CHAPTER XXIII ABSOLUTE MONARCHY RISE OF ABSOLUTE MONARCHY Change in the Manners of the Kings__From the six- teenth century the kings of France acted as if they were absolute sovereigns; they pretended to gov- ern alone without the aid of the people, and would not endure remonstrance any more than they would resistance to their power. Their policy was already that of a master, even in regard to the nobles, and yet their manner of living continued to be that of the other great seigniors. In France the king was only the "first gentleman of his realm." He continued to lead the wandering and adventurous life of the kings of the Middle Ages; he himself went to war; sometimes like Francis I. and Henry IV., he led the charge at the head of his cavalry. He had no palace, but only chateaux: Fontainebleau, Amboise, Blois, the Louvre; he went frequently with an escort from one to the other. He lived familiarly in the midst of his friends and his family; Henry IV. played with his children, an ambassador found him one day on all fours carrying one of his sons on his back. In the seventeenth century the manners of the princes changed entirely. They had a fixed residence, built for themselves a palace, ceased going to war and 345