The state of the French economy as well as the rest of Europe was dire. The people became very conscious of their own personal finances. After Mazarin’s death in 1661 Louis XIV took control of the government and chose Jean-Baptiste Colbert as his minister of finance. Colbert used a mercantilist approach towards rebuilding the French Treasury. Although Colbert’s methods and the methods France took differed from other countries such as England, Colbert’s policies proved to have some success.
Although his reign had some negative aspects, overall he benefitted France. King Louis XlV was born September 5, 1638 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France. He was born to King Louis XIII of France and Queen Anne of Austria. King Louis XIII reigned from 1601 to 1643. Queen Anne of Austria reigned from 1601 to 1666.
King Louis, also known as the sun king was a very extravagant ruler and had absolute control of France for the time of his reign. During this time, Louis spent large amounts of money on his interests, while having great influence over the people with a strong personality and making sure other influential people did not go against him. One of the effects on France by Louis XIV”s rule was the damage he did to the economy with things such as his own extravagances and a large amount of spending on the Versailles palace. Many other conflicts, such as the widespread persecution of Calvinist Protestants (known as Huguenots in France) and France’s involvement in many unsuccessful war campaigns caused France’s deficit to be double the amount of the yearly income of France. The damaging habits of the king and the damaged economy nearly pushed France to disaster and were just one of the many problems that emerged from the reign of Louis XIV.
Arianna Paulin Mr. Bonnet World History II, French Revolution 27th of October, 2017 Through His Actions and Policies, To What Extent was King Louis the XVI Responsible for the French Revolution? Introduction Paragraph Between the years of 1785 and 1793, the French society was on the verge of collapsing. There was poverty and famine roaming the streets, making it nearly impossible to survive given the ridiculously high and unjust taxing system. King Louis XVI, who was the ruler at the time, was a main contributor to these problems that led France to its downfall. The country had a massive lack of resources and food, which led King Louis XVI to borrow more money than he could afford, thus putting the country in immense debt.
Visiting the French Royal Academy, Louis XIV displays support for science (Doc 8). Being the monarch of the French State, he had to show he was involved in these new enlightened ideas, it was done as propaganda move to attract the French people and scientists. With the help of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV's finance minister, Louis was able to capture this image of an enlightened leader. Colbert believed that art and science should flourish, but believed this solely for the respect and advancement of his country (Doc 1). His personal reputation and high ranking position attributed to his decision to support scientific work.
King Louis XIV ruled the country for seventy-two years, during which time people grew to trust that he was doing what was best for the country, without ever knowing what he was doing. Moliere states to the King: “ it is a piece of great temerity on my part to come and importune a great monarch in the midst of his glorious conquest” (Moliere, Second Petition). Moliere is captivated by the King and believes that he is not worthy of his time, but seeks assistance regardless. Orgon, in contrast, believes that
He did not share his power with anyone or any organization. He limited the power of his nobles and princes by having them live in his palace where their power would have been void. The nobles over time felt they needed to please Louis in return for letting them live in the Palace of Versailles (Doc 5). Louis attempted to control Protestants in France by making them convert to Catholicism. In addition he would not allow them to leave the country and he took down their churches (Doc 6).
King Leopold II of Belgium Many saw King Leopold II of Belgium as an amazing King who was known as the “Builder King.” Despite this, many people saw Leopold II as a genocidal maniac who was responsible for killing millions of people. This begs the question, who was King Leopold II and what did he do to gain these reputations. Leopold Lodewijk Filips Maria Victor was born in Brussels on 9 April 1835. He was the second child of the then Belgian King, Leopold the first and Queen Louise of Òrleans. He was the first cousin of Queen Victoria, who is also in the same royal house as the then royal family of the United Kingdom.
King Louis XIV, during his reign, had stated that the monarch should be equal to the task given to him and that any deficiencies in ability would be supplemented by the divinity of the office of King. Unfortunately, King Louis XV was unequal to his task and King Louis XVI, even more so . King Louis XVI, a man who was not quick to emotion, was skilled nonetheless, as a locksmith and loved to eat and to hunt .However, according to John Harman, Louis before 1787 was a clear‐headed, intelligent and politically savvy man. He was able to understand the difficulties and dilemmas of his day to day tenure, but could not deal with them effectively . Marie Antoinette, King Louis XVI’s wife, made the journey from Vienna to Versailles at fifteen years of age, was stripped of her Austrian heritage and instead became a French princess .
Early during King Richard II’s reign as king he seemed to be doing great, but he soon took a drastic downward turn. He was betrayed from within his own family. King Richard II was born to be a leader, but his strong presence in the military would eventually become his downfall. To better establish the personal attributes and leadership qualities of King Richard II, his background must first be understood. He was born in England in the year 1367 and ruled England from 1377 to 1399 (Saul, 1997).