Did Louis XIII or Louis XIV Continue Henry IV’s Reforms and Policies?

649 Words2 Pages

Louis XIII and Louis XIV did not continue the reforms and policies of Henry IV, as they both would change France from the way Henry created it. Beginning in the late 1500’s, France was a mess; the society had been wracked by political feud and civil war. With that, peasants were overburdened with taxes and crops were failing. Places like Burgundy suffered almost complete depopulation. So as it can be seen, Henry IV entered his reign in a time of mess and need.
The first things Henry IV did may include his famous saying “a chicken in every pot on every Sunday” which would show that he planned to fix the suffering of the peasants regarding starvation. Also, Henry would sharply lower taxes on the overburdened peasants. Henry was one of the few kings who genuinely cared for his people, as his statue was not torn down during the French revolution at a much later time. Although, he was greatly helping France, he still needed to find a way to develop a stronger connection and peace between Protestant and Catholics, who were near enemies at the time. One thing he did was converting to Catholicism, which would develop a better relationship with the pope. Another thing he did was appoint a man named Sully to be his chief minister. Sully was a devout protestant, so this decision would create a better relationship between Protestants, Catholics, and the monarchy. As all of this was happening, henry and Sully created a reform called “the Edict of Nantes” which would give more freedom to protestants as they were not accepted as much as Catholics at the time. This reform would have a great impact on his people as it said that it would have toleration to an extent; meaning that this reform will be looked at again in the future. Henry would do t...

... middle of paper ...

...also revoked the Edict of Nantes, which broke the connection between Protestants and Catholics. Louis’s ideas had turned France into a place from the reforms of an immature and narcissistic king, who appeared to also be obsessed with himself. Louis then went on to spend a ton of money to create Versailles, a place of large proportion that would bankrupt France. He did this because he felt mentally inclined to be the best at everything; whether it be sports, looks, or wealth. He succeeded in doing all as he was the result of propaganda through arts, literature, and music.
So in context, Louis XIV and Louis XIII did not change France, but made it worse than the way Henry found it, all the way back in the late 1500’s. The changes include loss of money, a connection of nobility, peasants, religion, and society to be lost from the way it was during the reign of Henry IV.

Open Document