Did Louis XIV actually say "The State? I am the State."? Could he have said it?

I have an interest in the history of the Huguenots and I remember reading a supposed quote of Louis XIV at the Huguenot museum near Alés in the Cevennes concerning the repression of the protestant Huguenots which read - 'I can't tolerate a state within a state'. The Huguenots had certainly become very powerful in the south of France following the Edict of Nantes by Henry IV, his grandfather, giving religious tolerance. But I couldn't understand why he should seemingly refer to the Huguenots as a state.

What I have recently discovered is that the town of Orange and the surrounding area was a separate principality ruled over by the states of Holland and in particular by William of Orange. With the persecution of Louis XIV, independent Orange had become a centre for the Huguenots and hence a target for the Catholic army, causing the Huguenots to flee, particularly to Holland, and resulting in France capturing the principality of Orange in 1703. He thus got rid of the 'state within a state' and at least his sentiment would be 'I am the state' leading to his battles based on his version of Catholicism with the protestant states of the Prussians, Dutch and British.

Orange was not the only independent principality in France, Avignon was also an independent Papal principality at the time (until 1791) which Louis XIV didn't like either, since it had previously been the home of French Popes in the 14th century.

He did not say it.

The bon mot was well known in France and was originated by Voltaire in Chapter 24 of his book Siecle de Louis XIV which was published in 1751.

According to Voltaire's account Louis XIV said this in a speech before the parliament on April 13, 1865, which would have been 85 years previously to when Voltaire wrote it.

In the actual speech Louis several times referred to "mon etat" (my State) and this was reported by the Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris which Voltaire undoubtedly had read. Apparently Voltaire then took it on himself to change what was in the report to the famous phrase which was of his own invention.

If Louis XIV did indeed say such a thing, what can we make of it?

Actually, I could see where his statement makes a bit of sense. Under modern political theory there are multiple roles in government: Head of State, Head of Government, Commander in Chief, etc.

Under a parlimentarty system, typically these may all be different people. However, for a true Presidential system like the USA enjoys, these roles are all filled by the same person.

The Head of State's role is essentially to embody the state itself. Practically, this means a lot of receptions, parties, funerals, etc. Now in a monarchy (eg: the modern UK) this role is performed by the monarch. In an absolute monarchy, such as Loius XIV enjoyed, the Head of Government role is also held by the monarch (and the Commander in Cheif role was at least a position that reported to him, if not himself).

So given that it was his role and duty to both emobdy the state of France, and to run its government, and given the lassisitudes of translation and his own position of privelege, one can see where the statement "I am the state" was from a political perspective quite accurate and reasonable. If he didn't have this attitude, he wouldn't be doing his job as Head of State properly.

If you'll take Ken Jennings as a source (as he does seem to know his literature), he not only agrees that there is no evidence that Louis XIV said this, but goes a step further and says that Louis XIV probably wouldn't have said it. He claims not only that it wasn't true that the French monarch was equivalent to the state, but that Louis XIV probably didn't believe this to be true. From Jennings, a more reliably attested statement of Louis XIV (on his deathbed) is:

“Je m'en vais, mais l'État demeurera toujours”—“I am going away, but the State will always remain.”

Here's what Jennings had to say about the actual authority of the French monarch:

Louis XIV and a small circle of advisors did wield enormous power, including supreme legislative and judicial authority. But that power was also balanced somewhat by the ranks of French nobility, and legally, the difference between the monarch and his nation was well-established.