Historical Essay on King Louis XIV: Critical Analysis of His Reign

In the year of 1638, an heir to the monarchy was born, Louis XIV, without knowing that one day he would assume personal power. His mother was Anne of Austria and his father was Louis XIII. Louis XIII passed away when Louis XIV was only 5 years old. His mother, Anne of Austria, took on his rule until he was old enough to do it himself. Then seven years later he assumes absolute power of the French nation, knowing that in the previous century of rule they were tough times. King Louis XIV became an absolute monarch in 1661, with the support of four major problems. These were the problems of the Fronde, the building of Versailles, and the Economic difficulties towards the nobility and the Protestants. King Louis XIV symbolized himself as the Sun King, and his reign lasted 72 years, the longest that Europeans had lived.

During the early years of King Louis XIV's reign, the Fronde broke out. This was a consequence from Louis XIII's problems of his power being undermined and the lack of a male heir. In the beginning of Louis XIV's reign, he had been left with major chaos because the previous monarchs had many unrested problems. King Louis XIV had the opportunity to prove himself worthy as King of France. In the previous years, before he had taken power, many problems had surged with the sudden death of Henry II in 1559. During the following years of this death, multiply religious wars, of reformation and counter-reformation, took place, and rebellions of Protestants who had feared the loss of their rights. During the power of Louis XIII, he was undermined because of his role as king and of the absence of an heir to the throne. Louis XIII trusted a noble man, the first minister Armand-Jean du Plessis, to help him assert France’s power and to fortify his power as King. During this time from 1635-1959, there was constant warfare, which lead to the civil war in 1648-1653, the Fronde. King Louis XIII died, and a minor king was left to rule, Louis XIV. For a couple of years, his mother was in charge. This made people more agitated and madder because France was being ruled again by a foreign person. Afterward, when Louis XIV took on his role as king, he needed to do it effectively in order for him not to lose his power, as the crowds and nobles were threatful to this. With all the problems he was left with especially the Fronde, he had to prove himself right. The Fronde was an experience to Louis XIV that he had to exam in order for him to be able to face the problems that unhealed during his time as ruler. This helped him gain formative experience in which he could relate to and experience if he were not to do a good job as a ruler. For example, The Ormee revolutionary party in Bordeaux served as an example that demonstrated the danger that the monarchy was dealing with the Fronde. A letter written by a notable Bordeaux dated May 23, 1652, was written when the Fronde was almost at the climate suggests that according to him, “You will no doubt be surprised to learn that our Ormee is strong enough to outlaw our parliament and force it to cease dispensing justice.”

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Another of the major components that helped Louis XIV gain power and retain it was with the palace of Versailles. The upcoming evidence suggests that Louis XIV had absolute power of France and established a court system that no other had done. He was very specific in picking his people for his court which made them feel not dominated by him but neither as if he were a prince or at their level according to Mademoiselle de Montpensier. At court Louis XIV did not choose like previous monarchs to fill their governments with family members which could eventually lead them to dominate or weakening him. For instance, anyone that could overrule him he did not choose. In a Memoir of the court of Primi Visconti of 1679 said that “…At court they want only humble persons who have no secret intentions.” The people who were at court he controlled them in a way that they didn’t feel controlled but, he was using them to his advantage. Saint Maurice a reporter and marquis presents that at this court, Louis XIV was very serious about business because every day of the week he worked there for three hours in the morning took a break, and came back to work again afterward. He didn’t deviate from his work at all. He had a great ethic and routine to how he was managing his time. He of course wanted to know everything that was going from affairs of state, of parliament, and from his judges, “…I wish you could see the King: He has the manner of a great dissimulator and the eyes of a fox.” In 1678 the Court was officially in Versailles. Moving the court from Paris to Versailles, had an extreme impact because he could control them completely and his power. This Court that moved to Versailles was divided into three different groups: the Louis XIV family, a seat of government where they ran the affairs, and the highest nobles. Only the highest nobles lived in this palace. The King wanted the highest nobles to live there in order to know everything. He commanded and ordered them to move to Versailles. A memoir from Primi Visconti speaks of how marvelous this place was, “Speaking of Versailles, the palace seemed to me to be inferior to many others in Paris, and yet it is unprecedented in size…The garden and the fountains are marvelous.” This palace was a very important factor in gaining power because it proved how controlling he was.

King Louis XIV was faced with many economic difficulties during his reign. During his reign, he had a very organized way of how to manage France. He always wanted to know what was happening. On a regular basis, instructions and information were sent back and forth from the provinces to the court.