French Monarchy and Government

Running Head: QUESTION AND ANSWERS ON THE FRENCH MONARCHY AND
GOVERNMENT IN THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT
Question and answers on the French Monarchy and Government in the Age of Enlightenment
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QUESTION AND ANSWERS ON THE FRENCH MONARCHY AND GOVERNMENT IN
THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT
1
Answer to Question Three
The concept of Absolutism or Absolute Monarchy is defined as the authority of the King
to be the highest form of authority as he ruled the subjects under the guidance of the divine right.
The authoritarian regime extended to the fields of administration, taxation, judicial powers, and
making foreign policies. Bishop Jacques-Benigne Bossuet was considered the most prominent
figure in advocating the divine rights of monarchy in the 17th century (McKay, Derek and Scott
2014). He believed that God appointed the government and their power was to be unchallenged.
Absolute monarchy forbade the sharing of power with any other governing body for example the
parliament. The best example of absolute monarchy is the reign of French King Louis XIV
(1643-1715). For the sake of continuing with the notion of Divine Right, he referred to himself
as the Sun King- the allusion was self-assigned that denoted the king as a source of light. He did
not regard the need of seeking to discuss administrational issues with his ministers. By
restructuring the government he vested the decision making power on himself regarding all the
matters of the state. The rights to formulate foreign policies, declaring war, managing religious
affairs, and taxation was under the power of the Monarch (McKay, Derek and Scott 2014).
Although the reign of Louis XIV witnessed the rise of France as power in terms of
military, diplomacy, and culture in Europe, dealing with money and finance continued to remain
as a weak spot on the monarchy. The weakness began to emerge from the reign on Louis XV, as
the methods of tax collections were extremely impractical and costly that eventually led to an old
bargain between the crown of France and the nobility. The tax system favored the nobility as
they were expected from the taxable section of people. Only common people were required to
pay taxes. Imposition of Taxes on the bourgeois led to an upheaval in opposition from them. This
prevented the Monarch from imposing any taxes on them (Schalk 2014).