Biography louis xiv



Louis xiii...

Louis XIV (1638-1715)

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

Louis was born on 5 September 1638 at St Germain-en-Laye.

He became king at the age of four on the death of his father, Louis XIII.

Biography louis xiv

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  • While Louis was a child, his mother, Anne of Austria, served as regent, assisted by Louis XIII's chief 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 fear of rebellion, and a dislike of Paris, prompting him to spend more and more time in Versailles, southwest of Paris. In 1660, he married Maria Theresa, daughter of Philip IV of Spain.

    When Mazarin died in 1661, the 23-year-old Louis decided to rule without a chief minister.

    He regarded himself as an absolute monarch, with his power coming directly from God. He carefully cultivated his image and took