Louis XIV

Louis XIV was very much control in the culture of the people, especially regarding art. Louis had an unreasonable amount of paintings done of him, all of which he would pose for. These pictures of him showing his moments of greatest victory were put up all over so that all would know of his power. As he was called the Sun King, he also had many pictures depicting him as a mythological hero. Louis XIV stifled the art of the people and instead used it as propaganda for himself.

As far as social issues went, Louis XIV was entirely in control of both the throne and the Catholic Church, establishing complete power of his kingdom and its religion. The popes at the time were against this, but they couldn't do anything to counter the monarch. Because he held supreme power as king and divine conscience, the church and his political decisions ultimately became the same. Louis XIV abused the church's power to add another way to control his people, by dictating their religious beliefs.

Louis XIV's basic political principles were that of absolutism or, in other words, setting himself up as the sole ruler of France who all must turn to to make decisions. He announced, "I am the state," declaring his power. He would ordered that each of his advisers did not do anything without first consulting him because he was the supreme ruler. However ambitious his political goals were, his pride proved to undermine his effectiveness. As "the Sun King," he flaunted his power, yearned for yet more glory, and punished those who began to rival him in wealth. Louis' politics seem to be defined by his own ego.

Rather than concern himself with the problems of his falling economy, he entrusted the system in its entirety to Jean Baptiste Colbert. France at the time had a debt of 60 million livres, by no means a small amount. Colbert improved the tax system's efficiency, set up roads and canals, and raised import tariffs so that the country's own economy could prosper. By Colbert's death, the country was only in debt 10 million livres, especially impressive considering that the Palace of Versailles was costing 10% of France's annual budget. Colbert saved France in a way that Louis XIV could never have.

Louis XIV created the institutional foundations of science in the country, allowing France to gain the technological advantage that it needed. He allowed French scientists all that they needed for their own research. But because Louis XIV supported scientific discovery, the country came out of his reign as a world force in terms of the latest technology.