King Louis XIV: One King, One Law

King Louis XIV's ideology for French power and centralization, “one king, one law, one faith,” was his main focus during his reign as France's ruler. He achieved “one king” by declaring himself as the absolute ruler of France, “one law” by limiting the power of other governmental figures and “one faith” by uniting the French religion. As an absolutist leader, with a centralized government, his many actions (including the removal of the Edict of Nantes) made France the supreme European power, but internal issues prevailed. Louis XIV's goal of "one king, one law, one faith" was successful politically, but detrimental to France economically (from his acquired debt) and socially (from his domestic reform).

In order to achieve “one king,” Louis formed himself into an absolute and glorified leader, ensuring that his rule would be unquestioned. To do this Louis XIV had to gain the support of the nobles. In 1682, Louis relocated to his new palace of God-like proportion and stature, Versailles. France (and Europe), awed by it's immense size and beauty, proclaimed his authority. Rituals such as dressing and
The La Fronde uprising against royal policies and taxation left an impression on Louis and he wanted to ensure that there would never again be a rebellion in France (nice try Louis). Though multiple councils of state were used in his rule, he demanded an active, decisive role. Louis insisted that nobles be housed at Versailles for a part of the year for purposes of surveillance, which they did. Unification of the French military was achieved by establishing a uniform method of training. Louis claimed absolute rule in France, however, he he did use nobles as an extension to his power, but his policy was successful because there was no external influence on law aside from his