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The reign of King Louis XIV
Quiz over king louis xiv
Versailles the architecture, design, and construction
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Lavish, Luxurious, and Elaborate all describe this expensive, gold plated Palace. In order to express his wealth and power, King Louis XIV demanded Versailles to be built as a symbol of the authority he had over France and Europe. Although Versailles accurately portrayed such symbol, marked as “being one of the world’s most beautiful buildings, the palace of Versailles was also one of the most expensive” (“The Palace of Versailles”) and detrimental to France’s economy. Rich with its affluent history and culture, Versailles, stands as one of the most impactful contributors to the French Revolution. Before the reign of King Louis XIV, Versailles was originally a hunting lodge founded by Louis XIII. Acquired in 1632, the chateau was originally property of Archbishop of Paris, François de Gondi. Louis XIII father of Louis XIV, wanted to “retire into a …show more content…
He preferred a more intimate setting to reside in as opposed to grand palaces such as, the Louvre, St Germain-en-Laye, and Fontainebleau. Louis XIII admired Versailles location “surrounded by hillocks and forests as several brooks carved valleys at the foot of low hills” (Levron 17). And until inherited by King Louis XIV, Versailles remained as a secondary residence for King Louis XIII. The original chateau provided the framework for the Palace of Versailles’ creation beginning in 1661.
The Palace of Versailles was constructed throughout the duration of Louis XIV’s reign as king. While much of France’s treasury paid for the necessary supplies and equipment used in building Versailles, many members of the third estate’s taxes were raised in order to aid in the Palace’s construction. Louis began by expanding the old Chateau into one more elaborate. He “added a new balcony, transformed the existing apartments into elegant rooms filled
Louis had a controller of general finances named Colbert, and he “reduced the annual treasury deficit by economies and more equitable, efficient taxation, although tax exemptions for the nobility, clergy, and some members of the bourgeoisie continued. Louis led many military attacks and wars to expand his territory and build up his economy. He started to tax the people and use this money to build palaces and other architectural structures. Louis added nobles to his army so they would not think that their power was declining. This also helped to strengthen his army and thus he led several military attacks to build his state. In the War of “Devolution (1667-1668) he claimed that those provinces had "devolved" by succession to his Spanish wife rather than to her half brother Charles II, who had inherited the Spanish crown.” By doing this, he received some valuable towns, and this helped to expand his territory. But Louis did not always win battles, there were a few times where his army was defeated. In 1683, Colbert died and several disasters happened thereafter. After several defeats, Louis XIV decided to settle down to a more “sedate
One of the most notable of which would be his decision to completely reconstruct a new palace at Versailles. Such a great expenditure is blatantly criticized in Doc 7 where the Duc de Saint-Simon states, “the foundations and groves have buried more money than could ever appear”. Such expenditures, undoubtedly funded by taxpayer dollars expose Louis’ extremely self-serving distribution of funds when it came to matters of his own comfort. However, it is important to realize that Doc 7, written by a noble, must also be read with a watchful eye. The Duc de Saint-Simon’s assertions could possibly, though construction of a new palace would likely cost a tremendous amount of capital, be riddled by bias as a result of the absolutist King’s extreme suppression of nobility perks and privileges. The idea that Louis acted in his own interest in terms of capital distribution may be explained away by such bias had it not been for the evidence presented in Doc 4. Though on the surface it seems to show the public’s appreciation for the King, one must acknowledge the fact that an ‘inscription on a ceremonial arch of great architectural importance in Tournai’ was most likely commissioned by the King, and again funded by taxpayer dollars. Such a commission would expose the fact that the words stated in the inscription is not the point of view of the French people, but rather the desired
While England lost its power to the nobles, France was able to control them .Instead of having the live among the peasants and the middle class, Louis XIV built the Palace of Versailles in order to force the nobles to be near the king to make sure that they were unable to create conflict with the will of the monarch. This way, the nobles no longer were the people that the middle class would run to when they had a
King Louis XIV was a showy and self-absorbed king. His palace was representative of his personality and ideals. The Versailles palace architecture displayed Louis XIV ideals of secular issues. He cared more about spending money to show off his power. Unlike the Escorial, Versailles was centered on “The Sun King” instead of religion. At one point Louis XIV stated that “he was the state”. This statement was saying that Louis XIV represented the center and best of France. An example of this was that King Louis XIV lived in the middle of Versailles. Versailles was also very ornate and had the atmosphere of freeness. However, the Escorial was very basic like Philip II.
He moved his court because he did not feel safe in Paris and could watch over his court officials due to living so close to one another. This piece certainly provides evidence of what Louis himself valued, but perhaps these attributes are needed to effectively rule with absolutism. Throughout this entire document, the author is implying how great Louis is as a person and an effective ruler. He even goes to list his issues: “All his faults were produced by his surroundings...soon found out his weak point, namely, his love of hearing his own praises” (Saint-Simon). Louis cared deeply regarding his personal image and these weaknesses do not seem that drastic, but according to him, “It was this love of praise which made it easy for Louvois to engage him in serious wars” (Saint-Simon). The text gives historians information about Louis’ love-affair with Mademoiselle de la Valliere, compelling his courtiers to spend more than they earned creating a dependency, and other interesting details regarding his life that are excluded in textbooks. Overall, this document provides a deeper insight to King Louis XIV personality and justifications for why he chose the actions he did. Duc de Saint-Simon, someone that resided at the Palace of Versailles, can provide information about a man that ruled with an iron fist over his
The Rise and Fall of Versailles (Part 1 of 3). N.d. YouTube. YouTube, 14 July 2013. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .
...s was from a military stand point, which was rare for him. In 1667, Louis attacked a portion of the Netherlands that was owned by the Spanish. This resulted in the gaining of 12 towns, which encouraged Louis to attack the Dutch Netherlands, which did gain him a few wealthy port towns, before ending in disaster. Louis’ last great success was the building of the Palace of Versailles, which as described earlier was a feat never before matched by a ruler.
One of the most important elements of Versailles that affected Louis XIV’s reign was the use of propaganda. The Palace contained “paintings, statues, tapestries” (Page) and a general grandness that significantly promoted Louis’ name. Louis himself was a “prominent subject in the artwork” (Montclos 330) and was portrayed as handsome and god-like. Even in the aspects of the Palace where Louis wasn’t literally being represented, the grand nature of Versailles sent out a message that the King was living lavishly, and was therefore very powerful. Louis XIV used the grandiosity of his Palace and the art inside to promote himself to his people.
This is known as divine right. King Louis XIV an earlier ruler before Louis XVI was a monarch that used this way to rule France. For, Louis XIV, the sun was his symbol of divine right. Apollo represented the Sun as the God of peace and was a heavenly body that gave life. “Like the Sun God, Louis XIV, the warrior hero, brought peace to his people; he protected the arts and dispensed all the graces” (History Court Characters, n.d). Being a monarch using your power of divine right isn’t bad cause in trying to harm your country, it is using your power in such a way to make life better for a nation. The Palace of Versailles was built to resemble this power “he insisted on the resemblance carved in stone: the decor of Versailles was filled with depictions and attributes of the god” (History Court Characters, n.d). When Louis XVI inherited the throne and resided in Versaille, it was not to live an aristocratic life, it was to show his divine right and resemble his ancestor Louis XIV “Sun King.” The Sun King represented peace and grace to his people. No harm was meant intentionally by his rule as
It is often debated whether or not the reign of King Louis XIV had a positive or negative effect on France. Although there were improvements during his reign in transportation, culture, and national defense, there were far more negative aspects. He depleted the national treasury with his liberal spending on personal luxuries and massive monuments. His extreme fear of the loss of power led to poor decision making, which caused the court to be of lower quality. King Louis XIV’s disastrous rule brought about a series of effects that influenced the French Revolution in the following century.
Louis XIV controlled France’s economy. He began to heavily tax to support the military reforms. Louis agreed not to tax the nobility, therefore taking away the right for the upper class to have a say in where the taxation money was spent. This gave more and more power to the king. He could spend the money that he was getting from the poor and middle class in any way he pleased without upsetting the nobility. Unfortunately for Louis, the poor could not provide the money he needed. Soon, with the help of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis introduced mercantilism in Europe. He regulated the flow of trade, making sure that France was exporting more than it was importing. To accomplish this, he raised the taxes on imports and lowered those on goods made in France. He encouraged skilled workers and craftsmen to immigrate to France, offering them goods and privileges.
the land drained by the river for Louis XIV, king of France, and naming the
So with his slogan of "Bread, Peace and Land", Lenin gained the support of the peasants and gained control of Russia and setup a communist state. The French revolution was also caused by a bad ruler and a bad economy. During the early 1780's, a big percent of the annual budget went towards King Louis XVI's lavish estate at Versailles. France also had no central bank, no paper currency, no ways of getting more money, and an out-dated tax system which only taxed the poor who had no money to begin with. Signs of revolution first appeared when the peasants stormed the fortress known as the Bastille looking for gun powder.
Prior to the revolution, King Louis XVI was at the top of the ancien régime, the social, economic, and political structure in France, which means he had absolute power. When he received the throne in 1774, it came along with insoluble problems. The people were split into three estates which divided social class. The first estate consisted of 100,000 tax exempt nobles who owned 20% of the land. The second estate consisted of the 300,000 tax exempt clergy who owned 10% of the land. The third estate consisted of the remaining 23.5 million French people who were 90% peasants. The third estate was the only estate that paid taxes. Their taxes ensured the financial well-being of the clergy, state, and nobles (French Revolution Overview 6).
The Palace of Versailles was the official home of the Kings of France from 1682 until 1790. Originally, a hunting lodge built in 1624 by Louis XIII, but then was expanded by Louis XIV in the beginning of 1669. With beautiful architecture and amazing landscape, it is one of the most well- known and beautiful palaces in France. Its garden is so unique and one of Europe's largest. It played a huge responsibility in French government and was used for some of the biggest meetings of Kings and Queens. It is a very reflective place for the French and showed a basis of culture for the people. The small structure became the base on which was constructed into one of the most extravagant buildings in the world. The Palace of Versailles is a famous French landmark due to its elaborate construction, its role as a center of government, and its influence on French culture.