<Li> Nobles had the means to raise private armies and build fortifications . The king did not have the means to raise and keep an army himself and had to rely on these nobles to defend the nation; </Li> <Li> Lesser nobles, who had the ability to read and write, also acted as the king's agents . Effectively, they were his representatives of government to the people . They collected taxes, posted edicts, and administered justice . </Li> <Li> The Huguenots, who since the 1598 Edict of Nantes by Henry IV, held the rights to bear arms and to build fortifications in certain locations . </Li> <P> To overcome these obstacles King Louis XIV adopted several measures to weaken or eliminate competing centers of power: </P>

Where did the french absolute monarchs establish their royal courts by the late 1600s