March 26th, 2016

Louis XIV reigned for 72 years, longer than any other European monarch. He became king at the age of four, took full power into his own hands at 23 and ruled for 54 years. “The state is me!” - Louis XIV did not say these words, but the state has always been associated with the personality of the ruler. Therefore, if we talk about the blunders and mistakes of Louis XIV (the war with Holland, the repeal of the Edict of Nantes, etc.), then the assets of the reign should also be credited to him.

The development of trade and manufacturing, the emergence of the French colonial empire, the reform of the army and the creation of the navy, the development of the arts and sciences, the construction of Versailles and, finally, the transformation of France into a modern state. These are not all the achievements of the Century of Louis XIV. So what was this ruler who gave his name to his time?

Louis XIV de Bourbon, who received the name Louis-Dieudonné (“God-given”) at birth, was born on September 5, 1638. The name “God-given” appeared for a reason. Queen Anne of Austria gave birth to an heir at the age of 37.

For 22 years, the marriage of Louis's parents was barren, and therefore the birth of an heir was perceived by the people as a miracle. After the death of his father, young Louis and his mother moved to the Palais Royal, the former palace of Cardinal Richelieu. Here the little king was brought up in a very simple and sometimes squalid environment.

Louis XIV de Bourbon.

His mother was considered regent of France, but real power lay in the hands of her favorite, Cardinal Mazarin. He was very stingy and did not care at all not only about providing pleasure to the child king, but even about his availability of basic necessities.

The first years of Louis's formal reign included the events of a civil war known as the Fronde. In January 1649, an uprising against Mazarin broke out in Paris. The king and ministers had to flee to Saint-Germain, and Mazarin generally fled to Brussels. Peace was restored only in 1652, and power returned to the hands of the cardinal. Despite the fact that the king was already considered an adult, Mazarin ruled France until his death.

Giulio Mazarin was a church and political figure and the first minister of France in 1643-1651 and 1653-1661. He took up the post under the patronage of Queen Anne of Austria.

In 1659, peace was signed with Spain. The agreement was sealed by the marriage of Louis with Maria Theresa, who was his cousin. When Mazarin died in 1661, Louis, having received his freedom, hastened to get rid of all guardianship over himself.

He abolished the position of first minister, announcing to the State Council that from now on he himself would be the first minister, and no decree, even the most insignificant, should be signed by anyone on his behalf.

Louis was poorly educated, barely able to read and write, but had common sense and a strong determination to maintain his royal dignity. He was tall, handsome, had a noble bearing, and tried to express himself briefly and clearly. Unfortunately, he was overly selfish, as no European monarch was distinguished by monstrous pride and selfishness. All previous royal residences seemed to Louis unworthy of his greatness.

After some deliberation, in 1662 he decided to turn the small hunting castle of Versailles into a royal palace. It took 50 years and 400 million francs. Until 1666, the king had to live in the Louvre, from 1666 to 1671. in the Tuileries, from 1671 to 1681, alternately in the Versailles under construction and Saint-Germain-O-l"E. Finally, from 1682, Versailles became the permanent residence of the royal court and government. From now on, Louis visited Paris only on short visits.

The king's new palace was distinguished by its extraordinary splendor. The so-called (large apartments) - six salons, named after ancient deities - served as hallways for the Mirror Gallery, 72 meters long, 10 meters wide and 16 meters high. Buffets were held in the salons, and guests played billiards and cards.

The Great Condé greets Louis XIV on the Staircase at Versailles.

In general, card games became an uncontrollable passion at court. The bets reached several thousand livres at stake, and Louis himself stopped playing only after he lost 600 thousand livres in six months in 1676.

Also comedies were staged in the palace, first by Italian and then by French authors: Corneille, Racine and especially often Moliere. In addition, Louis loved to dance, and repeatedly took part in ballet productions at court.

The splendor of the palace also corresponded to the complex rules of etiquette established by Louis. Any action was accompanied by a whole set of carefully designed ceremonies. Meals, going to bed, even basic quenching of thirst during the day - everything was turned into complex rituals.

War against everyone

If the king were only concerned with the construction of Versailles, the rise of the economy and the development of the arts, then, probably, the respect and love of his subjects for the Sun King would be limitless. However, the ambitions of Louis XIV extended much beyond the borders of his state.

By the early 1680s, Louis XIV had the most powerful army in Europe, which only whetted his appetite. In 1681, he established chambers of reunification to determine the rights of the French crown to certain areas, seizing more and more lands in Europe and Africa.

In 1688, Louis XIV's claims to the Palatinate led to the whole of Europe turning against him. The so-called War of the League of Augsburg lasted for nine years and resulted in the parties maintaining the status quo. But the huge expenses and losses incurred by France led to a new economic decline in the country and a depletion of funds.

But already in 1701, France was drawn into a long conflict called the War of the Spanish Succession. Louis XIV hoped to defend the rights to the Spanish throne for his grandson, who was to become the head of two states. However, the war, which engulfed not only Europe, but also North America, ended unsuccessfully for France.

According to the peace concluded in 1713 and 1714, the grandson of Louis XIV retained the Spanish crown, but its Italian and Dutch possessions were lost, and England, by destroying the Franco-Spanish fleets and conquering a number of colonies, laid the foundation for its maritime dominion. In addition, the project of uniting France and Spain under the hand of the French monarch had to be abandoned.

Sale of offices and expulsion of the Huguenots

This last military campaign of Louis XIV returned him to where he started - the country was mired in debt and groaning under the burden of taxes, and here and there uprisings broke out, the suppression of which required more and more resources.

The need to replenish the budget led to non-trivial decisions. Under Louis XIV, the trade in government positions was put on stream, reaching its maximum extent in the last years of his life. To replenish the treasury, more and more new positions were created, which, of course, brought chaos and discord into the activities of state institutions.

Louis XIV on coins.

The ranks of opponents of Louis XIV were joined by French Protestants after the “Edict of Fontainebleau” was signed in 1685, repealing the Edict of Nantes of Henry IV, which guaranteed freedom of religion to the Huguenots.

After this, more than 200 thousand French Protestants emigrated from the country, despite strict penalties for emigration. The exodus of tens of thousands of economically active citizens dealt another painful blow to the power of France.

The unloved queen and the meek lame woman

At all times and eras, the personal life of monarchs influenced politics. Louis XIV is no exception in this sense. The monarch once remarked: “It would be easier for me to reconcile all of Europe than a few women.”

His official wife in 1660 was a peer, the Spanish Infanta Maria Theresa, who was Louis’s cousin on both his father and mother.

The problem with this marriage, however, was not the close family ties of the spouses. Louis simply did not love Maria Theresa, but he meekly agreed to the marriage, which had important political significance. The wife bore the king six children, but five of them died in childhood. Only the first-born survived, named, like his father, Louis and who went down in history under the name of the Grand Dauphin.

The marriage of Louis XIV took place in 1660.

For the sake of marriage, Louis broke off relations with the woman he really loved - the niece of Cardinal Mazarin. Perhaps the separation from his beloved also influenced the king’s attitude towards his legal wife. Maria Theresa accepted her fate. Unlike other French queens, she did not intrigue or get involved in politics, playing a prescribed role. When the queen died in 1683, Louis said: “ This is the only worry in my life that she has caused me.».

The king compensated for the lack of feelings in marriage with relationships with his favorites. For nine years, Louise-Françoise de La Baume Le Blanc, Duchess de La Vallière, became Louise's sweetheart. Louise was not distinguished by her dazzling beauty, and, moreover, due to an unsuccessful fall from a horse, she remained lame for the rest of her life. But the meekness, friendliness and sharp mind of Lamefoot attracted the attention of the king.

Louise bore Louis four children, two of whom lived to adulthood. The king treated Louise quite cruelly. Having begun to grow cold towards her, he settled his rejected mistress next to his new favorite - Marquise Françoise Athenaïs de Montespan. The Duchess de La Valliere was forced to endure the bullying of her rival. She endured everything with her characteristic meekness, and in 1675 she became a nun and lived for many years in a monastery, where she was called Louise the Merciful.

There was not a shadow of the meekness of her predecessor in the lady before Montespan. A representative of one of the most ancient noble families in France, Françoise not only became the official favorite, but for 10 years turned into the “true queen of France.”

Marquise de Montespan with four legitimized children. 1677 Palace of Versailles.

Françoise loved luxury and did not like counting money. It was the Marquise de Montespan who turned the reign of Louis XIV from deliberate budgeting to unrestrained and unlimited spending. Capricious, envious, domineering and ambitious, Francoise knew how to subjugate the king to her will. New apartments were built for her in Versailles, and she managed to place all her close relatives in significant government positions.

Françoise de Montespan bore Louis seven children, four of whom lived to adulthood. But the relationship between Françoise and the king was not as faithful as with Louise. Louis allowed himself hobbies besides his official favorite, which infuriated Madame de Montespan.

To keep the king with her, she began to practice black magic and even became involved in a high-profile poisoning case. The king did not punish her with death, but deprived her of the status of a favorite, which was much more terrible for her.

Like her predecessor, Louise le Lavalier, the Marquise de Montespan exchanged the royal chambers for a monastery.

Time for repentance

Louis's new favorite was the Marquise de Maintenon, the widow of the poet Scarron, who was the governess of the king's children from Madame de Montespan.

This king's favorite was called the same as her predecessor, Françoise, but the women were as different from each other as heaven and earth. The king had long conversations with the Marquise de Maintenon about the meaning of life, about religion, about responsibility before God. The royal court replaced its splendor with chastity and high morality.

Madame de Maintenon.

After the death of his official wife, Louis XIV secretly married the Marquise de Maintenon. Now the king was occupied not with balls and festivities, but with masses and reading the Bible. The only entertainment he allowed himself was hunting.

The Marquise de Maintenon founded and directed Europe's first secular school for women, called the Royal House of Saint Louis. The school in Saint-Cyr became an example for many similar institutions, including the Smolny Institute in St. Petersburg.

For her strict disposition and intolerance to secular entertainment, the Marquise de Maintenon received the nickname the Black Queen. She survived Louis and after his death retired to Saint-Cyr, living the rest of her days among the pupils of her school.

Illegitimate Bourbons

Louis XIV recognized his illegitimate children from both Louise de La Vallière and Françoise de Montespan. They all received their father's surname - de Bourbon, and dad tried to arrange their lives.

Louis, Louise's son, was already promoted to French admiral at the age of two, and as an adult he went on a military campaign with his father. There, at the age of 16, the young man died.

Louis-Auguste, son from Françoise, received the title of Duke of Maine, became a French commander and in this capacity accepted the godson of Peter I and Alexander Pushkin's great-grandfather Abram Petrovich Hannibal for military training.

Grand Dauphin Louis. The only surviving legitimate child of Louis XIV by Maria Theresa of Spain.

Françoise Marie, Louis's youngest daughter, was married to Philippe d'Orléans, becoming Duchess of Orléans. Possessing the character of her mother, Françoise-Marie plunged headlong into political intrigue. Her husband became the French regent under the young King Louis XV, and Françoise-Marie's children married the scions of other European royal dynasties.

In a word, not many illegitimate children of ruling persons suffered the same fate that befell the sons and daughters of Louis XIV.

“Did you really think that I would live forever?”

The last years of the king's life turned out to be a difficult ordeal for him. The man, who throughout his life defended the chosenness of the monarch and his right to autocratic rule, experienced not only the crisis of his state. His close people left one after another, and it turned out that there was simply no one to transfer power to.

On April 13, 1711, his son, the Grand Dauphin Louis, died. In February 1712, the eldest son of the Dauphin, the Duke of Burgundy, died, and on March 8 of the same year, the eldest son of the latter, the young Duke of Breton, died.

On March 4, 1714, the Duke of Burgundy's younger brother, the Duke of Berry, fell from his horse and died a few days later. The only heir was the 4-year-old great-grandson of the king, the youngest son of the Duke of Burgundy. If this little one had died, the throne would have remained vacant after the death of Louis.

This forced the king to include even his illegitimate sons in the list of heirs, which promised internal civil strife in France in the future.

Louis XIV.

At 76 years old, Louis remained energetic, active and, as in his youth, regularly went hunting. During one of these trips, the king fell and injured his leg. Doctors discovered that the injury had caused gangrene and suggested amputation. The Sun King refused: this is unacceptable for royal dignity. The disease progressed rapidly, and soon agony began, lasting for several days.

At the moment of clarity of consciousness, Louis looked around those present and uttered his last aphorism:

- Why are you crying? Did you really think that I would live forever?

On September 1, 1715, at about 8 a.m., Louis XIV died in his palace at Versailles, four days short of his 77th birthday.

(1715-09-01 ) (76 years old)
Palace of Versailles, Versailles, Kingdom of France Genus: Bourbons Father: Louis XIII Mother: Anne of Austria Spouse: 1st: Maria Theresa of Austria
Children: From 1st marriage:
sons: Louis the Grand Dauphin, Philippe, Louis-Francois
daughters: Anna Elisabeth, Maria Anna, Maria Teresa
many illegitimate children, some legitimized

Louis XIV de Bourbon, who received the name Louis-Dieudonné at birth (“God-given”, fr. Louis-Dieudonne), also known as "sun king"(fr. Louis XIV Le Roi Soleil), also Louis Great(fr. Louis le Grand), (September 5 ( 16380905 ) , Saint-Germain-en-Laye - September 1, Versailles) - king of France and Navarre from May 14. Reigned for 72 years - longer than any other European king in history (of the monarchs of Europe, only a few rulers were in power longer minor principalities of the Holy Roman Empire).

Louis, who survived the wars of the Fronde in his childhood, became a staunch supporter of the principle of absolute monarchy and the divine right of kings (he is credited with the expression “The State is I!”), He combined the strengthening of his power with the successful selection of statesmen for key political posts. The reign of Louis - a time of significant consolidation of the unity of France, its military power, political weight and intellectual prestige, the flowering of culture, went down in history as the Great Century. At the same time, the long-term military conflicts in which France participated during the reign of Louis the Great led to increased taxes, which placed a heavy burden on the shoulders of the population and caused popular uprisings, and as a result of the adoption of the Edict of Fontainebleau, which abolished the Edict of Nantes on religious tolerance within the kingdom, about 200 thousand Huguenots emigrated from France.

Biography

Childhood and young years

Louis XIV in childhood

Louis XIV came to the throne in May 1643, when he was not yet five years old, therefore, according to his father's will, the regency was transferred to Anne of Austria, who ruled in close tandem with the first minister, Cardinal Mazarin. Even before the end of the war with Spain and the House of Austria, the princes and high aristocracy, supported by Spain and in alliance with the Parliament of Paris, began unrest, which received the general name Fronde (1648-1652) and ended only with the subjugation of the Prince de Condé and the signing of the Pyrenees Peace (7 November).

Secretaries of State - There were four main secretarial positions (for foreign affairs, for the military department, for the naval department, for the “reformist religion”). Each of the four secretaries received a separate province to manage. The posts of secretaries were for sale and, with the permission of the king, they could be inherited. Secretarial positions were very well paid and powerful. Each subordinate had his own clerks and clerks, appointed at the personal discretion of the secretaries. There was also the post of Secretary of State for the Royal Household, which was a related one, held by one of the four Secretaries of State. Adjacent to the positions of secretaries was often the position of controller general. There was no precise division of positions. State Councilors

- members of the State Council. There were thirty of them: twelve ordinary, three military, three clergy and twelve semester. The hierarchy of advisors was headed by the dean. The positions of advisers were not for sale and were for life. The position of adviser gave a title of nobility.

Governance of provinces The provinces were usually headed by governors
In the absence of governors, they were replaced by one or more lieutenant generals, who also had deputies, whose positions were called royal viceroys. In fact, none of them ruled the province, but only received a salary. There were also positions of chiefs of small districts, cities, and citadels, to which military personnel were often appointed.
Simultaneously with the governors, they were involved in management quartermasters (intendants de justice police et finances et commissaires departis dans les generalites du royaume pour l`execution des ordres du roi) in territorially separate units - regions (generalites), which in turn numbered 32 and whose boundaries did not coincide with the boundaries of the provinces. Historically, the positions of intendants arose from the positions of petition managers, who were sent to the province to consider complaints and requests, but remained for constant supervision. The length of service in the position has not been determined.
Subordinate to the intendants were the so-called subdelegates (elections), appointed from employees of lower institutions. They had no right to make any decisions and could only act as rapporteurs.
Along with the governor's and commissariat's administration, class administration in the form of meetings of estates , which included representatives of the church, nobility, and middle class (tiers etat). The number of representatives from each class varied depending on the region. Assemblies of estates dealt mainly with issues of taxes and duties.

City management

Was involved in city management city ​​corporation or council (corps de ville, conseil de ville), consisting of one or more burgomasters (maire, prevot, consul, capitoul) and councilors or sheffens (echevins, conseilers). The positions were initially elective until 1692, and then purchased with lifetime replacement. The requirements for suitability for the position being filled were established independently by the city and varied from region to region. The city council dealt with city affairs accordingly and had limited autonomy in police, commercial and market affairs.

Taxes

Jean-Baptiste Colbert

Within the state, the new fiscal system meant only an increase in taxes and taxes for the growing military needs, which fell heavily on the shoulders of the peasantry and petty bourgeoisie. The salt gabelle was particularly unpopular, causing several riots throughout the country. The decision to impose a stamp paper tax in 1675 during the Dutch War sparked a powerful Stamp Paper Rebellion behind the country's lines in western France, most notably in Brittany, supported in part by the regional parliaments of Bordeaux and Rennes. In the west of Brittany, the uprising developed into anti-feudal peasant uprisings, which were suppressed only towards the end of the year.

At the same time, Louis, as the “first nobleman” of France, spared the material interests of the nobility that had lost its political significance and, as a faithful son of the Catholic Church, did not demand anything from the clergy.

As the intendant of finances of Louis XIV, J.B. Colbert, figuratively formulated: “ Taxation is the art of plucking a goose so as to get the most feathers with the least squeak.»

Trade

Jacques Savary

In France, during the reign of Louis XIV, the first codification of trade law was carried out and the Ordonance de Commerce - Commercial Code (1673) was adopted. The significant advantages of the Ordinance of 1673 are due to the fact that its publication was preceded by very serious preparatory work based on reviews from knowledgeable persons. The chief worker was Savary, so this ordinance is often called the Savary Code.

Migration

On issues of emigration, the edict of Louis XIV, issued in 1669 and valid until 1791, was in force. The Edict stipulated that all persons who left France without special permission from the royal government would be subject to confiscation of their property; those who enter foreign service as shipbuilders are subject to the death penalty upon returning to their homeland.

“The bonds of birth,” said the edict, “connecting natural subjects with their sovereign and fatherland are the closest and most inseparable of all that exist in civil society.”

Government positions:
A specific phenomenon of French public life was the corruption of government positions, both permanent (offices, charges) and temporary (commissions).
A person was appointed to a permanent position (offices, charges) for life and could only be removed from it by a court for a serious violation.
Regardless of whether an official was removed or a new position was established, any person suitable for it could acquire it. The cost of the position was usually approved in advance, and the money paid for it also served as a deposit. In addition, the approval of the king or a patent (lettre de provision) was also required, which was also produced for a certain cost and certified by the king’s seal.
To persons holding one position for a long time, the king issued a special patent (lettre de survivance), according to which this position could be inherited by the official’s son.
The situation with the sales of positions in the last years of Louis XIV's life reached the point that in Paris alone 2,461 newly created positions were sold for 77 million French livres. Officials mainly received their salaries from taxes rather than from the state treasury (for example, slaughterhouse overseers demanded 3 livres for each bull brought to the market, or, for example, wine brokers and commission agents who received a duty on each purchased and sold barrels of wine).

Religious politics

He tried to destroy the political dependence of the clergy on the pope. Louis XIV even intended to form a French patriarchate independent from Rome. But, thanks to the influence of the famous Bishop of Moscow Bossuet, the French bishops refrained from breaking with Rome, and the views of the French hierarchy received official expression in the so-called. statement of the Gallican clergy (declaration du clarge gallicane) of 1682 (see Gallicanism).
In matters of faith, Louis XIV's confessors (the Jesuits) made him an obedient instrument of the most ardent Catholic reaction, which was reflected in the merciless persecution of all individualistic movements within the church (see Jansenism).
A number of harsh measures were taken against the Huguenots: churches were taken away from them, priests were deprived of the opportunity to baptize children according to the rules of their church, perform marriages and burials, and perform divine services. Even mixed marriages between Catholics and Protestants were prohibited.
The Protestant aristocracy was forced to convert to Catholicism so as not to lose their social advantages, and restrictive decrees were used against Protestants from among other classes, ending with the Dragonades of 1683 and the repeal of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. These measures, despite severe penalties for emigration forced more than 200 thousand hardworking and enterprising Protestants to move to England, Holland and Germany. An uprising even broke out in the Cevennes. The king's growing piety found support from Madame de Maintenon, who, after the death of the queen (1683), was united to him by secret marriage.

War for the Palatinate

Even earlier, Louis legitimized his two sons from Madame de Montespan - the Duke of Maine and the Count of Toulouse, and gave them the surname Bourbon. Now, in his will, he appointed them members of the regency council and declared their eventual right to succession to the throne. Louis himself remained active until the end of his life, firmly supporting court etiquette and the decor of his “great century,” which was already beginning to fade.

Marriages and children

• (from June 9, 1660, Saint-Jean de Luz) Maria Theresa (1638-1683), Infanta of Spain
  • Louis the Great Dauphin (1661-1711)
  • Anna Elizabeth (1662-1662)
  • Maria Anna (1664-1664)
  • Maria Teresa (1667-1672)
  • Philip (1668-1671)
  • Louis-François (1672-1672)
• (from June 12, 1684, Versailles) Françoise d'Aubigné (1635-1719), Marquise de Maintenon

• Ext. connection Louise de La Baume Le Blanc (1644-1710), Duchess de La Vallière
  • Charles de La Baume Le Blanc (1663-1665)
  • Philippe de La Baume Le Blanc (1665-1666)
  • Marie-Anne de Bourbon (1666-1739), Mademoiselle de Blois
  • Louis de Bourbon (1667-1683), Comte de Vermandois
• Ext. connection Françoise-Athenais de Rochechouart de Mortemart (1641-1707), Marquise de Montespan

Mademoiselle de Blois and Mademoiselle de Nantes

• • Louise-Françoise de Bourbon (1669-1672)
  • Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, Duke of Maine (1670-1736)
  • Louis-César de Bourbon (1672-1683)
  • Louise-Françoise de Bourbon (1673-1743), Mademoiselle de Nantes
  • Louise Marie Anne de Bourbon (1674-1681), Mademoiselle de Tours
  • Françoise-Marie de Bourbon (1677-1749), Mademoiselle de Blois
  • Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, Count of Toulouse (1678-1737)
• Ext. connection(1678-1680) Marie-Angelique de Scoray de Roussil (1661-1681), Duchess of Fontanges
  • N (1679-1679), child was stillborn
• Ext. connection Claude de Vines (c.1638 - September 8, 1686), Mademoiselle des Hoye
  • Louise de Maisonblanche (1676-1718)

The history of the nickname Sun King

In France, the sun was a symbol of royal power and the king personally even before Louis XIV. The luminary became the personification of the monarch in poetry, solemn odes and court ballets. The first mentions of solar emblems date back to the reign of Henry III; the grandfather and father of Louis XIV used them, but only under him did solar symbolism become truly widespread.

When Louis XIV began to rule independently (), the genre of court ballet was put at the service of state interests, helping the king not only create his representative image, but also manage court society (as well as other arts). The roles in these productions were distributed only by the king and his friend, the Comte de Saint-Aignan. Princes of the blood and courtiers, dancing next to their sovereign, depicted various elements, planets and other creatures and phenomena subject to the Sun. Louis himself continues to appear before his subjects in the form of the Sun, Apollo and other gods and heroes of Antiquity. The king left the stage only in 1670.

But the emergence of the nickname of the Sun King was preceded by another important cultural event of the Baroque era - the Carousel of the Tuileries in 1662. This is a festive carnival cavalcade, which is something between a sports festival (in the Middle Ages these were tournaments) and a masquerade. In the 17th century, Carousel was called “equestrian ballet”, since this action was more reminiscent of a performance with music, rich costumes and a fairly consistent script. At the Carousel of 1662, given in honor of the birth of the first-born of the royal couple, Louis XIV pranced in front of the audience on a horse dressed as a Roman emperor. In his hand the king had a golden shield with the image of the Sun. This symbolized that this luminary protects the king and, with him, all of France.

According to the historian of the French Baroque F. Bossan, “it was on the Grand Carousel of 1662 that, in a way, the Sun King was born. His name was given not by politics or the victories of his armies, but by equestrian ballet.”

The image of Louis XIV in popular culture

Louis XIV is one of the main historical characters in the Musketeers trilogy by Alexandre Dumas. In the last book of the trilogy, “The Vicomte de Bragelonne,” an impostor (allegedly the king’s twin brother Philip) is involved in a conspiracy, with whom they are trying to replace Louis.

In 1929, the film “The Iron Mask” was released, based on the novel by Dumas the Father “The Vicomte de Bragelonne”, where Louis and his twin brother were played by William Blackwell. Louis Hayward played twins in the 1939 film The Man in the Iron Mask. Richard Chamberlain played them in the 1977 film adaptation, and Leonardo DiCaprio played them in the film's 1998 remake. In the 1962 French film The Iron Mask, these roles were played by Jean-François Poron.

For the first time in modern Russian cinema, the image of King Louis XIV was performed by the artist of the Moscow New Drama Theater Dmitry Shilyaev, in Oleg Ryaskov’s film “The Servant of the Sovereigns”.

The musical “The Sun King” was staged about Louis XIV in France.

see also

Notes

Literature

The best sources for getting acquainted with the character and way of thinking of L. are his “Oeuvres”, containing “Notes”, instructions to the Dauphin and Philip V, letters and reflections; they were published by Grimoird and Grouvelle (P., 1806). A critical edition of “Mémoires de Louis XIV” was compiled by Dreyss (P., 1860). The extensive literature about L. opens with the work of Voltaire: “Siècle de Louis XIV” (1752 and more often), after which the name “century of L. XIV” came into general use to designate the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries.

• Saint-Simon, “Mémoires complets et authentiques sur le siècle de Louis XIV et la régence” (P., 1829-1830; new ed., 1873-1881);
• Depping, “Correspondance administrative sous le règne de Louis XIV” (1850-1855);
• Moret, “Quinze ans du règne de Louis XIV, 1700-1715” (1851-1859); Chéruel, "Saint-Simon considéré comme historien de Louis XIV" (1865);
• Noorden, "Europä ische Geschichte im XVIII Jahrh." (Dusseld. and Lpts., 1870-1882);
• Gaillardin, “Histoire du règne de Louis XIV” (P., 1871-1878);
• Ranke, "Franz. Geschichte" (vols. III and IV, Lpts., 1876);
• Philippson, “Das Zeitalter Ludwigs XIV” (B., 1879);
• Chéruel, “Histoire de France pendant la minorité de Louis XIV” (P., 1879-80);
• “Mémoires du Marquis de Sourches sur le règne de Louis XIV” (I-XII, P., 1882-1892);
• de Mony, "Louis XIV et le Saint-Siège" (1893);
• Koch, “Das unumschränkte Königthum Ludwigs XIV” (with an extensive bibliography, V., 1888);
• Koch G. “Essays on the history of political ideas and public administration” St. Petersburg, published by S. Skirmunt, 1906
• Gurevich Y. “The significance of the reign of L. XIV and his personality”;
• Le Mao K. Louis XIV and the Parliament of Bordeaux: very moderate absolutism // French Yearbook 2005. M., 2005. pp. 174-194.
• Trachevsky A. “International politics in the era of Louis XIV” (J. M. N. Pr., 1888, No. 1-2).

Links

• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional ones). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.

Kings and Emperors of France (987-1870) Capetians (987-1328) 987 996 1031 1060 1108 1137 1180 1223 1226 Hugo Capet Robert II Henry I Philip I Louis VI Louis VII Philip II Louis VIII 1498 1515 1547 1559 1560 1574 1589 Louis XII Francis I Henry II Francis II Charles IX Henry III

and for 22 years the marriage of Louis’s parents was barren, and therefore the birth of an heir was perceived by the people as a miracle. After the death of his father, young Louis and his mother moved to the Palais Royal, the former palace of Cardinal Richelieu. Here the little king was brought up in a very simple and sometimes squalid environment. His mother was considered the regent of France, but real power was in the hands of her favorite, Cardinal Mazarin. He was very stingy and did not care at all not only about bringing pleasure to the child king, but even about his availability of basic necessities.

The first years of Louis's formal reign included the events of a civil war known as the Fronde. In January 1649, an uprising against Mazarin broke out in Paris. The king and ministers had to flee to Saint-Germain, and Mazarin generally fled to Brussels. Peace was restored only in 1652, and power returned to the hands of the cardinal. Despite the fact that the king was already considered an adult, Mazarin ruled France until his death. In 1659, peace was signed with. The agreement was sealed by the marriage of Louis with Maria Theresa, who was his cousin.

When Mazarin died in 1661, Louis, having received his freedom, hastened to get rid of all guardianship over himself. He abolished the position of first minister, announcing to the State Council that from now on he himself would be the first minister, and no decree, even the most insignificant, should be signed by anyone on his behalf.

Emblem of the Sun King

Louis was poorly educated, barely able to read and write, but had common sense and a strong determination to maintain his royal dignity. He was tall, handsome, had a noble bearing, and tried to express himself briefly and clearly. Unfortunately, he was overly selfish, as no European monarch was distinguished by monstrous pride and selfishness. All previous royal residences seemed to Louis unworthy of his greatness. After some deliberation, in 1662 he decided to turn the small hunting castle of Versailles into a royal palace. It took 50 years and 400 million francs. Until 1666, the king had to live in the Louvre, from 1666 to 1671 - in the Tuileries, from 1671 to 1681 alternately in Versailles, which was under construction, and Saint-Germain-O-l"E. Finally, since 1682, Versailles became the permanent residence of the royal court and government From now on, Louis visited Paris only on visits. The king's new palace was distinguished by its extraordinary splendor. The so-called “large apartments” - six salons, named after ancient deities - served as hallways for the Mirror Gallery, 72 meters long, 10 meters wide and 16 meters high. Buffets were held in the salons, guests played billiards and cards. In general, card games became an indomitable passion at court. Bets reached several thousand livres at stake, and Louis himself stopped playing only after he lost 600 thousand livres in six months.

Also comedies were staged in the palace, first by Italian and then by French authors: Corneille, Racine and especially often Moliere. In addition, Louis loved to dance, and repeatedly took part in ballet productions at court. The splendor of the palace also corresponded to the complex rules of etiquette established by Louis. Any action was accompanied by a whole set of carefully designed ceremonies. Meals, going to bed, even basic quenching of thirst during the day - everything was turned into complex rituals.

From a young age, Louis was very ardent and partial to pretty women. Despite the fact that the young Queen Maria Theresa was beautiful, Louis was constantly looking for entertainment on the side. The king's first favorite was 17-year-old Louise de La Vallière, the maid of honor of the wife of Louis's brother. Louise was not an impeccable beauty and had a slight limp, but she was very sweet and gentle. The feelings that Louis had for her could be called true love. From 1661 to 1667, she bore the king four children and received the ducal title. After this, the king began to grow cold towards her, and in 1675 Louise was forced to go to the Carmelite monastery.

The king's new passion was the Marquise de Montespan, who was the complete opposite of Louise de La Vallière. The bright and ardent marquise had a calculating mind. She knew very well what she could get from the king in exchange for her love. Only in the first year of meeting the Marchioness, Louis gave her family 800 thousand livres to pay off debts. The golden shower did not become scarce in the future. At the same time, Montespan actively patronized many writers and other artists. The Marchioness was the uncrowned Queen of France for 15 years. However, since 1674, she had to fight for the king’s heart with Madame d’Aubigné, the widow of the poet Scarron, who was raising Louis’s children. Madame d’Aubigné was granted the Maintenon estate and the title of Marquise. After the death of Queen Maria Theresa in 1683 and the removal of the Marquise de Montespan, she gained very strong influence over Louis. The king highly valued her intelligence and listened to her advice. Under her influence, he became very religious, stopped organizing noisy festivities, replacing them with soul-saving conversations with the Jesuits.

Under no other sovereign did France wage such a number of large-scale wars of conquest as under Louis XIV. After his death in 1667-1668, Flanders was captured. In 1672, a war began with Holland and those who came to its aid, and. However, the coalition, called the Grand Alliance, was defeated, and France acquired Alsace, Lorraine, Franche-Comté and several other lands in Belgium. The peace, however, did not last long. In 1681, Louis captured Strasbourg and Casale, and a little later Luxembourg, Kehl and a number of surrounding areas.

However, from 1688, things began to go worse for Louis. Through efforts, the anti-French League of Augsburg was created, which included Holland and several German principalities. At first, Louis managed to capture the Palatinate, Worms and a number of other German cities, but in 1689 he became king of England and directed the resources of this country against France. In 1692, the Anglo-Dutch fleet defeated the French in Cherbourg harbor and began to dominate the sea. On land, the French successes were more noticeable. was defeated near Steinkerke and on the Neerwinden Plain. Meanwhile, in the south, Savoy, Girona and Barcelona were taken. However, a war on several fronts required a huge amount of money from Louis. During the ten years of war, 700 million livres were spent. In 1690, royal furniture made of solid silver and various small utensils were melted down. At the same time, taxes increased, which hit peasant families especially hard. Louis asked for peace. In 1696 it was returned to the rightful duke. Then Louis was forced to recognize the king of England and abandon all support for the Stuarts. The lands beyond the Rhine were returned to the German emperor. Luxembourg and Catalonia were returned. Lorraine regained its independence. Thus, the bloody war ended with the acquisition of only Strasbourg.

However, the most terrible thing for Louis was the War of the Spanish Succession. In 1700, the childless king of Spain died, bequeathing the throne to Louis's grandson with the condition, however, that the Spanish possessions would never be annexed to the French crown. The condition was accepted, but the rights to the French throne were retained. In addition, the French army invaded Belgium. The Great Alliance was immediately restored, including Holland, and in 1701 the war began. The Austrian prince Eugene invaded what belonged to the king of Spain. At first, things went well for the French, but in 1702, due to the Duke's betrayal, the advantage passed to the Austrians. At the same time, the Duke of Marlborough's English army landed in Belgium. Taking advantage of the fact that it had joined the coalition, another English army invaded. The French attempted to launch a counterattack and marched on Vienna, but in 1704, at Hochstedt, troops under the command of Prince Eugene of Savoy and Duke John Churchill of Marlborough defeated the Franco-Bavarian army under the command of the Bavarian Elector and the French marshals Marcin and Tallard.

Soon Louis had to leave Belgium and Italy. In 1707, a 40,000-strong Allied army even crossed the Alps to invade France and besieged Toulon, but to no avail. There was no end in sight to the war. The people of France were suffering from hunger and poverty. All the gold utensils were melted down, and even black bread was served on Madame de Maintenon’s table instead of white. However, the Allied forces were not unlimited. In Spain, they managed to turn the tide of the war in their favor, after which the British began to lean towards peace. In 1713, peace was signed in Utrecht, and a year later in Rishtadt - with. France lost practically nothing, but lost all its European possessions outside the Iberian Peninsula. In addition, he was forced to renounce his claims to the French crown.

Louis's foreign policy problems were aggravated by family problems. In 1711, the king's son, the Grand Dauphin Louis, died of smallpox. A year later, the wife of the younger Dauphin, Marie-Adelaide, died from a measles epidemic. After her death, her correspondence with the heads of hostile states was opened, in which many state secrets of France were revealed. A few days after the death of his wife, the younger Dauphin Louis also died. Another three weeks passed, and five-year-old Louis of Brittany, son of the younger Dauphin and heir to the throne, died of the same disease. The title of heir passed to his younger brother, who was still an infant at that time. Soon he also fell ill with some kind of rash. The doctors expected his death from day to day, but a miracle happened and the child recovered. Finally, in 1714, Charles of Berry, the third grandson of Louis, suddenly died.

After the deaths of his heirs, Louis became sad and gloomy. He practically never got out of bed. All attempts to rouse him led to nothing. Soon, Louis XIV, while dancing at a ball, stepped on a rusty nail. On August 24, 1715, the first signs of gangrene appeared on his leg; on August 27, he made his last dying orders and died on September 1. His 72-year reign was one of the longest of any monarch.

Louis XIV of France. End of life and death

As already mentioned, between 1683 and 1690. Versailles gradually began to isolate itself from the outside world. Paris also became more attractive to noble society. Economic problems as a result of the war, the aging of the king and, not least, the growing influence of Madame de Maintenon played a large role in this. But the fact that the king’s positions on matters of faith were increasingly closer to the positions of the “devout” was also of certain importance, and he demanded unquestioning adherence to morality from those around him.

Madame Scarron, née Françoise d'Aubigny, Marquise de Maintenon (1635-1719), who cared for the illegitimate children of King Louis XIV and the Marquise de Montespan, was in close contact with the king. She accompanied the king and his mistress on many trips. When the eldest surviving son of Montespan and Louis XIV was legitimized in December 1673, Madame Scarron came with him to court. An analysis of her correspondence indicates that this very beautiful woman, after some hesitation and overcoming remorse, became the king's mistress a few months later. In any case, from that time on she was showered with monetary rewards, privileges and trade monopolies. In addition, Louis XIV gave her the title "Madame de Maintenon", using the name of the castle, which she bought in December 1674. The close proximity of the king with Madame de Maintenon, who refused to be elevated to the rank of duchess, became quite obvious in 1681, when Louis XIV provided her with apartments at Versailles adjacent to his own. When Queen Maria Theresa died on July 30, 1683, the king proposed a secret marriage to his favorite. From the correspondence between Madame de Brinon and Charles d'Aubigny, we can conclude that this secret marriage took place on October 9 or 10, 1683. From that time on, Madame de Maintenon became the “uncrowned queen of Versailles.” From that moment on, her life was closely connected with the history of the kingdom. However, this indisputable fact should not lead to the false conclusion that she began to exert a noticeable, albeit secret, influence on the king’s policies.

Louis XIV throughout his life did not allow anyone to lead him in state affairs. And yet, given the particularly close relationship between Madame de Maintenon and the king, one cannot help but admit that the opinion of the “uncrowned queen of Versailles” had weight in political matters. From the end of 1683, they talked for a long time every day about everything: about construction sites, the theater, religious problems, and above all about people. It was therefore inevitable that their conversations would at least touch on politics. Thus, it is known that Maintenon did not rate Louvois highly and showed preference to the Colbert clan. In addition, it is known that at the end of the reign of Louis XIV, the ministers preferred to seek access to the weakened king, whom they did not want to tire too much, through Madame de Maintenon. They informed her and left it to her discretion whether the king should be disturbed with this matter. Therefore, evil tongues in 1714 claimed that a triumvirate ruled over the council of ministers - Mentenoi, confessor Michel Teillet (1643 - 1719) and chancellor Daniel-François Voisin de la Noireille (1654 - 1717). This was not entirely true. But it cannot be denied that Chancellor Voisin owed his career mainly to the patronage of de Maintenon. Even if Maintenon did not do politics, she still participated in some of the king’s most important political decisions, for example, on securing the succession to the throne and the will. It is also undeniable that this outstanding woman managed to bring about fundamental changes in the life of the king and the entire court. Life in Versailles became more serious and, in the opinion of the courtiers, more boring. Under her influence, the king acquired a more serious worldview.

After the death of the minister Seigneley (Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Marquis de Senieleil, 1651 - 1690) and Louvois (1641 - 1691), there was a further increase in the fullness of the king's personal power, although one cannot - like some contemporaries - talk about despotism. This is manifested, for example, in his strategic, tactical and administrative efforts aimed at eliminating the consequences of the devastating crop failures and famine of 1693/94.

The old king was greatly saddened and worried by three deaths of close people, which occurred within a few months and jeopardized the direct succession to the throne through the male line of the dynasty. On April 14, 1711, the son of Louis XIV, the Dauphin Louis of France (1661 - 1711), died of chickenpox. His death shocked the king and father. Having not yet recovered from this blow, on February 18, 1712, he lost his grandson, the second Dauphin Louis of France, Duke of Burgundy (1682 - 1712). Less than three weeks later, on March 8, 1712, the eldest great-grandson of the king, the third Dauphin, Louis of France, Duke of Brittany (1707 - 1712), died. He served as Dauphin for only 19 days. In order to preserve the inheritance of the throne for a long time in this situation for the dynasty, which was under threat, the king decided on a measure that was a violation of the “Basic Law” of the monarchy regulating the succession to the throne, the so-called “Salic Law”. In July 1714, he issued an order that those born from a relationship with the Marquise de Montespan, i.e. illegitimate sons, the Duke of Maine (1670 - 1736) and the Count of Toulouse (1678 - 1723) are allowed to inherit the throne if there are no more princes of royal blood. And although this edict, in the appearance of which Madame de Maintenon also participated, clearly violated the “Basic Law” of the kingdom, the Paris Parliament registered it on August 2, 1714.

The will, presented in August 1714 to the Parisian Parliament, also had little correspondence with the Basic Law. With this will, the king wanted to regulate the future regency for his great-grandson, the Dauphin, by providing for the establishment of a regency council, even fixing its personal composition and establishing that decisions in this council would be made by a majority vote. However, this will did not play a role, since on September 2, 1715, the day after the death of the king, the Paris Parliament declared it invalid.

On August 9, 1715, the king fell ill and the next day returned from Marly, where he was hunting, to Versailles. Although in the following days he was engaged in government affairs as best he could, it was clear to everyone that his health was constantly deteriorating. On August 24, the court, the king’s friends and his doctors began to seriously worry about the course of the disease. The next day, Louis XIV received unction. Over the next few days, he said goodbye to the court, to his family members, and prepared for death. On August 30, he lost consciousness, gangrene spread to his knee and hip. Louis XIV died on September 1, 1715 at 7.15 am. With his death, France lost one of its greatest and most significant rulers, whose reign left an indelible mark on the French monarchy and whose achievements inspired numerous imitations far beyond France's borders.

State finances were in a deplorable state in 1715. If the information that has reached us is correct, public debts reached a gigantic amount for that time, about 2 billion livres. However, despite this, it should be emphasized that the country, thanks to its natural resources, a relatively strong agricultural economy, manufacturing capacity and its overseas trade, although with the greatest difficulties, survived the 25 war years.

Although Louis XIV failed to realize his desire for hegemony in Europe, in death he left a country larger and better protected than at the beginning of his sole rule. Louis XIV left his successor a monarchy, which in subsequent decades was able to play a primary political role in Europe. We must agree with Voltaire, who aptly noted: “Despite everything that is written against him, his name will not be pronounced without reverence, and with this name will be connected the idea of ​​a century that will forever remain grateful.”

1. The most brilliant of the kings of France was also the longest-serving monarch of Europe. He reigned for 72 years, and even the current English Queen Elizabeth, who ascended the throne in 1952, has not yet managed to “overtake” the illustrious Sun King.

2.Louis XIV believed that he was a kind of gift from God.

3. For more than twenty years, Queen Anne of Austria could not become pregnant from Louis XIII, when, finally, by an incredible chance, this happened, Louis XIII, to celebrate, decided to dedicate the entire country to the Blessed Virgin and place himself and the kingdom under her heavenly protection.

4. The royal couple was lucky - on September 5, 1638, a boy was born. Moreover, the little Dauphin was born on the most suitable day for this, on Sunday, the day of the sun. They also say that it was a divine manifestation of heavenly grace that Louis XIV was born with two teeth in his mouth. Therefore, he immediately received the nickname Louis-Dieudonné, that is, “given by God.”

5. The famous philosopher Tommaso Campanella, who lived at the French court in those years, and who once wrote the popular treatise “The City of the Sun,” connected his utopian city with the appearance of the heir of France on the day of the Sun, and confidently declared: “How he will please the sun with his warmth and light France and its friends."

King Louis 13

6.In 1643, Louis XIV ascended the throne as a four-year-old boy and began to build his future and the future of the country. People remember the reign of Louis XIV as the era of the Sun King. And this is all thanks to the enormous benefits received after the end of the 30-year war, the country’s rich resources, military victories and many other factors.

7.His father, Louis XIII, died on May 14, 1643 at the age of 41, when little Louis was 4 years and 8 months old. The throne automatically passed to him, but, of course, it was impossible to rule the state at such a tender age, so his mother, Anna of Austria, became regent. But in fact, the affairs of the state were managed by Cardinal Mazarin, who not only was the king’s godfather, but, in fact, for some time became his real stepfather and doted on him.

8. Louis XIV was officially crowned at the age of 15, but in fact, he did not rule the state for another seven years - until the death of Mazarin. By the way, this story was later repeated with his great-grandson Louis XV, who ascended the throne at the age of 5, after the death of his brilliant grandfather.

9. The 72 years of the reign of King Louis XIV received the name “Great Century” in French history.

10.When Louis was 10 years old, a virtual civil war broke out in the country, in which the opposition Fronde confronted the authorities. The young king had to endure a blockade in the Louvre, a secret escape and many other, not at all royal things.

Anne of Austria - mother of Louis 14

11. Louis XIV grew up, and along with him grew his firm intention to rule the country independently, because in the period from 1648 to 1653, civil wars raged in France, and at that time the young monarch found himself a puppet in the wrong hands. But he successfully defeated the rebellions and in 1661 took all power into his own hands after the death of the first minister, Mazarin.

12. It was during these years that his character and his views were formed. Remembering the turmoil of his childhood, Louis XIV was convinced that the country could prosper only under the strong, unlimited power of the autocrat.

13.After the death of Cardinal Mazarin in 1661, the young king convened the Council of State, at which he announced that from now on he intended to rule independently, without appointing a first minister. It was then that he decided to build a large residence in Versailles, so as not to return to the unreliable Louvre.

14. In 1661, the 23-year-old King Louis XIV of France arrived at his father’s small hunting castle, located near Paris. The monarch ordered large-scale construction of his new residence to begin here, which was to become his stronghold and refuge. The Sun King's dream has come true. In Versailles, created at his request, Louis spent his best years, and here he ended his earthly journey.

15.In the period from 1661 to 1673, the monarch carried out the most productive reforms for France. Louis XIV carried out reforms in the social and economic spheres to reorganize all state institutions. Literature and art began to flourish in the country.

Versailles

16. The royal court moves to the Palace of Versailles, it is considered a monument to the era of Louis XIV. The monarch there surrounds himself with noble nobles and keeps them constantly under control, thus he excluded any possibility of political intrigue.

17. This king, as they say, worked excellently with personnel. The de facto head of government for two decades was Jean-Baptiste Colbert, a talented financier. Thanks to Colbert, the first period of the reign of Louis XIV was very successful from an economic point of view.

18. Louis XIV patronized science and art, because he considered it impossible for his kingdom to flourish without a high level of development of these spheres of human activity.

19. If the king were only concerned with the construction of Versailles, the rise of the economy and the development of the arts, then, probably, the respect and love of his subjects for the Sun King would be limitless.

20.However, the ambitions of Louis XIV extended much beyond the borders of his state. By the early 1680s, Louis XIV had the most powerful army in Europe, which only whetted his appetite.

21. In 1681, he established chambers of reunification to determine the rights of the French crown to certain areas, seizing more and more lands in Europe and Africa.

22. Louis XIV became an absolute monarch and first of all he brought order to the treasury, created a strong fleet, and developed trade. By force of arms he realizes territorial claims. So, as a result of military operations, Franche-Comté, Metz, Strasbourg, a number of cities in the Southern Netherlands and some other cities went to France.

23.The military prestige of France rose high, which allowed Louis XIV to dictate his terms to almost all European courts. But this circumstance also turned against Louis XIV himself, the enemies of France rallied, and the Protestants turned against Louis for persecuting the Huguenots.

24. In 1688, Louis XIV's claims to the Palatinate led to the whole of Europe turning against him. The so-called War of the League of Augsburg lasted for nine years and resulted in the parties maintaining the status quo. But the huge expenses and losses incurred by France led to a new economic decline in the country and a depletion of funds.

25.But already in 1701, France was drawn into a long conflict, called the War of the Spanish Succession. Louis XIV hoped to defend the rights to the Spanish throne for his grandson, who was to become the head of two states. However, the war, which engulfed not only Europe, but also North America, ended unsuccessfully for France. According to the peace concluded in 1713 and 1714, the grandson of Louis XIV retained the Spanish crown, but its Italian and Dutch possessions were lost, and England, by destroying the Franco-Spanish fleets and conquering a number of colonies, laid the foundation for its maritime dominion. In addition, the project of uniting France and Spain under the hand of the French monarch had to be abandoned.

King Louis 15

26. This last military campaign of Louis XIV returned him to where he started - the country was mired in debt and groaning from the burden of taxes, and here and there uprisings broke out, the suppression of which required more and more resources.

27.The need to replenish the budget led to non-trivial decisions. Under Louis XIV, the trade in government positions was put on stream, reaching its maximum extent in the last years of his life. To replenish the treasury, more and more new positions were created, which, of course, brought chaos and discord into the activities of state institutions.

28.The ranks of opponents of Louis XIV were joined by French Protestants after the “Edict of Fontainebleau” was signed in 1685, repealing the Edict of Nantes of Henry IV, which guaranteed freedom of religion to the Huguenots.

29.After this, more than 200 thousand French Protestants emigrated from the country, despite strict penalties for emigration. The exodus of tens of thousands of economically active citizens dealt another painful blow to the power of France.

30.At all times and eras, the personal life of monarchs influenced politics. Louis XIV is no exception in this sense. The monarch once remarked: “It would be easier for me to reconcile all of Europe than a few women.”

Maria Theresa

31. His official wife in 1660 was a peer, the Spanish Infanta Maria Theresa, who was Louis’s cousin on both his father and mother.

32. The problem with this marriage, however, was not the close family ties of the spouses. Louis simply did not love Maria Theresa, but he meekly agreed to the marriage, which had important political significance. The wife bore the king six children, but five of them died in childhood. Only the first-born survived, named, like his father, Louis and who went down in history under the name of the Grand Dauphin.

33. For the sake of marriage, Louis broke off relations with the woman he really loved - the niece of Cardinal Mazarin. Perhaps the separation from his beloved also influenced the king’s attitude towards his legal wife. Maria Theresa accepted her fate. Unlike other French queens, she did not intrigue or get involved in politics, playing a prescribed role. When the queen died in 1683, Louis said: “This is the only worry in my life that she has caused me.”

Louise - Francoise de Lavalliere

34. The king compensated for the lack of feelings in marriage with relationships with his favorites. For nine years, Louise-Françoise de La Baume Le Blanc, Duchess de La Vallière, became Louise's sweetheart. Louise was not distinguished by her dazzling beauty, and, moreover, due to an unsuccessful fall from a horse, she remained lame for the rest of her life. But the meekness, friendliness and sharp mind of Lamefoot attracted the attention of the king.

35. Louise bore Louis four children, two of whom lived to adulthood. The king treated Louise quite cruelly. Having begun to grow cold towards her, he settled his rejected mistress next to his new favorite - Marquise Françoise Athenaïs de Montespan. The Duchess de La Valliere was forced to endure the bullying of her rival. She endured everything with her characteristic meekness, and in 1675 she became a nun and lived for many years in a monastery, where she was called Louise the Merciful.

Françosasa Athenais Montespan

36. In the lady before Montespan there was not a shadow of the meekness of her predecessor. A representative of one of the most ancient noble families in France, Françoise not only became the official favorite, but for 10 years turned into the “true queen of France.”

37.Françoise loved luxury and did not like counting money. It was the Marquise de Montespan who turned the reign of Louis XIV from deliberate budgeting to unrestrained and unlimited spending. Capricious, envious, domineering and ambitious, Francoise knew how to subjugate the king to her will. New apartments were built for her in Versailles, and she managed to place all her close relatives in significant government positions.

38. Françoise de Montespan gave birth to seven children for Louis, four of whom lived to adulthood. But the relationship between Françoise and the king was not as faithful as with Louise. Louis allowed himself hobbies besides his official favorite, which infuriated Madame de Montespan. To keep the king with her, she began to practice black magic and even became involved in a high-profile poisoning case. The king did not punish her with death, but deprived her of the status of a favorite, which was much more terrible for her. Like her predecessor, Louise le Lavalier, the Marquise de Montespan exchanged the royal chambers for a monastery.

39. Louis's new favorite was the Marquise de Maintenon, the widow of the poet Scarron, who was the governess of the king's children from Madame de Montespan. This king's favorite was called the same as her predecessor, Françoise, but the women were as different from each other as heaven and earth. The king had long conversations with the Marquise de Maintenon about the meaning of life, about religion, about responsibility before God. The royal court replaced its splendor with chastity and high morality.

40.After the death of his official wife, Louis XIV secretly married the Marquise de Maintenon. Now the king was occupied not with balls and festivities, but with masses and reading the Bible. The only entertainment he allowed himself was hunting.

Marquise de Maintenon

41. The Marquise de Maintenon founded and directed the first secular school for women in Europe, called the Royal House of Saint Louis. The school in Saint-Cyr became an example for many similar institutions, including the Smolny Institute in St. Petersburg. For her strict disposition and intolerance to secular entertainment, the Marquise de Maintenon received the nickname the Black Queen. She survived Louis and after his death retired to Saint-Cyr, living the rest of her days among the pupils of her school.

42.Louis XIV recognized his illegitimate children from both Louise de La Vallière and Françoise de Montespan. They all received their father's surname - de Bourbon, and dad tried to arrange their lives.

43. Louis, son from Louise, was already promoted to French admiral at the age of two, and having matured, he went on a military campaign with his father. There, at the age of 16, the young man died.

44. Louis-Auguste, son from Françoise, received the title of Duke of Maine, became a French commander and in this capacity accepted the godson of Peter I and Alexander Pushkin’s great-grandfather Abram Petrovich Hannibal for military training.

45. Françoise Marie, Louis's youngest daughter, was married to Philippe d'Orléans, becoming Duchess of Orléans. Possessing the character of her mother, Françoise-Marie plunged headlong into political intrigue. Her husband became the French regent under the young King Louis XV, and Françoise-Marie's children married the scions of other European royal dynasties. In a word, not many illegitimate children of ruling persons suffered the same fate that befell the sons and daughters of Louis XIV.

46.The last years of the king’s life turned out to be a difficult ordeal for him. The man, who throughout his life defended the chosenness of the monarch and his right to autocratic rule, experienced not only the crisis of his state. His close people left one after another, and it turned out that there was simply no one to transfer power to.

47. On April 13, 1711, his son, the Grand Dauphin Louis, died. In February 1712, the eldest son of the Dauphin, the Duke of Burgundy, died, and on March 8 of the same year, the eldest son of the latter, the young Duke of Breton, died. On March 4, 1714, the Duke of Burgundy's younger brother, the Duke of Berry, fell from his horse and died a few days later. The only heir was the 4-year-old great-grandson of the king, the youngest son of the Duke of Burgundy. If this little one had died, the throne would have remained vacant after the death of Louis. This forced the king to include even his illegitimate sons in the list of heirs, which promised internal civil strife in France in the future.

48. When the French, along with their British competitors, were in full swing developing the newly discovered America, René-Robert Cavelier de la Salle staked out lands on the Mississippi River in 1682, calling them Louisiana, precisely in honor of Louis XIV. True, France later sold them.

49.Louis XIV built the most magnificent palace in Europe. Versailles was born from a small hunting estate and became a real royal palace, causing the envy of many monarchs. Versailles had 2,300 rooms, 189,000 square meters, a park on 800 hectares of land, 200,000 trees and 50 fountains.

50. At the age of 76, Louis remained active, active and, as in his youth, regularly went hunting. During one of these trips, the king fell and injured his leg. Doctors discovered that the injury had caused gangrene and suggested amputation. The Sun King refused: this is unacceptable for royal dignity. The disease progressed rapidly, and soon agony began, lasting for several days. At the moment of clarity of consciousness, Louis looked around those present and uttered his last aphorism: “Why are you crying?” Did you really think that I would live forever? On September 1, 1715, at about 8 a.m., Louis XIV died in his palace at Versailles, four days short of his 77th birthday. France said goodbye to the great monarch. The threat from Britain, which was gaining strength, was growing.