Modern Bureaucratic State

The creation of the modern bureaucratic state in France occurred under the reign of Louis XIV who ruled as an absolute monarch. His reign was considered the "perfect embodiment of an absolute monarch". Essentially, an absolute monarchy consists of one ruler who is the high power and makes the decisions for all people under his rule. Bishop Jacques Bousset was one the main theorists who believed in a divine-right monarchy which taught that the monarch was ordained with power from God. He taught that government was ordained by God so humans could live in a society with order. The divine-right monarchy gave power to one sole being who answered only to God, and this person was responsible for overseeing and ruling over all of the people. The reign of Louis XIV was imitated all over Europe, but it was the social disorder in France prior to the reign of Louis XIV which helped Louis XIV to be more successful. Louis XIV was also helped by Cardinal Richelieu through policies which he put in place during his time as chief minister. Cardinal Richelieu was named chief minister during Louis XIII's reign, and died just before Louis XIV came into power. Richelieu was very influential because he developed groups of spies which were used to spy on the noble people. He also made changes to the Huguenots to make them more reliable. He maintained their religious rights, but took away their political and military rights. After Richelieu's death, his trained successor Cardinal Mazarin took over, and he was given ruling authority because Louis XIV, who was just given power by the death of his father, was only four years old. Mazarin was actually an Italian who came to France as a papal legate and was later naturalized. Mazarin was disliked by all of the French population because of his Italian heritage, but Mazarin continued to carry on Richelieu's policies until he died. During his reign, the Fronde occurred. The Fronde was a French revolt which involved the nobles trying to overthrow Mazarin to increase their power. Instead, the nobles eventually began fighting each other, and with their failure to overthrow Mazarin they eventually decided that the best hope for France was to allow the king to rule. When Mazarin died, Louis XIV began his rule at age twenty-three.

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