How Did King Louis Xiv Have Absolute Power

An absolute monarchy could only be successful under the leadership of an extraordinary ruler who had complete power over his people. An absolute monarch should be able to overachieve the abundance of obstacles placed in front of him. King Louis XIV was able to obtain much of his prodigious power by creating a new, modernized army. Louis was an exceptional mastermind at trade and he had dramatically increased France’s revenue. These actions allowed him to have the unique ability to create such a powerful army. He centralized the monarchy’s power around him and nobody had any political influence. He easily handled the difficulties he faced from the nobles by pacifying the nobility. King Louis XIV of France was undoubtedly the best absolute monarch …show more content…
Louis believed in the divine right of kings, which states that, “monarchs were accountable to no one but God.” (Parker, “Absolutism”) Hence, King Louis received absolute authority over France. One of the first orders he gave was the expansion of the palace in Versailles. He wanted to live lavishly and distant himself from the hectic chaos of Paris. He required respectable, devoted, and powerful nobles to live at his palace in Versailles. The palace at Versailles was “one of the largest and most extravagant palaces in Europe. It was adorned with marble floors, fine tapestries on the walls, and frescoes on the ceilings.” (Stock, “Louis XIV Moves Court to Versailles”) He called in dancers, poets, playwrights, and painters to his court. Almost every night, certain nobles were chosen by Louis to be entertained with wonderful plays, supper, operas, and balls that lasted until the morning of the next day. It was a privilege to be invited by Louis to attend such an event. Throughout the whole event, people from the royal family were the only ones allowed to sit down. Nobles were not allowed to sit or take a break; whoever broke this rule was immediately dismissed from court. After the