Louis XIV
Louis XIV was a good leader for many reasons, some of which
will
come out in this essay. Louis ruled with an iron fist, he didn't let anyone mess with
France, and if they did , he made them suffer. Second, Louis had mercy on those who
betrayed him, a trait rarely seen in his day and age. Third most he did his best to bring
down the nobles of France, particularly the more richer ones who thought they were above
the law.
Louis ruled with an iron fist he didn't let anyone mess around
with
France, if anyone had the guts to even think about challenging his power over the people
of France he would do he would go out of his way to make them suffer. (*1) "At the same
time he regarded himself as God's deputy in France and would allow no challenge to his
authority, from the Pope or anyone else" Louis got into many wars while he was ruler of
France, he was quick to the draw and did not hesitate to start a war. To show the
Catholics
that he was still a catholic king ,Louis kept mounting pressure on the French
Protestants,
until 1685 when he revoked Edict of Nantes. Then he forbid anyone to practice
Calvinism. To the people of France this showed great strength on the part of Louis, the
fact that he could keep he kept everyone in France inline at the same time. everyone in
France obeyed him because he was such a grand, rich, fair king. Louis got into many wars
with other countries over the stupidest things, when Charles II were to die with no
kids,
he made he offered to make Louis's grandson the sole beneficiary of the vast inheritance
to be left behind, Louis Accepted the the offer out of pure greed, but that dicision
meant
war with Austria. Although, Louis was already getting half of the money he still greedily
accepted the offer, if he had not accepted the offer war could have been avoided, but hey
we all make mistakes
The second thing about Louis that made him a good leader was
that he
had Mercy on those who betrayed him which was something rarely seen in that time. Most
rulers just murdered those who betrayed them, but Louis would jail them. In the case of
Louis's most important lieutenant, named Mazarin, He was charged with peculation and
found guilty then sentenced to banishment from France. Instead of letting the whole
ordeal
go down Louis intervened and changed Mazarins sentence from banishment to
imprisonment for life. Mercy was a rare trait at the time of Louis time of reign over
France. Mercy was something to be proud of, because it showed great restraint and
overall
showed an even greater strength to govern the people of France, something even I'd
admire if Louis was my king.
Louis worked hard to bring down the nobles of France, they thought that
they
were above the law. the way Louis did this was very interesting. He had built this
palace
with 226 rooms and living capacity of 5,001, and he invited nobles from all over France
to
come and live with him in Versailles (the name of his palace). At Versailles they had
everything you could ever want and the best part about it was that you could have it. so
how did he bring down the nobles? well in coming to Versailles, the Nobles left their
villages, castles,towns,what ever the had at home where the normally lived and moved to
Versailles.They left their home and stopped making decisions for their villages,
castles, towns, whatever and when no one heard from the nobles again and Louis said that
he wanted to run things the villagers said "Alright" and the nobles lost their power and
Louis gained some more land and power, pretty smart huh, give the nobles all the stuff
they wanted because it was like pocket lint to you and then turn around and take their
land, it was kind of a fair trade, I guess, everyone got what they wanted, I mean The
nobles got all the stuff the could ever want and got to live in Versailles and Louis got
what
he wanted, more power.
Louis worked very hard everyday , he always put in a good days work. He
never
missed a meeting of his council. Louis couldn't just sit around all day he had to be
doing
something he always had to be moving which was good because it kept him on top of
things. Louis always knew what was going on in his country. Louis liked to hand pick
everyone of his generals ,bishops and other governmental figures himself I think this was
to guarantee effiency, which was highly regarded by Louis because he started a whole
movement towards a more efficient French government. Louis controlled everything in
France nothing went down in France without his approval or him having his input into the
matter at hand, I guess you could say that Louis kept a pretty tight leash around
France's
throat.
As you can see Louis XIV was a good leader because he had mercy on Mazarin, the
lieutenant who was charged with peculation. He didn't let anyone mess around with his
country, France. He stood up behind the Catholic religion. Louis Brought down the nobles
of France by intising them into leaving their home and living with him in Versailles.
Louis
Worked hard for the people of France he never missed a meeting ,he hand picked his
government. Louis also made some mistakes which showed to the people of France that
he
was human. So I guess you can say that Louis was a cut above the rest kind of leader,
I know I think so.
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