NEED HELP WITH MY HISTORY ESSAY QUESTION! 7th cent france!?

Question

I forgot I had a essay question due and I have no ideas how to start answering it at all! help please!!
the question is
7th century france has been called the model of royal absolutism. How did the French crown create an absolutist state out of the anarchy of the civilreligious wars of the last half of the 6th century? How absolutist was the French Monarchy?

- ALL HELP IS APPRECIATED!!

Answer 1

:Bubbly" is correct. I'm sure you must mean 17th century France under the "Sun King" Louis XIV (September 5, 1638 to September 1, 1715) who was the quintessential absolute monarch. Louis succeeded in subduing the power of the nobles in France through an endless parade of court etiquette functions at the Palace of Versailles.

Here's an excerpt from the Wiki site that is fairly good for this:

"Louis achieved immense control over the nobility in France by attaching much of the higher nobility to his orbit at his palace at Versailles, requiring them to spend the majority of the year under his close watch instead of in their own local communities and power-bases plotting rebellion and insurrection. It was only in this way were they able to gain pensions and privileges necessary to their rank.
He entertained his permanent visitors with extravagant parties and other distractions, which were significant factors contributing to Louis' power and control over his hitherto unruly nobility. He believed that his power would prevail only if he filled the high executive offices with commoners."

Louis was quoted as saying "I am the state."
Early in his long reign, with the help of his ministers, the finances of France were greatly improved. France became perhaps the richest nation as well as the most populated in Europe. Unfortunately, he eventually squandered the wealth in an unending series of unnecessary wars to gain small bits of territory on the periphery of France.

Answer 2

Are you sure you don't mean sixteen and seventeenth century? Absolutism is a concept that originated out of 17th century France and is primarily associated with Louis XIV.