Imagine, if you can, the excitement when King Louis XIV appointed the great and genius financial mind of Jean Baptiste Colbert as his finance minister in 1665. Allow me to bring you back to how it all began. Born in the great city of Reims, France in 1619, Jean Baptiste Colbert began his life as a member of the bourgeoisie, or middle class. His family was considerably poor and as a result struggled to afford his education. In fact, his family was dependant on his potential success from the beginning, luckily he did not let them down. Jean was the eldest sibling and the only one whom his parents could afford to send to school. He was the lucky sibling- none of his other siblings had the same educational opportunity. His siblings spent their
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At age 23, Louis assumed the title King Louis XIV of France and became an official monarch of the House of Bourbon. He had Versailles converted into a royal and extravagant palace, and forced the royal court to live there. As he grew older, his reputation as a great and powerful absolute monarch grew. As a result of Mazarin’s death, Louis XIV became extremely greedy for power. Therefore, he was titled ‘the Sun King.’ Throughout his reign, he continued to demand all power and control over France. The man stood tall and powerful- dressed head to toe in riches and characterized by a distractingly long and pointed nose. He spent most of his life contained in the palace of Versailles, where he ruled by divine right. This meant that he believed his right to rule came from God. Louis’ reputation quickly cultivated into a man who was greedy for power. Everyday, he would lavishly stroll around his palace declaring “I am the state.” Moreover, his policies were based on the reasoning, “It is legal because I wish it.” His focus throughout his reign was striving to maintain the enormous power of France all by maintaining complete power over every aspect of the French …show more content…
He bantered, “Jean Baptiste Colbert, a silly gardener!” He then ordered, “Get that man. Appoint him my finance minister, at once.” Within a month, Colbert was transferred from the fields in the garden to an extravagant office in the grand palace. The office appeared as a dream, a fairy tale to Colbert. Louis and Jean cooperated well, considering Louis was so greedy. He knew Colbert would increase his power as king. As Colbert always said, “It is simply, and solely, the abundance of money within a state [which] makes the difference in its grandeur and power.” As part of his new, elevated job, Colbert worked on France’s finances all day long. Important nobility, now including Colbert, were forced to live in the palace with Louis XIV. Colbert’s room was a good size. It contained a good size mattress, golden lamp, and a wooden slab of a table. Each day he would report to the gathering room at 6 a.m. promptly and work on finances, sometimes joined by the king himself. One day while hard at work, Colbert came up with a strategic doctrine he titled Colbertism. It would ultimately serve to accumulate wealth, and through that wealth emphasize the power of the state of France. This 17th century doctrine had economic and political benefits. The doctrine introduced the concept of balance of trade by way of mercantilism. Mercantilism is the “belief in the benefits of profitable trading; commercialism.” In historical terms,
At age 23, Louis assumed the title King Louis XIV of France and became an official monarch of the House of Bourbon. He had Versailles converted into a royal and extravagant palace, and forced the royal court to live there. As he grew older, his reputation as a great and powerful absolute monarch grew. As a result of Mazarin’s death, Louis XIV became extremely greedy for power. Therefore, he was titled ‘the Sun King.’ Throughout his reign, he continued to demand all power and control over France. The man stood tall and powerful- dressed head to toe in riches and characterized by a distractingly long and pointed nose. He spent most of his life contained in the palace of Versailles, where he ruled by divine right. This meant that he believed his right to rule came from God. Louis’ reputation quickly cultivated into a man who was greedy for power. Everyday, he would lavishly stroll around his palace declaring “I am the state.” Moreover, his policies were based on the reasoning, “It is legal because I wish it.” His focus throughout his reign was striving to maintain the enormous power of France all by maintaining complete power over every aspect of the French …show more content…
He bantered, “Jean Baptiste Colbert, a silly gardener!” He then ordered, “Get that man. Appoint him my finance minister, at once.” Within a month, Colbert was transferred from the fields in the garden to an extravagant office in the grand palace. The office appeared as a dream, a fairy tale to Colbert. Louis and Jean cooperated well, considering Louis was so greedy. He knew Colbert would increase his power as king. As Colbert always said, “It is simply, and solely, the abundance of money within a state [which] makes the difference in its grandeur and power.” As part of his new, elevated job, Colbert worked on France’s finances all day long. Important nobility, now including Colbert, were forced to live in the palace with Louis XIV. Colbert’s room was a good size. It contained a good size mattress, golden lamp, and a wooden slab of a table. Each day he would report to the gathering room at 6 a.m. promptly and work on finances, sometimes joined by the king himself. One day while hard at work, Colbert came up with a strategic doctrine he titled Colbertism. It would ultimately serve to accumulate wealth, and through that wealth emphasize the power of the state of France. This 17th century doctrine had economic and political benefits. The doctrine introduced the concept of balance of trade by way of mercantilism. Mercantilism is the “belief in the benefits of profitable trading; commercialism.” In historical terms,