From the years 700 to 1700, Europe knew many several large and diverse empires, kingdoms, and nations. To maintain power and coherence in these large territories rulers adopted varying systems. Three high-profile rulers who faced this challenge were Charlemagne (ruler of the Carolingian Empire from 768-814), Louis XIV (King of France from 1643 to 1715), and Count-Duke of Olivares who enforced policies in the kingdom of Spain under Philip IV. Charlemagne ruled all of western Europe only excluding the British Isles, Spain, and southern Italy. To maintain this vast empire, Charlemagne engaged in many wars that provided the aristocracy with new lands and wealth. This consolidates the loyalty of the nobles to him. After military victories, in order to avoid increasing the territory, he must rule but still profiting from the lands he gained, Charlemagne established kingdoms that were autonomous in their administration but who had to pay him tribute. To effectively rule his territory, Charlemagne organized his administration around geographic units called counties. The counties were ruled by counts, whom were sent from distant locations in order to cut the count from his family ties. To keep his reign unchallenged by the people, Charlemagne continued the obligation of protecting the Roman popes, who in exchange “offered the Carolingian monarchs the legitimacy of divine sanction” according to the book. Charlemagne had his decrees, called capitularies, written out in Latin to avoid the falsification of government policies and strengthen governmental procedures. Later in history. Louis XIV, conscious of the potential threat to the crown that the nobles constitute, built “le château de Versailles” where the nobles were required to stay for some time. In the Versailles Palace, life revolved around the king and cultural activities that glorify the king thus preventing the nobles from being independent of the king. To further reduce the power of the nobles, Louis XIV appointed men from the professional class to hold government offices thus inhibiting the nobles from accumulating power. In exchange, Louis XIV granted wealth and privileges to nobles, increasing the noble’s dependency and loyalty to the king. Louis XIV established a highly hierarchical administration with him at the head, followed by his council of state. At the bottom of this hierarchy was the intendants who enforced his policies at the local level. To unify his people under one religion, Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685 and forced the Huguenots to convert to Catholicism thus establishing his ideal of “one king, one law, one faith”. Louis also financially supported artists, historians, composers, scholars, and sculptors who celebrated his achievements and spread a positive image of him. In Spain, the Duke of Olivares, who lived from 1587 to 1645, served King Philip IV (1621-1665) and attempted to strengthen King Phillip IV’s reign. In the 1620s, the Spanish monarchy faced economic problems that loosen the grip of the King on the Spanish kingdoms. In order to resolve this problem, Olivares proposed the establishment of national banks and proportional taxes. Olivares attempted to make all the Spanish kingdoms contribute proportionally to national defense. To reduce the power of the nobles, Olivares attempted to suppress the privileges of the nobles from the different kingdoms present in the Iberian Peninsula and establish the direct submission of these various kingdoms to King Philip IV.
Charlemagne, Louis XIV, and the Count-Duke of Olivares all understood that the nobles represented potential threats to the crown but they dealt with it differently. Charlemagne kept the nobles satisfied by offering them land and wealth after his numerous military victories, Louis XIV subtly decreased the noble’s power and influence by keeping them in the Versailles Palace and out of government office and increasing their dependency on him, and Count-Duke of Olivares established direct policies that suppressed their privileges. The strategies employed by Charlemagne and Louis XIV to diminish the power of the nobles were successful whereas Olivares’ failed, maybe because his policies were to straightforward. Charlemagne and Louis XIV achieved bureaucratic efficiency by establishing small territorial units, and counties, in the case of Charlemagne and employing intendants who enforce policies at the local level in the case of Louis XIV. Olivares, failing to subordinate the various kingdoms to Phillip IV, “failed to bring these areas under central government control” as mentioned in the book. To keep these large territories under control and the people satisfied, economic growth was very important. Charlemagne kept his empire rich thanks to his various military victories and the kingdoms that paid him tribute. The France of Louis XIV knew significant economic growth thanks to mercantilism, the set of policies of the minister Colbert (1619-1683). Conscious that a strong economy is critical for state power, Olivares attempted to enforce taxes that were proportional in the Spanish monarchy. Olivares’ pressure to pay proportional taxes and defense contributions led to “separatist revolts in Portugal, Catalonia, Sicily, and Naples”. Louis XIV and Charlemagne succeeded to reduce the power of the nobles, establish the economic growth necessary to control their territories, and ruled effectively. Olivares failed to reduce the power of the nobles, in fact, “Spain could never escape the grip that the old families had” according to the book. Elsewhere, “the Spanish government failed to encourage economic growth”.
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