Absolute monarchies had all the power in Europe. Their kingdoms were powerful and accomplished. Although absolute monarchies empowered and enriched their kingdoms, they were still largely detrimental because of King Louis XIV of France, debt, Frederick the Great’s seizure of Silesia, and the city of St. Petersburg. King Louis XIV of France was an absolute monarch. During King Louis XIV reign, from 1645 to 1715, absolute monarchs, such as himself, were honorably called gods. He had divine power. In the book The True Law of Free Monarchies, by King James I of England, states “… for kings are not only God’s lieutenants on earth, and sit upon God’s throne but even by God Himself they are called gods . . . Kings are justly called gods, for that they exercise a divine power upon earth . . .” (Doc.1) King Louis XIV was treated with immense respect and was seen as an angelic figure. His subjects (citizens) had …show more content…
King Louis XIV enormous debt caused chaos and financial distress to his kingdom. In Memoir of Problems Faced upon Taking the Throne, written by King Louis XIV, it states, “ Everywhere was disorder . . . The finances were entirely exhausted, so much so that we could hardly find the ways and means. Much of the most necessary and most privileged expenses of my house and my own privy purse were in debt beyond all that was fitting, or maintained [through loans], to be a further subsequent burden.” (Doc.5) The debt of King Louis XIV was very troublesome. It caused his once powerful and rich kingdom, to plummet. The article Memoir of the Reign of Louis XIV, by the Duke of Saint – Simon: Louis de Rouvry, states, “He wished to reign by himself. His jealousy on this point unceasingly became weakness . . . He liked nobody to be in any way superior to him.” (Doc.6) King Louis XIV was selfish and discourteous. King Louis XIV pernicious reign caused his kingdom to be monetarily unstable and damaged. Unlike King Louis XIV, Frederick the Great not under
Louis XIV of France, who dominated Europe with his strength and army, was the most successful absolute king. He had a different perspective on how to rule France. With this different mindset came big dreams from Louis that he was determined to achieve. France ruled Europe in a similar manner to how Spain ruled previously. It was eventually not long before France surpassed Spain in power, and in the end, France became the most powerful nation in Europe because of Louis's dedication to his ambitions.
This religious aspect to these absolute monarchs caused the people to have respect for their rulers. People thought “Fear God, Honor the King.” (Document 5) It meant that people should have faith in their Kings and fear the course that God has set for them. They believed that monarchs were sent to do the good deeds of god and that using their power for evil was a horrible sin.
The third most significant factor contributing to King Louis successful reign was establishing a mighty and loyal army, which he used to expand the colonies and influence of France. By controlling land in both Europe and the New World, King Louis XIV was able to exert power over other nations and express his strength as an absolute monarch. All things considered, the road to becoming an absolute monarch is filled with hardships and
The government was known to be corrupt and there was a major gap in wealth. While the monarchy and nobility were very well off, lower classes were taxed highly and starving, and the country was close to bankruptcy. The king, Louis XVI, was becoming extremely unpopular, due to his extravagant spending and lack of contact with the public. People were becoming more and more discontent with the way the country was being run – people wanted change.
He ruled by divine right theory which held that he had received his power to govern from god and was therefore responsible e to god alone (doc 1). During this time King Louis XVI became too powerful. King Louis XVI way of ruling is by divine right . Which led to a lot of despair in his country. One of the causes of the French Revolution is the unfair treatment of the third estate
King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were the monarchs of France during the French Revolution. In the 1780s, political corruption, the poor economy, and an unfair estate system was major issue that the King was too blind to see. The depraved king, financial crisis, and unethical social hierarchy sparked the third estate to rebel and start the French Revolution. The corrupt Monarch, Louis the XVI was only the beginning of the downfall of the French Monarchy.
Being an absolute ruler was beyond any other ruler and had no limitations to what
Throughout the reading articles I’ve read, the relationship between the citizen, other countries and the king wasn’t that good of a relationship. There are several of reasons why it was bad, which end up making things worse for the king. So King Louis IV has very loyal men, which are called enqueuers. These people were writing down complaints for the people that are against nobles and kings but more importantly the king which they are more upset with. The reason why the citizens was upset with King Louis IV, was that he was making them “the citizen” pay higher taxes and parish for the churches, which “himself the King” was supposed to pay the churches himself, which made the citizens be so concern about what is happening to “their money” which
King Louis XVI, who was the ruler at the time, was a main contributor to these problems that led France to its downfall. The country had a massive lack of resources and food, which led King Louis XVI to borrow more money than he could afford, thus putting the country in immense debt. Despite the very visible crisis overthrowing the country, the king was incapable of accepting his mistakes and refused to change his ways. He maintained the unjust voting system, known as the Estates-General, and worsened the taxing system in order to pay off his debts. The people, especially those of the Third Estate, were clearly angry and dissatisfied with the state of the country, which led them seek out a movement for what was right.
During the 1600s and 1700s a new type of monarch emerged known as an absolute ruler. Some of these rulers were Louis XIV, the Fredericks of Prussia, and Peter the Great. These rulers believed that a monarch had a divine right to rule and should only listen to God. All these rulers had characteristics that defined them as absolutists. Louis XIV was constantly at war during his reign which resulted in a powerful army.
This type of ruling system seems as if it were set up to fail from the start. Giving land and some power to vassals is risky; control would be hard to maintain. Somehow, the monarchy found a way to keep them in check and it worked for a long time. The ingenious way they were able to keep order was through war. King William was able to keep his vassals in check due to his show of strength (source 1).
The absolute monarchs of the 1600s and 1700s all increased their power by decreasing the power the nobles had. When Louis XIV was king of France he decreased the power of the nobles by creating the palace of Versailles. In the palace of
Even though Philip II and Louis XIV were both absolute monarchs, they were still very different types of rulers with similarities and differences. Philip II and Louis XIV were absolute monarchs who believed that they should have supreme power over everyone. In addition to this similarity, they both loved art and control over territory shown by the way they prioritized it. While they both share a love for power and art, they do not share a love for each other’s lifestyles. Louis XIV lived a lavish lifestyle while Philip lived a spartan lifestyle.
In 1789, France was precariously balanced on the edge of chaos. King Louis XVI was ruling monarch of France. King Louis’ youth depicted him as reckless, thoughtless, and unwise. A series of bad financial and political decisions, lead to his unpopularity among the people of France. King Louis was young, distracted and misguided.
to give life or sent death, to judge all and to be judged nor accountable to none”. Although on a smaller scale then the lord these kings believed that within their borders, they were second to only God, a close second. With this mindset you will not take crap from anybody or anything. Which makes these kings more powerful on the planet.