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Who were the winners and losers of the Seventeenth century France? Louis XIV
was one of the winners in the Seventeenth century France. ...
Submitted by skiedit1 on May 12, 2007
Category: History Other
Words: 866 | Pages: 4
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Louis XIV was one of the winners in the Seventeenth century France. Louis the XIV was only five years old when he was ascended to the French throne after his father death. Louis’ mother Queen Anne selected Cardinal Mazarin as his regent. However, Mazarin lacked Cardinal Richelieu shrewdness that was Louis XIII’s most important adviser. Marazin attempted to increase the royal revenue, which led to the civil war called the Fronde; the war lasted from 1649 to 1652. After Mazarin’s death, Louis had to deal with an aristocracy that resented the increasing powers of the French monarchy. In order for Louis to achieve his goal, he adopted the concept of the “divine right of kings”. “They claimed that kings were placed on earth by God to uphold piety and justice” (Kishlansky, pg. 494). Knowing this, he established the absolute sovereignty of Louis and his monarchy. Louis’ statement, (I am the state) represented that there was no higher level of authority that could ever control him (Kishlansky, 503).
During Louis XIV 72 year reign, France became a dominant power in Europe. Many countries envied France’s success in industry and agriculture. Louis chose Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683) to administer the government of France. He helped in reviving trade and economy of France. “Colbert’s fiscal reforms were so successful that in less that six years a debt of 22 million French pounds had become a surplus of 29 million. Colbert achieved that astonishing feat not by raising taxes but by increasing the efficiency of their collection” (Kishlansky, pg 508). Colbert organized factories and systems of productions, trading companies and colonies, which were known as mercantilism. The main idea of this was to build up the nation’s supply of gold by exporting goods to other lands and by earning goods in return.
With all this power, Louis XIV wanted to strengthen France by controlling its economy as well. He believed that there should only be no...
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