question the sincerity of his piety. Even his court preacher Bossuet who actively supported Louis and his political absolutism censured him in 1675 for his adultery with his mistress Madame de Montespan. In a letter to Louis, Bousset expresses that Louis’ “heart will never belong peacefully to God as long as this violent love, which has separated you from Him for so long, still rules.”
Of all the absolute rulers in European history, Louis XIV of France was the most powerful, and the best example because of his successes, being able to continue his complete control even after failures, his ability to be able to use France’s money in any way he wanted, such as the Place of Versailles, taking away the nobles power, and his ability to delegate impotant jobs to smart yet loyal people.
The inflated opinion the French monarchy had about themselves and other nobles lent itself to how they contributed to and handled the economic downturn in France for centuries prior to the French Revolution. Forming the foundation of many of France’s financial issues, the monarchial system granted royals and the nobles who surrounded them the ability to feel as if they are intended to be superior to the rest of France, a mentality that would last until the French Revolution began. With this monarchial system, each king of France from 1610 to 1789 would contribute in both positive and negative ways, depending greatly on the Chief Ministers they appointed. [ADD]
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