... state.' Louis sustained the nobility exception from taxes but forced its members into financial dependence on the crown. The provincial nobles also lost political power. He cut local authorities and formed specialised ministries, which only his professional ministers were a part of. When the first minister who was overseeing Louis VIX's 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 traditional absolutist rulers, Louis believed himself to be designed by God as the personification of the state. He thought he was the best one to decide what was best for the state. Although Louis never actually spoke the words "L'etat, c'est moi", Louis XIV unquestionably ruled France by the feeling they expressed. His own logo was a sun and he was sometimes called "The Sun King." Louis wanted large reforms in the ...

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