King Louis

Mazarin on the other hand instructed him in court ceremony, war, and the craft of kingship. (Leon 219).
             In 1660 Louis decided to marry his Spanish cousin, Marie-Therese. His marriage to her helped create diplomatic alliances between France and Spain. Not only was their marriage able to establish alliances, but it also helped to resolve hundreds of years of conflict between the two countries. Which eventually resulted in the Treaty of Pyrenees. (2) The following year Mazarin died. Upon his death the twenty three year old Louis decided that it was time to assume his rightful position as King. Unfortunately no one believed him, but he still insisted on assembling a council on a daily basis. From which he prohibited all grand nobles. His subjects were very tired of civil wars and distressed over the previous rule by a Sicilian prime minister. Reluctantly, the people accepted the young king's authority. (5).
             During his reign Louis was able to develop two well-organized instruments of power: a corps of professional diplomats and a uniformed army. He made up for his lack of academic abilities by his common sense, a good memory, and just plain hard work. He viewed himself as God's deputy of France and looked out for his people the best way he could. (Jagger) Louis also had a unique quality that most kings of his time did not possess. He never put himself above the state. In his mind the state and the sovereign were fused into one. Nevertheless he thought that all the power needed to be focused in only one place, in him. So he tried to strengthen the Crown by ridding the nobles of their individual privileges. (4).
             In order to stay in agreement with his "divine right absolutism", King Louis built his palace at Versailles, which at the time was the finest example of Baroque architecture. Shortly after that King Louis's wife, Marie-Therese, passed away. So he secretly married a moral and formerly ambiguous woman, Francoise d"Aubigne, better known as Madame de Maintenon.