Louis XIV was born at the royal chateau in Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1638. He was only five when he became king upon the death of his father, Louis XIII. During the time of his childhood, Louis witnessed a period of rebellion known as the Fronde, led first by the nobility then by the commoners. He felt both humiliated by the arrogant nobles and threatened by the people of Paris-and would never forget it. His long, dedicated rein was marked with the formation of an absolute monarchy. He had three strategies which helped his goals: he appointed no single chief minister, he became a master of propaganda, and tied the interest of the nobles down. To make his power absolute, Louis built a palace at Versailles, increased power over the nobility, and chose competent advisors and officials.
             Louis built an elaborate palace at Versailles to help accomplish his goals. There he established his court and moved the French government. The palace helped Louis emphasize his overwhelming and elite power over everything in France because he saw himself as God's representative on earth, therefore, infallible. This belief in the divine right of kings led him to oversee road building, court decorum, defense, and disputes within the church. An example of this is his belief that Huguenots and Jansenists disturbed the disunity of the country and weakened the central authority. So, as a result, in 1685 he revoked the Edict of Nantes, ending the policy of toleration for Protestants.
             The palace took an immense sum of money and was a huge drain on France's economy. In Louis' search for sustainable economic growth, he and his able Superintendent of Finances, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, looked beyond agriculture to develop trade and industry. Louis or Corbert oversaw specific problems in manufacturing industries. Louis set up extremely complex Revenue systems to tap the expanding wealth of French commerce and industry. As Louis's as
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