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A political doctrine advocating the principle of absolute rule
1637) ruled with almost the absolutism of the papacy.
When this great convention met the king must show himself ready to recognize that great changes have taken place, that feudalism and absolutism have for ever disappeared, and that a new relation between king and people has arisen, which must be loyally observed on both sides for the future.
This is perhaps the best that can be said of a king who incarnated the stolid absolutism of the period.
A treasonable senate secretly plotting his dethronement, a mutinous diet rejecting the most necessary reforms for fear of "absolutism," ungrateful allies who profited exclusively by his victories - these were his inseparable companions during the remainder of his life.
With the physiocrats, he believed in an enlightened absolutism, and looked to the king to carry through all reforms. As to the parlements, he opposed all interference on their part in legislation, considering that they had no competency outside the sphere of justice.