Essay on Should We Bow to Louis XIV?

The Sun King also known as King Louis XIV ruled France from 1643 to 1715. Over his rule he ushered in many new ideas and polices for his vision of France. King Louis XIV Helped usher in the golden age of literature, ordered the Edict of Fontainebleau, and engaged France in war.

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.

During his reign he was involved in with the French army and he was able to increase the size of the army from 25,000 troops to 250,000 troops. This was an accomplishment, but with this came a death count like no other. He also moved the capitol of France to Versailles, which is a palace grander than anything else in Europe. Louis XIV also capitalized on limiting the power of the nobles. This to me is a key point in him being the best example of an absolutist because he no longer allowed the nobles to be in charge of the local government. He instead had intendants who had to report back to him and this kept Louis XIV in total control. Not only did he overthrow nobles, he also made them servants and required them to live in Versailles with him for part of the year so he could keep his eye on them and out of the government. He was also able to collect taxes without calling the French Estates General which was something that was unable to be done by any other ruler. Louis XIV was able to accomplish a lot during his reign, mostly for the good, only partially bad due to the death count and debt left behind after his

     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.

It is often debated whether or not the reign of King Louis XIV had a positive or negative effect on France. Although there were improvements during his reign in transportation, culture, and national defense, there were far more negative aspects. He depleted the national treasury with his liberal spending on personal luxuries and massive monuments. His extreme fear of the loss of power led to poor decision making, which caused the court to be of lower quality. King Louis XIV’s disastrous rule brought about a series of effects that influenced the French Revolution in the following century.

Louis XIV turned France around from an unorganized feuding country to one of the most organized, powerful, innovative monarchies in Europe. In addition, he managed to advance civil equality among the people by turning all the people into his loyal subjects (Norton, p.175). How did he do all this? The armed forces that had formerly been a private enterprise who had been fighting against each other or had hired themselves out for payment, was taken over and consolidated into one entity fighting, by the king for the king. He made war an activity of the state which produced peace and order in France while strengthening the fighting power of France against other states (Norton, p.175). In addition, he put soldiers in uniform, taught them how to march in step and housed them in barracks which assisted them in becoming more susceptible to discipline and control (Norton, p.175). There was now a hierarchy in place and was able to get a greater degree of government control that put him on the top as the commander in chief of the army due to his power and the creation of the first large civilian administration (Norton, p.176). This was the first time that ministers of war consisted of civilians and this grew the armies power exponentially. Louis XIV also overhauled the grandeur of France when he took an old village Versailles and turned it into the palace of Versailles that became known as one of the most splendid marvels in Europe so much so, that it became the envy of lessor kings.

Louis XIV followed many Machiavellian teachings but conspicuously disregarded others, due to some of his fiscal policies (or lack of them) and personal tendencies. Louis XIV is the longest reigning monarch in European history, and during his impressive reign, France enjoyed a Golden Age of arts and commerce. He expanded its territories and shifted the balance of power to France becoming one of the most powerful European countries in the 17th century.

King Louis XIV built a brilliant royal residence called the Palace of Versailles. He then encouraged nobles to come stay with him in Versailles, which was his way of keeping an eye on them. When the nobles were there they were courteous and helped serve the King. None of the nobles wanted

Louis XIV, also known an The Sun God, was the King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. 1His reign as ruler lasted for more than 72 years and even today it is considered as the longest reign of any monarch in European history. During his tenure as ruler, King Louie XIV established France as the most powerful country in Europe, as he maintained a very strong economy and played a significant role in influencing the politics of other European countries. Besides its usage in worldwide diplomacy, he also helped establish the French language in becoming the most widely used language in many subjects such as science and literature. The Sun God was known to be a very popular arts enthusiast and under his patronage, he commissioned and funded many artists whose works went on to become very famous and influential. One example includes his commissioning of the legendary Palace of Versailles located in Paris. Due to the contributions made by Louis XIV, people in the 17th century viewed France as the same way people all around the world today view the United States, a major superpower. After his death, Louis XIV was succeeded by his great-grandson Louis XV, who was just 5 years old at the time.

King Louis XIV was born on September 5, 1638 in a place called Saint-Germaine-en-Laye, France (Louis XIV Biography). Louis XIV became King of France in 1643 and he began to reform France and make changes to France. Louis XIV ideology was the ideology of an absolute monarch. Louis XIV believed that all kings ruled by divine right. He believed that God gave him the authority to rule France. He believed he was the French state and that he should be in complete control. Cardinal Richelieu was a man who helped guide Louis XIV when he became king. Richelieu pushed for absolutism and Catholicism when Louis was King. Richelieu also made sure that Catholicism remained strong in France. Cardinal Jules Mazarin was a man who took over after Richelieu and one who Louis listened to very dearly. Mazarin told Louis to “Distrust everyone”. Mazarin told Louis to keep his ideas to himself and to keep everything secret. King Louis XIV had a group of people or a “Cabinet” that Louis trusted. Mazarin told Louis that there were two ways to achieve glory. One was to build a large and expensive palace and another way was to increase your countries territory. King Louis XIV built a huge palace called “The Palace of Versailles”. Louis’ palace was very beautiful inside and outside and he spent millions of dollars of this palace. Inside, gold was everywhere, gorgeous pictures and paintings were on the walls. Louis XIV was referred to as the “Sun King” because Louis stated “I am the state”. Louis said

King Louis XIV inherited the throne when he was only five years old. King Louis XIV of France, the absolute monarch, changed France's military and government. Hebuilt the Palace of Versailles, enhanced France's military, and involved most of Europe in war.

King Louis XIV was one of the most respected rulers of his the era due to his complete power over his country and his government. King Louis XIV not only controlled foreign policy, he controlled the church, and taxes for his country. He increased his power by building a powerful army of over 400,000 men. During his rule the army fought in four wars which led to the take over territories. When King Louis could not control a group of people with his power he would find ways to get what he wanted. King Louis wanted the Protestants out of France and the Catholics to be in control. He then pushed out the Huguenots by destroying their churches and schools, the

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

Louis XIV 's France was an absolute monarchy, meaning the king had the power, control, finances and the nation in his hands more then ever before. In the 17th century, France was the strongest and wealthiest nation in Europe, and the head of the state, the king, was the most influential person of the time. In the ideas of the scientific revolution and the soon-coming changes of the enlightenment the country was developing. For a few decades France was not involved in any major wars or battles and the peace helped the population grow fast.

Under Louis the 14th, France came as close to a fully absolute monarchy as any other ruler had achieved. However, the situation for his successor, Louis the fifteenth, was not ideal. Louis came to power at the age of five. Because of this, a regency government was instituted where the parliament and other nobles retook the power Louis the 14th had denied them. Absolute monarchy further declined when, under Louis the 16th, a financial crisis forced him to call the estates general, which hadn't been consulted since