Blog #3

“In seventeenth-century England, the aristocracy lost its privileges but retained its power; in seventeenth century France the aristocracy retained its privileges but lost its power.”

The statement is indeed valid because Louis XIV made sure that France was founded on the basis of political absolutism. His intentions were to have all the power with no interference at all, not even by the nobility. Due to Louis XIV's self-sufficiency in building a secure financial base, his power over his country was undivided. This display of absolute power was reinforced by the king's construction of Versailles, which served as an efficient means of pacifying the nobility. He ruled with great power doing what he wanted making sure he was in complete and total power. In 1682 he purposely brought all his nobles to Versailles. This diversion allowed him to keep a close eye on the threatening nobles though they were unable to obtain any power as they did before. The aristocracy during King Louis XIV reign, retained its privileges, but lost all power, therefore giving Louis XIV complete control. The favors granted to the nobility were thus given solely by the king, who, by organizing every luxury at Versailles around his presence, shifted the emphasis from the nobility's influence to an emphasis on his own power. Therefore, the aristocracy retained its privileges by appealing to Louis XIV. In England a parliament monarch was rising and so was constitutionalism. This limited power of monarchs and kings allowing the nobility to gain power once again along with parliament. Afterwards power was retained once again allowing different choices for the government.