Louis XIV of France

During the seventeenth and eighteenth century, Europe had been ruled by absolute kings who based their authority on divine right, which was the belief that kings were given the right to rule directly from the will of God. This age of absolutism came to an end in the late eighteenth century and beginnings of the next century. The nineteenth century witnessed the rise of modern industry, in which agriculture lost its preeminent role in societal reproduction and yielded to industrial manufacturing.…

With a name like Ivan the Terrible, it is hard to deny the possibility of Ivan IV reigning as the supreme absolute monarch. Despite his numerous bouts of psychosis and general instability, he was a ruthless ruler who would achieve what he desired by any means necessary, with absolute devotion to his state and his faith. One of the essential qualities of an absolute monarch is obtaining and maintaining full control of the lowly peasantry. Such a task may seem so simple, but without strict…

against him, he would have them executed. Therefore, everybody who was against the king would be dead or too afraid to do anything. King Louis XIV was one king who had the help of spies, but he also had the nobles want to gain favor with him. They would do anything to please Louis XIV in order to gain more prestige. Therefore instead of nobles advising Louis XIV, they…

Jacques-Benigne Bossuet was a French bishop and renowned for his sermon on advocating the Divine Rights of Kings and political absolutism. Literally, it states that the political authority was derived from religious authority. The kings were selected and they acted as the minister of God on earth, which means that the will of kings was the will of God, what the king said and behaved was the prophets of God, and any attempts to go against or restrict the power of kings were the sacrilege of God.…

know it would be suppressed.” (doc.7) However, not every wealthy person limited science. For example, the French Royal Academy, which was a science society based in Paris, was sponsored by King Louis XIV. His glorious visit was commemorated by a sketch in 1671 (doc. 10). Jean-Baptiste wrote to Louis XIV stating that: “…at home an abundance of wealth and in causing the arts and sciences to flourish… to establish several academies for both letters and sciences.” (Doc. 11). He…

The Habsburg family was a major power throughout Europe for nearly 750 years. They managed to move themselves up from being just a family with a castle to one of the largest empires Europe has ever seen. Throughout their reign, the family saw some losses of land, but many more gains. They fought battles against their major enemies, the French and the Ottomans. They married nearly every royal family in Europe, until there was no more room left to expand. With hard work and intelligence, the…

Absolutism flourished in European countries during the 1600s and 1700s. This principle called for a monarchy with complete sovereignty. Complete sovereignty allowed the king or queen to make laws, tax, administer justice, control the state’s administrative system, and determine foreign policy. The Church supported absolutism with the theory of divine right, arguing that God specifically chose the monarch to rule. Compared to a limited government, absolutism provided a far superior regime. Thus,…

James Gillray in 1792 painted a painting called A Voluptuary under the horrors of Digestion. A voluptuary is a person who gives into self indulgence in luxury or gratification of the senses. The Voluptuary painting is of a prince. The prince is sitting down in a chair by a table with a mess of food upon it. Also there are many things on the floor and many empty bottles of various liquids laying around. Now if people were to consider him as a king there are criteria he would have to meet. He…

In the novel Old Goriot by Honoré de Balzac discusses societal interactions in France in the early 1800s. Balzac investigates the jostling for power in different social classes. This novel is set after the French Revolution, where there was an increase in the fluidity between classes. This fluidity was caused by the restoration of the aristocracy, after it was mostly destroyed in the revolution. Rastignac is a young student, who is just becoming an adult in the real world. He wants to become a…

II-History 102 Online Oct. 20, 2014 Louis XIV: The Sun King Louis XIV was the absolute monarch who reigned in France from 1643 to 1715, a period of seventy-two years, which happens to be the longest reign of any European monarch. His reputation helped steer the French nation into a formidable power during his rule. Louis XIV exerted himself to be a total authoritarian and king of majestic proportions. Known as the Sun King, due to his choice of royal emblem, Louis XIV re-guarded himself…