The Sun King, Louis The XIV
...ally advanced and powerful countries of its time. As an absolute monarch, Louis the XIV believed strongly that all affairs involving the well being of France should be placed soley on his shoulders. Before being granted power at the age of 18, France's taxation system was in a horrible state. Run under the authority of France's Nobles, the system was corrupt, and France was losing mass amounts of revenue at the expense of the Nobles. The system at the time was rather simple, and its operation neglected. Nobles woould collect the taxes from the peasants living in their province, and deliver the collected taxes to the king. Although this system seemed simple enough, the system was abused. Nobles would often overlook many of their close friends who could not afford to pay the tax, and on top, take a fee for collecting the taxes themselves before making delivery to the king. Louis was angered by this, and decided to impliment his own system. This new system, known as the intendant system, granted Louis the power to appoint people close to him, that he knew could be trusted with France's money, to go to France's various provinces, and collect the taxes. This new system would draw more revenue for France, allow for the taxes to be collected more directly, and made it possible for Louis to keep a closer watch on France's financial state, making for a more unified country. Louis the XIV, also known as the Sun King, strongly believed that France should revolve around him, just as the planets revolved around the sun. Believing that the country should revolve so closely around himself, this pushed Louis to strive for a stronger, more unified France. Before Louis' rise to power, France's army was comprised of many smaller armies, run buy the Nobles of France's various provinces. These small, weak armies were formed of villagers who did not even closely resemble soldiers. The state of Louis' armies did not signify the unified state of power which he was striving for. With this, Louis encouraged the idea of a central army which fought under the power of the king alone. This was a professional army, who's soldiers were trained and disciplined in the art of war, and paid for their...