Louis XIV and the French Nobility

Louis XIV and the French Nobility

Introduction

History has not been kind to Louis XVI; in fact, history is rarely kind to the losers. He is painted as vain, unintelligent, and ineffectual, so clueless that on the day the Bastille was seized by Revolutionaries, he wrote in his diary, "Rien," "Nothing happened." It's difficult, however, to really assign any blame. The Revolution itself was an extraordinarly complicated affair; it was principally lit by the antagonisms between the first two and the Third Estate, antagonisms rooted in decades of abuse and frustration.

Louis XVI ascended the throne of France in 1774. He was only 20 years old at the time. The initial years of rule were tough but with the passage of time he understood the intricacies of kinghood better. Gradually he began to make changes. The first step was the age-old practice of feudalism. He also introduced the calling of the Estates-General in the French government. Despite his own personal interests he saw the abolition of the monarchy as a positive step for the country. Louis actions were attempts to achieve one goal: he tried his best to serve the French people and prevent the French Revolution.

Thesis Statement :The time of Louis XIV was a very strong period of history for France. Many people will say that France was made a better country during this time. Many will argue that nothing was done for France during this time.

Discussion

During the reign of Louis XIV France experienced multiple extremes at the same time. France was brought to glory by its wars and art galleries and the Palace of Versailles, but at the same time all of these things took its toll on the highly taxed poor as they tried to support the bankrupt country. His government was nothing more than a cast of actors in the play of Louis' beliefs. The fact of the matter is this; although the result in the long term may have been a betterment of France, the only reason anything was done, was to stroke and coddle Louis XIV's massive ego (Thompson 2006).

One of Louis' greatest endeavours was the constant strengthening and reinforcing of his absolute power, which in turn fed his massive ego. By emphasizing his absolute power Louis was able to do anything that he pleased. In his palace of Versailles, Louis reigned over the aristocrats, who all competed for the great honours of being able to pass the king his shirt, or bow before his food as it passed down the hallway. The whole palace and the fact that these people worshipped the king, did no good for the country of France, it was all at their expense (Jordan 2004). It was all great for one thing though, the ego of the king. Louis was so busy being swept off his feet by all the attention he got that he simply forgot to care about the state of his countries finances. As long as Louis and his band of ...