Sun King

A detailed Summary of Sun King

Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, was the absolute monarch of France from 1643 to 1715. He was the third monarch of the Bourbon Family, who ruled for 72 years, the longest reign of any European Monarch. Louis guided France through a great era that signified France's continental European dominance, even though he inherited a kingdom that was internally divided, militarily exhausted, and nearly bankrupt. The Sun King, or le Roi Soleil, achieved many of his goals which made France the greatest power in the Western world. Although Louis XIV's nation prospered, many debts were left behind for his heirs.

The Sun King was born at Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1638 to King Louis XIII and Anne of Austria, who had not had children in their twenty-two year marriage. Christened under the name Louis Dieudonne (literally, gift of god), he received the throne in 1643, just after his father's death. Louis XIV was just five years old, so his mother and her principal minister, Jules Cardinal Mazarin, guided the nation until Mazarin's demise in 1661. From hence fourth, Louis declared that he would rule France without a chief minister, something no French king had done in living memory. Louis XIV stripped the Estates-General of its power, b

Moliere and Jean Baptiste Racine received royal patronage as playwrights. Three French academies were created, later part of the Institut de France; L'Academie des Inscriptions et Belles'Lettres, L'Academie des Sciences, and L'Academie des Beaux Arts.

Louis XIV, the Sun King, died in 1715, just after the War of the Spanish Succession ended. He was succeeded by his great-grandson, Louis XV. During Louis's reign, France acquired many colonial possessions. Also, Louis strengthened the central government's control over the diverse and unique regions of France. On the other hand, he provoked controversy between Catholics and Protestants. Ultimately, Louis XIV dreamed of bringing glory to France and his dynasty, and he died believing that he had accomplished his goal. Louis XIV's long reign marked the cultural ascendancy of France within Europe, symbolized by the Palace of Versailles.

Construction projects including adding a new wing to the Louvre palace, building Les Invalides as housing for army veterans, and constructing the observatory as a site for new scientific advancements and technology.

Louis had several main objectives for his early reign. These included the reorganizing of the administration of government, the replenishing of his empty treasury, and the establishing of borders between him and his enemies. Colbert was left in charge of the finance area. He realized that traditional taxation was already too high, so Colbert worked to find new sources of capital. He derived the idea of a tariff, or import tax, on all goods. Also, marketing in French colonies was another idea. This then set the beliefs in mercantilism, which formed t

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Category: History