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Louis XIV

Born: 1638   Died: 1715   Occupation: king of FranceFrom: Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment, Revised Edition.

Government

Louis XIV made important contributions to the art of governing as an absolute monarch. He outlined his philosophy in a document called his Testament, written for his heirs. It spelled out the general goals of his reform activities and made recommendations for those who would follow in his footsteps.

Louis's fundamental goal—summed up in the famous dictum ascribed to him, l'état, c'est moi ("I am the state")—was to unify all sovereign power within his person without a system of checks and balances. To attain this goal, Louis XIV abandoned the practice of jointly ruling with a prime minister elected from the nobles. He excluded nobles from councils. He also began to make laws without calling the Estates General. The Estates General was a group of nobles who would be summoned by the king periodically to give advice on foreign policy and approve of laws passed by him. Not once in King Louis’ 72 year reign did he call a meeting of the Estates General.

He also sought a program of centralization of the government, which eroded the power of local governments. Prior to Louis’ rule, local government s could make laws for themselves without the approval of the King. In fact, under Louis’ father, several towns made their own laws refusing to follow the Edict of Nantes (religious tolerance), and Louis’s father publically acknowledged their right to do so. King Louis XIV would not tolerate insubordination from individual towns. Not only did he remove their right to make laws that were in direct conflict with his policies, he also founded several royal academies to standardize the way politics, law, science, art, writing, and music was taught in his entire kingdom. This ensured that the education local people obtained favored Louis’ federal policies and ways of thinking.

To ensure he had tight control over his country, Louis strengthened the power of government agents called intendents, who collected taxes and administered justice in local provinces. To keep power under central control, he made sure that local officials communicated regularly with him. He essentially created a system of spies for the local provinces.

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Louis XIV

Born: 1638   Died: 1715   Occupation: king of FranceFrom: Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment, Revised Edition.

Religion

King Louis XIV was a devout Catholic who saw it as his duty to protect and maintain the Catholic faith. His view was based on belief – he saw himself as instinctively a Catholic. His mother, Anne of Austria, was a devout Catholic that frequently spoke to him about the blasphemy of the Protestant Reformation. Louis XIV understood little about religious doctrine but was guided by an unquenchable belief in the Catholic faith; to him all other religious beliefs were an affront to God and his own royal authority.

Although King Louis XIV professed to be a devout Catholic, he refused to submit to the authority of the pope. He considered himself as the head of the Catholic Church. The king extended his right to manage the incomes of all church officials in the event of vacancy in the church leadership. In 1682, the declaration known as the Four Articles proclaimed the king independent of the pope and limited the pope's authority over the church and clergy. King Louis understood that if he was to have more power over his country he would have to fight the Catholic clergy and the pope over control of the French church.

He attempted to reinstate religious uniformity within France because he wanted to bring order and peace to his country after decades of chaos. He did not want a Protestant minority to threaten the harmony of his country. At first, Louis did this slowly be requiring nobles to tear down their castle walls and give up their right to carry weapons. Louis the XIV still was not satisfied. He revoked the Edict of Nantes which ended religious tolerance. He persecuted many French Huguenots and forced many to convert, die, or be imprisoned. As a result, tens of thousands of Protestants fled the country, bringing great wealth and innovation to other countries.