The Absolute Rule Of King Louis XIV

Louis XIV, King of France and Navarre, believed in the principle, "Un Roi, Un Loi, Une Foi," or "One King, One Law, One Faith." Consequently, Louis XIV saw the Huguenots as a threat to the religious unity he wanted and had promised the his people as their newly crowned monarch. For the king, Protestantism represented, what he perceived as, a mark of powerlessness in his otherwise absolute rule. He became devoted to eradicating this one aspect of weakness in his otherwise absolute reign. Louis XIV was forty-seven years old in 1685, arguably the most powerful ruler in all of Europe. On October ninth, shortly after the death of his wife, Maria Theresa of Austria, and after an indecently short period of mourning, Louis XIV, clandestinely married …show more content…
Madame de Maintenon, a devout Catholic, had once been the governess to Louis XIV's illegitimate children by the Marquise de Montespan, maitresse en titre of long standing to the king. Born into a Protestant family, Madame de Maintenon had converted to Roman Catholicism at a young age. There are those at court who believed that it was Madame de Maintenon who had influenced Louis XIV in persecuting the Protestants, yet, there is no proof that she had encouraged Louis XVI, and as it was common knowledge that the king was not one to bend to anyone's will. However, it was Madame de Maintenon who managed to reignite in the king, the religious fervor. of his youth. He was seen participating in all of the Church's sacraments and making his daily pilgrimage to the palace's chapel for mass, much to the delight of Pere La Chaise, his confessor. Louis had always held a fear of God, and as he aged he became more and more obsessed with the salvation of his soul. It is one of the few areas of the king's life where the mark of his mother Anne of Austria, a staunch Catholic, could still be …show more content…
Louis XIV sought the advice of a circle of brilliant if ambitious ministers, who he met with weekly for counsel. He relied most heavily on his Counseil d"Etat or Conseil d'en Haut, who ministry aided the king with matters most important to the state. Michel Le Tellier, the Chancellor of France, was the most prominent of the ministers of the Counseil d'Etat and it was Le Tellier who most often had Louis XIV's ear. Telllier was responsible for establishing Louis XIV's dominance in Europe by implementing absolutism or the "Divine Right of Kings." Le Tellier's son, the Marquise de Louvois, Minister of War, Francois de Harlay, the Archbishop of France, and Pere La Chaise made up the rest of this most important and rather secretive council. The council met with the king three times a week, though there exists no record of these meetings. Louis XIV never spoke, opting just to listen and take notes, while his council said their peace. Any decision would be made by the king after hearing all sides of the argument. It is to one such meeting that we will now