there. Colbert recognized that colonies were an important source of raw materials for French industries and that they provided a market for French goods. Inspite of Colbert's position toward exploration and colonization, Louis XIV passed up opportunities to build a French empire in America and India, instead concentrating on domestic matters and expanding France's immediate borders.Legislative BodiesThe parlements were the law courts that were at the center of the power of the nobility. Louis rendered the parlements powerless by decreeing that his laws had to be recorded at once. The parlements could no longer debate constitutional policy. Objections could only be heard after the law had been recorded. The parlements at court were in awe of "The Sun King" and did nothing to prevent this loss of power. Louis made the traditional French court, once powerful instruments of political ambition and noble privilege, subservient to him and successfully eliminated the threat of the nobility as a class. He made it clear that he placed his law over the old feudal privileges.Power of the MonarchRule of Louis XIV brought absolutism to its pinnacle, and it continued to thrive for three quarters of a century after his death. When the first minister who was overseeing Louis' education died in 1661, the twenty-three-year-old king surprised everyone by announcing that he was going to be his own first minister and run the state himself. As did other absolutists, Louis believed himself to be ordained by God as the personification of the state. Naturally, he was the best one to decide what was best for the state. Although he never actually spoke the words "L'etat, c'est moi." ( I am the state.), Louis XIV undoubtedly ruled France by the sentiment they expressed. His logo was the sun, the center of the universe, and he was sometimes called "The Sun King." Louis' motto was "Nec pluribus impar," meaning "None his equal." Economics/TaxesLouis plann...
