Louis XIV was born on September 5, 1638, and ruled as King of France and of Navarre from May 14, 1643 until his death at the age of 76. He took over the throne a few months before his fifth birthday, but didn't actually assume actual control of the government until his First Minister, Jules Cardinal Mazarin, died in 1661. He was to become King of France after his father, Louis XIII, died of tuberculosis. He achieved the role of king by ways of hereditary monarchy, which is one of the ways to become a ruler, as stated by Machiavelli. Louis XIV is known as the 'The Sun King' and also known as 'Louis the Great.' He ruled over France for seventy-two years, which is the longest reign of any French or any other major European ruler and increased the power and influence of France in Europe, by fighting three major wars. These wars are known as the Franco-Dutch War, the War of the League of Augsburg, and the War of the Spanish Succession. Under Louis XIV, France achieved political and military pre-eminence, and also achieved cultural dominance with various cultural figures. He worked to successfully create an absolutist and centralized state. The way Louis XIV ruled over France was not quite the way his father ruled. Louis XIV was considered to have unruly nobility. Louis XIV was also in the process of reinforcing the traditional Gallicanism, which is a doctrine limiting the authority of the Pope in France. Also, Louis XIV began to diminish the power of the nobility and clergy. He achieved great control over the second estate (nobility) in France by essentially attaching much of the higher nobility to his range at his palace at Versailles, which required them to spend most of the year under his close watch instead of in th... ... middle of paper ... ...urope began to imitate France in everything. French colonies abroad were multiplying in the Americas, Asia and Africa, while diplomatic relations had been initiated with countries as far away as Siam and Persia. Louis XIV died on September 1, 1715 of gangrene, only a few days before his seventy-seventh birthday. His reign lasted for 72 years, which made this the longest reign in the recorded history of Europe. Almost all of Louis XIV's children died during childhood. The only one to survive to adulthood, his eldest son, Louis, Dauphin de Viennois, died four years before his father in 1711, and left three children. Therefore, Louis XIV's five-year-old great-grandson Louis, Duc d'Anjou, the younger son of the Duc de Bourgogne and Dauphin upon the death of his grandfather, father and elder brother, succeeded to the throne and was to reign as Louis XV of France.
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
Louis XIV was an absolute monarch in France from 1643 to 1715. His father died when he was just four years old, making Louis XIV the throne’s successor at a very young age. Because of this, he ruled for seventy-two years, which made him “the longest monarch to rule a major country in European history” (Eggert). But it was when he was twenty-three years old when he decided to rule without a prime minister, believing it was his divine right. Translated by Louis de Rouvroy, Duc de Saint-Simon, the author of the book The Memoirs of Louis XIV: His Court and The Regency, King Louis XIV wrote, “The royal power is absolute. The royal throne is not the throne of a man, but the throne of God himself. Kings should be guarded as holy things, and whoever
Louis XIV (the fourteenth) was an absolute monarch. He was often called "the Sun King," and ruled over France. He devoted himself to helping France achieve economic, political, and cultural prominence. Many historians believe the phrase "absolute power corrupts absolutely" mirrors Louis' reign. Louis XIV revoked the Edict on Nantes, changing the economy of France in one motion. By creating the city of Versailles and being a major patron of the arts, Louis was very influential on French culture. He made France go almost bankrupt from his costly wars and failures. Louis was very corrupt in his power, and it shown in all he did to change France; he got what he wanted, when he wanted it.
Louis XIV (Figure 1), the absolute monarch of France from 1643 to 1715, was a model of other European monarchs. Louis was born on 5th of September 1638 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, where located outside of Paris in north central France, and died in 1715 at an age of seventy-seven. After the death of his father Louis XIII in 1963, his mother Anne of Austria and the chief minister Cardinal Jules Mazarin were appointed regent while Louis XIV was young. For the throne, Louis was allowed to attend councils of st...
Louis XIV was born on September 5, 1639 and was known to be the “god-given” child of Louis XIII and Anne of Austria (Elena Steingrad). At age five he was given the title of being King of France, but at a very young age he could not take control of the powerful French nation. French officials and nobles took control until Louis XIV grew up to rule France. As a child he was neglected by his mother, Anne of Austria (Elena Steingrad). He had to be cared for by his servants, which is sad knowing that he was not even cared for by his own mother. As he grew older and took control of France he came to be known as the “Sun King” (Elena Steingrad). Just like how the sun is located in the center of the solar system, Louis XIV believed that he was the center of the nation. Louis XIV described himself as, “L’etat, c’est moi” which means “I am the state” showing his dominance over the whole nation (World History). He chose his symbol to be an image of a sun because it was associated with Apollo, who was known to be a warrior and king. Just like Apollo, Louis XIV brought peace to France. Louis XIV had the longest reign in French history, which might not have been the best thing for the French. Even though Louis XIV brought the absolute monarch to its height, created the great Palace of Versailles, ...
Louis XIV inherited the throne in 1643 when he was only five (Cairns 103). From the moment he entered power and his reign began he had greedy intentions and enormous ideas of divine rule (Cairns 112). In 1661, Louis chief advisor Cardinal Jules Mazarin died and Louis then decided that he would be the only ruler of France (Spielvagel 1). Louis once expressed, “It is now time that I govern them myself. I request and order you to seal no orders except my command,… I order you not to sign anything, not even a passport… without my command; to render account to me personally each day and to favor no one” (Spielvagel 1). This quote reveals Louis’s desire to have power over everything and control everyone around him. Louis used the sun as his symbol of power. He often quoted, “I am the state” (Cairns 35). Exposed in this quote is Louis mindset that he had all power. Using the sun as his symbol of power enforced his belief that he was the center of all things. Author of “Court Described by Duc De Saint Simon,” Elena Steingrad, stated the following when referring to King Louis’s life, “… he compelled his courtiers to live beyond their income, and gradually reduced then to depend on his bounty for the means of subsistence. This was a plague which became a scourge to the whole country…” (4). The quote shows Louis’ greedy intentions, which eventually led to widespread confusion and an economic drop to the country of France (Steingrad 4). Louis XIV in the beginning of his reign was starting to show signs of his enormous, greedy intentions and his belief in divine rule. It was the start of his reign that France began to slowly crumble.
Louis XIV of France was born to Anne of Austria and Louis XIII in 1638 after more than twenty years of childless marriage. The birth was seen as a miracle and the child was considered to be a gift from God by the people of France, and thus was named accordingly. Louis ‘le Dieudonné’ was to become one of the most powerful kings in early-modern Europe, ruling over twenty million people and reigning for over seventy years (until his death in 1715), one of the longest reigns in European history. Louis XIV was a formidable figure, in control of both the largest standing army in Europe at that time and highly complicated political system, for which he has been hailed as the propagator of “early modern state building”. His reign and in particular the longevity of his reign have frequently been questioned. E.H Kossman described Louis’s reign as “absolutism in its most perfect form”, while Briggs argued that “the absolutism of Louis XIV was often little more than a façade, behind which many of the old limitations continued to operate”. It is my belief that the exploration of the idea of ‘absolute monarchy’ could serve to obtain some clarity on the matter.
In order to successful govern a country through an absolute monarchy it is important for the King to solve the problems or attempt to solve the problems that the people need. Neither Louis XV or Louis XVI demonstrated the best way to govern through an absolute monarchy which made it difficult for France to improve for a long period of time. Louis XVI in particular divided the country into three classes which obviously divided the country and would
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.
... then a noble. These governors were required to spend a large amount of time at Louis’ extensive palace of Versailles, which allowed Louis to monitor the generalités very closely. Religiously, Louis revoked the Edict of Nantes and declared France a Catholic state. Louis hoped that religious unity and centralization would lead to stronger unity in the country as a whole. He expelled or executed any Protestants who refused to convert, and the Catholics supported most of his actions. Although he delegated most of the power in France to himself, Louis did acknowledge the power and authority of the Parlement of Paris, which helped to regulate local administration and taxes, but overall, Louis stripped the nobles and aristocracy of most of their powers. Louis XIV long rule gave France the time it needed to transform from a divided nation to a centralized and powerful one.
For the first portion of his quote, “one king”, Louis consolidated his power in many ways. France, as well as many other countries throughout the middle ages and early renaissance, had their power balanced between the nobles and the dynastic ruling class, where nobles controlled their individual provinces and the king would have to rely on his nobles to spread his royal decrees. This was highly demonstrated throughout the Holy Roman Empire during the 16th and parts of the 17th century, where the polygot of cultures, religions, and languages lead Charles V to have to rely on the nobles, confederacy, and a decentralization of government to rule. Because of these sacrifices, Charles V never really ruled his country, nor did he achieve any of his goals. He died a white haired old man, giving his domains to his son and brother. Louis XIV actually achieved his goal in a very different way, by defeating the power of the noble class, while strenghening the middle class, or the bourgeois. Louis built an internal beauracracy within France, and believed that a countries power came from it’s unification and military prowess. These beliefs were largely based on the early years of his rule. Louis XIV became king when he was only 5 years old, so his mother. Anne of Austria, and Cardinal Mazarin, rumored to be her lover, ruled in his place as a child. Mazarin was the ideological heir to Richelieu, w...
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 XIV was a great builder; he built many palaces and residences in France. His greatest remaining monument is Versailles, which was simultaneously a triumph and a disaster in the eyes of France. Louis XIV continued the policy of centralizing French government that Henry IV, Richelieu, and Mazarin started before he became King. Louis XIV also was blessed by having a number of very able advisors. Among the most brilliant was a man by the name of Colbert. Colbert was in charge of economic policies and under his direction the French economy expanded greatly. Louis XIV considered the Protestants, also known as the Huguenots, to be a nuisance, if not a threat to his rule. The Huguenots tended to be more urban, wealthier and better educated than the typical citizen of France. Louis had little understanding of the theological tenants of Protestantism.
King Louis XIV's 72 year reign was incredibly influential in shaping French history. King Louis XIV’s childhood was traumatic because of “La Fronde” which was a noble rebellion against the monarchy. This experience taught King Louis XIV to distrust the nobles. It was for this reason that he eventually excluded nobility from the council and surrounded himself with loyal ministers whom he could control. He also separated the aristocracy from the people of France by moving the court to the Palace of Versailles. One of the most notable of King Louis XIV’s decisions was that he refused to appoint another Prime Minister after the death of Prime Minister Mazarin. Every decision, from the declaration of war to the approval of a passport, went through him personally. During his reign as king, France participated in several wars including the War of Devolution, in Anglo-Dutch War, and the War of the Spanish Succession. Another major action he took was the proclamation of the Edict of Fontainebleau, which revoked the Edict of Nantes, imposing religious uniformity through Catholi...