ilitary, tax collection, and the judicial system, all of which had been controlled locally. In order to seize these powers, Louis needed to create a bureaucratic system answerable only to the king. Essentially, Louis had to seize power from the hands of the nobles. Louis succeeded in creating a national tax collection process, where taxes were paid directly to the king rather then the nobles. This way, by the end of his reign, Louis was collecting 80% of the taxes due to him whereas before, with the nobles acting as middlemen, only 30% of the taxes due to the king were actually received. In order to placate the nobles, he exempted them from taxes, thus appealing to their senses while stripping them of their power. The nobles began to believe that the only way to achieve a stable and prosperous state and secure their own interests was to support Louis monarchy.Louis used much of this money to create a centralized military of professional soldiers and gradually took the military power from the individual regions. Military allegiance was due only to the king, so the danger of military rebellion was greatly reduced. He took away regional independence by dividing the country into six generalits, each one governed by an appointed member of the upper class rather then a noble. These governors were required to spend a large amount of time at Louis extensive palace of Versailles, which allowed Louis to monitor the generalits very closely. Religiously, Louis revoked the Edict of Nantes and declared France a Catholic state. Louis hoped that religious unity and centralization would lead to stronger unity in the country as a whole. He expelled or executed any Protestants who refused to convert, and the Catholics supported most of his actions. Although he delegated most of the power in France to himself, Louis did acknowledge the power and authority of the Parlement of Paris, which helped to regulate local administration and taxes, but ov...
