Louis XIV

During his long reign (1643-1715), Louis XIV was able to take France to the pinnacle of its power, creating the most centralized nation-state in Europe. This gave birth to a new sense of French nationhood. Feudal regionalism and dominance by the church were replaced with national pride. Louis XIV came to symbolize this new spirit of French culture and became the embodiment of the French state.

There were three important factors that allowed Louis XIV to centralize power and establish a strong absolute state under his control. Louis bribed his provincial governors to ensure loyalty to the king on all levels. He also made the term to three years so that any governors who werent loyal to the king could not remain in power long enough to endanger his authority. This shows that Louis XIV was determined to sustain the absolute power over France. He uses a Machiavellian approach towards keeping power by bribing his officials, and by giving them the taste of the power, but letting them keep it only for their loyalty. The second reason that Louis XIV was able to establish his absolute power over France was that in 1682 he produced four articles that essentially stripped the papacy of its power in France. Since the Vatican lost its control over France, it created an opening for Louis to absorb all the power. After he took over, the papacy would never again issue church laws pertaining to French social, Political

or economic issues. More than religious intolerance, this was a maneuver to unite church and state under the leadership of the king. The last reason that Louis XIV established himself as an absolute monarch, was because he developed a strong sense of pride of being French, as soon as he became the King, the wanted people to think of France whenever they think of him and otherwise. This contributed towards him becoming an absolute monarch because people wanted him to represent them and the France, because Louis was France and France was Louis. I think that the reign of Louis XIV should be considered a mixed success. Although the France had gained the stature of Europes leading cultural and military power, it has been argued that Louis's considerable foreign, military and domestic expenditure impoverished and bankrupted France. It has been also argued that Louis's failure to reform French institutions at a time when monarchy was secure in France led to the social upheaval culminating in the Revolution. Louis gave France ten new provinces, an overseas empire and the pre-eminent position in Europe. His political and military victories, as well as numerous cultural achievements, earned France the admiration of Europe for its success, power and sophistication. Much of Europe began to emulate French manners, values, goods and way-of-life. The European elite even conversed increasingly in predominantly French. Louis himself became the model for many Enlightenment monarchs.

By Gena Vasylyshyn and Sam Mcardle-buse