THESIS
Assem Heiba
The absolutism of Louis XIV impacted France in many ways. In order to become unchallenged, he made sure the nobility came from upper middle class men. In order to pay for the cost of war and the Chateau de Versailles, he added more permanent taxes on the already-overburdened peasants. Louis XIV was informed by a large government apparatus and attended to many of the tasks personally. Many of the officials he appointed were career politicians. During Louis XIV's 72 year reign, Colbert, who believed a country's power was measured by the aomount of gold it had, led France to become almost self-sufficient, and unemployment decreased. After Colbert's death, several crop failiures strained the French economy. Under the command of Louvois, France fought many wars and took many lands, but sources were strained even more, and neighboring states allied against France. Louis believed that religious unity was key to leading a strong, unified country. At first, he allowed Huguenots to practice their religion in certain cities, but then, in a move which gained him much praise, he destroyed all Huguenot strongholds and forced Huguenots to convert to Catholicism, revoking the Edict of Nantes.
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Penis
12/3/2013 11:58:30 pm
Fuck ya self
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Nehal
10/23/2011 04:45:17 pm
The age of the absolutism of Louis XIV had many features like the limitation of the power of the nobility by moving them to Versailles to be under his watchful eye and the strengthening of the bureaucracy by appointing ministers and advisors from the middle class. Mercantilism, the imposing of government regulations of trade in order to benefit the country, became the dominant feature of France's economy under Jean-Baptiste Colbert. Another two important features of Louis XIV absolutist reign is the imposing of high taxes on the peasantry so the royal court can live in extravagant luxury and the persecution of Protestants during Louis' attempts to make France a unified sate under Catholicism.
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Arpita
10/23/2011 04:49:26 pm
Absolutism is also described as monarchical power. There were many kings who ruled under this kind of power including, most importantly, Louis XIV. Taking into consideration that he ruled for 72 years, he made a lot of changes over his reign. The war of Fronde (1649-1652) had a huge impact on Louis XIV. It was this war that determined Louis, who witnessed it as a child, to tame the nobility and to set a firm monarchical government. He used the population of his territory to his advantage, like recruiting advisors from the middle class. Religiously, he revoked the edict of Nantes, that brought an end to religious conflicts between the Lutherans and Catholics, for a while. The economy of France was initially linked with its agricultural production. Later to develop the economic condition, Louis XIV developed trade and industries. He burdened taxes on 95% of his people, who were the peasants. This had its own consequences.
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Farah
10/23/2011 04:50:27 pm
Louis XIV's absolutism in many ways planted the seeds of discontent that grew into the French revolution in the 18th century. His reign had a positive effect on the nobility, the bureaucracy, and the power of the monarchy: he was a staunch believer in the divine right of kings, and acted accordingly. He put in place a bureaucracy comprised in large part of people from the middle class rather than the upper class; they were loyal only to him, not to a group of aristocrats that could inspire corruption or be a threat to the monarchy. In fact, he removed the nobility as a threat to the crown all together, gathering them around him at Versailles and inspiring great loyalty to his reign, due to all their desires to be in his favor. However, his absolutism also led to greater religious intolerance and an economic decline. Louis XIV decided that a unified country should follow one religion, not many, so he revoked the Edict of Nantes and put in place the Edict of Fontainebleu, making France a Catholic nation once more and removing the little religious tolerance that had existed. Economically, while progress was made under Jean Baptiste Colbert and his philosophy of mercantilism, the many wars Louis waged to gain territory resulted in a great need for revenue. Since much of the nobility was exempt from taxation, the majority of the increased tax burden fell upon the poor, who couldn't afford the extra taxes, which led to a major economic decline in France as well as extreme discontent among the peasantry. The monarchy's inability to sympathize with and meet the needs of the peasantry, which made up the majority of the population, led to the French Revolution.
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Farida
10/23/2011 04:53:11 pm
Louis XIV, the Sun King, was one of the first monarchs to embody absolutist principles. He was king of France for 72 years, the longest reign in Western history. In those 72 years, he came to be considered as the foundation of modern estates. His absolutist principles impacted many aspects of the country and government. He believed in the divine right of kings; one of his most famous quotes says, "L'etats est moi", which basically means that the king is the state and the state is the king. The Key to his mindset was to keep control the nobility under his control. He did that by excluding them from the government and recruiting middle class people to run the government instead; he gave them great privileges so they could be loyal to him. The nobility still had a say in the government and other aspects of the society, but not as much as before. Louis also maintained control of the peasantry; he exploited them by taxing them while exempting the nobility from taxes and took about 20% of their crops. If you were a peasant, you had to lay low and work hard or else you would be arrested. The economy in Louis XIV's reign was also very essential under Cardinal Richeleu.
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Sarah
10/24/2011 02:02:09 am
Louis XIV, otherwise known as the Sun King, was one of the well-known absolute rulers of his time. He believed that the sovereignty of the state lies in the ruler. His most famous line, "L'etat, c'est moi," meant "I am the state." He strongly believed in the divine right of kings and had the longest reign in European history for 72 years. Louis XIV implemented a bureaucracy that was made up of many middle class citizens loyal to him. They were moved to his grand palace Versailles to live with him so that he could keep a close watch over them, allowing him to avoid corruption and take charge of his country. Jean Baptiste Colbert, Louis' finance minister, practiced a new policy called mercantilism, bringing France to its height of economic power and stability. Weaknesses of mercantilism placed heavy taxation on the peasantry, resulting in large emigration out of the country and discontent among the lower classes, building up ultimately to the French revolution. Louis XIV's wars had also benefited France in the past, but were now placing the country in bankruptcy. Louis XIV had revoked the Edict of Nantes, that had previously granted some degree of religious tolerance to France, and replaced it with the Edict of Fontainebleu, not allowing Huguenots to practice Calvinism openly. The absolute reign of Louis XIV immensely impacted the byreaucracy, nobility, peasantry, economy, and religious toleration in France.
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Mena
11/6/2011 05:03:25 pm
The absolutism of Louis XIV also known as the Sun King was a model of absolutist power across Europe. He impacted the bureaucracy, the nobility, and the monarchy in a positive way. The bureaucracy improved under his 72 years of ruling. He also co-opted and convinced nobles to work together. The monarchy became an absolute monarchy, influencing the country greatly. He wanted religious unity so he put in place an edict that went completely against the Edict of Nantes exiling Christian Catholics in a harsh manner. This lead to the loss of skilled and loyal subjects. Another decision that Louis made was making Jean Colbert the controller of general finances. Many people agree that this was a wise choice because Colbert greatly increased the income of the country without upsetting the people. But all of his efforts were destroyed since Louis got France into many wars. Then after Colbert died the next controller of finances was not as wise so he increased the taxes and that affected the poor peasantry. Now France was in trouble with no money and with an angry population.
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PEENIS
3/16/2016 07:49:56 pm
FUK THIS
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