There was a great deal of underlying authority with regional courts, local parliaments and members of the upper class, causing some to consider the monarch French was not an absolute monarch (Spielvogel 446). Even if there were these levels of power, I believe the French monarchy was an absolute monarchy (Spielvogel 444). Between King Louis XIV and the approach of the cardinals to rule France, they held the main authority (Spielvogel 444-448). They were always in charge and had no limits to what they could do. The massacre of Cardinal Richelieu's conspirators, Cardinal Mazarini's defense of the rebellion, and the Edict of Fontaineblaeu all show the strength and limitlessness of these leaders (Spielvogel 444-448). I therefore believe that the French monarch of the 17th century can be described as an absolute monarch (Spielvogel