Louis XIV
The French king Louis XIV, the so-called ’roi-soleil’, was born in 1638 and died in 1715.
When his father, King Louis XIII, died, Louis XIV was not even five years old; that is why instead of Louis, his mother Anne of Austria reigned alongside with Cardinal Mazarin for the first years of Louis’ life. There were many wars during this time, for example against Spain and Germany, which cost a lot of money. The magistrates were not content with this development and thus claimed reforms which were met by Anne.
As another rebellion started, Anne had to escape from Paris with her children. From this time on, Louis XIV disliked the French capital. The family was able to return to Paris some time later, but there were several other rebellions taking place. As Louis wanted to prevent any further revolts, he decided to restrict the rights of nobility and parliament, which resulted in an absolute monarchy. He forced the people belonging to nobility to live at court with him in order to be able to better control them. This is the reason why he had Versailles built. Another means he thought useful to ensure his reign was the unity in religion. Therefore he fought several religious groups, like people believing in Jansenism, but also Protestants.
On June 9th, 1660, King Louis XIV married Maria Theresa of Austria who was the daughter of King Philipp IV of Spain, whom he had defeated earlier.
During his reign, Louis XIV was at war with several countries, for example the Netherlands, Spain and England.
The french population was suffering during King Louis XIV’s reign: due to the high amount of wars, taxes had to be raised or were newly established.
King Louis XIV died on September 1st, 1715.
Source
Levron, Jacques. Kleine Geschichte großer Nationen. Frankreich. Gütersloh: Media Books, 1976.
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