King Louis Xiv Research Paper

Towards the end of his reign, Louis began to lose much of the mystique and influence he had previously held, as his lack of financial resources and inability to adequately tax the nobility began to catch up to him. Document 6, a letter from French nobleman Francois Fenelon, criticizes Louis for his reckless warfare, warning, “God will one day lift the veil that covers your eyes… you will become a Christian only through humiliation.” As an educated nobleman, Fenelon likely held resentment towards the crown for its subjugation of his class. Additionally, Louis’ frequent, frivolous war campaigns caused great struggle in France as the nation struggled to supply the efforts; even Louis, by the end of his life, stated that “I have gone to war too lightly and pursued it for vanity’s sake.” However, regardless of the fact that sustained warfare drove France into debt and ruin, Louis’ ability to go to war based off of nothing more than his own will is even more evidence that supports his power as an absolute ruler, whether or not Fenelon agrees with his policy.

Louis XIV is one of the most famous examples of an absolute ruler. Louis had a complete control over his country. Louis’s father had died leaving France in a civil war. Louis XIV obtained power after his father died and through hatred over the nobility that threatened his life and his mothers, though Cardinal Mazarin ruled until Louis XIV took power after Mazarin’s death. He vowed he would never be so weak that he could not have power. Louis XIV was an absolute ruler of France he centralized government, military powers, taxation, and further weakened aristocracy to become a more powerful ruler.

     In addition to his strengths, Louis XIV had weaknesses. After Colbert died, Louis made one mistake that undid all of his work. He revoked Edict of Nantes who protected the religious freedom of the Huguenots. Instead of being imprisoned, more than 200,000 Huguenots fled from France. The country lost many of its skilled workers and business leaders. Louis XIV also fought many costly wars that caused his people great suffering. Many of the wars left France on the brink of bankruptcy.

Transportation was improved by paving roads and by building ports and canals. He also built many massive palaces and monuments. These often showcased architecture and French goods of the time. The most elaborate palace built was the Palace of Versailles. Culture also seemed to grow during this period. Molière, Racine, Lully, La Fontaine, and Le Brun were all compensated with state pensions. France’s national defenses grew to rival those of England and Holland in size with the addition of a merchant marine, a police association and a navy. It could also be said that France acquired many new lands due to King Louis XIV’s decisions. In the War of Devolution against the Spanish Netherlands and in the later Anglo-Dutch War France acquired territory in Flanders. Later wars led to other territorial gains, one of which included Luxembourg.

In 1661 Louis appointed Jean-Baptiste Colbert as controller general of finances. This proved to be very successful in adding to the increase of France’s economy, and it helped Louis achieve his second goal of having “one law.” Colbert’s ideas were similar to that of mercantilism. He insisted on having an economic system that would make France a self-sufficient powerful country where they exported more than they imported. He improved France’s economy through the invention of a merchant marine fleet, the support of industries, the control of tariffs on French goods, and the collection of taxes. All of these gained money for France, which led to the creation of a powerful army. Due to a powerful army, France was able to secure its natural frontiers, even in the North East, which was France’s weakest natural border. While Louis claimed a flaw of his was that, “I loved war too much,” he was able to make a strong French presence in Europe, adding to his idea of “one law.”

Of all the absolute rulers in Europe, by far the best example of one, and the most powerful, was Louis XIV of France. Although Louis had some failures, he also had many successes. He controlled France’s money and had many different ways to get, as well as keep his power, and he knew how to delegate jobs to smart, but loyal people.

During the proceedings that resulted in the formation and ratification of Jay’s Treaty, France was in the throes of their own Revolution, which would not end for several more years. In fact, at the time of the ratification of the treaty in November of 1794, France was still reeling from the execution of their revolutionary leader Robespierre, and with it, the end of the Reign of Terror. If the United States allied itself with France, “it would soon find itself at war with Great Britain. Such a war would be suicidal. The new nation was not prepared for armed conflict on either land or sea (H.D. pg 1).” During the genesis of the United State’s trek into foreign affairs, the nation still suffered hardships and was working on gaining its footing as a nation. Because of this, the States needed a stable world power to guide them, and France, which was engrossed in its own turmoil, likely would have failed to prevent the premature collapse of the United

Louis XIV was a very generous spender. He put in large amounts of money to finance the royal court, and operated as a supporter of the arts, funding literary and cultural figures. He also kept his army in mind by building military complex known as the Hôtel des Invalides to give a home for officers and soldiers who had served him loyally in the army. The Hôtel des Invalides established new treatments frequently and set a new standard for the rather barbarous hospice treatment styles of the period. To support a Machiavellian tactic, Louis XIV didn?t have any mercenaries or auxiliaries, he controlled his own army, and was a self-sufficient ruler that didn?t rely on the help of others in battle.

Early in king Louis XIV position of ruling Richelieu passed away in 1642. Mazarin took over Richelieus position as minister of france, and continued his work. These two men helped to strengthen the monarchy system in france a lot, and are import figures to the ruling of Louis XIV. The palace of Versailles is a stunning contribution to Louis’s

Louis XIV, France’s Sun King, had the longest reign in European history (1643-1715). During this time he brought absolute monarchy to its height, established a glittering court at Versailles, and fought most of the other European countries in four wars. Although his reign had some negative aspects; on balance, Louis’ reign was primarily a benefit to France.

The Palace of Versailles was built in 1624 as a modest hunting lodge and private residence for Louis XIII. Louis XIV spent time his here as a child during the civil war and grew fond of the site (Allen, 35). When Louis XIV came to power, he moved France’s capital in Paris to Versailles because he wanted to keep the royal court in one central place away from the gossip and business of Paris (Ropeik). By keeping the royal court together, he was able to centralize the French government in to an absolute monarchy and prevent any of his nobles from developing their own regional power. 1669, he expanded the existing small hunting lodge to 67,000 square meters, the equivalent to 12 football fields (Ropeik). The palace expansion was designed by Louis le Vau, the architect to the aristocracy, and took 21 years to complete. The 700 room building allowed Louis and his friends, family, courtiers, servants and soldiers to live in close proximity (Ropeik).

More than anything, certainly for the first part of Louis’ reign at least, it was the pursuit of ‘gloire’ that drove Louis in his foreign policy. When Louis was asked to justify his attack on the Dutch in 1672 Louis replied, “I shall not attempt to justify myself. Ambition and glory are always pardonable in a Prince.” Historian Joel Cornette argues convincingly that it was more than just a factor in his foreign policy; it was a fundamental attribute of Louis’ sovereignty. War justified his regal authority and defined the relationship between the King and the nobility, so in his view unless he portrayed himself as a warrior King, he was not King at all. Both the war of Devolution and the Dutch war were wars of gloire and little else; John Lynn argues that this view is supported by the fact that Louis was the instigator of both wars as he made the first aggressive moves. On both occasions, he led the army personally, in order to maximize the glory potential of each war, as if harking back to an Alexandrian time when rulers charged into the fray, leading from the front. Moreover, Louis brought members of the court, his wife and his children along on numerous campaigns, perhaps in an attempt to appear all the more

King Louis XIV was born in 1638. He became king at age four, and received only a mediocre education. He was taught nothing beyond pious works and decorous behavior at religious observances. He came into full power of France in 1661. Louis married Maria Theresa of Spain in 1659. When Mazarin died in 1661, Louis decided he didn’t want a powerful advisor and then started to change history. Louis had the longest reign in European history of 73 years.

After being ruled by a prime minister for so long, France needed some changes. That is exactly what Louis the XIV would bring to France. In an age of separation, Louis wanted to start a unification process. He started this by giving himself sole power and also only having one religion for the country. The king is always the center of attention good or bad. Louis was prepared to take the good with the bad, and handled it well. He emphasized the king as the center of attention. While some see him as egotistical and greedy, Louis was one king who knew how to make improvements.

Dutch War, also called Franco-Dutch War, (1672–78), the second war of conquest by Louis XIV of France, whose main goal in the conflict was to establish French possession of the Spanish Netherlands after having forced the Dutch Republic’s acquiescence. The Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672–74) formed part of this general war.