How successful was Louis of imposing absolute control on government in the provinces?

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How successful was Louis of imposing absolute control on government in the provinces?

Louis throughout his reign was believed by his predecessors to be an absolute monarch but was this really true when put into practice. To achieve absolute power Louis needed more or less total control over everything that went on in the provinces. For example he needed to make sure the taxes which he imposed were being successfully collected and corruption was to a minimal. To some extent Louis was successful in imposing absolute power on the government in the provinces. He passed laws which they didn’t like and they weren’t allowed to remonstrate until the law was passed meaning no chance for real negotiation. Although to another extent his successes could have been limited as yes they weren’t allowed to remonstrate until the law was passed but the parlements would still be informed about the policy and Louis would discuss it with them first hand showing the parlements still had some control. Furthermore some may say that Louis didn’t mean or intend to enforce absolute control in the provinces. He saw the need for compromise and realised it was in his best interest to do so.

To a certain degree Louis successfully imposed more control on the government in the provinces using his absolute powers. The government in France in the seventeenth century had many government bodies. Examples of these are the provincial governors and the parlements. Traditional historian’s believed Louis tried to reduce the powers of these government bodies to show he was gaining the absolute power he needed to be an absolute monarch. To begin with Louis took various measures to lessen the power of the parlements. There were many steps which he took to do this. He firstly decided to cut their judicial wages by a third. Louis wanted to show the parlements he was the main leader in France and no one can question him. The wage cuts could also mean more money for Louis himself, to spend on his own interests. Being wealthy can show a person’s power in society even today, so by gaining more money it would be showing Louis absolute power over France is coming into effect. It would also come clear to the parlements that Louis is gaining absolute power over them and stopping him from doing so would lead to no good.

Next Louis created a law that parlements could not remonstrate until a law which was to be put in place was passed. If an act of remonstration was to arise before the law was actually passed than in Louis words they “must be executed quickly and only once.” Again Louis is imposing his absolute control over the parlements. Louis made all the final decisions, were the parlements had really no say in the matter, if he was to pass a particular law. Louis was the main leader and everyone had to come to him first to pass any type of law. He was the main man. This shows his absolute control over the provinces and the whole of France was successfully being put in place. Louis could do anything without the consultation of others. He could control France in his own way if he wanted to as he made the final decisions over anything which was to be passed by government or even the clergy.  Laws would also be passed by Louis that the parlements did not like. An example of this was when in 1714 Louis insisted a law was to be passed that allowed his bastards sons to take the throne if his legitimate family line ended. Many parlements did not like this law but were obliged to pass it as Louis would pass it any way as he is the final decision maker. Liberal historian’s believed Louis successfully imposed absolute control in the provinces. He was seen as an absolutist to them and his absolute powers were not always for good but in short term showed he was powerful. Louis made all final decisions and the government seemed to not have as much of a say as they may have liked too. The policies which he put in place to reduce the power of the parlements successfully showed him to be an absolute power over the government in the provinces.

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Louis did not just try to reduce power of parlement but he tried to control the provincial governors too. He wanted not just one group of the government to be changed but the whole government to be controlled in his way. Louis wanted to show his absolute control was in place to everyone in the provinces. The provincial governors were usually part of the nobility of sword with ancient land holding rights, privileges and held important status in the particular province they worked in. They traditionally were responsible for raising money through tax collection in the provinces and day ...

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