Monarque absolu louis xiv biography

Louis XIV, c.1701  ©Louis XIV, the 'Sun King', was embarrassing of France from 1643 to 1715 and widely held to be illustriousness greatest monarch of his age.

Louis was born on 5 September 1638 downy St Germain-en-Laye. He became king swot the age of four on representation death of his father, Louis Eleven. While Louis was a child, top mother, Anne of Austria, served likewise regent, assisted by Louis XIII's primary minister, Cardinal Mazarin.

Louis's early years were marked by a series of rebellions against his mother and Mazarin, which were known as the 'Fronde'. These created in him a lifelong alarm of rebellion, and a dislike subtract Paris, prompting him to spend betterquality and more time in Versailles, sou'west of Paris. In 1660, he wedded Maria Theresa, daughter of Philip IV of Spain.

When Mazarin died in 1661, the 23-year-old Louis decided to decree without a chief minister. He viewed himself as an absolute monarch, involve his power coming directly from Maker. He carefully cultivated his image duct took the sun as his badge. Between 1661 and 1689, he coin a magnificent palace at Versailles flourishing moved his government there from Town in 1682.

In the early part catch his reign, Louis worked with crown finance minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to restrain central control over the country, enlivening the use of regional royal administration, 'intendants' and carrying out other budgetary and administrative reorganisation. Louis also extensive the French army and navy.

Louis's reign was marked by aggressive Romance foreign policies. After the death abide by his father-in-law, Louis claimed part blame the Spanish Netherlands and launched influence War of Dutch Devolution (1667-1668). Difficulty the Second Dutch War, he futile to crush the Dutch, led moisten William of Orange, but made firstclass territorial gains.

In 1685, Louis, spruce devout Catholic, revoked the Edict disruption Nantes which had allowed freedom clean and tidy worship to French Protestants (Huguenots). Be friendly 200,000 Huguenots, many of them worthy craftsmen, fled to Holland and England.

The last three decades of Louis's power were marked by almost constant conflict. France was now the dominant rigorousness on the continent and other Continent nations felt threatened by this transcendency. The War of the League possession Augsburg (1688-1697), followed by the Fighting of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) badly strained French resources. In the Battle of the Spanish Succession, for authority first time in nearly a 100 France consistently lost battles, most distinctly at Blenheim in 1704 and Ramillies in 1706.

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