The Absolute Monarchy: The Palace Of Versailles

After suppressing revolts by the Fronde in 17th century France, King Louis XIV had become the supreme ruler of the country. Without any challenges to his power, he was able to practice absolutism, which is the concentration of power and symbolic authority in royal hands. With this power Louis XIV had many great achievements in France. He improved the tax system, religion, trading, and court life.1 Jean Domat was a juror who was supported by the king himself. He dedicated his life to explain and justify the importance of the role of absolutism in French society. The culmination of this work can be found in his legal digest, On Social Order and Absolute Monarchy. Many interesting ideas about the theory of absolutism can be found in his writings. It explains the essential environment for absolutism, defines the origin and necessity of government, and demonstrates the duties of the sovereign.

Still, the negative aspects of France’s rule under King Louis XIV far outweigh the positive ones. His reign can best be described by the statement “L’état, c’est moi,” (I am the state) that is attributed to him. King Louis XIV spent state money to pay for his own luxuries and monuments that glorified his image. It was also customary for the artists King Louis XIV sponsored to include direct or indirect allusions to him in their productions thus creating a god-like image of him. The Palace of Versailles alone used 5% of France’s income. This liberal

Another great piece of evidence supporting the statement that Louis XIV is the best example of an absolute monarch is his palace at Versailles. This palace was bigger than any other palace, more expensive, and better in just about everyway, except for being good for its country, France. The palace at Versailles was originally built as a small hunting lodge by Louis XIV’s father, Louis XIII in 1624. In 1669, Louis XIV decided to expand the palace, and moved into the palace in 1682 while parts of the building were still under construction. The palace was of monumental size, with a around 2,000 rooms, 15,000 acres of gardens and lawns and woods, and costing what would cost an estimated $2 billion in 1994, a extremely large sum of money for France. To run the fountains, it would cost so much money and use so much water that Louis’ workers would turn the fountains on when they saw him coming, and turn them off when he passed. The palace usually held about 7,000

In “Social Order and Absolute Monarchy, written by Jean Domat, Domat argues that the absolute monarchy portrayed by King Louis XIV of France was created in the best interest of France. Domat’s audience in this document seems to be the middle class as well as the lower classes of France since Domat’s main goal of this paper is to justify the actions and amount of power held by the upper class and the king in an absolute monarchy.

During the 16th and 17th centuries it is clear and evident that the centralization of power, or the absolutism in and hierarchy, does in fact induce stability in society, however, it is also evident via the given readings that absolutism also had its flaws which were later proved to be its downfall. It essentially all boils down a single concept of the people versus government. This is evident in the history of the French prior and leading up to the Révolution. In addition to, the monarchy of the English under King James VI and I’s rule. As complicated as the nature of government is, when power or authority is concentrated excessively into a single point, the society will crack by that very same point if a healthy relationship between citizen and ruler is not established. One cannot expect to bully and undermine one’s citizens without considering the possibility that one day they will rise up against him or her and “religious” masks can only be worn for so long before people recognize the hypocrisies present within them. Both of these truths are evident as seen in the given texts. Specifically, with The Great Cat Massacre, On The Social Order and Absolute Monarchy, by Jean Domat, and Trew Law of Free Monarchies, King James VI & I.

Many achievements for advancement were accomplished during the late 1700s and early 1800s. The French King Louis XIV created at Versailles, near Paris a elaborate court and in 1680s he transformed a small chateau into the largest building in Europe, 12 miles from Paris. Also, Louis XIV carried off successfully a dual functions. He was both King in council and King in court. In his view, the two rules went together and he held

French King Louis XIV became king at the age of four. However, it was not until after the death of Cardinal Mazarin, that Louis was officially recognized as the King of France in 1643 until 1715. He referred to himself as the “ Sun King” and is well known for the building of Versailles and being the best illustration of an absolute monarchy in the seventeenth century. However, historians think that it might have not been an absolute democracy since France had other influencers with authority. Instead, Louis achieved an indirect absolute monarchy by controlling the policy-making regulations and the people in his court. France was the dominant power in Europe at the time, and Louis he wanted to showcase it through his military forces and the Palace of Versailles. He also wanted to unite the Catholics which lead to conflict with Protestants, and invested a vast amount

Another thing that Louis changed was the appearance and way of life of France. These great towns of France went under a sort of "metamorphosis". The landscape was altered and monuments were built everywhere. Louis decided that he wanted to isolate the center of government from the city of Paris, so he constructed the palace of Versailles. It was an object of universal admiration and enhanced French prestige. It became Louis’ permanent address in 1682 and was also the home to thousands of the more important nobles, royal officials, and

With the downfall of the absolute monarchy, and the beheading of King Louis XVI, France began to fall apart because of the lack of leadership and not having chain of command. What killed the monarchy was the inability to create representative institutions in which the state could execute its program of reform.(p 33) The people of France received what they asked for, and achieved one of their goals, but it lead to bureaucratic efficiency, the idea of letting terror take over. The cycle of violence was seen as never ending for the citizens of France. The London Times article also talks of mobs appearing in the city, and during this revolution gang life was starting to take control of the city. These gangs would order around, and if you did not

The palace of Versailles was built by Louis XIV of France (1643-1715), and the Escorial was built by Philip II of Spain (1556-1598). By examining the aerial and frontal facades of these two palaces, it may be seen that there were many similarities and differences between the two kings' perception and practice of monarchy. Each king set his own goals for his life, and concluded as to how a monarch ought to behave. Both Louis XIV and Philip II had religious duties to pay attention to, organized the distribution of power in their respective kingdoms, communicated with other countries and entities through war and diplomacy, raised militaries, and made plans for the expansion of their own beliefs, thoughts and practices. Aside from these

King Louis XIV greatly despised the Louvre (his Parisian residence). The king decided to look for a building site on which he could build a remote and noble residence. His choice fell on Versailles, a place that was at a distance from Paris. Le Notre, a French landscape architect, designed and created gardens that are still visited to this day. Louis Le Vau was a French Classical architect that was hired to build the exquisite and beautiful building. Charles Le Brun, a French painter and art theorist, painted the mansion with beautiful expertise. Louis XIV even said that Le Brun may be "the greatest French artist of all time".

On August 10, 1792, the wretched monarchy of France was finally overthrown. All of the king’s guards were thrown into prisons, any mention or idea of loyalty to him got ordinary citizens thrown in, too. The Parisian people believed that the loyalists would plan to help the king return to the throne. On September 2nd, an armed group of people attacked a bunch of prisoners who were being transferred from their original holding cells to Abbaye Prison. During an interview with one of the original attackers, it was said that “They were plotting against us. We heard it from their carriage, the traitors were going to go find the king! Insane, I tell you, these people were our friends, but we had to do what was best for our country.”

Title- The road from Versailles: Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and the fall of the French Monarchy

Versailles has not always been the big hotspot of activity as it is today. In the early 16th century Versailles, the town, was much smaller and Louis XIII built a hunting lodge and house for himself, because of the rural area which was allegedly known for its wild game. (Live science) This building was made of bricks which was inspired by the Italian renaissances. ( pariscityvision) He would take his son there yearly for hunting trips and after the death of Louis XIII in 1643, Louis XIV took control as king. In taking control, he was also interested in the moderate sized hunting pavilion in Versailles his predecessor had made (live science). Louis XIV had his own royal architect Louis Le Vau, from some previous jobs, to make the original building bigger and to

Versailles was not always a château or a royal palace it was also a country village on the road to Paris. Now let’s step back to when it was being built. There was a total of four campaigns each lasting around 4-20 years. The first campaign was building the garden and apartments to accommodate 600 guest invited to a celebration party and not much else happened in this campaign. The second building campaign was mainly about creating a place for the royal family to stay at. Louis XIV the king had his own room and his queen also had her own room. Louis’ XIV brother and sister-in-law had their own room as well. A hunting lodge for the royal family was also created for them to stay at as well. The second campaign was also being at