erall, Louis stripped the nobles and aristocracy of most of their powers. Louis XIV long rule gave France the time it needed to transform from a divided nation to a centralized and powerful one. After Louis XIV, France saw a dramatic decline in the power of the monarchy, largely due to the weaker rulers who succeeded him.During this time, the English government was moving in a different direction. Elizabeth I of the Tudor dynasty had just died, and a new monarchial dynasty, the Stuarts, had taken the throne. Elizabeth had a very long and successful rule during her lifetime. She was able to stabilize the government and economy, with her pragmatic approach to political manner and parsimonious economic policies. She worked well with Parliament, and was a politique, which helped to stabilize the ongoing religious debates in England. She was extremely popular and seemed to identify with the country and the people. During her rule, England achieved political and economic stability going into the seventeenth century.When Elizabeth died childless, she was succeeded by James VI of Scotland, who became James I of England. James was very unpopular in England. Unlike Elizabeth, he was viewed as an outsider, mainly because he was Scottish. He believed strongly in the Divine Right of Kings, and did not work well with Parliament. James wanted to rule exclusively without having to consult any other parties. He rarely called Parliament into session, and when he did, it was only to request more money for various royal expenses. He soon resorted to raising private funds in order to avoid working with Parliament. This created increasing discontent among his subjects, who along with Parliament, objected to this fundraising. He was also faced with many religious problems, largely stemming from the Puritans who believed James would support their cause. Instead, he decided to give further support to the Anglican Church. This resulted in the Pu...
