Seventeenth Century France

17th Century France : Winners and Losers

The 17th century is identified as a colorful period in the history of France . This period is characterized by an imbalance of power and thus produced winners and losers

Winners of the period include Louis XIV and Louvois . Louis XIV (1638-1715 ) increased royal power at home and French power abroad during the second half of the century . Under his leadership , France rose to become a world power and a leader in the arts . He remains the symbol of absolute monarchy of the classical age . Louvois ( HYPERLINK "http

/en .wikipedia .org /wiki /1641 " \o "1641 " 1641 - HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /1691 " \o "1691 " 1691 ) enabled Louis XIV to carry out his international policies of aggression . He created the type of army methods that remained unchanged until the coming of the mechanical age thus making him a very important figure in French military history (Lewis , 1957 ,

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The HYPERLINK "http /www .info .com /ce6 /society /A0824470 .html Huguenots on the other hand emerged as losers as they were persecuted during this period . French Protestants were not allowed to leave the country and those who remained were harassed thereby resulting to protestant alienation and exodus . The Roman Catholic Church also bore almost the same fate . Persuaded by his catholic advisers , HYPERLINK "http /www .britannica .com /ebc /article-9370597 " Louis XIV declared policies to persecute the Protestants . The revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 was to make France a Catholic state . However , many secretly remained faithful to Protestantism and the reputation of the Catholic Church suffered as a consequence of Louis 's intolerance

It is notable however that the greatest loser during this age is the people . During this period , France engaged in several international wars . France indeed rose to power but it was at the expense of people 's lives , welfare and money . The people and their taxes were the ones who suffered the most . The poor who barely had enough gave the most tax used to finance a massive army trained to conquer for the glory not of the people but of their king

Where there is discrepancy in the distribution of power such as in the 17th century France , there may be different views regarding who indeed were the winners and the losers but for their sufferings and unfair treatment , religious factions and the people were the losers and though they may be despised by history , Louis XIV and Louvois still led France to victory and fame

References

Lewis , W . H (1957 . The Splendid Century : Life in the France of Louis XIV . Garden City , NY : Doubleday Anchor Books . Retrieved June 17 , 2006 from Questia database : http /www .questia .com /PM .qst ?a o d 6019216

Louis XIV (2006 . In Encyclopzhdia Britannica . Retrieved June 16 , 2006 from Encyclopzhdia Britannica Premium Service : HYPERLINK "http /www .britannica .com /eb /article ?tocId 9049067 http /www .britannica .com /eb /article ?tocId 9049067...