Why One King: Was Louis XIV Successful?

Was Louis XIV Successful?
The Great Louis XIV reigned as a successful king in France from 1643 through 1715. Louis was considered the embodiment of an “absolute” monarch, because of his need for sole power and ruling. As Louis started his reign, many things needed to be changed, from being a disconnected age, to a integrate procedure. He commenced this process by taking full power over France and converting to only one religion. He made himself the center of attention and took every barrier head on, to remain the leader. Though Louis was perceived as a self-indulged and vain absolutist, Louis was a king who made many advancements and upgrades to France. The determined, hardworking, and prosperous Louis XIV was a successful king by utilizing his methods as “one king, one law, one faith”, declaring his ruling as absolutism, with no parliament, mobilization of war and gathering tax revenue with no other court, and centralized religion. …show more content…
One of the first things Louis did when he was reigning was decrease the power of the nobility. He did this so he could watch over the nobles and so he could keep an eye on the people to make sure he had complete power. Louis would not share any of his power. He wanted everyone, especially the upper class men that had more authority than others, that he had no aim or intention to share his power (Mckay 469-470). If Louis would have let the nobles and the upper class have any say or help guide him, they would expect to obtain some of his power, which Louis was not about to do. Louis ruled as the sole influential leader, making him the epitome of an absolute leader. He had divine power and did not give anyone a chance to interfere with that. These views made France an