LOUIS XIV, THE CHAMPION OF ABSOLUTISM

Louis XIV, the apogee of absolutism in France

In France, the centralization of power in the hands of the king was a slow and gradual process, which evolved toward absolutism. The rise of absolutism French took the reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715), who, by his conduct ahead government, became known as King Sun

Louis XIV had 5 years of age when his father died. Given that his mother entrusted the direction of the kingdom of France to an experienced politician, the Cardinal Mazzarino. At the time, France was involved in the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), European conflict motivated by intense rivalry between Catholics and Protestants and territorial ambitions. To fund the costs of war, Cardinal Mazzarino created taxes, increased the already existing (affecting individuals of all social groups) increased prices for public office that the French monarchy sold to cover the expenses of the royal family and nobles who lived in court.

This unpopular policy of Cardinal Mazzarino was adopted at a time when unemployment, hunger and disease raged through France. As a result, riots broke out, which included the participation of various social groups, including sections of the nobility. These riots, known as Frondas, were severely repressed by the absolute monarchy, which, with it, came out even stronger.

In 1661, with the death of Cardinal Mazzarino, Louis XIV took over himself, the head of the government. In power, the Sun King for his subjects demanded total obedience and loyalty to strongly enforce the execution of their orders and personally took care of matters pertaining to government. Anyway, he acted according to the statement attributed to him: "I am the state. " Therefore it is considered the best example of an absolutist ruler.

The pose real

The absolutist kings used to order pictures for your picture was known in all corners of the kingdom. In general, these pictures did not represent the king as he really was, but rather wanted to be seen by his subjects.

Besides improving the appearance of the monarch, the artists included in these pictures several symbols of royalty, like the color red, the crown, scepter and fleur-de-lis.

Words of Louis XIV In a parliamentary answer to the French, Louis XIV has left us a record of his thoughts by saying: Louis XIV, king of France (c.1701), oil on canvas by Hyacinthe Rigaud It is only in my person that resides sovereign power ... is only me that my courts receive their existence and their authority, the fullness of this authority, but they do not exercise on my behalf, always remains in me, and never use can be turned against me, it belongs solely to me that the legislative power, without dependence and without sharing, it is only by my authority that officials of my court shall, no training, but the registration and publication, to law enforcement and they are allowed to warn me, what is the duty of all working directors, all public policy emanates from me, and the rights and interests of the nation that dares to make a separate body of the Monarch, are necessarily united with my and lie entirely in my hands. (Freitas, Gustavo. 900 texts and documents of history. Lisbon, Platano, 1976. V. II, p. 201-2.)

During his long reign (54 years), and use the army to impose its authority, Louis XIV sought to also address the interests of important sectors of the bourgeoisie and nobility.

To attract the nobility, adopted the policy ofdistributing favors " distributed pensions, gifts and good-paying jobs to earls, dukes and barons. And in his court in Versailles Palace, official residence, sheltered and supported thousands of other nobles.

To get support from the bourgeoisie, gave direction of the economy to Jean B. Colbert, a member of an important family of the bourgeoisie and defender of the interests of this class.Seeking to increase the wealth of France, Colbert encouraged exports of French products by giving cash awards and financial assistance to various manufacturing French and exempted it from taxes. To reduce imports, raised taxes on foreign goods, making its entry into the country, he sought, with this, obtaining a balance of trade favorable. Colbert also granted privileges to trade companies: large companies formed with money from private and sometimes government itself, working mainly in the exploitation of the riches of Africa, Asia and America.

However, most of that time of the French population lived in poverty and dipped sobrecarrecagada taxes. JB Colbert encouraged the French economy, but failed to balance the finances of the country, mainly because of the outrageous spending of the court, the successive wars and foreign capital flight, motivated by religious intolerance. Is that Louis XIV persecuted French Protestants (many of them wealthy merchants), which therefore left the country for Switzerland, England and Holland, taking with them their capital.

Trade Balance, "Comparison of total imports (purchases of goods abroad) and total exports (sales of goods abroad) that a country performs in the course of a year for calculation of the respective balance - positive or surplus in If the value of exports exceed imports, and negative or deficit if the value of imports exceeding exports. " (Freitas, Gustavo. Vocabulary history. P. 35.)

The following excerpts from the books, The Prince, Leviathan and the six books of the Republic

Excerpt from The Prince, Machiavelli, 1513  Who wants to practice kindness in everything we do is doomed to languishing among the many who are not good.It is therefore necessary that the prince who wants to stay learn to act without goodness, college or not to use in each case as necessary. [...]  It can be observed that all men - especially the sovereign, placed in a higher position - have a reputation for certain qualities that earned him praise or vituperation (offensive word or attitude). Thus, some are considered liberal by others miserable [...], one is considered generous, the other eager, cruel one, the other merciful; one effeminate and cowardly (cowardly), and other brave and courageous [... ] and so on.  Naturally, it would be very commendable that a prince possessed all the good qualities mentioned above, but as this is not possible because the human condition does not permit, it must have sufficient care to avoid the scandal caused by vices that could do it losing their domains, avoiding the other, if possible, if not, you can practice them with less scruples. But should not worry about the outrageous practice of those vices without which it is difficult to save the State, because, if you think it will be easy to realize that certain qualities that seem virtues lead to ruin, and other defects that appear, bring results in increased safety and welfare. Machiavelli. The príncipe.Apud: SPIDER, Maria Lucia de Arruda.Machiavelli - The logic of force. São Paulo: Moderna, 1993

Excerpt from The Six Books of the Republic, Jean Bodin, 1576 There is nothing greater on earth, after God, the sovereign princes, and was established by him as its representative to govern other men, it is necessary to remember their quality in order to respect them and revere them the majesty with all obedience, in order to feel and talk about them with all honor as their sovereign prince who despises despises God, Whose image he is on earth. BODIN, Jean. free Les six de la Republique (The six books of the Republic). Paris: Fayard, 1986. Apud: Chevallier, Jean-Jacques. The great political works of Machiavelli to the present day. Rio de Janeiro: Agir, 1976.p. 60-1

Excerpt from The Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes, 1651  The rationale for human beings to create the states is a desire to leave this miserable condition of war [...] [arises] when there is no visible power to control the [...]. The only way to create such a common power, able to defend them against the invasion of foreigners [...], assuring them so that by its own activity and the fruits of the earth can feed themselves and live comfortably, is to confer all their power and strength to a man or an assembly of men [...] that represent your personality [...]. This is something more than consent or concord; is a real unity of all in one and the same person, instructed by covenant of every man with the other [...]. That done, the multitude so united in one person is called state. Free translation of HOBBES, Thomas. The Leviathan. Apud: Artola, Miguel. Texts key to her story. Madrid: Revista de Occidente, 1973. p.327-8

A not so absolute monarchy

In fact, the terms "absolute monarchy" and "absolutism" are misleading. Certainly, the real sovereignty is not divided: in the person of the king are assembled what we now call the Executive, Legislative and Judicial. This does not imply the need to turn this into something despotic power (authoritarian). The king, aided by his Council should respect the natural law of divine origin, and the fundamental laws of the kingdom.

In practice, real power is extremely limited by the Church, by virtue of the privileges, weak and slow media. The term "administrative monarchy" therefore seems more appropriate than "absolute monarchy".

-The emergence of Staff

With absolutism came to an end the bonds of suzerainty and vassalage to mark the medieval period. Each monarch has created its national army, ending the special troops.The feudal law was gradually replaced by a new law inspired by the ancient Roman law, and employees were hired to take care of public administration. Thus was born the modern state.

 

The king's power

During the Middle Ages of Western Europe was divided into a number of territories, the feuds. In each fiefdom, the power was exercised by the feudal lord, a noble who owned the land. It was up to the feudal lord to trade administration, tax collection, the application of justice. The kings were nothing but overlords (feudal lord) of a large number of vassals.Moreover, the king himself could be a vassal of another king, more powerful than he.

To rule, the kings consulted their vassals, gathered a council called the Court or Parliament. At that time, the pope, besides having a religious duty, is also involved in political issues. This contributed to further diminish the authority of European kings.

From the eleventh century, however, this situation began to change. As growth of trade and cities, monarchs assumed a prominent role. Little by little, the king no longer just one among many lords and began to centralize power, taking care of taxes and keeping an army charged with ensuring the safety of the population. So they began to appear the firstEuropean monarchies.

The process of formation of national monarchies in some regions of Europe gave rise to several European countries such as France, England, Portugal and Spain.

The engine of this process was the alliance between the king and the bourgeoisie. In the absolutist regime, the king was above the nobility and the bourgeoisie, standing as mediator (arbitrator) the interests of these two rival groups.

The king is balanced, trying to satisfy both: the bourgeoisie supported the expansion of its business and relish the nobility offering you government posts and pensions.

The European national monarchies evolved toward absolutism as they were winning the resistance offered by local feudal lords and the universal power of the pope, who as you know, covered the whole of Christendom.

Factors that favored absolutism

The absolutism prevailed in most European countries between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The main factors that favored its emergence were:

·          expanding sea-European trade: the Great Navigations and consequent formation of vast colonial empires enriched bourgeoisie, thereby increasing its ability to pay taxes, and at the same time, allowed the kingdom to produce large quantities of gold and silver other wealth with colonial exploitation;

·         Humanism: the intellectual movement that emerged in the Renaissance, with its critical view of man and society, valued reason, in contrast with the view advocated by the Church and shaking its reputation, a fact that contributed to the decline of the universal power of the pope and the strengthening the power of kings in their respective nations;

·         Protestant Reformation: some rulers took advantage of this movement to break with Catholicism and appropriate the property of the Catholic Church and the clergy of their income. In England, the king himself became the supreme head of the Church, which was named the Anglican Church. Thus, the absolute monarchy British confiscated the lands and monasteries belonging to the Catholic Church, thereby becoming richer and more powerful.

As the kings would impose its authority over the entire length of their kingdoms were emerging thinkers bent on justifying monarchical absolutism.

The first modern author to write a book exclusively about politics was Niccolo Machiavelli, who published The Prince in 1513. In this book, the author argues that state interests are above the interests of individuals. Thus, to assert the state interests, the government could make use of a variety of methods, including force and violence against his opponents.

In France, the numerous religious conflicts involving Catholics and Protestants may have influenced Jean Bodin in the sixteenth century, and Jacques Bossuet in the seventeenth century, to assert that the king's power should be unlimited.

The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes had other reasons to uphold the absolute power of kings. For him, without an absolute authority, people would live in barbarism, destroying each other.

Jean Bodin (1529-1596).

French philosopher. He studied at the University of Toulouse, was then a lawyer at the Parliament of Paris. He defended the unity of Catholics and Protestants around the French king. In the book The six books of the Republic (1576), stated that the key to ensuring order and authority was the recognition of state sovereignty, which he said stemmed from divine right and not from the consent of individuals.

Jacques Bossuet (1627-1704)

French philosopher and bishop. He defended the theory of Divine Right in his book The Politics accordance with the Scriptures. It was the most influential advocate of the rights of the French church against papal authority.

Thomas Hobbes (1528-1679)

Author of Leviathan, produced a rational explanation to justify absolutism. Hobbes said that in the beginning, men lived in their natural state, obeying only their own individual interests.So human life was a permanent war of "all against all. " To avoid the destruction of humanity and to achieve peace and security, human beings have decided to renounce all right and all the freedom to submit to a master, one sovereign. We, therefore, human beings themselves who gave full powers to the sovereign. Therefore, according to Hobbes, the king was not to satisfaction of his actions to anyone.

Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1,527)

Philosopher born in Florence (now Italy). It was a public official Florentine Republic. WroteThe Prince (1513), work for which he was considered the founder of modern political thought.

These ideas spread throughout Europe and helped strengthen the power of kings. A new form of government, known as absolutism. The power of kings has become almost absolute, limited only by the divine laws and customs and traditions of the season.

In Western Europe, France was the country where absolutism was more severe and longer lasting.

Absolutism - Timeline

Between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the king's authority was absolute in most European countries.

This scheme became known as absolutism.

England is one of the oldest monarchies in Europe. In this country, the queen serves ashead of state while the prime minister is the head of government. It's up to him, together with Parliament, to take major policy decisions of the country.

However the English monarchy has been different. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, power was often concentrated in the hands of the king. The monarch exercised the functions that today powers rest with the Executive, Legislative and Judicial. In other words, had almost absolute power.

·         1534   - Henry VIII founded the Anglican in England.

·         1562   - Beginning of the war of religions (Catholic Calvinists X), France.

·         1576    - Jean Bodin publishes six books of The Republic.

·         l643-1715 - The rise of French absolutism during the reign of Louis XIV.

·         1651    - Thomas Hobbes publishes Leviathan.

·         1682    - Versailles became the official seat of the French court.

·         1689    - End of absolutism in England, which becomes a constitutional monarchy.

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