Louis XIV: An Absolute Monarch

Decent Essays
I found the extent to which Louis XIV was an "absolute" monarch to be fairly broad. Not only was the absolute power in politics, but he also at absolute control of the military, and even some aspects of religious freedoms and practices. I think that with all these added together, it's fair to say that he was an absolute monarch. There are multiple examples of how he had control of politics, religious freedoms and the military. The best place to start is the beginning; where Louis XIV assumed control after the death of Mazarin. When Mazarin died, he had basically complete control over the government and a young age since he did not appoint a chief minister. Without a chief minister, there were no checks or balances in the government, giving

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Political decisions should be decide from the top down due to complete control over everything. King Louis XIV is a great example of why political decisions should be run from top down. These reason include war, economics, and preservation of power. King Louis XIV was a master of warfare, money was not a problem so he bought a professional army that was one of the best army in the world. Loius desired power so he soon began expanding his borders.…

    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    King Louis XVI - The Awful Leader King Louis XVI, born August 23, 1754, was the last King of France and he wasn't a particularly strong leader. Although he’s one of the most famous monarchs in the 18th century who went down in history, he miserably failed at his job. The kings before him, Louis XIV and Louis XV, put the country in debt and the unemployment dropped to 50%. He was a beloved king at the beginning of his reign, but as he made more decisions he slowly became a despised king. His people stormed the Bastille to show a defiance towards him, his family got charged with treason, and he was guillotined by his people on January 21, 1793.…

    • 1101 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Louis Xiv Dbq Analysis

    • 353 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Absolute monarchs and democracies are both types of government, however there are some major differences that set the two apart. In absolute monarchies the people have little to no power to influence governmental decisions. In Document 1: This illustration depicts the government of France from the mid-1600s to the early 1700s, the absolute ruler appears to be King Louis XIV. He is looking down upon his subjects, the nobles, as they kneel before him. When Louis ruled over France, he chose the sun as his emblem, signifying that everything revolved around him.…

    • 353 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    King Louis XVI addressed the Assembly in February of 1790, and offered his full support for the Revolution. His simple speech moved the legislators deeply, as he approved new reforms, offered support in producing the new constitution, and officially accepted the Civil Constitution. However, would the king stand by his words? The creditability of the king was deeply undermined, and the abolition of the monarch, and establishment of a republic became ever increasing. Despite his lack of popular approbation, Louis XVI did abolish the death penalty as well as the labor tax, however within this Revolution, Louis XVI was seen as the bad guy.…

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Peter the Great used the Table of Ranks which placed superiority to those who were endowed and served in the military – not by birthright – with the highest civil rank being a chancellor. This improved Peter the Great’s control over how much power certain nobles had because they could not skip ranks and need to be promoted to advance. Louis XIV used the two main classes Nobles of the Robe and Nobles of the Sword. The Nobles of the Sword were those in the nobility by birthright – their predecessors were of high ranks in the military. The Nobles of the Robe were favored by Louis because they bought their way into nobility and were devoted to the king.…

    • 562 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Louis XIV was one of the most memorable rules France has ever had, he was able to accomplish an absolutist rule with a bureaucracy and the development of mercantilism. Under the Rule of Anne, Louis XIV mother, France was in chaos. The opposition to his power had demanded the formation of a parliament and creation of national constitution. When Anne had refused revolt broke out across France.…

    • 854 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    France in the mid 17th century was quite hectic. At the time, King Louis XIII was in power and basically running the country into the ground. To start, he was ruling with the help of his closest advisors and Cardinal Richelieu which, in effect, gave some of his power away. Along with that, Louis XIII was in continuous violent religious discords with the Huguenots (Biography.com Editors. " Louis XIII Biography").…

    • 1717 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He built a palace with 226 rooms and a living capacity of 5,001 and invited all the nobles to come live with him in what he called -- The Palace of Versailles. All the nobles left their homes, villages, castles, towns or whatever to come live in Versailles. By them doing that, Louis XIV gained more land and authority; The nobles got to live in Versailles but Louis had stripped the nobles of all their effective power and kept them busy by giving them daily rituals which gave him a more absolute reign. Additionally, the negative thing that Louis did during his reign was making huge state debts by building the Versailles palace and declaring wars (especially with Austria and England) which cost too much money. All he could do is raise the taxes and hope for the best.…

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Many monarchs during the seventeenth century used absolutism as a governing force to rule their lands. During the reign of Louis XIV, Jean Domat wrote a profound document in which he addressed all areas of government and outlined what he believed to be the tenets of an absolute monarchy. This document, entitled “On Social Order and Absolute Monarchy” defined what he believed to be the basis of absolutism and class structure in regards to the law of God and the law of nature. Absolutism is as form of government where unrestricted, complete power is retained by a centralized sovereign individual. Domat displays immense support of the concept of absolutism and outlines the idea that the people should show loyalty to their one appointed leader who is chosen by God.…

    • 1543 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “For kings are not only God’s lieutenants upon earth, and sit upon God’s throne, but even by God Himself they are called gods… And the like powers have kings” expressed James I. Numerous absolute monarchs believed in a divine right to rule. Especially since they had all the same power as God. This was effective because if anyone were to go against a monarch it would be like going against God. Most people honored and respected absolute monarch rulers because they knew the positive aspects that would come out of…

    • 741 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Louis Xiv

    • 195 Words
    • 1 Pages

    The palace of Versailles building is one of the strategies of Louis xiv centralized political power. Louis xiv completed Li Xiliu and massa Lin Jianli a centralised, authoritarian nation. His nobles will become members of the court, he lifted them as the governor of the right, in order to weaken the power of the nobles. So he built the palace of Versailles. On May 6, 1682, he moved into the huge palace in Paris suburb.…

    • 195 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Louis XIV was still one of the best rulers, he went down in history to hold the record of the longest rule, I believe that he was a great king for his country, but I believe that Peter the Great was…

    • 1174 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Absolutism is a political solution where the monarchy controls every facets of government with no checks or balances, it was initially introduced by the English by Kings, James and Charles I. Although it was introduced in the England (maybe Spain) it never did take hold mainly because of an established parliament that was so strongly ingrained into the English process of government. On the other hand, Louis XIV was able to secure an absolute monarchy and take it to extremes. He was able under the precept of “Divine Right” and claiming to be servant of God. This would allow Louis XIV to dissolve the Estates-General (a general assembly). Louis XIV is the poster child of what an absolute monarch is supposed to be and had no issue in letting the people of France know his status.…

    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    With a name like Ivan the Terrible, it is hard to deny the possibility of Ivan IV reigning as the supreme absolute monarch. Despite his numerous bouts of psychosis and general instability, he was a ruthless ruler who would achieve what he desired by any means necessary, with absolute devotion to his state and his faith. One of the essential qualities of an absolute monarch is obtaining and maintaining full control of the lowly peasantry. Such a task may seem so simple, but without strict control of the lower classes, any monarchy can be overthrown due to the large numbers and sheer determination of said peasants.…

    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Frederick the Great became king of Prussia in 1740, his reign as absolute monarch was unique and unlike no other. An absolute monarch is a king or queen whose actions are restricted neither by written law nor by custom. The goals of an absolute monarch are to create a successful army, improve the economy, centralize government, and pacify nobility. These are all important because they make the country stronger and more successful because they can protect themselves, make money, and have a strong and successful ruler. Although there are many great absolute monarchs, Frederick the Great of Prussia is the greatest absolute monarch, because he was a military genius, he listened to his people, he changed Prussia’s justice system, and he worked to…

    • 1747 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays