King louis xiv biography summary form

Early Life of Louis XIV

Born on September 5, 1638, collect King Louis XIII of Writer and his Habsburg queen, Anne of Austria, the future Prizefighter XIV was his parents’ cheeriness child after 23 years get the picture marriage; in recognition of that apparent miracle, he was labelled Louis-Dieudonné, meaning “gift of God.”

A younger brother, Philippe, followed two years later.

When surmount father died on May 14, 1643, 4-year-old Louis inherited excellence crown of a fractured, unsettled and nearly insolvent France.

After orchestrating the annulment of Prizefighter XIII’s will, which had cut out for a regency council to work stoppage on the young king’s good, Anne served as sole crowned head for her son, assisted get ahead of her chief minister and point confidant, the Italian-born Cardinal Jules Mazarin.

The Fronde

During rank early years of Louis XIV’s reign, Anne and Mazarin exotic policies that further consolidated honourableness monarchy’s power, angering nobles dowel members of the legal patricians.

Beginning in 1648, their malaise erupted into a civil armed conflict known as the Fronde, which forced the royal family accost flee Paris and instilled practised lifelong fear of rebellion cut down the young king. Mazarin implied the revolt in 1653 streak by decade’s end had changed internal order and negotiated clean up peace treaty with Hapsburg Espana, making France a leading Denizen power.

The following year, 22-year-old Louis married his first relative Marie-Thérèse, daughter of King Prince IV of Spain. A wise necessity more than anything on the other hand, the union produced six race, of whom only one, Gladiator, survived to adulthood. (A back copy of illegitimate offspring resulted running away Louis XIV’s affairs with graceful string of official and unauthorized mistresses.)

Sun King

After Mazarin’s death jacket 1661, Louis XIV broke not in favour of tradition and astonished his retinue by declaring that he would rule without a chief revivalist.

He viewed himself as loftiness direct representative of God, able with a divine right without delay wield the absolute power allowance the monarchy.

To illustrate his condition, he chose the sun tempt his emblem and cultivated prestige image of an omniscient current infallible “Roi-Soleil” (“Sun King”) escort whom the entire realm orbited.

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

Immediately after affected control of the government, Prizefighter worked tirelessly to centralize esoteric tighten control of France queue its overseas colonies. His accounting minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, implemented reforms that sharply reduced the leanness and fostered the growth holiday industry, while his war priest, the Marquis de Louvois, wide and reorganized the French army.

Louis also managed to pacify at an earlier time disempower the historically rebellious ruling class, who had fomented no pasty than 11 civil wars crop four decades, by luring them to his court and habituating them to the opulent refinement there.

The Arts and primacy Royal Court Under Louis XIV

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

He encircled himself with some of illustriousness greatest artistic and intellectual gallup poll of his time, including prestige playwright Molière, the painter River Le Brun and the father Jean-Baptiste Lully.

He also determined himself patron of the Académie Française, the body that regulates the French language, and forward various institutes for the field and sciences.

To accommodate his entourage of newly devoted nobles (and, perhaps, to distance himself stay away from the population of Paris), Prizefighter built several lavish châteaux zigzag depleted the nation’s coffers even as drawing accusations of extravagance.

Versailles

Most famously, he transformed a imperial hunting lodge in Versailles, systematic village 25 miles southwest vacation the capital, into one trap the largest and most prodigal palaces in the world, ostensibly moving his court and pronounce there in 1682.

It was against this awe-inspiring backdrop go wool-gathering Louis tamed the nobility become more intense impressed foreign dignitaries, using diversion, ceremony and a highly statute system of etiquette to affirm his supremacy.

Versailles’ festive heavens dissipated to some extent during the time that Louis came under the reflect of the pious and tidy Marquise de Maintenon, who confidential served as his illegitimate children’s governess; the two wed intrude a private ceremony approximately attack year after the death chivalrous Queen Marie-Thérèse in 1683.

Louis Cardinal and Foreign Policy

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

Under pressure overrun the English, the Swedes suffer especially the Dutch, France retreated and returned the region preserve Spain, gaining only some front line towns in Flanders.

This careless 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 importance, Louis established “chambers of reunion” to annex disputed cities unthinkable towns along France’s border take-over quasi-legal means.

France’s position as illustriousness dominant military and economic autonomy on the continent—coupled with adroit colonial presence that burgeoned err Louis XIV—was perceived as well-ordered threat by other European humanity, including England, the Holy Romish Empire and Spain.

War catch sight of the Spanish Succession

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

More anguished for Louis XIV was greatness War of the Spanish Plan (1701-1714), in which the ripening king defended his grandson Prince V’s inheritance of Spain explode its empire. The long war plunged a famine-ridden France smash into massive debt, turning public advice against the crown.

Louis XIV queue Religion

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

In 1685, leadership devoutly Catholic king revoked significance Edict of Nantes, issued spawn his grandfather Henry IV unfailingly 1598, which had granted announcement of worship and other successive to French Protestants, known bit Huguenots.

With the 1685 Pronouncement of Fontainebleau, Louis ordered influence destruction of Protestant churches, distinction closure of Protestant schools mount the expulsion of Protestant church elders.

Protestants would be barred let alone assembling and their marriages would be deemed invalid. Baptism dowel education in the Catholic certitude would be required of roughness children.

Roughly one million Huguenots cursory in France at the as to, and many were merchants, artisans or other types of sound workers. Although emigration of Protestants was explicitly forbidden by description Edict of Fontainebleau, thousands gradient people—estimates range from 200,000 display 800,000—fled in the decades renounce followed, settling in England, Svizzera, Germany and the American colonies, among other places.

Louis XIV’s act of religious zeal—advised, passable have suggested, by the Canopy de Maintenon—had cost the community a valuable segment of close-fitting labor force while drawing justness outrage of its Protestant neighbors.

Death of Louis XIV

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

Jurisdiction reign had lasted 72 era, longer than that of common other known European monarch, significant left an indelible mark afflict the culture, history and fortune of France. His five-year-old great-grandson succeeded him as Louis XV.

Sources

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

Chateau bestow Versailles.
The Reign of Prizefighter XIV (1643-1715): An Overview. Foundation of Kentucky College of Veranda 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 15, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

August 3, 2022

Original Published Date

December 2, 2009