The Rise of the National State

In France in particular, it was very quickly decided that really it was no good asking them myriad of provincial estates if they wouldn't mind pretty please giving the king a few coins so he can go and conquer all initially. So those estates are no longer called and they no longer meet, and taxation is just levied using prerogative central taxes like the gabell or salt tax. The power of the king is declared to be absolute, most famously later in the century under Louis XIV but earlier under Richelieu. It's worth noting not all the states of Europe take the centralising absolutist approach, look at Switzerland for example,. But most of the big boys and girls do