A Study About The Evolution Of Louis ⅪⅤ’s Versailles In The View Of Economy

Versailles is one of the most famous buildings in the time of Louis ⅩⅣ, which is the symbol of Louis ⅩⅣ’s dynasty. The construction of Versailles changed a lot from Louis ⅩⅢ to Louis ⅩⅣ. It was a place for recreation in the youth of king, molding the kingship in adulthood and falling out of the popularity gradually in his old age.The economic base determines the superstructure, the superstructure on the economic foundation is counterproductive. The development or recession of the economy in two stages influenced the lives of Versailles. In the previous phase, under the chage of Louis XIV and the mercantilism pursued by Colbert, France gained trade boom, especially in overseas trade. Social development is always closely related to the backgrounds. The nature of Louis ⅩⅣ with the changes of the international environment had significant influences on Versailles. Thirty-Year War severely weakened the power of Habsburg, which provided a relatively peaceful environment for France.Under the support of financial resources, Versailles built largely, became the core of politics and fashion in Europe soon and even a place for controlling the aristocracies. In the later periods, due to the wars, religious policies, financial guidelines, French economy sagged, the life of palace was gloomy and Versailles lost its appeal gradually.As superstructure, Versailles’ luxury life has a profound impact on the economic and social changes in France. On one hand, the court’s life created the fashionable culture distinctively and promoted the development of economy at home and abroad, especially on clothing and glass. On the other hand, over-consumption increased the burden on the state and the failure of wars weakened the country totally. Meanwhile, luxury consumption made the nobles decline and the capitalists rise time and time. At last, the social class underwent profound changes.The changes of Versailles had many relationships with economy. Analysing the court in the view of economy will be more comprehensive and better to understand Louis ⅩⅣ. It was a rapid period of nation-states of Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. The policies carried out by Louis ⅩⅣ contributed much to the development of French nation-states. At the same time, fiscal problem influenced Bourbon Dynasty since that time.