Louis XIV Biography

Louis XIV, the "Sun King" , was King of France from 1643-1715 and widely regarded as the greatest monarch of his time.

Louis was born on September 5, 1638 in St Germain-en - Laye . He became king at the age of four years after the death of his father, Louis XIII. While Louis was a child, his mother , Anne of Austria , served as regent , assisted by Louis XIII's chief minister , Cardinal Mazarin.

Louis XIV Biography

Louis 's early years were marked by a series of revolts against his mother and Mazarin, who is known as the " Fronde " . They created in him a lifelong fear of rebellion , and an aversion to Paris , prompting him to spend more and more time at Versailles , southwest of Paris. In 1660 , he married Maria Theresa, daughter of Philip IV of Spain .

When Mazarin died in 1661 , at 23 years old, Louis decided to rule without a head of government . He regarded himself as an absolute monarch , with power comes directly from God . He carefully cultivated his image and took the sun as his emblem. Between 1661 and 1689 , he built a magnificent palace of Versailles and moved his government in Paris in 1682.

In the first part of his reign , Louis worked with his finance minister Jean- Baptiste Colbert, to strengthen central control over the country , the revival of the use of regional royal officials , " mayors " and carry out other financial and administrative reorganization . Louis also expanded the French army and navy .

Reign of Louis was marked by aggressive French foreign policy . After the death of his father-in - law, said Louis part of the Spanish Netherlands and launched the War of Devolution Dutch ( 1667-1668 ) . In Dutch War , failed to crush the Dutch, led by William of Orange, but gained significant territorial gains .

In 1685 , Louis , a devout Catholic , revoked the Edict of Nantes , which had allowed religious freedom to French Protestants ( Huguenots ) . About 200,000 Huguenots , many of them skilled craftsmen , fled to Holland and England.

The last three decades of the reign of Louis were marked by almost constant warfare . France is now the dominant power on the continent and in other European countries felt threatened by the supremacy . The War of the League of Augsburg (1688-1697) , followed by the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714) severely strained French resources . In the War of Spanish Succession , for the first time in nearly a century , France consistently lost battles , especially in Blenheim in 1704 and Ramillies in 1706.

Louis XIV died on September 1, 1715 , shortly after the Peace of Utrecht , which ended the War of Spanish Succession . As her son and eldest grandson had died before him, his great-grandson succeeded him as Louis XV.

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