Impacts

How did King Louis XIV impact the nation of France?

• Edict of Fontainebleau:
  • Overrode Henry the IV’s Edict of Nantes
  • No more religious freedom for Protestants
  • Protestant churches were destroyed
  • Catholicism was standard and required
  • Many fled, resulting in a severe loss of laborers
• Economic and political structure:
  • Working alongside his finance minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, he reduced France’s debts
  • Centralized power around the middle class, sapping nobles of their previous authority
  • Expanded France’s lands military-wise, displaying his nation’s superior power
  • Established the monarch’s role as an all-powerful ruler
    • The symbol of sun represented how everything revolves around him, hence his nickname the Sun King
• Did they strengthen or weaken the empire?
  • Overall, Louis XIV significantly weakened the empire
    • As a result of the Edict of Fontainebleau, many Protestants left the country
    • After numerous wars, France was greatly in debt and underwent a famine
    • King Louis XIV was blamed for France's financial devastation and hardships