Louis and Marie Antoinette’s indulgent fashion that so irked the common folk, mammoth costs associated with the upkeep of King Louis XVI’s extravagant palace at Versailles and the frivolous spending of the queen, Marie-Antoinette, did little to relieve the growing debt. Antoinette’s self-indulgent tendencies became a symbol of royal excess and extravagance. A proportion of the Kings revenue went into building or rebuilding castles.…
Once upon a time, long ago in France, lived a king, Louis XIV and his beautiful wife, Marie Antoinette. Louis received a lot of debt from previous kings, and borrowed a great deal of money to help the American Revolution in their war against Great Britain. Louis who wanted to help improve the lives of common people was in a tough situation, when banks refused to lend him more money, and to make matters worse, Marie Antoinette gave Louis poor advice, interfered with the government, and spent excessive money on jewels, gambling and gifts. She was then known as Madame deficit. Not too far away from the King and Queen lived Jacques.…
Born in 1500, Charles I of Spain is the successor to the Habsburg dynasty ruled Austria and large parts of Europe during the Reformation as Emperor Charles V. On the side of his father, Philip of Burgundy, Maximilian Habsburg Austria Mary of Burgundy and. On the side of his mother, Joana "The Mad" of Castile, Ferdinand and Isabella's, who unified the crown of Aragon Spain and Castile. This made Charles the heir of many lands, which he started at the age of sixteen successor. Growing up in Burgundy in France, his first language is French and he was steeped in the foreign policy of political Burgundy. Adrian of Utrecht, who a short time would become pope in 1522 before he died a year later, as a member of his court. Between 1516 and the death of his father, Emperor in 1519, Charles inherited procedure duchies Austria, Carinthia, Moravia, Tyrol, and Styria; Netherlands along with France-Comte from…
Louis XIV was the epitome of an absolute monarch. Through his endless wars, extreme extravagance, and absolute control over taxes and the economy, he set the example for other European powers. His absolute rule brought about both positives and negatives. By building a large army to defend and expand his borders, he alienated other empires and created enemies. Placing political power and faith in the nobility helped him rule a vast kingdom but displaced him from the common man. His obsession with being a great conqueror expanded France to its largest in history, but nearly bankrupted the country and resulted in losing more territory than he gained. Although Louis XIV brought many improvements to France, as well as western society, his insatiable lust for war and extravagance caused more harm than good to the French Empire.…
Louis XIV was an absolute monarch. He was often called "the Sun King," and ruled over France. He wanted to help France achieve economic, political, and cultural pinnacle. Many historians believe the phrase "absolute power corrupts absolutely" mirrors Louis XIV's reign. Louis XIV revoked the Edict on Nantes, changing the economy of France in one motion. By creating the city of Versailles and being a major patron of the arts, Louis was very influential on French culture. His costly wars and failures almost led to France's bankruptcy. Louis XIV was very corrupt in his power. It's shown in all he did to change France. He got what he wanted, when he wanted it.…
King Louis XIV famously declared, “I am the state,” and there is no question that he identified himself as the sole ruler of France. During the so-called Sun King’s absolute monarchy, the nobility had little or no role in or control over the French government. Instead, King Louis built the glamorous palace at Versailles and invited members of the nobility to live on the palace grounds. Most didn’t pay taxes and led an indulgent lifestyle but with no political influence. Most of King Louis’s reign was spent fighting foreign wars that also kept the nobles occupied as soldiers. The French nobility retained their status in high society under King Louis XIV but were never given the powerful political titles that were reserved for men of great intelligence.…
In the late 1780s, France had a monarchy with 3 different social classes called estates. The First Estate consisted of the clergy. They owned 10% of the land when they were only 1% of the population. The Second Estate had the nobles, and they owned 20% of the land and paid no tax. Nobles counted for 2% of the population leaving the other 97% to the Third Estate. The Third Estate paid high taxes and lacked privileges. Half of their income was used to pay their taxes and they were starving due to the high bread cost. While the Third Estate was suffering, King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette threw extravagant parties and borrowed money to help with the American Revolution.…
England's history has been prosperous with phenomenal monarchs. However, in a time during The Restoration of the English Throne; history was introduced to King Charles II who would be permanently etched in the hearts of his subjects. The son of King Charles I of England; young Charles II’s life was one of turmoil and uncertainty as he witnessed his country thrown into a civil war. Charles was sent to exile as a child and spent his life plotting for his banished throne. After secret dealings with Scotland and conflict with a dissident named Cromwell; Charles eventually regained his rightful place as King of England. Riddled by accomplishments and failures; his reign was monumental enough to etch his name in history books as a significant English monarch.…
Absolute monarchs had a significant impact on European history and the way their nation lives today. Absolute monarchs had control over political, social and religious aspects of their nation’s life. Absolute monarch had a positive and negative effect on society and European history.…
I am positive that any sane person would agree that Antoinette’s situation is a pity. However, I contend that she deserves the reader’s sympathy because no matter what Antoinette could have done to change the course of her life it would have been too little because of her various mental and situational…
When people think of The French Revolution, they think of the Queen of France, Marie Antoinette. The blame for The French Revolution was put mostly on her. Marie Antoinette is a misunderstood historical figure who does not deserve the bad name she has been given. She was the first victim of bad publicity, for example, the infamous saying “Let them eat cake”. Marie Antoinette did contribute to the debt the French state was in, but only slightly. Her husband, Louis XVI’s, grandfather contributed to the debt much more than her or Louis XVI did. She did not do enough damage to be blamed entirely for the debt and revolution.…
King Louis XIV is a violent, self-centered villain who manipulates others for his personal gain. He was quick to shed blood, no matter what the cost. Although he expanded France’s borders by conquering countries with his royal army, his methods led to many unnecessary deaths. During his reign, three out of every five years were spent in war. (Popkin Par.3) King Louis XIV’s reign was full of unnecessary violence.…
Bibliography: Barker, Nancy. "Let Them Eat Cake: The Mythical Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution." Historian (Summer 1993): 709-25.…
King Louis XIV left France with an enormous pile of debt to be paid due to his luxurious life style, countless wars, and much more. From there, when Louis XVI reigned during those years, there was huge upset throughout the whole county because the debt only began to increase more than ever because the constant involvement of more wars and unnecessary spendings. The only way in King Louis’ mind to clear some of the debt was to tax the people of France. When he proposed the idea of increasing the tax system many were against it. When the countless taxes were given out the burden of paying them were towards the Third Estate. The Third Estate paid all of the taxes all the way from the church taxes to salt taxes. On the other hand, the First and Second Estates, were exempt from taxes and had no obligated dues directed towards the country of France. The only “burden” they had was to support the Old Regime and the monarchy of course. It was clear that the tax system needed a rapid change but the church and nobles rejected that idea. They rejected the concept because to them, being taxed would have been something they would label as unethical but it was fine if the taxes were directed towards the Third Estate. “The distribution of the tax burden was only part of the problem. In particular, the administration of direct and indirect taxes was both inefficient and corrupt” (Price…
Louis XVI was one of the most incompetent and frankly idiotic rulers in the history of France. He would have absolutely nothing to do with his official duties as king, and his horribly decadent lifestyle contributed greatly to the economic plight France was in. The fact that he was married to Marie Antoinette, a native of Austria, France's sworn enemy, was very detrimental as well. Louis XVI inherited debt from previous rulers, but he made no move of any kind toward paying it off. In fact, he borrowed vast sums of money in order to give aid to the Americans in their revolution, which only worsened France's already outstanding deficit. In 1786, bankers refused to lend the government any more money, and Louis XVI was in serious trouble. Of course, all of this put Louis in a highly unfavorable position with the people of France, who absolutely despised him and his wife. Marie Antoinette was a major problem for Louis as well. She gave him poor advice on governing matters, spent large amounts of money on her own vanity, and was generally hated by the people the moment she set foot…