The heyday of absolutism in France began with King Louis XIV. This means that in it there was no authority other than that of the King .
Legislative power did not exist. There was also no judiciary. The King was the supreme authority, he was the one who dictated the laws and administered justice.
The monarch claimed to have divine right to rule. The heyday of absolutism in France led to disarray and the most acute crisis in history.
Reign of Louis XIV
After Mazarin died, the heir Louis assumed power under the name of Louis XIV and was the sovereign who strengthened the Absolutist Monarchy in France.
This long reign lasted 72 years. During it, the most notable events were:
- The waste of the Courts of Versailles.
- The annulment of the Edict of Nantes.
- The Victory of France in the 30 Years War.
- The wise administration of Minister Colbert.
- The brilliance of Arts and Letters.
- The War of the Spanish Succession.
Waste of the Court
Louis XIV was an absolute monarch who used to say:"I am the State" and who was called by his courtiers the "The Sun King" , he considered that his right to govern was of divine origin and with his despotism he was the great culprit for the French Revolution to break out later.
To satisfy the whim of one of his favorites, he had the colossal Palace of Versailles built. , near Paris, with a capacity to accommodate 10,000 people, comfortably installed. In said Palace he surrounded himself with servile nobles, who vied for the honor of dressing him and bringing him food. Unbridled luxury appeared everywhere; the waste in festivals and hunts, prepared the bankruptcy of France.
Annulment of the Edict of Nantes
As the king was Catholic, he wanted to unify religious beliefs and proceeded to annul the Edict of Nantes, published by Henry IV (1605), Of course, the Protestants were persecuted and the main leaders were exiled. More than 60,000 left France.
Victory of France in the Thirty Years' War
You can read the full article on the Thirty Years' War.
The Colbert Administration
The true ruler of France was Prime Minister Colbert, a man of remarkable intelligence and colossal activity, since he worked 15 to 20 hours a day without fainting.
– Colbert published a Rural Code to help agriculture.
– Arrange the inflows and outflows of money, forming a true Budget , in order to avoid unnecessary expenses.
– He founded factories in various cities and developed merchant and war fleets.
– He promoted French colonial expansion, helping the knight Ferdinand de la Salle to colonize the Mississippi in North America.
Brilliance of Arts and Letters
The seventeenth century has been called the Century of Louis XIV because in its course remarkable intelligences flourished and letters shined. Among the most famous writers we have:
- Moliere, who wrote comedies.
- Racine, tragic author in the Greek style.
- La Fontaine, excellent fabulist.
- Fenelon and La Bruyere, admirable writers.
The War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714)
As the King of Spain Carlos II appointed the Duke of Anjou to succeed him on the throne, and as Louis XIV also appointed the same Duke as heir to the French crown, as he was his relative, it turned out that France and Spain were ruled by a single monarch and this alarmed the European powers. The Duke of Anjou, once in power, took the name Philip V.
Then England, Holland, Germany and the Italian States allied themselves to fight against Louis XIV.
The war was carried out in France and Spain. Louis XIV's troops triumphed in France, but the monarch preferred to sign the Treaty of Utrecht (1714) , before new powers entered the conflict. Through this treaty, England seized the Rock of Gibraltar, in Spain. Louis XIV died in 1715 in his Palace of Versailles.
Decline of the French Monarchy
Louis XIV's successor was Louis XV's grandson. During this reign the great French revolution was prepared, which broke out in the subsequent reign. The extravagance of the Court of Versailles reached inconceivable extremes. The King's favorites, Madame Pompadour, first, and Madame Dubarry, later, disposed of the Nation's money at will. The Prime Minister, the Duke of Choiseul, tried to avoid bankruptcy, but because he had fallen out with the favorite, he was fired by the king.
The atmosphere in Paris and France was very hot due to the revolutionary propaganda that philosophers and writers made with their works. The notable humorist and philosopher Voltaire lived in this era known as the Enlightenment. and the political writers Baron de Montesquieu and John J. Rousseau . Louis XV died of smallpox and was succeeded by his grandson Louis XVI, who was beheaded during the French Revolution (1793).