... the unconditional duty of the absolute monarch to look after the people. (Merriman, 1996, p.276) In order to legitimise this great power, absolute monarchs gave great support to the Catholic Church. It was the proposal that for the church's portrayal of the king as a sacred figure that the monarch would in return help to squeeze out the religious minorities. (Merriman, 1996, p.282) It was a mutual agreement that worked very well indeed. All absolutist monarchs were male with their first task being to produce an heir. This was often a very difficult task as the infant mortality rate at the time was very high with a large percentage of children not living beyond two years of age. France is very important throughout this age and is generally considered to be the birthplace of absolutism. Louis XIV, king of France between 1643 and 1715 was the first absolutist monarch. It is ...

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