During the 17th century, the ideals of absolutism are completely condensed in King Louis , one law, one faith”. As a model for the rest of the European powers who wanted to achieve absolutist government, Louis XIV achieved his goals (one king, one law and one faith) very well. For the first part of his quote, “a king,” Louis consolidated his power in many ways. France, as well as many other countries during the Middle Ages and early Renaissance, had balanced power between the nobles and the dynastic ruling class, where the nobles controlled their individual provinces and the king had to rely on his nobles to spread his royal decrees. . This was amply demonstrated throughout the Holy Roman Empire during the 16th and part of the 17th centuries, where the polygoth of cultures, religions and languages ​​led to Charles V having to rely on nobles, confederation and decentralization of government to rule. Because of these sacrifices, Charles V never truly ruled his country, nor achieved any of his goals. He died a white-haired old man, ceding his domains to his son and brother. Louis XIV actually achieved his goal in a very different way, defeating the power of the noble class and strengthening the middle, or bourgeois, class. Louis built an internal bureaucracy within France and believed that a country's power came from its unification and military prowess. These beliefs were largely based on the early years of his rule. Louis XIV became king when he was only 5 years old, as did his mother. Anna of Austria and Cardinal Mazarin, said to be his lover, ruled in his place as a child. Mazarin was the ideological heir of Richelieu, who...... middle of paper ......decided to change the Edict of Nantes, in which he was not allowed to have his own armies and cities. Louis took this a step further with this amendment, completely revoking the Edict of Nantes. The Huguenots were then forced to leave France, as they were forbidden to worship or have their own schools, and the Huguenots were publicly humiliated by Louis' troops. Many Huguenots were tortured to convert to Catholicism. 1/5 of the Huguenots managed to escape France, many of whom were skilled craftsmen, and took their talents to Protestant-friendly countries. Louis also suppressed a sect of Catholicism, the Jansenists, a group of Catholics who had a somewhat Calvinist idea of ​​religion. Louis believed that some of the Jansenists were at the center of the Frondes, so he took the Jansenist center, Port Royal, and razed it to the ground. Works CitedMaking of the west