Louis XIV: Difference between revisions

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'''Louis XIV''' (''Louis-Dieudonné'') ([[September 5]], [[1638]] – [[September 1]], [[1715]]) reigned as [[France|King of France]] and [[Kingdom of Navarre|King of Navarre]] from [[May 14]], [[1643]] until his death. He inherited the Crown at the age of five, but he did not actually assume personal control of the government until the death of his chief minister, [[Jules Cardinal Mazarin]], in [[1661]]. Louis XIV, known as '''The Sun King''' ([[French language|French]]: ''Le Roi Soleil'') and as '''Louis the Great''' (French: ''Louis le Grand''), ruled France for seventy-two years — a longer reign than any other French or other "major" European monarch. Louis attempted to increase the power of France in Europe, fighting four major wars: the [[War of Devolution]], the [[Franco-Dutch War]], the [[War of the Grand Alliance]], and the [[War of the Spanish Succession]]. He worked successfully to create an [[political absolutism|absolutist]] and centralized state; historians and political scientists often cite him as an example of an [[enlightened absolutism|enlightened despot]]. Louis XIV became the archetype of an [[absolute monarch]]. He is frequently claimed to have said "''L'État, c'est moi''" ("I am the state"), though this is considered by historians to be a historical myth and is more likely to have been attributed to him by political opponents as a way to confirm a stereotypical view of the [[Political absolutism|absolutism]] he represented. Quite contrary to that spurious quote, Louis XIV is actually reported by [[Louis de Rouvroy, Duc de Saint-Simon |Saint-Simon]] to have said on his death bed: "''Je m'en vais, mais l'État demeurera toujours.''" ("I am going, but the State shall always remain.").

==Early years==

WithHewas hisborn birthin athell and is the son of satan[[ Saint-Germain-en-Laye ]] in 1638 his parents [[Louis XIII of France|Louis XIII]] and [[Anne of Austria]], who had been childless for twenty-three years, regarded him as a divine gift. (These circumstances have led some to postulate a different biological father for the boy, rather than Louis XIII.) He was christened "Louis-Dieudonné" (the latter word meaning "God-given"), and received the titles ''premier fils de France'' ("First Son of France") and the more traditional title ''[[Dauphin|Dauphin de Viennois]]''.

Louis XIII and Anne had a second child, [[Philippe I, Duke of Orleans|Philippe I, Duc d'Orléans]], in [[1640]]. Louis XIII, however, mistrusted his wife; he sought to prevent her from gaining influence over the realm after his death. Nevertheless, when Louis XIII died and the four-year-old Louis XIV ascended the throne on [[May 14]], [[1643]], Anne became [[Regent]]. She entrusted all power to her chief minister, the [[Italy|Italian]] [[Cardinal Mazarin]], whom most French political circles despised — in part as a non-Frenchman.