The Essence of Absolutism in Regards to Louis XIV
Although absolutism eventually occurred throughout Europe, its origins can be traced back to France, during the reign of Louis XIII. Absolute monarchy or absolutism meant that the sovereign power or ultimate authority in the state rested in the hands of a king who claimed to rule by divine right. This was true in the time of Louis XIV. Although inherited, absolutism reached its height while he was in command. He was, however, unlike other rulers in the sense that he created complete absolutism. During his reign, he tried to dominate all that was in France, including the papacy, nobility, and even nature. For the duration of Louis XIV, absolutism had fully, if not exceedingly, reached the definition. Louis XIV ruled from 1661 to 1715. During this time, his inheritance of absolutism proved to influence his decisions and the way he governed France. To establish absolute power over the people of France, Louis used a variety of different tools, the first and foremost being the palace of Versailles. The court was one of, if not the most glamourous of the time. He used the palace to persuade the upper nobility. They were encouraged to come to the court. This was achieved because people became convinced that it was their
The next step in the establishment of absolutism was the fact that he was able to triumph over the church. Two factors contributed to this, the first being stripping the papacy of its power. Louis XIV achieved this by producing four articles that put the church into submission. The second was revoking the Edict of Nantes and religious freedom of the French Protestants. Due to these contributing aspects, Louis XIV was able to unite church and state under leadership of the king. Again, this guaranteed against rebelling, but it also meant that Louis XIV had complete control over laws pertaining to French social, political, or economic issues. Although most people did not question the power of Louis XIV, he did have his critics. One such critic was Saint-Simon, who wrote the Memoires. Saint-Simon was high in the pecking order at Versailles; therefore he was able to get a good deal closer to court life. He considered Louis to be a totally selfish person, who "had no interest in anyone except himself, and had no regard for anyone else's feelings except his own". This is not necessarily fully indicative of Saint-Simon's true feelings because throughout the Memoires Louis XIV is depicted as a hard working, devoted and loyal king. Even though Saint-Simon was struggling
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Approximate Word count = 861
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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