- Some economic policies were set in place:
- Royal officers called intendants were appointed primarily to collect taxes
- Jean-Baptiste Colbert served as the king's finance minister
- High tariffs were placed on imported goods and trade was closely regulated
- King Louis XIV had a reign filled with wars:
- When he was ten, a civil war called the Fronde forced him to flee the capital.
- He set forth the War of Devolution in 1667, invading and claiming the Spanish Netherlands.
- Spain, England, and the Holy Roman Empire aligned to form the Grand Alliance
- France went to war with them from 1688-1697 in what was known as the Nine Years' War
- France fought in the War of Spanish Succession from 1701-1714
- Louis XIV selfishly placed his personal interests above the country’s, as he wanted to ensure that Philip V, his grandson, would inherit the Spanish Empire
- He was ultimately blamed for the financial devastation France was facing
- Louis XIV majorly limited religion during his reign:
- He revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685, which previously permitted religious freedom to French Protestants
- He was an absolute ruler because:
- Louis decided he would rule without the aid of a chief minister after Mazarin died, who previously assisted him
- He had thought God specifically chose him to rule, giving him the divine right to hold absolute power
- He nicknamed himself “Sun King” to emphasize his status
- Trials of rule:
- The war fought with the Grand Alliance put a significant strain on their resources
- The War of the Spanish Succession resulted in France being in huge debt and people began turning against him
- Ceasing religious freedom left the country with a lack of labor and the nearby Protestant countries disliking him