How did absolute monarchs gain, consolidate and maintain power

The monarch was able to maintain absolute control over the society with the addition of feudalism, which involved people being placed into different estates of power, such as: clergy, nobility and peasants. An absolute monarchy can best be seen in the words of Louis XIV in France when he proclaimed "I am the state".

Absolute monarchy, or absolutism, meant that the ultimate authority to run a state was in the hands of a king who ruled by divine right ... Because kings and queens were given their authority by god, their power was unconditional.