Louis XIV

The Absolute Monarch

Louis XIV declared his goal was “one king, one law, one faith.”

Analyze the methods the king used to achieve this objective and discuss the extent to which he was successful.

Early Life• King of

France 1643–1715

• Cardinal Mazarin and the Fronde 1648-1653

Description

• Contemporaries considered him tall

• Distinguished in appearance but inclined to heaviness

• skilled actor • Succeeded in being

“every moment and every inch a king”

Government• The provincial nobles lost political power.

• Bourgeoisie (middle class) used to build his centralized bureaucracy

• He limited local government

• Created specialized ministries, filled by professionals responsible to him.

“L'état, c'est moi” [I am the state]

Louis made himself the center of French power and culture

How to make the Nobles insignificant?

Louis bestowed pensions, offices, honors, gifts and the threat of disfavor

“There was nothing he liked so much as flattery…the coarser

and clumsier it was, the more he relished in it.” Louis de Rouvroy

“The court gravitated around ambition… Everyone was busily

trying to better his or her position by pleasing, by helping or by hindering someone else.” The Princess of Cleves Madame

de Lafayette.

• Because of the brilliance of his court, Louis was called “Le Roi Soleil” [the Sun King] and “Le Grand Monarque.”

• Nobility was exempt from taxes but depended on the crown,

•Court ceremonies and petty gossip undermined the power of the nobility

Extending State Authority

• Efficient bureaucracy• Use of intendants, handpicked by king• Intendants represented his will against

Parlements, nobles and local powers• Insisted on more efficient tax collection

Intendants

• Intendants came from upper middle class

• Served the state in the person of the king

• Professional bureaucrats

Centralization

• Never called a meeting of the Estates-General, therefore, nobility had no means of united expression or action

• Did not have first minister (doesn’t need someone like Richelieu)

• Used spying, secret police, system of informers, and opened private letters

Eye for detail ..to be well-informed on an infinite number of matters….to elicit from our subjects what they hide from us with the greatest care; to discover the most remote opinions of our courtiers and the most hidden interests…

Louis’ XIV

Louis XIV took great pains to inform himself on what was happening

everywhere, in public places, private homes and even on the international

scene…Spies and informers of all kinds were numberless.

Glorification of LouisGlorification of Louis

Louis glorified his image through massive publics

works, art, urban improvements and Versailles

"I have no intention of sharing my authority."

Versailles

Versailles

• A model for order

• The center of France

• Symbol of the King’s power

• Forced thousands of nobles to live there

Every morning, the chief valet woke Louis at 7:30 AM. Outside the curtains of Louis’s canopy bed stood at least 100 of the most privileged nobles at court. They were waiting to help the great king dress. Only four would be allowed the honor of handing Louis his slippers or holding his sleeves for him.

Having the nobles at the palace increased royal authority in two ways:

1.It made the nobility totally dependent on Louis.

2. It also took the nobles from their homes, thereby giving more power to the intendants

The palace began as his father's hunting lodge.  Louis added pieces at different times over a 20 year period.  At

times, the palace employed 35,000 people and could house up to 10,000!  The cost of the construction totaled between

$500 million to $2 billion.

Features of the Palace:

-forests for hunting

-man-made canal for sailing

-heat by fireplace only

-two smaller guests "palaces"

-royal apartments

-grand dining room, ball rooms

-several theatres

-served food was almost always cold--the kitchen was too far from dining area!

-formal gardens, several statues and fountains (if the fountains were turned, Paris went without water)

-the King changed styles and colors of drapes, furniture, etc. with the changing of the seasons.

Grand stables

“One Faith”Jansenists

• Jansenists:–Catholics with some protestant

doctrine

• 1660 Louis issued decrees closing down Jansenists theological centers.

Religion

We have judged that we can do nothing better to wipe out the

memory of the troubles, of the confusion, of the evils that the

progress of this false religion has causes….than to revoke the

Edict.

Religion• Louis demanded religious uniformity

(Catholicism)

• Persecution of the Huguenots in the 1680s – Revoked the Edict of Nantes (1685) – Result: Protestants leave France– Protestant emigration

• (merchants and skilled artisans) France’s economic decline

• alienated the Protestant powers.

Why did Louis revoke Edict of Nantes?

• Louis considered religious unity politically necessary.

• Religious liberty was not popular in France– Aristocrats had petitioned Louis to

crackdown

– “it was probably the one act of his reign that was popular with his subjects.”

Financial and Economic Management

• Expanding professional bureaucracy, court at Versailles and extensive military reform, and war cost a lot.

• Tax collection failed to produce enough revenue

Jean-Baptiste Colbert

• Talented minister from modest origin

• Proved to be a financial genius

• Applied mercantilism to France

• France should be self-sufficient and buy nothing

Mercantilism

Jean-Baptiste Colbert

• Set up state inspection and regulation to ensure high quality goods

• Encouraged foreign artisans to work in France

• Abolished domestic tariffs and enacted higher foreign ones

• Improved communication and transportation inside France

How successful was Colbert?

• French textile industry expanded enormously

• Commercial classes prospered

• French navy increased

• Poor harvests, deflation of currency, fluctuations in grain prices, heavy taxations of peasants forced many to emigrate.

Louis XIV, the Grand Monarch, died after a reign of seventy-two years. He had broken the power of Spain, had expanded France a long way towards its present boundaries, but had bankrupted his people. He had created an absolute monarchy, but failed to make the type of reforms necessary to ensure loyalty to the crown.