The reform of the central administration undertaken by Louis XIV obeyed his personal will to concentrate the supreme
The french court at Versailles by CL Doughty
functions of government around himself and his few trusted collaborators. The king inherited from Mazarin his main ministers: Michel Le Tellier, Jean Baptiste Colbert, Hugues de Lionne and Nicholas Fouquet, most of whom remained in their positions for many years. The king was very meticulous in choosing his trusted men. He mentions in his mémoires that he chose not to have a prime minister, and that when choosing people it was not in his interest to select individuals of greater eminence, “It was above all necessary to establish my own reputation and to make the public realize by the very rank of those who I selected, that it was not my intention to share my authority with them.” (Beik 211)
On the other hand, in order to reduce the power of the nobility, there was no better way to control an idle aristocracy, always eager to prosper in politics, than to keep a close eye on it. This required the court to be a place of obligatory presence, the palace from versailles.In May 1682 he officially moved there along with the entire court. Thus, convinced that the only way to obtain royal favor was by staying close to the king, the court had a series of regular guests loyal to the Monarch.
Engraving of Versailles, 1682