ABSTRACT
The foundations for Louis XIV’s monarchy were laid by the Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin. Louis XIV came to the throne as a child, and began to reign himself after the death of Cardinal Mazarin. His education had been rather neglected, but he possessed very considerable intelligence and will-power, and devoted much care and time to the tasks of government. Louis XIV further had excellent ministers, diplomats and generals, and he disposed of vassals all over Europe. The power and splendour of Louis XIV, however, not only fascinated that part of the French people who made public opinion, but also the corresponding classes of many other nations. The extraordinary rise of absolutism was due partly to momentous developments in the public mind, partly to the unprecedented accumulation of power in the hands of Louis XVI. In the seventeenth century many circumstances encouraged the rise of monarchical absolutism.
