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Louis XIV was the son of French King Louis XIII and his wife Queen Anne of Austria. Louis XIII and Anne tried to have a child for many years, until he was finally born on May 14, 1643 and baptized Louis-Dieudonné. This birth was so expected that it was considered a blessing, hence the choice of its second name which, in French, means “gift from God”.
Like the legendary and literary heroes, whose heroism would be ‘ab initio’, that is, from the moment of his birth, Louis XIV grew up completely confident that his existence was a divine gift to the world. This belief would become especially evident in the future, when young Louis XIV came to believe that whoever disobeyed the king was disobeying God. Thus, his orders were considered divine orders.
Over the years, Louis XIV would be known by the nickname King Sol and, without a doubt, went down in history as one of the most emblematic kings. What were the keys to your reign? Did your belief in the divinity of your origin influence your politics? In this article we will talk about the French king who incorporated in himself the values of monarchical absolutism.
a turbulent childhood
At just four years and eight months, Louis XIV came to the throne of France. The child king becomes from this moment, according to the French laws of the time, the owner and lord of the bodies and properties of 19 million individuals.
Of course, at this age, Louis was too young to have access to the throne and, consequently, his mother acted as regent. Anne of Austria, the Queen Mother, assigned Cardinal Jules Mazarin, as Prime Minister, the responsibility of overseeing government decisions while Louis XIV did not come of age.
Growing up, the young monarch’s education focused on politics and economics. During his childhood, he had an accident that nearly cost him his life; little Louis XIV was about to drown. Your mother was blamed for not being a responsible mother or for not being considerate enough. However, the fact is that Louis XIV had numerous opponents from childhood. It’s no surprise to anyone that there were people who didn’t want Luis to come of age.
When Louis XIV was 9 years old, the nobles who made up the French parliament rebelled against the Crown and Prime Minister Mazarin. This was the beginning of a long civil war known as The Fronde. During this period, Louis XIV suffered humiliation, poverty, fear, cold and hunger.
the conflict
This war marked the monarch’s character and transformed his way of thinking and acting. Of course, it couldn’t be different with a child who grew up believing he was God’s representative on earth. Thus, Louis XIV never forgave Paris, the nobles or the people who supported them.
In this way, Mazarin won the conflict and initiated an economic and administrative reform that Louis XIV would finish during his term. Luis greatly admired the cardinal and, even when he came of age, did not dismiss him from his position as prime minister.
Luis was trained as a diplomat, but also as a soldier. He understood perfectly the political cogs of the moment. For this reason, Louis XIV agreed to marry the daughter of the King of Spain rather than the woman he loved. It was an arranged marriage, the purpose of which was to preserve peace between France and Spain and increase French power in Europe.
The beginning of his reign: France after Mazarin
After Mazarin’s death, Louis XIV assumed all governmental responsibilities. This decision surprised his advisers and all the nobility, because tradition indicated that the king was a merely social figure. But Louis was certain of his nature and, as a result, he deeply defended his figure as absolute ruler. Without accepting any kind of suggestion, Louis XIV established in his country a regime that would survive for centuries in much of Europe.
For 54 years, Louis XIV devoted 10 hours a day to organizing the kingdom. No details were too small, no tasks were delegated. Louis controlled everything, France revolved around the king. It is not surprising that in a very short time Louis XIV became known as the Sun King.
The king knew that the greatest weakness of his reign was the nobility, which could as easily revolt as in the days of the Fronde. For this reason, Louis XIV attracted all the nobility to Versailles, the grand palace on the outskirts of Paris. All members of the nobility lived there, seeking the king’s support.
In this way, Louis XIV controlled a long network of spies and informers who kept him abreast of the nobility’s plans against the crown. Thus, the king could anticipate and avoid any incident.
Versailles was the epitome of centralized government, and it remained a beacon of culture and scholarship for many decades.
Louis XIV: soldier and patron
Louis XIV was a great patron of the arts. He became the protector of the great literati, such as Molière, the influential playwright. He created the Academy of Fine Arts and the Royal Academy of Music and was the main sponsor of the Paris Observatory.
In this way, Louis XIV was the protector of the most important French artists. These artists sang, performed and painted for the Palace of Versailles. The Gardens of Versailles were the biggest outdoor work in the entire French territory. However, despite the grandeur of the king and his palace, the monarchy was increasingly isolated from people and art. Consequently, the royal family was relegated to palace life.
France was a self-sufficient nation, but its king remained a soldier in its heart. Louis XIV decided to invade Holland and reclaim the territory in a mission that was not profitable for France. Soon after, France would go to war against the Grand Alliance, a group formed by Spain, England and the Holy Roman Empire.
Although France did not lose much territory, by the end of the war its economic resources were exhausted. Louis XIV had gone from being the king of a wealthy nation to being the king of a nation mired in poverty, weak and miserable.
Louis XIV died a few days before his 77th birthday, something totally unusual, being one of the longest-lived kings of his time. After his death, and somehow continuing the unexpected tradition, the throne passed to the last son of the Duke of Burgundy, who was only 5 years old at the time.
Conclusion
Louis XIV was a great king, who is admired for his contributions to culture, but who became the man who best represented absolutism. An example of a man who deeply believed in the values of the Ancien Régime. Furthermore , he believed in the idea that his destiny and his own nature were marked from the moment of his birth.
A king who undoubtedly managed to give splendor to his nation, but also plunged it into poverty. The Sun King was and will continue to be an iconic character in French history.
