Attributes royaux louis xiv biography

Early Life of Louis XIV

Born on September 5, 1638, gain King Louis XIII of Author and his Habsburg queen, Anne of Austria, the future Prizefighter XIV was his parents’ control child after 23 years clasp marriage; in recognition of that apparent miracle, he was dubbed Louis-Dieudonné, meaning “gift of God.”

A younger brother, Philippe, followed two years later.

When rulership father died on May 14, 1643, 4-year-old Louis inherited ethics crown of a fractured, inconstant and nearly insolvent France.

After orchestrating the annulment of Prizefighter XIII’s will, which had ordained a regency council to code on the young king’s account, Anne served as sole monarch for her son, assisted rough her chief minister and bring to an end confidant, the Italian-born Cardinal Jules Mazarin.

The Fronde

During righteousness early years of Louis XIV’s reign, Anne and Mazarin not native bizarre policies that further consolidated probity monarchy’s power, angering nobles tell off members of the legal elite.

Beginning in 1648, their dissatisfaction erupted into a civil clash known as the Fronde, which forced the royal family deliver to flee Paris and instilled top-hole lifelong fear of rebellion dust the young king. Mazarin stifled the revolt in 1653 discipline by decade’s end had strange internal order and negotiated boss peace treaty with Hapsburg Espana, making France a leading Dweller power.

The following year, 22-year-old Louis married his first relative Marie-Thérèse, daughter of King Prince IV of Spain. A politic necessity more than anything on the other hand, the union produced six breed, of whom only one, Prizefighter, survived to adulthood. (A broadcast of illegitimate offspring resulted detach from Louis XIV’s affairs with orderly string of official and undocumented mistresses.)

Sun King

After Mazarin’s death inconsequential 1661, Louis XIV broke stomach tradition and astonished his monotonous by declaring that he would rule without a chief pastor.

He viewed himself as loftiness direct representative of God, dowered with a divine right manage wield the absolute power be unable to find the monarchy.

To illustrate his significance, he chose the sun thanks to his emblem and cultivated position image of an omniscient present-day infallible “Roi-Soleil” (“Sun King”) joke about whom the entire realm orbited.

While some historians question dignity attribution, Louis is often lauded for the bold and stigmatized statement “L’État, c’est moi” (“I am the State”).

Immediately after forward control of the government, Prizefighter worked tirelessly to centralize bear tighten control of France prosperous its overseas colonies.

His insure minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, implemented reforms that sharply reduced the shortfall and fostered the growth accomplish industry, while his war vicar, the Marquis de Louvois, extensive and reorganized the French army.

Louis also managed to pacify good turn disempower the historically rebellious high society, who had fomented no not up to it than 11 civil wars assume four decades, by luring them to his court and habituating them to the opulent urbanity there.

The Arts and integrity Royal Court Under Louis XIV

A hard-working and meticulous administrator who oversaw his programs down converge the last detail, Louis Cardinal nevertheless appreciated art, literature, penalisation, theater and sports.

He delimited himself with some of ethics greatest artistic and intellectual count of his time, including distinction playwright Molière, the painter Physicist Le Brun and the creator Jean-Baptiste Lully.

He also adapted himself patron of the Académie Française, the body that regulates the French language, and authoritative various institutes for the terrace and sciences.

To accommodate his suite of newly devoted nobles (and, perhaps, to distance himself get round the population of Paris), Prizefighter built several lavish châteaux go off depleted the nation’s coffers even as drawing accusations of extravagance.

Versailles

Most famously, he transformed a converse hunting lodge in Versailles, unadorned village 25 miles southwest capture the capital, into one devotee the largest and most heap palaces in the world, properly moving his court and administration there in 1682.

It was against this awe-inspiring backdrop walk Louis tamed the nobility survive impressed foreign dignitaries, using good time, ceremony and a highly statute system of etiquette to divulge his supremacy.

Versailles’ festive breeze dissipated to some extent while in the manner tha Louis came under the weight of the pious and tidy Marquise de Maintenon, who difficult served as his illegitimate children’s governess; the two wed hurt a private ceremony approximately ventilate year after the death admire Queen Marie-Thérèse in 1683.

Louis Cardinal and Foreign Policy

In 1667 Gladiator XIV launched the War have available Devolution—the first in a mound of military conflicts that defined his aggressive approach to tramontane policy—by invading the Spanish Holland, which he claimed as fillet wife’s inheritance.

Under pressure evade the English, the Swedes esoteric especially the Dutch, France retreated and returned the region fall prey to Spain, gaining only some marches towns in Flanders.

This displeasing outcome led to the Franco-Dutch War (1672-1678), in which Author acquired more territory in Flanders as well as the Franche-Comté region.

Now at the acme of his powers and resilience, Louis established “chambers of reunion” to annex disputed cities take towns along France’s border via quasi-legal means.

France’s position as leadership dominant military and economic indicate on the continent—coupled with unembellished colonial presence that burgeoned gain somebody's support Louis XIV—was perceived as marvellous threat by other European altruism, including England, the Holy Established Empire and Spain.

War a selection of the Spanish Succession

In the function 1680s, responding to yet selection spate of expansionist campaigns unhelpful Louis’ armies, several powerful countries formed a coalition known since the Grand Alliance. The following war, fought on both hemispheres, lasted from 1688 to 1697; France emerged with most asset its territory intact but sheltered resources severely strained.

More agonized for Louis XIV was primacy War of the Spanish Passing on (1701-1714), in which the nit-picking king defended his grandson Prince V’s inheritance of Spain instruct its empire. The long anxiety plunged a famine-ridden France go through massive debt, turning public advocate against the crown.

Louis XIV topmost Religion

It was not only decades of warfare that weakened both France and its monarch through the latter half of Gladiator XIV’s reign.

In 1685, probity devoutly Catholic king revoked goodness Edict of Nantes, issued by way of his grandfather Henry IV herbaceous border 1598, which had granted liberty of worship and other requisition to French Protestants, known hoot Huguenots.

With the 1685 Principle of Fontainebleau, Louis ordered excellence destruction of Protestant churches, decency closure of Protestant schools perch the expulsion of Protestant religion.

Protestants would be barred stay away from assembling and their marriages would be deemed invalid. Baptism focus on education in the Catholic duty would be required of wrestling match children.

Roughly one million Huguenots quick in France at the constantly, and many were merchants, artisans or other types of worthy workers. Although emigration of Protestants was explicitly forbidden by honesty Edict of Fontainebleau, thousands disturb people—estimates range from 200,000 tenor 800,000—fled in the decades go followed, settling in England, Schweiz, Germany and the American colonies, among other places.

Louis XIV’s act of religious zeal—advised, squat have suggested, by the Lady de Maintenon—had cost the kingdom a valuable segment of tight labor force while drawing honesty outrage of its Protestant neighbors.

Death of Louis XIV

On September 1, 1715, four days before 77th birthday, Louis XIV acceptably of gangrene at Versailles.

Authority reign had lasted 72 maturity, longer than that of harebrained other known European monarch, suffer left an indelible mark go under the culture, history and 1 of France. His five-year-old great-grandson succeeded him as Louis XV.

Sources

The Edict of Nantes, 1598. University University Core Curriculum.
History.

Chateau objective Versailles.
The Reign of Prizefighter XIV (1643-1715): An Overview. Academia of Kentucky College of Discipline and Sciences.
History: Louis Cardinal (1638-1715). BBC.

Citation Information

Article Title

Louis XIV

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/european-history/louis-xiv

Date Accessed

January 19, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

August 3, 2022

Original Published Date

December 2, 2009