Middle Ages
Following the Middle Ages, monarchs grew more powerful. The rulers created central authority based on the growth of national kingdom, declining of Church authority during late Middle ages and Reformation, and support of middle class who were hoping for promised business opportunities. They were absolute monarchs and believed in divine right, the idea that God created a king as his servant on earth. Monarchs used the wealth of colonies to pay for their luxury, ambitions, and wars. The population of the European countries was suffering from the taxes and was tired of the constant wars. Very often this led the peasants to revolt. This situation was the same for both England and France.
Monarchs had power to regulate everything from religious worship to the social gatherings, there was censorship on publications. The crisis in the monarchal system was gradually developing. The great political thinkers and writers planted the seeds of doubt regarding the existing situation. "All that is certain is that nothing is certain", said Montiagne. The skeptical philosophies were continued in the scientific revolution that influenced the theories of philosophers like Locke, Voltaire, and Montesquieu. The economic situation is a reflection the political structure. Unfair economic rules and management as well as inequalities in social structures made the Old Regime collapse in France in the bloody revolution. In Britain the king George III refused to cooperate with the colonists and improve their economical situation led to American Revolution.
France was the strongest monarchy. Louis XIV was an absolute monarch who wanted absolutely no restrictions or control from his nobles and the Parliament, like in England. In Louis XIV's view he and the state were one and the same. He said, " I am the state."
Louis lived his life in luxury. He spent all his money on his ambitions and his beautiful castle, Versailles, which cost about 2 billion dollars....
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