Page 42 - All About History - Issue 56-17

Empire

Sun King
of the

Written by Catherine Curzon

Louis XIV brought the Bourbon monarchy back from the brink, seizing

power back from greedy nobility to become the longest-reigning French king
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This initial revolt erupted into war in 1649 with
“ ’État, c’est moi.” When Louis XIV, upper classes could even force additional taxes on royal forces pitched against the Frondeurs, those
the Sun King, supposedly uttered
the peasants who lived on their land, as well as
these words, there were precious few
equipment. As the seemingly untouchable nobility
France. Queen Anne was forced to flee Paris and
in France, let alone at his Versailles place charges on the use of industrial buildings and who believed they fought for the old order of feudal
Lcourt, who didn’t believe it. Whether grew richer and more powerful, the downtrodden seek the assistance of another Louis — the duc
he truly said it or not, the legend that Louis told citizens yearned for change. So did the king. d’Enghien. His support swung the balance
his nobles “I am the state” perfectly sums up the The seeds of Louis’ distrust of in favour of the monarchy, but not for
remarkable reign of this legendary ruler. the elite were sown during the long. He expected to be rewarded
Over the course of his 72 years on the throne, Fronde, a series of civil wars with a high office. When
Louis became the epitome of the absolute between 1648 and 1653. It this didn’t happen, he too
monarch. He changed the face of the French state began as a reaction against declared war on the crown.
and arguably laid the foundation of the violent the policies of Cardinal By this point, Louis had
revolution that would end the French monarchy de Richelieu and Louis’ come of age and, when
nearly 80 years after his death. father, Louis XIII, who Enghien’s bid failed and
Born in 1638, Louis took the throne when he reigned from 1624 to 1642. he fled France, it was
was just four years old. But until he reached the These policies reduced the young king who rode
age of majority, his mother, Anne of Austria, served aristocratic powers and triumphant into Paris.
as queen regent, with the powerful Cardinal Jules placed them in the hands of Coming to power during the
Mazarin as her chief minister. Even after Louis the government instead. Fronde, Louis had witnessed
turned 13 in 1651 and was able to rule on his own, After Louis XIII’s death, the the plots and counterplots of
Mazarin clung onto power, steering the state for French nobility revolted against aristocrats desperate for power
the young and inexperienced sovereign until power passing to the Spanish queen and, though the monarchy eventually
the cardinal’s death in 1661. But once Louis was regent (Anne was only Austrian in name) prevailed, they had been on the cusp of
unleashed, his reign was a tour de force. and the Italian Mazarin. Though the French-born losing it all. He carried these memories with him
Until Mazarin’s death, France had been a country Louis XIV was still on the throne, the aristocracy to the throne, always distrustful of those who had
that was still run according to feudal laws. The said that the regency equated to the imposition once turned against his family.
nobility had long enjoyed privileges that set them of foreign rule. His first move on the death of Mazarin was
above their countrymen, like the right to The Parlement of Paris, a judicial body run by — to declare that the chief minister would not be
hunt and fill government roles and you guessed it — the nobles, refused to implement replaced. Instead, the king would rule alone, taking
ranks that were forbidden to the the government’s policies. The Parlement called for guidance from his ministers and secretaries of
public. While peasants were a constitutional limit on the power of the crown, state. They were expressly forbidden from making
expected to pay a land tax, returning control of taxation and other matters to any decision or signing off on any matter without
nobles were not. In fact, the the upper classes. his personal involvement and permission.