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 fully answer this question and decide whether or not Louis XIV was in fact an absolute monarch, it is vital first to define absolutism and gain a greater understanding of the idea of ‘absolute monarchy’. Duran states that “etymologically, the term absolutism denotes a form of power which is unrestrained; more specifically it implies that no external agency can suspend or delay the action of the sovereign power”. In a similar vein, Kossman said that absolutism “was and is considered to be a historical phenomenon connected with the aggrandisement and the cen...
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... reign as follows; “The princes and nobility were oppressed, the parlements had no more power, it was obligatory to receive and register all edicts, whatever they were, since the King was so powerful and so absolute”, it can be seen from the aspects of Louis XIV’s reign discussed above that it would be too simple, and indeed almost too short-sighted to say that his monarchy was completely absolute. Of course Louis reigned with great power (as can be seen from his extensive control over his courtiers and political system), but there can be no doubt that there were certain facets of society and events which prevented this power from being completely absolute, such as the aforementioned incident with the pope. Therefore, I have reached the conclusion that with all things taken into account, despite his great power and influence Louis XIV was not an absolute monarch.
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
nation. In order to become a true absolute ruler Louis xiv needed to make sure
Absolute monarchs ruled though the policy of absolutism. Absolutism declared that the king ruled though divine right with a legitimate claim to sole and uncontested authority (French State Building and Louis XIV). On this basis, Louis XIV of France and Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire were both absolute monarchs. Each ruler believed that his power belonged to him and him alone due to divine right. They showed their absolute power by living lavishly, increased their power by waging wars, and kept their power by ensuring complete loyalty of their subjects.
A Comparison of the Characteristics of the Absolutist Rule of Charles I of England and Louis XIV of France
Absolutism is defined as a form of government where the monarch rules their land freely without legal opposition. In modern times, when democracy is the ideal, this form of government seems cruel and tyrannical; however, there was an era when it thrived in European politics. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, absolute rule was justified by the concept of divine right and its improvements to the security and efficiency of a nation.
Throughout the seventeenth century, political strife dominated each European country’s respective leadership. From the monarch’s perspective, he or she was entitled due to divine right, the worthiness to rule directly from the will of God. Instances of this could be seen through James I’s rejection of the Petition of Right, a major English constitutional document that sets out specific liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing, in 1628 before the English Civil War, or when King Louis XIV of France dominated his political domain through the weakening of nobles after replacing them with intendants, high-ranking officials who did not have the power to challenge the monarch. Concurrently, King James I stripped the
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.
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.
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.
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
Absolutist rulers had several main goals for successive reign over the people. The first being to eliminate or weaken the national representative assemblies. Next rulers looked to gain support from small local and provincial assemblies. The nobility was always dependant on the king, meaning the king chose his nobility freely, without influence from any outside source. Lastly, nobility was in control and responsible for collecting taxes and other benefits for the king. “Despite it’s pretensions to represent a political theory, absolutism was fundamentally a mechanism designed to assist ambitious monarchs in their determination to increase their own power through conquest and display” (Text 598).
According to the text book, an absolute monarch is a king or queen who has unlimited power and seeks to control all aspects of society (McDougall little, 1045). In more simple terms, it is a ruler who can do just about anything without having to get permission from anyone, or having to worry about the repercussions. This was a trend that started in the 1600’s by European leaders who were rich, and didn’t like to be told what to do. These conflicts arose with the States-General in France, or Parliament in England who had substantial control. The first countries to have absolute rulers were the traditionally strong countries, such as England, Spain, and of course Louis XIV’s France.
Absolutism describes a form of monarchical power that is unrestrained by all other institutions, such as churches, legislatures, or social elites. To achieve absolutism one must first promote oneself as being powerful and authoritative, then the individual must take control of anyone who might stand in the way of absolute power. The Palace of Versailles helped King Louis XIV fulfill both of those objectives. Versailles used propaganda by promoting Louis with its grandiosity and generous portraits that all exuded a sense of supremacy. Versailles also helped Louis take control of the nobility by providing enough space to keep them under his watchful eye. The Palace of Versailles supported absolutism during King Louis XIV’s reign through propaganda, and control of nobility.
The term ‘absolute” defines the singular power of the monarch to control every aspect of governing without the aid of the aristocracy or parliamentary forms of governance. The example of Louis XIII defines the rise of absolute monarchy in the 17th century, which eliminated agreements, such as the edict of Nantes, which enabled to aristocracy rights and powers in governmental decisions., however, Louis XIII dissolved these laws in order to gain total dominance over governmental affairs through military and financial might. In this example. Louis XIII defines the role of absolute monarch and the individual powers that the king welled over the government in 17th century