The Duplicity of Absolute Monarchy:

DeMarcus D Powell
Hist 3319: Early Modern Europe
April 7th, 2015
 DeMarcus Powell
Hist 3319
4/7/2015

Title

Louis XIV was an absolute ruler who was constrained or limited by many things.

Absolute monarchy does have limits; such limits prevent it from becoming absolute

tyranny. The limits of absolute monarchy were and are still contested today. The most

traditional definition of an absolute monarchy would include a king who is at the center

of his court and determines what is and is not important. In truth Louis XIV like any

other monarch had to consult other individuals, advisers, and groups before making

decisions. There are perhaps a variety of reasons both for and against Louis XIV being

and absolute monarch, yet there needs to be both an analysis of Louis XIV and the

French government at the time young Louis XIV took over for his father.

The events leading up to young Louis XIV taking power include the struggles of

three kings; Henry III, Henry IV, and Louis XIII, all three kings fought to unify the

government and put down numerous uprising around France. Two of these kings, Henry

III & Henry IV were both assassinated; the third King Louis XIII was only a child when

he took the throne. The instability of the government led by a young king led to foreign

rulers; Marie de Mdicis of Italy was named regent when Louis XIII took the throne

(Beik, 19). Eventually some stability was brought to the country under Cardinal Richelieu

who served as an adviser for both King Louis XII & XIV. This stability still did not

prevent the Fronde, a series of uprising over five years that can be categorized as a civil

war. These periods of instability under three different kings shaped young Louis XIVs

teachings and how he would later rule. Louis would have to establish himself as a capable

leader who could not be questioned by the citizenry or the parliament. Both the history of

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 DeMarcus Powell
Hist 3319
4/7/2015

the French government before Louis XIV took the throne and Cardinal Richelieus

foreign policy created a strong central government for France, this strong central

government allowed Louis XIV to rule with absolute authority. But how absolute was

Louis power, and what limited it?

Absolute monarchy was limited by the physical limits of the world, these limits

extended to all monarchs. At the time of Louis XIVs taking power in 1661 (Beik, 20) it

would have been difficult to have complete information at any point and time. His

information was limited to the speed of horses and ships, which were in turn limited by

the weather. This would have made having complete control over a country of Frances

size very difficult. Later with Frances American colonies this problem would be

exacerbated, the difficulty of controlling foreign colonies affected all European

monarchs. For this reason most foreign colonies were managed by companies set up all

over Europe, these companies controlled the flow of good in and out of the colony and

often decided if and when the colony should expand. Central governments because of

these limits had a hard time managing both their territories and the companies that

controlled them. This led to the creation and expansion of bureaucracy, the inability for

one king such as Louis XIV to control all of France and make every decision concerning

it forced Louis to rely on the transmit of data both through a bureaucracy and the physical

country itself. This system often made decisions by the king very slow and dependent on

many factors. All of these factors point to absolute monarchy being limited, but others

would say this is a moot point because the physical restrictions of running a state applied

to all governments not just absolute monarchies.

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 DeMarcus Powell
Hist 3319
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The largest and most convincing reason for absolute monarchy being limited is

and was the lack of resources. This problem is inescapable by any and all governments.

The world operates based on scarcity with different priorities receiving different

resources. The French government was no different; a large point of contention before

and during Louis XIVs rule was taxes. There was a constant need for more taxes to

finance and support the French government and the wars it chose to fight. Frances

government under Louis XIV often sold offices to French nobility and raised taxes for the

peasants and common people. Often groups under an absolute monarchy would fight

against the imposition of taxes against them at any cost. In particular the French nobility

was unwilling to be taxed. In order to raise taxes King Louis often had to compromise

with the nobility in order to get what he wanted. More importantly than King Louiss

constant compromise was that his ability to collect taxes lay in the hands of a large

bureaucracy. These issues compounded the problems of an absolute monarchy. These

factors created a limit on the powers of a King such as Louis XIV.