Essay Sample about Absolutism and Louis XIV

The Kingdom of France following the death of King Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu entered into a period of domestic political turmoil; encapsulated by the drama following the young Louis XIV’s regency containing his mother, Maria Theresa of Austria (a Spaniard) and the Italian Catholic Cardinal Mazarin. The instability and domestic issues with unpopular two foreign and arguably inept domestic political figures were set to weaken the Absolutism and power of the divine power of the head of France that was set into motion by the previous parted King and Cardinal. The years of Louis XIV were marked by chaos, yet his actions as shown in the documents assembled by William Beik in Louis XIV and Absolutism, A Brief Study with Documents shows the domestic path to “Absolutism” and centralized power taken and whether it was as dominant as it is known as. 

The era of regency that preceded the rule of Louis XIV was led by his mother Maria Theresa of Austria and Cardinal Mazarin. Cardinal Mazarin, the successor to Cardinal Richeuliu chosen for his apparent diplomatic skills; Mazarin continued his predecessor's plan to break the Holy Roman Empire’s power over Europe, but it came at the cost of domestic popularity and stability. The regency implored heavy taxes which angered both some of the high class and the lower class people of France; paired with the inclusion of reduced fees for judges and the creation of special powers for the Paris Parlement and later the creation of new offices in Aix (36) would raise tensions. The “overstepping” of Mazarin on both noble and judiciary figures, along with the parliamentary would create uprisings and riots, of which some would force the Crown to concede to demands lessening the authority of the French Crown in some eyes of its citizens conjoined with civil and forgein wars. 

Following the death of Cardinal Mazarin and the assumption of rule by Louis XIV; Louis wished to eliminate the problems France experienced during the Fronde. Louis sought to minimize the consistent quarlells of his nobility; in part by showing less distinction of favor between one family or another (51). Louis within his court paid great attention to the personal discourse, and played into situations in a sense towards his furthering own personal gain. Meanwhile Louis chose to have his robe nobility, focus on managing Administration; However three men were chosen to handle the three largest roles of France; Jean-Baptiste who was set to be in charge of Finances, Budget and the King’s building projected, Michelle Telier, and later his son Marquis of Louvois of which was set to be in charge of the Military operations of France and lastly forgein affair which was ran by Hughes de Lionee (82). In order to increase France’s international power, it became apparent to build up the domestic infrastructure and control; as Louis’s consistent warfare placed France into fianincal hot-water.

What seemingly plagued Louis and his previous regency would be the issue of taxes. As previously discussed, taxes were an issue for Mazarin with numerous revolts and riots springing up in part due to high taxes paired with poor public image and actions. The problem of taxes could be seen to be surrounded by two key issues, 1.The King was not able to effectively receive France’s wealth and 2.The inequalities that were present in policies towards certain groups. Both of these two problems were unfortunately for Louis built heavily into French society. What is an obvious reason regarding these two issues was the nation’s numerous tax systems as its regions saw vastly different taxes from one another. The first system of taxes and the one employed the most throughout the Kingdom we’ll look at will be Taille from Pays d’elections. This system was present in around two-thirds of France (98), what this system saw was mass exemptions of land tax throughout the urban cities, and the clergy laying the mass of the tax and the majority of the King’s wealth upon the rural people of the regions. If Louis XIV’s wealth was mostly based upon the people within this system, then it can be known without a doubt that an incredible amount of wealth was lost due to the systematic exemptions, without further straining the rural citizens. The last third of the nation was organized in a tax system known as Taille from Pays D’etats, which in comparison to Pays d’elections was undercharged for taxes. The taxes from the region were collected by the Province (100) and paid annually to the Crown along with a “Free Gift” which was pressured by the King. Note the difference between the pressure that the King placed on regions. Another large function of France’s taxation system was the employment of “Indirect taxes” which were placed on goods traveling throughout the regions of France. There were exceptions for the Clergy and Noblemen across all of France (very present in another system of Taille r’reele), however, it is rather interesting seeing the traditional limits that the King was under, despite his divine ruling of the Kingdom he was unable to push for more tax that could be seen as rightfully his, due to the regional policies and traditional privileges or by the action of the King himself. As taxation was essential for the pursuit of Absolutism; the lack of effective taxation showed the lack of the King’s authority in interacting with the Diverse and Privileged entities of France. (97)

France’s local and lower governments often placed themselves in a trend acting and deciding policy autonomous from the Crown. Lower governmental and noble members obstructed the will of the King and were apparent to the commoners (147). This idea of independence was present among the winegrowers; ignoring policies for their personal fortune.  In a way, this could be argued that it showed even further a path of autonomy that even commoners took against the local ruling entity. Louis XIV’s wars as previously mentioned placed France into further financial troubles creating the need to impose heavy taxes. The reaction was recorded by an eyewitness named Ferrant, a tax agent of the King (157). The witness wrote of the violence and seemingly chaos that was prevalent in the revolt; The crown would later retaliate to extinguish the disobedience. 

Being the divine ruler of France’s vast territory, created a need for religious prestige and piety. France had been engulfed numerous times by Catholic and Protestant (Huguenot) conflict; as the Huguenots were seen as a heresy in the eyes of the Catholic population. Words of Huguenot retaliation were taken seriously by the Crown(187-189), and more Royal enforcement was placed to fight Protestantism, “The occasion was provided by a royal declaration on July 6th, 1680, which prohibited Catholics from turning Calvinist…..Protestant worship being banned in any temple where a Catholic had been received.” (190).