ABSTRACT
The peak of French absolutism was reached during the personal rule of Louis XIV (1661–1715). His authority was fully enshrined in the concept of the Divine Right of Kings as expressed by Bossuet: ‘The person of the King is sacred…all the state is in him; the will of the entire people is contained in his.’ 1 This hinged on the precept that ‘It is God who establishes Kings.’ Louis XIV was determined to act the part of absolute monarch to the full, referring to kings as ‘fathers of their people’ and emphasizing the importance of a government ‘that is directed by Kings whom God alone can judge’. 2 He departed from the more passive role of Louis XIII, who had been content to entrust the use of his prerogatives to a leading minister.
