Source: Louis de Rouvroy, Duke of Saint-Simon, *Memoirs*, describing the reign of King Louis XIV of France, late seventeenth century.
"He [the king] was well aware that though he might crush a nobleman... he could not ruin him or his line... whereas a secretary of state or other minister, taken from the common people or the lesser nobility, could be raised to the highest peak of wealth and power, and then cast down into his original insignificance by a single word... This is why he excluded all great nobles from his councils, and chose his ministers from men of low extraction or the legal profession, who owed everything to his favor."
Which of the following processes in the period 1450–1750 is best illustrated by the passage?
- AThe expansion of decentralized political structures based on reciprocal feudal obligations.
- BThe implementation of devshirme recruitment policies to construct a loyal bureaucratic class.
- The efforts of monarchs to centralize political authority by limiting the power of traditional noble elites.Cevap
- DThe reorganization of agricultural labor structures following the introduction of Columbian Exchange crops.
Cevap
The efforts of monarchs to centralize political authority by limiting the power of traditional noble elites.
The correct answer is the option stating that monarchs sought to centralize political authority by limiting the power of traditional noble elites. The passage illustrates how King Louis XIV of France deliberately bypassed the established great nobility when choosing his ministers. By elevating men of lower extraction or from the legal profession, who owed their wealth and status entirely to the king's favor, Louis XIV successfully undermined the traditional aristocracy's capacity to challenge royal policies, thereby centralizing state authority.
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Anahtar Kavram
The consolidation of political power by early modern monarchs at the expense of traditional noble hierarchies.