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"). When his son Louis XIV was finally born, the boy was not given much of a government or even country to work with. Although Louis XIV was not given much, he seemed to surprise many with what he was able to do with the country of France. Louis’ rule beginning at a young age, building power with Versaille, and making some major decisions
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In 1598, Henry IV signed the Edict of Nantes, a document that put a temporary end to major religious wars between the Catholics and Protestants. The document granted Huguenots religious tolerance and some more political and social equality(Cavendish), although King Louis was not a huge fan of this. As a Catholic ruler, Louis felt that it was his obligation to God to make sure that his citizens followed only one religion. Initially Louis tried to take a pleasant approach by encouraging the Protestants to convert in return for a sum of money ("Louis XIV of France Revokes the Edict of Nantes, 1685"). When this approach did not work, he became more violent and began to arrest Protestant clergy and destroyed Protestant churches and schools. Finally in 1685, Louis made the decision to revoke the Edict of Nantes and forced people to practice Catholicism ("Louis XIV of France Revokes the Edict of Nantes, 1685"). This attempt to display power over the Huguenots infuriated and drove many of them out of the country. Along with revoking the Edict of Nantes, Louis began to be somewhat of a war junkie. He was able to build up and extremely strong army and after Louis won a few small battles against neighboring countries, he gained confidence and wanted to attempt to take control of more land. In 1700 Louis entered the War of the …show more content…
He began his reign at roughly the age five and was therefore able to have enough time to turn the monarchy around. When he came into full power, he was able to build his splendor palace of Versailles which came with both power and debt. As he continued his reign and made sizable decisions about religion and war, he ended up only getting into more debt and had some of his people turn against him. Although Louis was able to change the government from a weak rule to an extremely powerful absolute monarchy, it did not hold. Only a few decades later, the people had had enough and the debt was so big that the French power, government, and country dissolved
In 1598, Henry IV signed the Edict of Nantes, a document that put a temporary end to major religious wars between the Catholics and Protestants. The document granted Huguenots religious tolerance and some more political and social equality(Cavendish), although King Louis was not a huge fan of this. As a Catholic ruler, Louis felt that it was his obligation to God to make sure that his citizens followed only one religion. Initially Louis tried to take a pleasant approach by encouraging the Protestants to convert in return for a sum of money ("Louis XIV of France Revokes the Edict of Nantes, 1685"). When this approach did not work, he became more violent and began to arrest Protestant clergy and destroyed Protestant churches and schools. Finally in 1685, Louis made the decision to revoke the Edict of Nantes and forced people to practice Catholicism ("Louis XIV of France Revokes the Edict of Nantes, 1685"). This attempt to display power over the Huguenots infuriated and drove many of them out of the country. Along with revoking the Edict of Nantes, Louis began to be somewhat of a war junkie. He was able to build up and extremely strong army and after Louis won a few small battles against neighboring countries, he gained confidence and wanted to attempt to take control of more land. In 1700 Louis entered the War of the …show more content…
He began his reign at roughly the age five and was therefore able to have enough time to turn the monarchy around. When he came into full power, he was able to build his splendor palace of Versailles which came with both power and debt. As he continued his reign and made sizable decisions about religion and war, he ended up only getting into more debt and had some of his people turn against him. Although Louis was able to change the government from a weak rule to an extremely powerful absolute monarchy, it did not hold. Only a few decades later, the people had had enough and the debt was so big that the French power, government, and country dissolved