View source for Louis XIV

{{Short description|King of France from 1643 to 1715}}
{{Redirect2|Sun King|Le Roi Soleil|the French musical about Louis XIV|Le Roi Soleil (musical){{!}}''Le Roi Soleil'' (musical)|other uses|Sun King (disambiguation)|and|Louis XIV (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox royalty
| image        = Louis XIV of France.jpg
| caption      = [[Portrait of Louis XIV|Portrait by Hyacinthe Rigaud]], 1701
| alt          = Portrait of Louis XIV aged 63
| succession   = [[King of France]]
| moretext     = ([[Style of the French sovereign|more...]])
| reign        = 14 May 1643 – 1 September 1715
| cor-type     = france
| coronation   = 7 June 1654<br/>[[Reims Cathedral]]
| predecessor  = [[Louis XIII]]
| successor    = [[Louis XV]]
| regent       = [[Anne of Austria]] (1643–1651)
| reg-type1    = {{Nowrap|[[Chief minister of France|Chief ministers]]}}
| regent1      = {{Collapsible list|title=''See list''|
* [[Cardinal Mazarin]]<br/>(1643–1661)
* [[Jean-Baptiste Colbert]]<br/>(1661–1683)
* [[François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois|The Marquis of Louvois]]<br/>(1683–1691)}}
| spouses      = {{Plainlist|
* {{Marriage|[[Maria Theresa of Spain]]|9 June 1660|30 July 1683|reason=died}}
* {{Marriage|[[Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon]] (private)|1683}}}}
| issue        = {{Plainlist|
* [[Louis, Grand Dauphin]]
* [[Marie Thérèse, Madame Royale (1667–1672)|Marie Thérèse, Madame Royale]]
* [[Philippe Charles, Duke of Anjou]]
* [[Louis François, Duke of Anjou]]
* {{it col|Illegitimate}}<br>[[Marie Anne, Princess of Conti]]
* [[Louis, Count of Vermandois]]
* [[Louis Auguste, Duke of Maine]]
* [[Louis César, Count of Vexin]]
* [[Louise Françoise, Princess of Condé]]
* [[Louise Marie Anne de Bourbon|Louise Marie Anne, Mademoiselle de Tours]]
* [[Louise de Maisonblanche|Louise, Baroness of La Queue]]
* [[Françoise Marie de Bourbon|Françoise Marie, Duchess of Orléans]]
* [[Louis Alexandre, Count of Toulouse]]
}}
| issue-link   = #Issue
| issue-pipe   = more...
| full name    = Louis-Dieudonné de France
| house        = [[House of Bourbon|Bourbon]]
| father       = [[Louis XIII]]
| mother       = [[Anne of Austria]]
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|df=yes|1638|9|5}}
| birth_place  = [[Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye]], [[Saint-Germain-en-Laye]], [[Kingdom of France|France]]
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1715|9|1|1638|9|5}}
| death_place  = [[Palace of Versailles]], [[Versailles]], [[France]]
| burial_date  = 9 September 1715
| burial_place = [[Basilica of Saint-Denis]]
| religion     = [[Catholic Church in France|Catholicism]]
| signature    = Louis XIV Signature.svg
}}
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'''Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV''' (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 1638{{Spaced ndash}}1 September 1715), also known as '''Louis the Great''' ({{Lang|fr|Louis le Grand}}) or the '''Sun King''' ({{Lang|fr|le Roi Soleil}}), was [[King of France]] from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the [[List of longest-reigning monarchs|longest of any monarch in history]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008 |title=Louis XIV |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761572792/Louis_XIV.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028021603/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761572792/Louis_XIV.html |archive-date=28 October 2009 |access-date=20 January 2008 |publisher=[[MSN Encarta]]}}</ref>{{Efn|Some monarchs of states that were not fully sovereign for most or all of their reign ruled for longer. For example, [[Sobhuza II of Swaziland]] at 82 years and [[Bernard VII of Lippe]] in the [[Holy Roman Empire]] at 81 years.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Buchanan |first=Rose Troup |date=29 August 2015 |title=Longest serving rulers ever |work=[[The Independent]] |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/queen-elizabeth-ii-to-become-britains-longest-reigning-monarch-longest-serving-rulers-ever-10477985.html |access-date=4 July 2017 |archive-date=14 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200214161336/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/queen-elizabeth-ii-to-become-britains-longest-reigning-monarch-longest-serving-rulers-ever-10477985.html |url-status=live }}</ref>}} An emblem of the [[Absolutism (European history)|age of absolutism]] in Europe,{{Sfn|Spielvogel|2016|p=419}} Louis XIV's legacy includes [[French colonial empire|French colonial expansion]], the conclusion of the [[Thirty Years' War]] involving the [[Habsburgs]], and a controlling influence on the [[Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture|style of fine arts]] and architecture in France, including the transformation of the [[Palace of Versailles]] into a center of royal power and politics. Louis XIV's pageantry  and opulence helped define the [[French Baroque architecture|French Baroque style of art and architecture]] and promoted his image as absolute ruler of France in the [[early modern period]]. 

Louis XIV began his personal rule of France in 1661 after the death of his chief minister [[Cardinal Mazarin]]. A believer in the [[divine right of kings]], Louis XIV continued [[Louis XIII|Louis XIII's]] work of creating a [[Centralized government|centralized state]] governed from a capital. Louis XIV sought to eliminate the remnants of [[feudalism]] persisting in parts of France by compelling many members of the [[French nobility|nobility]] to reside at his lavish [[Palace of Versailles]]. In doing so, he succeeded in pacifying the aristocracy, many of whom had participated in [[the Fronde]] rebellions during his minority. He consolidated a system of [[absolute monarchy]] in France that endured until the [[French Revolution]]. Louis XIV enforced uniformity of religion under the [[Catholic Church in France|Catholic Church]]. His [[Edict of Fontainebleau|revocation]] of the [[Edict of Nantes]] abolished the rights of the [[Huguenot]] Protestant minority and subjected them to a wave of [[dragonnades]], effectively forcing Huguenots to emigrate or convert, virtually destroying the French Protestant community. 

During Louis's long reign, France emerged as the leading [[Great power|European power]] and regularly made war. A [[Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)|conflict with Spain]] marked his entire childhood, while during his personal rule, Louis fought three major continental conflicts, each against powerful foreign alliances: the [[Franco-Dutch War]], the [[Nine Years' War]], and the [[War of the Spanish Succession]]. In addition, France contested shorter wars such as the [[War of Devolution]] and the [[War of the Reunions]]. Warfare defined Louis's foreign policy, impelled by his personal ambition for glory and power: "a mix of commerce, revenge, and pique".{{sfn|Nathan|1993|pp=633–649}} His wars strained France's resources to the utmost, while in peacetime he concentrated on preparing for the next war. He taught his diplomats that their job was to create tactical and strategic advantages for the French military.{{sfn|Nathan|1993|p=633}} Upon his death in 1715, Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV left his great-grandson and successor, [[Louis XV]], a powerful but war-weary kingdom, in major debt after the War of the Spanish Succession that had raged on since 1701.

Some of his other notable achievements include the construction of the 240 km (150 mi) long [[Canal du Midi]] in [[Southern France]], the patronage of [[Louis XIV style|artists]] (the playwrights [[Molière]], [[Jean Racine|Racine]], the man of letters [[Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux|Boileau]], the composer and dancer [[Jean-Baptiste Lully|Lully]], the painter [[Charles Le Brun|Le Brun]] and the landscape architect [[André Le Nôtre|Le Nôtre]], all contributed to the apogee of French classicism, described during his lifetime as the "[[Grand Siècle]]", or even "the century of Louis XIV"), and the founding of the [[French Academy of Sciences]].{{TOC limit|3}}

==Early years==
[[File:Anonyme - Portrait du Dauphin 01.jpg|thumb|Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV as a young child, unknown painter]]
[[File:Acte de naissance de Louis XIV 1738.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Baptismal certificate, 1638]]

Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV was born on 5th of September 1638 in the [[Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye]], to [[Louis&nbsp;XIII]] and [[Anne of Austria]]. He was named Louis Dieudonné (Louis the God-given)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brémond |first=Henri |url=https://archive.org/details/laprovencemysti00bremgoog |title=La Provence mystique au XVIIe siècle |publisher=Plon-Nourrit |date=1908 |location=Paris, France |pages=[https://archive.org/details/laprovencemysti00bremgoog/page/n415 381]–382 |language=fr |author-link=Henri Brémond}}</ref> and bore the traditional title of French [[Heir apparent|heirs apparent]]: ''[[Dauphin of France|Dauphin]]''.{{Sfn|Bluche|1990|p=11}} At the time of his birth, his parents had been married for 23 years. His mother had experienced four [[stillbirth]]s between 1619 and 1631. Leading contemporaries thus regarded him as a divine gift and his birth a miracle of God.{{Sfn|Barentine|2016|p=129}} 

Louis's relationship with his mother was uncommonly affectionate for the time. Contemporaries and eyewitnesses claimed that the Queen would spend all her time with Louis.{{Sfn|Panhuysen|2016|p=26}} Both were greatly interested in food and theatre, and it is highly likely that Louis developed these interests through his close relationship with his mother. This long-lasting and loving relationship can be evidenced by excerpts in Louis's journal entries, such as:
<blockquote>"Nature was responsible for the first knots which tied me to my mother. But attachments formed later by shared qualities of the spirit are far more difficult to break than those formed merely by blood."{{Sfn|Fraser|2006|pp=14–16}}</blockquote>
It was his mother who gave Louis his belief in the absolute and divine power of his monarchical rule.<ref>{{Harvnb|Petitfils|2002|pp=30–40}}</ref>
[[File:Portrait du Dauphin futur Louis XIV.1642.jpg|thumb|Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV, then [[Dauphin of France]], in 1642, one year before his accession to the throne, by [[Philippe de Champaigne]]]]
During his childhood, he was taken care of by the governesses [[Françoise de Lansac]] and [[Marie-Catherine de Senecey]]. In 1646, [[Nicolas de Neufville de Villeroy|Nicolas&nbsp;V de Villeroy]] became the young king's tutor. Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV became friends with Villeroy's young children, particularly [[François de Neufville, duc de Villeroy|François de Villeroy]], and divided his time between the [[Palais-Royal]] and the nearby Hotel de Villeroy.

==Minority and the ''Fronde''==
{{More citations needed section|date=August 2017}}<!--many paragraphs with no citations-->

===Accession===
{{Further|Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)}}
[[File:Bb85790a33.jpg|thumb|right|Louis XIV in 1643, by [[Claude Deruet]]]]
Sensing imminent death in the spring of 1643, King [[Louis XIII]] decided to put his affairs in order for his four-year-old son Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV. Not trusting the judgement of his Spanish wife Queen Anne, who would normally have become the sole [[regent]] of France, the king decreed that a regency council would rule on his son's behalf, with Anne at its head.{{Sfn|Reinhardt|2016|p=20}}

Louis XIII died on 14 May 1643. On 18 May{{Sfn|Kleinman|1985|p=145}} Queen Anne had her husband's will annulled by the ''[[Parlement|Parlement de Paris]]'', a judicial body of nobles and high-ranking clergy,{{Sfn|Bély|2001|p=57}} and she became sole regent. She exiled her husband's ministers Chavigny and Bouthilier and appointed the [[Henri-Auguste de Loménie, comte de Brienne|Count of Brienne]] as her minister of foreign affairs.{{Sfn|Sonnino|1998|pp=217–218}} Anne kept the direction of religious policy strongly in hand until her son's majority in 1661.

She appointed [[Cardinal Mazarin]] as chief minister, giving him the daily administration of policy. She continued the policies of her late husband and [[Cardinal Richelieu]], despite their persecution of her, in order to win absolute authority in France and victory abroad for her son. Anne protected Mazarin by exiling her followers the [[César de Bourbon|Duke of Beaufort]] and [[Marie de Rohan]], who conspired against him in 1643.<ref>{{Harvnb|Petitfils|2002|pp=34–37}}</ref>

The best example of Anne's loyalty to France was her treatment of one of Richelieu's men, the Chancellor [[Pierre Séguier]]. Séguier had brusquely interrogated Anne in 1637 (like a "common criminal", as she recalled) following the discovery that she was giving military secrets to her father in Spain, and Anne was virtually under house arrest for years. By keeping the effective Séguier in his post, Anne sacrificed her own feelings for the interests of France and her son Louis.

The Queen sought a lasting peace between Catholic nations, but only after a French victory over her native Spain. She also gave a partial Catholic orientation to French foreign policy. This was felt by the Netherlands, France's Protestant ally, which negotiated a separate peace with Spain in 1648.<ref>{{Harvnb|Petitfils|2002|pp=29–36}}</ref>

In 1648, Anne and Mazarin successfully negotiated the [[Peace of Westphalia]], which ended the [[Thirty Years' War]].{{Sfn|Beem|2018|p=83}} Its terms ensured [[Eighty Years' War|Dutch independence]] from [[Spanish Empire|Spain]], awarded some autonomy to the various German princes of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], and granted Sweden seats on the [[Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)|Imperial Diet]] and territories controlling the mouths of the [[Oder]], [[Elbe]], and [[Weser|Weser Rivers]].{{Sfn|Barentine|2016|p=131}} France, however, profited most from the settlement. Austria, ruled by the [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg]] Emperor [[Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand III]], ceded all Habsburg lands and claims in [[Alsace]] to France and acknowledged her ''de facto'' sovereignty over the [[Three Bishoprics]] of [[Metz]], [[Verdun]], and [[Toul]].{{Sfn|Dvornik|1962|p=456}} Moreover, many petty German states sought French protection, eager to emancipate themselves from Habsburg domination. This anticipated the formation of the 1658 [[League of the Rhine]], which further diminished Imperial power.

===Early acts===
As the Thirty Years' War came to an end, a civil war known as [[the Fronde]] erupted in France. It effectively checked France's ability to exploit the Peace of Westphalia. Anne and Mazarin had largely pursued the policies of Cardinal Richelieu, augmenting the Crown's power at the expense of the nobility and the ''{{Lang|fr|[[Parlement]]s}}''. Anne was more concerned with internal policy than foreign affairs; she was a very proud queen who insisted on the divine rights of the King of France.{{Sfn|Kleinman|1985|p={{Page needed|date=October 2020}}}}

[[File:Europe map 1648.PNG|thumb|Europe after the [[Peace of Westphalia]] in 1648]]

All this led her to advocate a forceful policy in all matters relating to the King's authority, in a manner that was much more radical than the one proposed by Mazarin. The Cardinal depended totally on Anne's support and had to use all his influence on the Queen to temper some of her radical actions. Anne imprisoned any aristocrat or member of parliament who challenged her will; her main aim was to transfer to her son an absolute authority in the matters of finance and justice. One of the leaders of the Parlement of Paris, whom she had jailed, died in prison.<ref>{{Harvnb|Petitfils|2002|pp=70–75}}</ref>

The ''{{Lang|fr|Frondeurs}}'', political heirs of the disaffected feudal aristocracy, sought to protect their traditional feudal privileges from the increasingly centralized royal government. Furthermore, they believed their traditional influence and authority was being usurped by the recently ennobled bureaucrats (the ''{{Lang|fr|Noblesse de Robe}}'', or "nobility of the robe"), who administered the kingdom and on whom the monarchy increasingly began to rely. This belief intensified the nobles' resentment.{{Citation needed|date=May 2018}}

In 1648, Anne and Mazarin attempted to tax members of the ''{{Lang|fr|Parlement de Paris}}''. The members refused to comply and ordered all of the king's earlier financial edicts burned. Buoyed by the victory of {{Lang|fr|[[Louis, Grand Condé|Louis, duc d'Enghien]]}} (later known as ''{{Lang|fr|le Grand Condé}}'') at the [[Battle of Lens]], Mazarin, on Queen Anne's insistence, arrested certain members in a show of force.<ref>{{Harvnb|Petitfils|2002|pp=80–85}}</ref> The most important arrest, from Anne's point of view, concerned [[Pierre Broussel]], one of the most important leaders in the ''{{Lang|fr|Parlement de Paris}}''.

[[File:Louis XIV en Jupiter, vainqueur de la Fronde.jpg|thumb|1655 portrait of Louis, the Victor of the Fronde, portrayed as the god [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]]]]

People in France were complaining about the expansion of royal authority, the high rate of taxation, and the reduction of the authority of the Parlement de Paris and other regional representative entities. Paris erupted in rioting as a result, and Anne was forced, under intense pressure, to free Broussel. Moreover, on the night of 9–10 February 1651, when Louis was twelve, a mob of angry Parisians broke into the royal palace and demanded to see their king. Led into the royal bed-chamber, they gazed upon Louis, who was feigning sleep, were appeased, and then quietly departed.{{Sfn|Blanning|2008|p=306}} The threat to the royal family prompted Anne to flee Paris with the king and his courtiers.

Shortly thereafter, the conclusion of the [[Peace of Westphalia]] allowed Condé's army to return to aid Louis and his court. Condé's family was close to Anne at that time, and he agreed to help her attempt to restore the king's authority.{{Sfn|Petitfils|2002|pp=84–87}} The queen's army, headed by Condé, attacked the rebels in Paris; the rebels were under the political control of Anne's old friend [[Marie de Rohan]]. Beaufort, who had escaped from the prison where Anne had incarcerated him five years before, was the military leader in Paris, under the nominal control of Conti. After a few battles, a political compromise was reached; the [[Peace of Rueil]] was signed, and the court returned to Paris.

Unfortunately for Anne, her partial victory depended on Condé, who wanted to control the queen and destroy Mazarin's influence. It was Condé's sister who pushed him to turn against the queen. After striking a deal with her old friend Marie de Rohan, who was able to impose the nomination of {{Lang|fr|[[Charles de l'Aubespine, marquis de Châteauneuf]]}} as minister of justice, Anne arrested Condé, his brother [[Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti]], and the husband of their sister Anne Genevieve de Bourbon, [[duchess of Longueville]]. This situation did not last long, and Mazarin's unpopularity led to the creation of a coalition headed mainly by Marie de Rohan and the duchess of Longueville. This aristocratic coalition was strong enough to liberate the princes, exile Mazarin, and impose a condition of virtual house arrest on Queen Anne.
[[File:Louis XIV by Juste d'Egmont.jpg|left|thumb|Portrait by [[Justus van Egmont]] between the years 1649–1652.]]
All these events were witnessed by Louis and largely explained his later distrust of Paris and the higher aristocracy.{{Sfn|Petitfils|2002|pp=88–90, 91–98}} "In one sense, Louis's childhood came to an end with the outbreak of the Fronde. It was not only that life became insecure and unpleasant – a fate meted out to many children in all ages – but that Louis had to be taken into the confidence of his mother and Mazarin on political and military matters of which he could have no deep understanding".{{Sfn|Hatton|1972|p=22}} "The family home became at times a near-prison when Paris had to be abandoned, not in carefree outings to other chateaux but in humiliating flights".{{Sfn|Hatton|1972|p=22}} The royal family was driven out of Paris twice in this manner, and at one point Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV and Anne were held under virtual arrest in the royal palace in Paris. The Fronde years planted in Louis a hatred of Paris and a consequent determination to move out of the ancient capital as soon as possible, never to return.{{Sfn|Hatton|1972|p=31}}

Just as the first ''{{Lang|fr|Fronde}}'' (the ''{{Lang|fr|Fronde parlementaire}}'' of 1648–1649) ended, a second one (the ''{{Lang|fr|Fronde des princes}}'' of 1650–1653) began. Unlike that which preceded it, tales of sordid intrigue and half-hearted warfare characterized this second phase of upper-class insurrection. To the aristocracy, this rebellion represented a protest for the reversal of their political demotion from [[vassal]]s to [[courtier]]s. It was headed by the highest-ranking French nobles, among them Louis's uncle [[Gaston, Duke of Orléans]] and first cousin [[Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier]], known as ''{{Lang|fr|la Grande Mademoiselle}}''; [[prince du sang|Princes of the Blood]] such as Condé, his brother [[Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti]], and their sister the [[Anne Geneviève de Bourbon|Duchess of Longueville]]; dukes of [[Legitimacy (family law)|legitimised]] royal descent, such as [[Henri II d'Orléans, Duke of Longueville|Henri, Duke of Longueville]], and [[François, Duke of Beaufort]]; so-called "[[Prince étranger|foreign princes]]" such as [[Frédéric Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne|Frédéric Maurice, Duke of Bouillon]], his brother [[Marshal of France|Marshal]] [[Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne|Turenne]], and [[Marie de Rohan]], Duchess of Chevreuse; and [[Kinship|scions]] of France's oldest families, such as [[François de La Rochefoucauld (writer)|François de La Rochefoucauld]].

Queen Anne played the most important role in defeating the Fronde because she wanted to transfer absolute authority to her son. In addition, most of the princes refused to deal with Mazarin, who went into exile for a number of years. The ''{{Lang|fr|Frondeurs}}'' claimed to act on Louis's behalf, and in his real interest, against his mother and Mazarin.

Queen Anne had a very close relationship with the Cardinal, and many observers believed that Mazarin became Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV's stepfather by a secret marriage to Queen Anne.{{Sfn|Hatton|1972|p=18}} However, Louis's coming-of-age and subsequent [[coronation]] deprived them of the ''{{Lang|fr|Frondeurs}}''{{'}} pretext for revolt. The ''{{Lang|fr|Fronde}}'' thus gradually lost steam and ended in 1653, when Mazarin returned triumphantly from exile. From that time until his death, Mazarin was in charge of foreign and financial policy without the daily supervision of Anne, who was no longer regent.{{Sfn|Petitfils|2002|pp=148–150}}

During this period, Louis fell in love with Mazarin's niece [[Marie Mancini]], but Anne and Mazarin ended the king's infatuation by sending Mancini away from court to be married in Italy. While Mazarin might have been tempted for a short time to marry his niece to the King of France, Queen Anne was absolutely against this; she wanted to marry her son to the daughter of her brother, [[Philip IV of Spain]], for both dynastic and political reasons. Mazarin soon supported the Queen's position because he knew that her support for his power and his foreign policy depended on making peace with Spain from a strong position and on the Spanish marriage. Additionally, Mazarin's relations with Marie Mancini were not good, and he did not trust her to support his position. All of Louis's tears and his supplications to his mother did not make her change her mind. The Spanish marriage would be very important both for its role in ending the war between France and Spain, because many of the claims and objectives of Louis's foreign policy for the next 50 years would be based upon this marriage, and because it was through this marriage that the Spanish throne would ultimately be delivered to the House of Bourbon.{{Sfn|Bluche|1990|pp=128–129}}

==Personal reign and reforms==
===Coming of age and early reforms===
[[File:Royal Monogram of King Louis XIV of France.svg|thumb|upright=0.45|Royal Monogram]]
Louis XIV was declared to have reached the age of majority on the 7th of September 1651. On the death of Mazarin, in March 1661, Louis personally took the reins of government and astonished his court by declaring that he would rule without a chief minister: "Up to this moment I have been pleased to entrust the government of my affairs to the late Cardinal. It is now time that I govern them myself. You [secretaries and ministers] will assist me with your counsels when I ask for them. I request and order you to seal no orders except by my command . . . I order you not to sign anything, not even a passport . . . without my command; to render account to me personally each day and to favor no one".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Louis XIV - the Sun King: Absolutism |url=http://www.louis-xiv.de/index.php?id=30 |website=louis-xiv.de |access-date=6 December 2013 |archive-date=28 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131028092402/http://louis-xiv.de/index.php?id=30 |url-status=live }}</ref> Capitalizing on the widespread public yearning for peace and order after decades of foreign and civil strife, the young king consolidated central political authority at the expense of the feudal aristocracy. Praising his ability to choose and encourage men of talent, the historian [[François-René de Chateaubriand|Chateaubriand]] noted: "it is the voice of genius of all kinds which sounds from the tomb of Louis".{{Sfn|Dunlop|2000|p=xii}}

Louis began his personal reign with administrative and fiscal reforms. In 1661, the treasury verged on bankruptcy. To rectify the situation, Louis chose [[Jean-Baptiste Colbert]] as [[Controller-General of Finances]] in 1665. However, Louis first had to neutralize [[Nicolas Fouquet]], the powerful [[Superintendent of Finances]]. Although Fouquet's financial indiscretions were not very different from Mazarin's before him or Colbert's after him, his ambition worried Louis. He lavishly entertained the king at the opulent château of [[Vaux-le-Vicomte]], flaunting a wealth which could hardly have accumulated except through [[embezzlement]] of government funds.

Fouquet appeared eager to succeed Mazarin and Richelieu in power, and he indiscreetly purchased and privately fortified the remote island of [[Belle Île]]. These acts sealed his doom. Fouquet was charged with embezzlement; the ''Parlement'' found him guilty and sentenced him to exile; and finally Louis altered the sentence to life imprisonment.
[[File:Colbert Presenting the Members of the Royal Academy of Sciences to Louis XIV in 1667.PNG|thumb|Members of the {{lang|fr|[[French Academy of Sciences|Académie des sciences]]}} with Louis in 1667; in the background appears the new [[Paris Observatory]].]]
Fouquet's downfall gave Colbert a free hand to reduce the national debt through more efficient taxation. The principal taxes included the ''aides'' and ''douanes'' (both [[Customs|customs duties]]), the ''[[gabelle]]'' (salt tax), and the ''[[taille]]'' (land tax). The ''taille'' was reduced at first, and certain tax-collection contracts were auctioned instead of being sold privately to a favoured few. Financial officials were required to keep regular accounts, revising inventories and removing unauthorized exemptions: up to 1661 only 10 per cent of income from the royal domain reached the king. Reform had to overcome vested interests: the ''taille'' was collected by officers of the Crown who had purchased their post at a high price, and punishment of abuses necessarily lowered the value of the purchase. Nevertheless, Colbert achieved excellent results, with the deficit of 1661 turning into a surplus by 1666, with interest on the debt decreasing from 52&nbsp;million to 24&nbsp;million livres. The ''taille'' was reduced to 42&nbsp;million in 1661 and 35&nbsp;million in 1665, while revenue from indirect taxation progressed from 26&nbsp;million to 55&nbsp;million. The revenues of the royal domain were raised from 80,000 livres in 1661 to 5.5&nbsp;million in 1671. In 1661, the receipts were equivalent to 26&nbsp;million British pounds, of which 10&nbsp;million reached the treasury. The expenditure was around 18&nbsp;million pounds, leaving a deficit of 8&nbsp;million. In 1667, the net receipts had risen to 20&nbsp;million [[pounds sterling]], while expenditure had fallen to 11&nbsp;million, leaving a surplus of 9&nbsp;million pounds.

[[File:Description-de-l'entree-Du-Roy-et-de-la-Reyne-Paris MG 1114.tif|thumb|Engraving of Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV]]

Money was the essential support of the reorganized and enlarged army, the panoply of Versailles, and the growing civil administration. Finance had always been the weakness of the French monarchy: tax collection was costly and inefficient; direct taxes dwindled as they passed through the hands of many intermediate officials; and indirect taxes were collected by private contractors called tax farmers who made a handsome profit. The state coffers leaked at every joint.

The main weakness arose from an old bargain between the French crown and nobility: the king might raise taxes on the nation without consent if only he exempted the nobility. Only the "unprivileged" classes paid direct taxes, which came to mean the peasants only, as most bourgeois finagled exemptions in one way or another. The system laid the whole burden of state expenses on the backs of the poor and powerless. After 1700, with the support of Louis's pious secret wife [[Madame de Maintenon]], the king was persuaded to change his fiscal policy. Though willing enough to tax the nobles, Louis feared the political concessions which they would demand in return. Only towards the close of his reign under the extreme exigency of war, was he able, for the first time in French history, to impose direct taxes on the aristocracy. This was a step toward equality before the law and toward sound public finance, though it was predictably diminished by concessions and exemptions won by the insistent efforts of nobles and bourgeois.{{Sfn|Petitfils|2002|pp=250–253, 254–260}}

Louis and Colbert also had wide-ranging plans to grow French commerce and trade. Colbert's [[mercantilism|mercantilist]] administration established new industries and encouraged manufacturers and inventors, such as the [[Lyon]] silk manufacturers and the [[Gobelins manufactory|Gobelins tapestry manufactory]]. He invited manufacturers and artisans from all over Europe to France, such as [[Murano]] glassmakers, Swedish ironworkers, and Dutch shipbuilders. He aimed to decrease imports while increasing French exports, hence reducing the net outflow of precious metals from France.

Louis instituted reforms in military administration through [[Michel le Tellier]] and his son [[François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois|François-Michel le Tellier]], successive Marquis de Louvois. They helped to curb the independent spirit of the nobility, imposing order on them at court and in the army. Gone were the days when generals protracted war at the frontiers while bickering over precedence and ignoring orders from the capital and the larger strategic picture, with the old military aristocracy (''noblesse d'épée'', nobility of the sword) monopolizing senior military positions and the higher ranks. Louvois modernized the army and reorganised it into a professional, disciplined, well-trained force. He was devoted to the soldiers' material well-being and morale, and even tried to direct campaigns.

===Relations with the major colonies===
[[File:Jean Nocret - Louis XIV et la famille royale - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|Louis and his family portrayed as Roman gods in a 1670 painting by [[Jean Nocret]]. L to R: Louis's aunt, [[Henrietta Maria of France|Henriette-Marie]]; his brother, [[Philippe I, Duke of Orléans|Philippe, duc d'Orléans]]; the Duke's daughter, [[Princess Marie Louise of Orléans (1662–1689)|Marie Louise d'Orléans]], and wife, [[Henrietta Anne Stuart|Henriette-Anne Stuart]]; the Queen-mother, [[Anne of Austria]]; three daughters of [[Gaston, Duke of Orléans|Gaston d'Orléans]]; Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV; the Dauphin [[Louis, Dauphin of France (1661–1711)|Louis]]; Queen [[Maria Theresa of Spain|Marie-Thérèse]]; ''[[Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier|la Grande Mademoiselle]]''.]]

Louis's legal reforms were enacted in his numerous [[Great Ordinances]]. Prior to that, France was a patchwork of legal systems, with as many traditional legal regimes as there were provinces, and two co-existing legal systems—[[Old French law#Pays de coutumes|customary law]] in the north and [[Roman law|Roman civil law]] in the south.{{Sfn|Merryman|2007|p={{Page needed|date=October 2020}}}} The ''Grande Ordonnance de Procédure Civile'' of 1667, the ''Code Louis'', was a comprehensive legal code imposing a uniform regulation of [[civil procedure]] throughout the kingdom. Among other things, it prescribed baptismal, marriage and death records in the state's registers, not the church's, and it strictly regulated the right of the ''Parlements'' to remonstrate.{{Sfn|Antoine|1989|p=33}} The ''Code Louis'' later became the basis for the [[Napoleonic code]], which in turn inspired many modern legal codes.

One of Louis's more infamous decrees was the ''Grande Ordonnance sur les Colonies'' of 1685, the ''[[Code Noir]]'' (black code). Although it sanctioned slavery, it attempted to humanise the practice by prohibiting the separation of families. Additionally, in the colonies, only Roman Catholics could own slaves, and these had to be baptised.

Louis ruled through a number of councils:
* Conseil d'en haut ("High Council", concerning the most important matters of state)—composed of the king, the crown prince, the controller-general of finances, and the secretaries of state in charge of various departments. The members of that council were called ministers of state.
* Conseil des dépêches ("Council of Messages", concerning notices and administrative reports from the provinces).
* Conseil de Conscience ("Council of Conscience", concerning religious affairs and episcopal appointments).
* Conseil royal des finances ("Royal Council of Finances") headed by the "chef du conseil des finances" (an honorary post in most cases)—this was one of the few posts in the council available to the high aristocracy.<ref>{{Harvnb|Petitfils|2002|pp=223–225}}</ref>

==Early wars in the Low Countries==
{{Main|War of Devolution|Franco-Dutch War}}

===Spain===
[[File:Louis XIV by Robert Nanteuil 1670.jpeg|thumb|left|upright|Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV in 1670, engraved portrait by [[Robert Nanteuil]]]]
[[File:Gentlemen here is the King of Spain.jpg|thumb|The future Philip{{Nbsp}}V being introduced as King of Spain by his grandfather, Louis XIV]]

The death of Louis's maternal uncle King [[Philip&nbsp;IV of Spain]] in 1665 precipitated the [[War of Devolution]]. In 1660, Louis had married Philip{{Nbsp}}IV's eldest daughter, [[Maria Theresa of Spain|Maria Theresa]], as one of the provisions of the 1659 [[Treaty of the Pyrenees]].{{Sfn|Wolf|1968|p=117}} The marriage treaty specified that Maria Theresa was to renounce all claims to Spanish territory for herself and all her descendants.{{Sfn|Wolf|1968|p=117}} Mazarin and [[Hugues de Lionne|Lionne]], however, made the renunciation conditional on the full payment of a Spanish dowry of 500,000 [[écu]]s.{{Sfn|Dunlop|2000|p=54}} The dowry was never paid and would later play a part persuading his maternal first cousin [[Charles&nbsp;II of Spain]] to leave his empire to Philip, Duke of Anjou (later [[Philip&nbsp;V of Spain]]), the grandson of Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV and Maria Theresa.

The [[War of Devolution]] did not focus on the payment of the dowry; rather, the lack of payment was what Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV used as a pretext for nullifying Maria Theresa's renunciation of her claims, allowing the land to "devolve" to him. In [[Duchy of Brabant|Brabant]] (the location of the land in dispute), children of first marriages traditionally were not disadvantaged by their parents' remarriages and still inherited property. Louis's wife was Philip{{Nbsp}}IV's daughter by his first marriage, while the new king of Spain, Charles{{Nbsp}}II, was his son by a subsequent marriage. Thus, Brabant allegedly "devolved" to Maria Theresa, justifying France to attack the [[Spanish Netherlands]].

===Relations with the Dutch===
[[File:Louis XIV crosses the Rhine at Lobith - Lodewijk XIV trekt bij het Tolhuis bij Lobith de Rijn over, 12 juni 1672 (Adam Frans van der Meulen).jpg|thumb|right|250px|The [[Battle of Tolhuis]], Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV crosses the [[Lower Rhine]] at Lobith on 12 June 1672; [[Rijksmuseum|Rijksmuseum Amsterdam]]]]
During the [[Eighty Years' War]] with [[Habsburg Spain|Spain]], France supported the [[Dutch Republic]] as part of a general policy of opposing Habsburg power. [[Johan de Witt]], Dutch [[Grand Pensionary]] from 1653 to 1672, viewed this as crucial for Dutch security and a counterweight against his domestic [[Prince of Orange|Orangist]] opponents. Louis provided support in the 1665-1667 [[Second Anglo-Dutch War]] but used the opportunity to launch the [[War of Devolution]] in 1667. This captured [[Franche-Comté]] and much of the [[Spanish Netherlands]]; French expansion in this area was a direct threat to Dutch economic interests.{{Sfn|Israel|1990|pp=197–199}}

The Dutch opened talks with [[Charles&nbsp;II of England]] on a common diplomatic front against France, leading to the [[Triple Alliance (1668)|Triple Alliance]], between England, the Dutch and [[Swedish Empire|Sweden]]. The threat of an escalation and a secret treaty to divide Spanish possessions with [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Leopold]], the other major claimant to the throne of Spain, led Louis to relinquish many of his gains in the 1668 [[Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668)|Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle]].{{Sfn|Hutton|1986|pp=299–300}}

Louis placed little reliance on his agreement with [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor|Leopold]] and as it was now clear French and Dutch aims were in direct conflict, he decided to first defeat the [[Dutch Republic|Republic]], then seize the Spanish Netherlands. This required breaking up the Triple Alliance; he paid Sweden to remain neutral and signed the 1670 [[Secret Treaty of Dover]] with Charles, an Anglo-French alliance against the Dutch Republic. In May 1672, France invaded the [[Dutch Republic|Republic]], supported by [[Prince-Bishopric of Münster|Münster]] and the [[Electorate of Cologne]].{{Sfn|Lynn|1999|pp=109-110}}
[[File:Louis XIV, King of France, after Lefebvre - Les collections du château de Versailles.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV, 1670, by [[Claude Lefèbvre]]]]
Rapid French advance led to a coup that toppled De Witt and brought [[William III of England|William&nbsp;III]] to power. [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor|Leopold]] viewed French expansion into the Rhineland as an increasing threat, especially after they seized the strategic [[Duchy of Lorraine]] in 1670. The prospect of Dutch defeat led Leopold to an alliance with [[Brandenburg-Prussia]] on 23 June, followed by another with the Republic on 25th.{{Sfn|McKay|1997|p=206}} Although Brandenburg was forced out of the war by the June 1673 [[Treaty of Vossem (1673)|Treaty of Vossem]], in August an anti-French alliance was formed by the Dutch, [[Spanish Empire|Spain]], Emperor Leopold and the [[Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine|Duke of Lorraine]].{{Sfn|Young|2004|p=133}}

The French alliance was deeply unpopular in England, and only more so after the [[Third Anglo-Dutch War|disappointing battles]] against [[Michiel de Ruyter]]'s fleet. Charles{{Nbsp}}II of England made peace with the Dutch in the February 1674 [[Treaty of Westminster (1674)|Treaty of Westminster]]. However, French armies held significant advantages over their opponents; an undivided command, talented generals like [[Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne|Turenne]], [[Louis, Grand Condé|Condé]] and [[François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg|Luxembourg]] and vastly superior logistics. Reforms introduced by [[François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois|Louvois]], the [[Secretary of War]], helped maintain large field armies that could be mobilised much more quickly, allowing them to mount offensives in early spring before their opponents were ready.{{Sfn|Black|2011|pp=97-99}}

The French were nevertheless forced to retreat from most of the Dutch Republic, which deeply shocked Louis; he retreated to [[Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye|St Germain]] for a time, where no one, except a few intimates, was allowed to disturb him.{{Sfn|Panhuysen|2009|pp=396–398}} French military advantages allowed them however to hold their ground in Alsace and the Spanish Netherlands while retaking Franche-Comté. By 1678, mutual exhaustion led to the [[Treaty of Nijmegen]], which was generally settled in France's favour and allowed Louis to intervene in the [[Scanian War]]. Despite the military defeat, his ally Sweden regained much of what it had lost under the 1679 treaties of [[Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679)|Saint-Germain-en-Laye]], [[Treaty of Fontainebleau (1679)|Fontainebleau]] and [[Peace of Lund|Lund]] imposed on [[Denmark–Norway]] and Brandenburg.{{Sfn|Frost|2000|p=213}} Yet Louis's two primary goals, the destruction of the Dutch Republic and the conquest of the Spanish Netherlands, had failed.{{Sfn|Panhuysen|2009|pp=451}}

Louis was at the height of his power, but at the cost of uniting his opponents; this increased as he continued his expansion. In 1679, he dismissed his foreign minister [[Simon Arnauld, marquis de Pomponne]], because he was seen as having compromised too much with the allies. Louis maintained the strength of his army, but in his next series of territorial claims avoided using military force alone. Rather, he combined it with legal pretexts in his efforts to augment the boundaries of his kingdom. Contemporary treaties were intentionally phrased ambiguously. Louis established the [[Chambers of Reunion]] to determine the full extent of his rights and obligations under those treaties.

{{Coin image box 1 double
|header        = Silver coin of Louis XIV, dated 1674
|image         = File:Louis XIV Coin.jpg
|caption_left  = Obverse. The Latin inscription is <small>''LVDOVICVS XIIII D[EI] GRA[TIA]''</small> ("Louis XIV, by the grace of God").
|caption_right = Reverse. The Latin inscription is <small>''FRAN[CIÆ] ET NAVARRÆ REX 1674''</small> ("King of France and of Navarre, 1674").
|width         = 250
|position      = right
|margin        = 0
}}

Cities and territories, such as [[Luxembourg]] and [[Casale Monferrato|Casale]], were prized for their strategic positions on the frontier and access to important waterways. Louis also sought [[Strasbourg]]<!-- Please do not uncomment unless consensus has been reached! ({{Langx|de|Strassburg|links=no}})-->, an important strategic crossing on the left bank of the Rhine and theretofore a Free Imperial City of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], annexing it and other territories in 1681. Although a part of Alsace, Strasbourg was not part of Habsburg-ruled Alsace and was thus not ceded to France in the Peace of Westphalia.

Following these annexations, Spain declared war, precipitating the [[War of the Reunions]]. However, the Spanish were rapidly defeated because the Emperor (distracted by the [[Great Turkish War]]) abandoned them, and the Dutch only supported them minimally. By the [[Truce of Ratisbon]], in 1684, Spain was forced to acquiesce in the French occupation of most of the conquered territories, for 20 years.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lynn|1999|pp=161–171}}.</ref>

Louis's policy of the ''Réunions'' may have raised France to its greatest size and power during his reign, but it alienated much of Europe. This poor public opinion was compounded by French actions off the Barbary Coast and at Genoa. First, Louis had [[Algiers]] and [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]], two Barbary pirate strongholds, bombarded to obtain a favourable treaty and the liberation of Christian slaves. Next, in 1684, a [[bombardment of Genoa|punitive mission]] was launched against [[Genoa]] in retaliation for its support for Spain in previous wars. Although the Genoese submitted, and the [[Doge of Genoa|Doge]] led an official mission of apology to Versailles, France gained a reputation for brutality and arrogance. European apprehension at growing French might and the realisation of the extent of the [[dragonnades]]' effect (discussed below) led many states to abandon their alliances with France.{{Sfn|Merriman|2019|p=319}} Accordingly, by the late 1680s, France became increasingly isolated in Europe.

===Non-European relations and the colonies===
{{Further|French colonial empire|Orientalism in early modern France}}
[[File:Ambassade Perse auprès de Louis XIV.jpg|thumb|The [[Persian embassy to Louis&nbsp;XIV]] sent by [[Soltan Hoseyn]] in 1715. ''Ambassade de Perse auprès de Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV'', studio of [[Antoine Coypel]].]]

[[French colonial empire|French colonies]] multiplied in Africa, the Americas, and Asia during Louis's reign, and French explorers made important discoveries in North America. In 1673, [[Louis Jolliet]] and [[Jacques Marquette]] discovered the [[Mississippi River]]. In 1682, [[René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle]], followed the [[Mississippi River|Mississippi]] to the [[Gulf of Mexico]] and claimed the vast Mississippi basin in Louis's name, calling it ''[[Louisiana (New France)|Louisiane]]''. French trading posts were also established in India, at [[Chandannagar|Chandernagore]] and [[Puducherry (city)|Pondicherry]], and in the Indian Ocean at [[Réunion|Île Bourbon]]. Throughout these regions, Louis and Colbert embarked on an extensive program of architecture and urbanism meant to reflect the styles of Versailles and Paris and the 'gloire' of the realm.{{Sfn|Bailey|2018|p=14}}

[[File:SiameseEmbassyToLouisXIV1686NicolasLarmessin.jpg|thumb|left|[[Siamese embassy to France (1686)|Siamese embassy of King Narai to Louis XIV]]{{Nbsp}}in 1686, led by [[Kosa Pan]]. Engraving by Nicolas Larmessin.]]

Meanwhile, diplomatic relations were initiated with distant countries. In 1669, [[Suleiman Aga]] led an [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] embassy to revive the old [[Franco-Ottoman alliance]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Faroqhi |first=Suraiya |title=The Ottoman Empire and the World Around It |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |date=2006 |isbn=978-1-8451-1122-9 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=oMHwBktE9MMC&pg=PA73 73]}}</ref> Then, in 1682, after the reception of the Moroccan embassy of [[Mohammed Tenim]] in France, [[Ismail Ibn Sharif|Moulay Ismail, Sultan of Morocco]], allowed French consular and commercial establishments in his country.{{Sfn|Bluche|1986|p=439}} In 1699, Louis once again received a Moroccan ambassador, [[Abdallah bin Aisha]], and in 1715, he received a [[Persian embassy to Louis XIV|Persian embassy]] led by [[Mohammad Reza Beg]].

From farther afield, [[Siamese embassy to France (1686)|Siam dispatched an embassy]] in 1684, reciprocated by the French magnificently the next year under [[Alexandre, Chevalier de Chaumont]]. This, in turn, was succeeded by another Siamese embassy under [[Kosa Pan]], superbly received at Versailles in 1686. Louis then sent another embassy in 1687, under [[Simon de la Loubère]], and French influence grew at the Siamese court, which granted [[Mergui]] as a naval base to France. However, the death of [[Narai|Narai, King of Ayutthaya]], the execution of his pro-French minister [[Constantine Phaulkon]], and the [[siege of Bangkok]] in 1688 ended this era of French influence.{{Sfn|Keay|1994|pp=201–204}}

France also attempted to participate actively in [[Jesuit missions in China|Jesuit missions]] to China. To break the Portuguese dominance there, Louis sent Jesuit missionaries to the court of the [[Kangxi Emperor]] in 1685: [[Jean de Fontaney]], [[Joachim Bouvet]], [[Jean-François Gerbillon]], [[Louis Le Comte]], and [[Claude de Visdelou]].{{Sfn|Pagani|2001|p=182}} Louis also received a Chinese Jesuit, [[Michael Shen Fu-Tsung]], at Versailles in 1684.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sullivan |first=Michael |title=The Meeting of Eastern and Western Art |publisher=University of California Press |date=1989 |isbn=978-0-5202-1236-7 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8pLhEWdaMvEC&pg=PA98 98]}}</ref> Furthermore, Louis's librarian and translator [[Arcadio Huang]] was Chinese.{{Sfn|Barnes|2005|p=85}}{{Sfn|Mungello|2005|page=[https://archive.org/details/greatencounterof0000mung_m1v1/page/125 125]}}

==Height of power==

===Centralisation of power===
[[File:Charles Le Brun - Louis XIV - WGA12539.jpg|left|thumb|Portrait of Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV (gray pastel on paper by [[Charles Le Brun]], 1667, [[Louvre|Louvre Museum]])]]
By the early 1680s, Louis had greatly augmented French influence in the world. Domestically, he successfully increased the influence of the crown and its authority over the church and aristocracy, thus consolidating absolute monarchy in France.

Louis initially supported traditional [[Gallicanism]], which limited [[Pope|papal]] authority in France, and convened an [[Assembly of the French clergy]] in November 1681. Before its dissolution eight months later, the Assembly had accepted the [[Declaration of the Clergy of France]], which increased royal authority at the expense of papal power. Without royal approval, bishops could not leave France, and appeals could not be made to the pope. Additionally, government officials could not be excommunicated for acts committed in pursuance of their duties. Although the king could not make ecclesiastical law, all papal regulations without royal assent were invalid in France. Unsurprisingly, the Pope repudiated the Declaration.<ref name="CatEn">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Louis XIV |encyclopedia=[[Catholic Encyclopedia]] |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09371a.htm |access-date=19 January 2008 |date=2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216230840/https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09371a.htm |archive-date=16 December 2021}}</ref>

[[File:Louis14-Versailles1685.jpg|thumb|Louis receiving the [[Doge of Genoa]] at [[Palace of Versailles|Versailles]] on 15 May 1685, following the [[Bombardment of Genoa]]. (''Reparation faite à Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV par le Doge de Gênes. 15 mai 1685'' by [[Claude Guy Halle]], Versailles.)]]

By attaching nobles to his court at Versailles, Louis achieved increased control over the French aristocracy. According to historian [[Philip Mansel]], the king turned the palace into:
:an irresistible combination of marriage market, employment agency and entertainment capital of aristocratic Europe, boasting the best theatre, opera, music, gambling, sex and (most important) hunting.<ref>Philip Mansel, ''King of the World: The Life of Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV'' (2020) cited in Tim Blanning, "Solar Power," ''The Wall Street Journal'', 17 October 2020, p. C9.</ref>
Apartments were built to house those willing to pay court to the king.<ref name="Saint-Simon">{{Cite book |last=Saint-Simon |first=Louis de Rouvroy, duc de |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-EM_AAAAYAAJ |title=The Memoirs of the Duke de Saint-Simon on the Reign of Louis XIV. and the Regency |publisher=Chatto and Windus |date=1876 |volume=2 |location=London |pages=363, 365 |translator-last=St. John |translator-first=Bayle |access-date=22 March 2023 |archive-date=13 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713192807/https://books.google.com/books?id=-EM_AAAAYAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> However, the pensions and privileges necessary to live in a style appropriate to their rank were only possible by waiting constantly on Louis.<ref name=fordham/> For this purpose, an elaborate court ritual was created wherein the king became the centre of attention and was observed throughout the day by the public. With his excellent memory, Louis could then see who attended him at court and who was absent, facilitating the subsequent distribution of favours and positions. Another tool Louis used to control his nobility was censorship, which often involved the opening of letters to discern their author's opinion of the government and king.<ref name=Saint-Simon/> Moreover, by entertaining, impressing, and domesticating them with extravagant luxury and other distractions, Louis not only cultivated public opinion of him, but he also ensured the aristocracy remained under his scrutiny.

Louis's extravagance at Versailles extended far beyond the scope of elaborate court rituals. He took delivery of an [[African elephant]] as a gift from the king of Portugal.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |date=2009 |title=Elephant |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert Collaborative Translation Project |publisher=Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library |url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/d/did/did2222.0000.944/--elephant?rgn=main;view=fulltext |access-date=1 April 2015 |last=Daubenton |first=Louis-Jean-Marie |orig-date=1755 |translator-first=Malcolm |translator-last=Eden}}</ref> He encouraged leading nobles to live at Versailles. This, along with the prohibition of private armies, prevented them from passing time on their own estates and in their regional power bases, from which they historically waged local wars and plotted resistance to royal authority. Louis thus compelled and seduced the old military aristocracy (the "nobility of the sword") into becoming his ceremonial courtiers, further weakening their power. In their place, he raised commoners or the more recently ennobled bureaucratic aristocracy (the "nobility of the robe"). He judged that royal authority thrived more surely by filling high executive and administrative positions with these men because they could be more easily dismissed than nobles of ancient lineage and entrenched influence. It is believed that Louis's policies were rooted in his experiences during the ''Fronde'', when men of high birth readily took up the rebel cause against their king, who was actually the kinsman of some. This victory over the nobility may thus have ensured the end of major civil wars in France until the French Revolution about a century later.

===France as the pivot of warfare===
[[File:De-La-Torre-Jean-Du-Mont--Mémoires MG 0958.tif|thumb|Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV]]

Under Louis, France was the leading European power, and most wars pivoted around its aggressiveness. No European state exceeded it in population, and no one could match its wealth, central location, and very strong professional army. It had largely avoided the devastation of the Thirty Years' War. Its weaknesses included an inefficient financial system that was hard-pressed to pay for its military adventures, and the tendency of most other powers to gang up against it.

During Louis's reign, France fought three major wars: the [[Franco-Dutch War]], the [[Nine Years' War]], and the [[War of the Spanish Succession]]. There were also two lesser conflicts: the [[War of Devolution]] and the [[War of the Reunions]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Lynn|1999|p=46.}}</ref> The wars were very expensive but defined Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV's foreign policy, and his personality shaped his approach. Impelled "by a mix of commerce, revenge, and pique", Louis sensed that war was the ideal way to enhance his glory. In peacetime, he concentrated on preparing for the next war. He taught his diplomats that their job was to create tactical and strategic advantages for the French military.{{Sfn|Nathan|1993|p=633}} By 1695, France retained much of its dominance but had lost control of the seas to England and Holland, and most countries, both Protestant and Catholic, were in alliance against it. [[Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban]], France's leading military strategist, warned Louis in 1689 that a hostile "Alliance" was too powerful at sea. He recommended that France fight back by licensing French merchant ships to privateer and seize enemy merchant ships while avoiding its navies:
:France has its declared enemies Germany and all the states that it embraces; Spain with all its dependencies in Europe, Asia, Africa and America; the Duke of Savoy [in Italy], England, Scotland, Ireland, and all their colonies in the East and West Indies; and Holland with all its possessions in the four corners of the world where it has great establishments. France has ... undeclared enemies, indirectly hostile, hostile, and envious of its greatness, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Portugal, Venice, Genoa, and part of the Swiss Confederation, all of which states secretly aid France's enemies by the troops that they hire to them, the money they lend them and by protecting and covering their trade.<ref>Quoted in {{Harvnb|Symcox|1974|pp=236–237}}</ref>

Vauban was pessimistic about France's so-called friends and allies:
:For lukewarm, useless, or impotent friends, France has the Pope, who is indifferent; the King of England [James{{Nbsp}}II] expelled from his country; the Grand Duke of Tuscany; the Dukes of Mantua, Modena, and Parma [all in Italy]; and the other faction of the Swiss. Some of these are sunk in the softness that comes of years of peace, the others are cool in their affections....The English and Dutch are the main pillars of the Alliance; they support it by making war against us in concert with the other powers, and they keep it going by means of the money that they pay every year to... Allies.... We must therefore fall back on privateering as the method of conducting war which is most feasible, simple, cheap, and safe, and which will cost least to the state, the more so since any losses will not be felt by the King, who risks virtually nothing....It will enrich the country, train many good officers for the King, and in a short time force his enemies to sue for peace.<ref>Quoted in {{Harvnb|Symcox|1974|pp=237, 242}}</ref>

==Edict of Fontainebleau==
{{Main|Edict of Fontainebleau}}
[[File:S21c.jpg|thumb|left|Louis XIV in 1685, the year he revoked the [[Edict of Nantes]]]]

Louis decided to persecute Protestants and revoke the 1598 [[Edict of Nantes]], which awarded Huguenots political and religious freedom. He saw the persistence of Protestantism as a disgraceful reminder of royal powerlessness. After all, the Edict was the pragmatic concession of his grandfather [[Henry IV of France|Henry&nbsp;IV]] to end the longstanding [[French Wars of Religion]]. An additional factor in Louis's thinking was the prevailing contemporary European principle to assure socio-political stability, ''[[cuius regio, eius religio]]'' ("whose realm, his religion"), the idea that the religion of the ruler should be the religion of the realm (as originally confirmed in central Europe in the [[Peace of Augsburg]] of 1555).{{Sfn|Sturdy|1998|pp=89–99}}

Responding to petitions, Louis initially excluded Protestants from office, constrained the meeting of [[synods]], closed churches outside of Edict-stipulated areas, banned Protestant outdoor preachers, and prohibited domestic Protestant migration. He also disallowed Protestant-Catholic intermarriages to which third parties objected, encouraged missions to the Protestants, and rewarded converts to Catholicism.{{Sfn|Sturdy|1998|pp=92–93}} This discrimination did not encounter much Protestant resistance, and a steady conversion of Protestants occurred, especially among the noble elites.

In 1681, Louis dramatically increased his persecution of Protestants. The principle of ''cuius regio, eius religio'' generally also meant that subjects who refused to convert could emigrate, but Louis banned emigration and effectively insisted that all Protestants must be converted. Secondly, following the proposal of René de Marillac and the Marquis of Louvois, he began quartering [[dragoon]]s in Protestant homes. Although this was within his legal rights, the ''dragonnades'' inflicted severe financial strain on Protestants and atrocious abuse. Between 300,000 and 400,000 Huguenots converted, as this entailed financial rewards and exemption from the ''[[dragonnades]]''.<ref>{{Harvnb|Sturdy|1998|p=96}}, citing {{Cite book |last1=Pillorget |first1=Suzanne |title=France Baroque, France Classique |last2=Pillorget |first2=René |publisher=Bouquins |date=1996 |isbn=978-2-2210-4868-9 |volume=I |page=935 |language=fr}}</ref>

[[File:Le Dragon missionnaire.jpg|thumb|[[Camisard|Protestant peasants]] rebelled against the officially sanctioned ''[[dragonnades]]'' (conversions enforced by [[dragoon]]s, labeled "missionaries in boots") that followed the Edict of Fontainebleau.]]

On 15 October 1685, Louis issued the [[Edict of Fontainebleau]], which cited the redundancy of privileges for Protestants given their scarcity after the extensive conversions. The Edict of Fontainebleau revoked the Edict of Nantes and repealed all the privileges that arose therefrom.<ref name=CatEn/> By his edict, Louis no longer tolerated the existence of Protestant groups, pastors, or churches in France. No further churches were to be constructed, and those already existing were to be demolished. Pastors could choose either exile or secular life. Those Protestants who had resisted conversion were now to be [[forced conversion|baptised forcibly]] into the established church.{{Sfn|Nolan|2008|p=132}}

Historians have debated Louis's reasons for issuing the Edict of Fontainebleau. He may have been seeking to placate [[Pope Innocent XI]], with whom relations were tense and whose aid was necessary to determine the outcome of a succession crisis in the [[Electorate of Cologne]]. He may also have acted to upstage [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Leopold&nbsp;I]] and regain international prestige after the latter defeated the Turks without Louis's help. Otherwise, he may simply have desired to end the remaining divisions in French society dating to the Wars of Religion by fulfilling his [[Coronation of the French monarch|coronation]] oath to eradicate heresy.{{Sfn|Sturdy|1998|pp=96–97}}{{Sfn|Bluche|1986|pp=20–21}}

Many historians have condemned the Edict of Fontainebleau as gravely harmful to France.<ref name="bartleby">{{Cite encyclopedia |date=2007 |title=Louis XIV, king of France |encyclopedia=The Columbia Encyclopedia |url=http://www.bartleby.com/65/lo/Louis14Fr.html |access-date=19 January 2008 |edition=6th |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080107232540/http://www.bartleby.com/65/lo/Louis14Fr.html |archive-date=7 January 2008}}</ref> In support, they cite the emigration of about 200,000 highly skilled Huguenots (roughly one quarter of the Protestant population, or 1% of the French population) who defied royal decrees and fled France for various Protestant states, weakening the French economy and enriching that of Protestant states. On the other hand, some historians view this as an exaggeration. They argue that most of France's preeminent Protestant businessmen and industrialists converted to Catholicism and remained.<ref>{{Harvnb|Sturdy|1998|p=98}}, citing {{Cite book |last=Scoville |first=Warren C. |title=The Persecution of Huguenots and French Economic Development, 1680–1720 |publisher=University of California Press |date=1960 |oclc=707588406}}</ref>

What is certain is that the reaction to the Edict was mixed. Even while French Catholic leaders exulted, Pope Innocent{{Nbsp}}XI still argued with Louis over Gallicanism and criticized the use of violence. Protestants across Europe were horrified at the treatment of their co-religionists, but most Catholics in France applauded the move. Nonetheless, it is indisputable that Louis's public image in most of Europe, especially in Protestant regions, was dealt a severe blow.

In the end, however, despite renewed tensions with the [[Camisard]]s of south-central France at the end of his reign, Louis may have helped ensure that his successor would experience fewer instances of the religion-based disturbances that had plagued his forebears. French society would sufficiently change by the time of his descendant, [[Louis XVI of France|Louis XVI]], to welcome tolerance in the form of the 1787 [[Edict of Versailles]], also known as the [[Edict of Tolerance]]. This restored to non-Catholics their civil rights and the freedom to worship openly.{{Sfn|Edwards|2007|pp=212–213}} With the advent of the [[French Revolution]] in 1789, Protestants were granted equal rights with their Roman Catholic counterparts.

==Nine Years' War==
{{Main|Nine Years' War}}

===Causes and conduct of the war===
[[File:Batalla de Fleurus (1690).jpg|thumb|[[Battle of Fleurus (1690)|Battle of Fleurus]], 1690]]
[[File:Nocret, attributed to - Louis XIV of France - Versailles, MV2066.jpg|thumb|Louis in 1690]]

The [[Nine Years' War]], which lasted from 1688 to 1697, initiated a period of decline in Louis's political and diplomatic fortunes. It arose from two events in the [[Rhineland]]. First, in 1685, the [[Elector Palatine]] [[Charles II, Elector Palatine|Charles&nbsp;II]] died. All that remained of his immediate family was Louis's sister-in-law, [[Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate|Elizabeth Charlotte]]. German law ostensibly barred her from succeeding to her brother's lands and electoral dignity, but it was unclear enough for arguments in favour of Elizabeth Charlotte to have a chance of success. Conversely, the princess was demonstrably entitled to a division of the family's personal property. Louis pressed her claims to land and chattels, hoping the latter, at least, would be given to her.{{Sfn|Durant|Durant|1963|p=691}} Then, in 1688, [[Maximilian Henry of Bavaria]], [[Archbishop of Cologne]], an ally of France, died. The archbishopric had traditionally been held by the [[Wittelsbach]]s of [[Bavaria]], but the Bavarian claimant to replace Maximilian Henry, Prince [[Joseph Clemens of Bavaria]], was at that time not more than 17 years old and not even ordained. Louis sought instead to install his own candidate, [[Wilhelm Egon von Fürstenberg]], to ensure the key Rhenish state remained an ally.{{Sfn|Lynn|1999|p=192}}

In light of his foreign and domestic policies during the early 1680s, which were perceived as aggressive, Louis's actions, fostered by the succession crises of the late 1680s, created concern and alarm in much of Europe. This led to the formation of the 1686 [[Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg)|League of Augsburg]] by the Holy Roman Emperor, Spain, Sweden, [[Saxony]], and Bavaria. Their stated intention was to return France to at least the borders agreed to in the Treaty of Nijmegen.{{Sfn|Dunlop|2000|p=313}} Emperor Leopold{{Nbsp}}I's persistent refusal to convert the Truce of Ratisbon into a permanent treaty fed Louis's fears that the Emperor would turn on France and attack the Reunions after settling his affairs in the Balkans.{{Sfn|Lynn|1999|pp=189–191}}

Another event Louis found threatening was England's [[Glorious Revolution]] of 1688. Although King [[James II of England|James&nbsp;II]] was Catholic, his two [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] daughters, [[Mary II of England|Mary]] and [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Anne]], ensured the English people a Protestant succession. But when James{{Nbsp}}II's son [[James Francis Edward Stuart]] was born, he took precedence in succession over his sisters. This seemed to herald an era of Catholic monarchs in England. Protestant lords called on the Dutch Prince [[William III of England|William&nbsp;III of Orange]], grandson of [[Charles&nbsp;I of England]], to come to their aid. He sailed for England with troops despite Louis's warning that France would regard it as a provocation. Witnessing numerous desertions and defections, even among those closest to him, James{{Nbsp}}II fled England. Parliament declared the throne vacant, and offered it to James's daughter Mary{{Nbsp}}II and his son-in-law and nephew William. Vehemently anti-French, William (now William{{Nbsp}}III of England) pushed his new kingdoms into war, thus transforming the League of Augsburg into the [[Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg)|Grand Alliance]]. Before this happened, Louis expected William's expedition to England to absorb his energies and those of his allies, so he dispatched troops to the Rhineland after the expiry of his ultimatum to the German princes requiring confirmation of the Truce of Ratisbon and acceptance of his demands about the succession crises. This military manoeuvre was also intended to protect his eastern provinces from Imperial invasion by depriving the enemy army of sustenance, thus explaining the preemptive [[scorched earth]] policy pursued in much of southwestern Germany (the "Devastation of the Palatinate").<ref>{{Harvnb|Lynn|1999|pp=192–193}}.</ref>

[[File:Equestrian portrait louis xiv 1692.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV at the [[Siege of Namur (1692)|siege of Namur]] (1692)]]

French armies were generally victorious throughout the war because of Imperial commitments in the Balkans, French logistical superiority, and the quality of French generals such as Condé's famous pupil, [[François Henri de Montmorency-Bouteville, duc de Luxembourg]].{{Sfn|Lynn|1999|p={{Page needed|date=July 2017}}}} He triumphed at the Battles of [[Battle of Fleurus (1690)|Fleurus]] in 1690, [[Battle of Steenkerque|Steenkerque]] in 1692, and [[Battle of Landen|Landen]] in 1693, although, the battles proved to be of little of strategic consequence,{{Sfn|Wijn|1950|pp=28, 58, 71–72}}{{Sfn|Lynn|1999|pp=209, 227, 235}} mostly due to the nature of late 17th-century warfare.{{Sfn|Lynn|1999|p=209}}

[[File:Paul de Beauvilliers, duc de Saint-Aignan - Versailles MV 3571.jpg|thumb|upright|Marshal de Luxembourg]]

Although an attempt to restore James II failed at the [[Battle of the Boyne]] in 1690, France accumulated a string of victories from Flanders in the north, Germany in the east, and Italy and Spain in the south, to the high seas and the colonies. Louis personally supervised the captures of [[Siege of Mons (1691)|Mons]] in 1691 and [[Siege of Namur (1692)|Namur]] in 1692. Luxembourg gave France the defensive line of the [[Sambre]] by capturing [[Charleroi]] in 1693. France also overran most of the [[Duchy of Savoy]] after the battles of [[Battle of Marsaglia|Marsaglia]] and [[Battle of Staffarda|Staffarde]] in 1693. While naval stalemate ensued after the French victory at the [[Battle of Beachy Head (1690)|Battle of Beachy Head]] in 1690 and the Allied victory at [[Battles of Barfleur and La Hougue|Barfleur-La Hougue]] in 1692, the [[Battle of Torroella]] in 1694 exposed [[Catalonia]] to French invasion, culminating in the capture of [[Barcelona]]. The Dutch captured [[Pondicherry district|Pondichéry]] in 1693, but a 1697 French raid on the Spanish treasure [[port of Cartagena]], Spain, yielded a fortune of 10,000,000 livres.

In July 1695, the city of [[Namur]], occupied for three years by the French, [[Siege of Namur (1695)|was besieged]] by an allied army led by William{{Nbsp}}III. Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV ordered the surprise destruction of a Flemish city to divert the attention of these troops. This led to the [[Bombardment of Brussels (1695)|bombardment of Brussels]], in which more than 4,000 buildings were destroyed, including the entire city centre. The strategy failed, as Namur fell three weeks later, but harmed Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV's reputation: a century later, [[Napoleon]] deemed the bombardment "as barbarous as it was useless".<ref>Quoted in {{Cite journal |last=Terlinden |first=Ch. |date=1958 |title=Les rapports de l'internonce Piazza sur le bombardement de Bruxelles en 1695 |journal=Cahiers bruxellois |language=fr |volume=III |issue=II |pages=85–106 |quote=''aussi barbare qu'inutile''}}</ref>

Peace was broached by Sweden in 1690. By 1692, both sides evidently wanted peace, and secret bilateral talks began, but to no avail.{{Sfn|Lynn|1999|p=232}} Louis tried to break up the alliance against him by dealing with individual opponents but did not achieve his aim until 1696 when the [[Duchy of Savoy|Savoyards]] agreed to the Treaty of Turin and switched sides. Thereafter, members of the League of Augsburg rushed to the peace table, and negotiations for a general peace began in earnest, culminating in the [[Peace of Ryswick]] of 1697.{{Sfn|Lynn|1999|p=253}}

===Peace of Ryswick===
{{Main|Peace of Ryswick}}
The [[Peace of Ryswick]] ended the War of the League of Augsburg and disbanded the Grand Alliance. By manipulating their rivalries and suspicions, Louis divided his enemies and broke their power.

The treaty yielded many benefits for France. Louis secured permanent French sovereignty over all of Alsace, including Strasbourg, and established the Rhine as the Franco-German border (as it is to this day). Pondichéry and [[Acadia]] were returned to France, and Louis's ''de facto'' possession of [[Saint-Domingue]] was recognised as lawful. However, he returned [[Catalonia]] and most of the Reunions.

French military superiority might have allowed him to press for more advantageous terms. Thus, his generosity to Spain with regard to Catalonia has been read as a concession to foster pro-French sentiment and may ultimately have induced King [[Charles II of Spain|Charles&nbsp;II]] to name Louis's grandson [[Philip V of Spain|Philip, Duke of Anjou]], heir to the Spanish throne.{{Sfn|Bluche|1986|p=653}} In exchange for financial compensation, France renounced its interests in the Electorate of Cologne and the Palatinate. [[Lorraine (duchy)|Lorraine]], which had been occupied by the French since 1670, was returned to its rightful Duke [[Leopold, Duke of Lorraine|Leopold]], albeit with a right of way to the French military. William and Mary were recognised as joint sovereigns of the British Isles, and Louis withdrew support for James{{Nbsp}}II. The Dutch were given the right to garrison forts in the Spanish Netherlands that acted as a protective barrier against possible French aggression. Though in some respects the Treaty of Ryswick may appear a diplomatic defeat for Louis since he failed to place client rulers in control of the Palatinate or the Electorate of Cologne, he did fulfil many of the aims laid down in his 1688 ultimatum.{{Sfn|Lossky|1994|p=255}} In any case, peace in 1697 was desirable to Louis, since France was exhausted from the costs of the war.

==War of the Spanish Succession==
{{Main|War of the Spanish Succession}}

===Causes and build-up to the war===
[[File:Hyacinthe Rigaud - Philippe V, roi d'Espagne (1683-1746) - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|left|[[Philip&nbsp;V of Spain]]]]
By the time of the Peace of Ryswick, the Spanish succession had been a source of concern to European leaders for well over forty years. King [[Charles II of Spain|Charles&nbsp;II]] ruled a vast empire comprising Spain, [[Kingdom of Naples|Naples]], [[Kingdom of Sicily|Sicily]], Milan, the Spanish Netherlands, and numerous [[Spanish Empire|Spanish colonies]]. He produced no children, however, and consequently had no direct heirs.

The principal claimants to the throne of Spain belonged to the ruling families of France and Austria. The French claim derived from Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV's mother Anne of Austria (the older sister of [[Philip&nbsp;IV of Spain]]) and his wife Maria Theresa (Philip{{Nbsp}}IV's eldest daughter). Based on the laws of [[primogeniture]], France had the better claim as it originated from the eldest daughters in two generations. However, their renunciation of succession rights complicated matters. In the case of Maria Theresa, nonetheless, the renunciation was considered null and void owing to Spain's breach of her marriage contract with Louis. In contrast, no renunciations tainted the claims of Emperor Leopold{{Nbsp}}I's son [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles, Archduke of Austria]], who was a grandson of [[Philip III of Spain|Philip&nbsp;III]]'s youngest daughter [[Maria Anna of Spain|Maria Anna]]. The English and Dutch feared that a French or Austrian-born Spanish king would threaten the [[Balance of power (international relations)|balance of power]] and thus preferred the Bavarian Prince [[Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria (1692-1699)|Joseph Ferdinand]], a grandson of Leopold{{Nbsp}}I through his first wife [[Margaret Theresa of Spain]] (the younger daughter of Philip{{Nbsp}}IV).

In an attempt to avoid war, Louis signed the [[Treaty of The Hague (1698)|Treaty of the Hague]] with William{{Nbsp}}III of England in 1698. This agreement divided Spain's Italian territories between Louis's son ''le Grand Dauphin'' and Archduke Charles, with the rest of the empire awarded to Joseph Ferdinand. William{{Nbsp}}III consented to permitting the Dauphin's new territories to become part of France when the latter succeeded to his father's throne.{{Sfn|Lynn|1999|p=267}} The signatories, however, omitted to consult the ruler of these lands, and Charles{{Nbsp}}II was passionately opposed to the dismemberment of his empire. In 1699, he re-confirmed his 1693 will that named Joseph Ferdinand as his sole successor.{{Sfn|Dunlop|2000|p=353}}

Six months later, Joseph Ferdinand died. Therefore, in 1700, Louis and William{{Nbsp}}III concluded a fresh partitioning agreement, the [[Treaty of London (1700)|Treaty of London]]. This allocated Spain, the Low Countries, and the Spanish colonies to the Archduke. The Dauphin would receive all of Spain's Italian territories.{{Sfn|Lynn|1999|p=268}} Charles{{Nbsp}}II acknowledged that his empire could only remain undivided by bequeathing it entirely to a Frenchman or an Austrian. Under pressure from his German wife, [[Maria Anna of Neuburg]], Charles{{Nbsp}}II named Archduke Charles as his sole heir.

===Acceptance of the will of Charles II and consequences===
[[File:Louis le Grand; Rigaud Hyacinthe.jpg|thumb|Louis in 1701]]
On his deathbed in 1700, Charles{{Nbsp}}II of Spain unexpectedly changed his will. The clear demonstration of French military superiority for many decades before this time, the pro-French faction at the court of Spain, and even [[Pope Innocent&nbsp;XII]] convinced him that France was more likely to preserve his empire intact. He thus offered the entire empire to the Dauphin's second son Philip, Duke of Anjou, provided it remained undivided. Anjou was not in the direct line of French succession, thus his accession would not cause a Franco-Spanish union.{{Sfn|Lynn|1999|p=268}} If Anjou refused, the throne would be offered to his younger brother [[Charles, Duke of Berry (1686–1714)|Charles, Duke of Berry]]. If the Duke of Berry declined it, it would go to Archduke Charles, then to the distantly related [[House of Savoy]] if Charles declined it.{{Sfn|Kamen|2001|p=6}}

Louis was confronted with a difficult choice. He could agree to a partition of the Spanish possessions and avoid a general war, or accept Charles{{Nbsp}}II's will and alienate much of Europe. He may initially have been inclined to abide by the partition treaties, but the Dauphin's insistence persuaded him otherwise.{{Sfn|Dunlop|2000|p=358}} Moreover, Louis's foreign minister, [[Jean-Baptiste Colbert, marquis de Torcy]], pointed out that war with the Emperor would almost certainly ensue whether Louis accepted the partition treaties or Charles{{Nbsp}}II's will. He emphasised that, should it come to war, William{{Nbsp}}III was unlikely to stand by France since he "made a treaty to avoid war and did not intend to go to war to implement the treaty".{{Sfn|Dunlop|2000|p=353}} Indeed, in the event of war, it might be preferable to be already in control of the disputed lands. Eventually, therefore, Louis decided to accept Charles{{Nbsp}}II's will. Philip, Duke of Anjou, thus became Philip{{Nbsp}}V, King of Spain.

Most European rulers accepted Philip as king, some reluctantly. Depending on one's views of the war's inevitability, Louis acted reasonably or arrogantly.{{Sfn|Lynn|1999|p=269, see footnote 1}} He confirmed that Philip{{Nbsp}}V retained his French rights despite his new Spanish position. Admittedly, he may only have been hypothesising a theoretical eventuality and not attempting a Franco-Spanish union. But his actions were certainly not read as disinterested. Moreover, Louis sent troops to the Spanish Netherlands to evict Dutch garrisons and secure Dutch recognition of Philip{{Nbsp}}V. In 1701, Philip transferred the ''[[Asiento de Negros|asiento]]'' (the right to supply slaves to Spanish colonies) to France, as a sign of the two nations' growing connections. As tensions mounted, Louis decided to acknowledge [[James Francis Edward Stuart|James Stuart]], the son of James{{Nbsp}}II, as King of England, Scotland and Ireland on the latter's death, infuriating William{{Nbsp}}III. These actions enraged Britain and the Dutch Republic.{{Sfn|Lynn|1999|pp=269–270}} With the Holy Roman Emperor and the petty German states, they formed another Grand Alliance and declared war on France in 1702. French diplomacy secured Bavaria, Portugal, and Savoy as Franco-Spanish allies.{{Sfn|Merryman|2007|p=321}}

===Commencement of fighting===
[[File:Batalladealmansa.jpg|thumb|The Franco-Spanish army led by the [[James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick|Duke of Berwick]] defeated decisively the Alliance forces of Portugal, England, and the Dutch Republic at the [[Battle of Almansa]].]]
[[File:1706-05-23-Slag bij Ramillies.jpg|thumb|The [[Battle of Ramillies]] where the French fought the Dutch and British, 23 May 1706]]
Even before war was officially declared, hostilities began with Imperial aggression in Italy. Once finally declared, the [[War of the Spanish Succession]] lasted almost until Louis's death, at great cost to him and France.

The war began with French successes, but the talents of [[John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough]], and [[Eugene of Savoy]] checked these victories and broke the myth of French invincibility. The duo allowed the Palatinate and Austria to occupy Bavaria after their victory at the [[Battle of Blenheim]]. [[Maximilian&nbsp;II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria]], had to flee to the Spanish Netherlands. The impact of this victory won the support of Portugal and Savoy. Later, the [[Battle of Ramillies]] delivered the Low Countries to the Allies, and the [[Battle of Turin]] forced Louis to evacuate Italy, leaving it open to Allied forces. Marlborough and Eugene met again at the [[Battle of Oudenarde]], which enabled them to invade France.

France established contact with [[Francis&nbsp;II Rákóczi]] and promised support if he took up the cause of [[Rákóczi's War of Independence|Hungarian independence]].

Defeats, famine, and mounting debt greatly weakened France. Between 1693 and 1710, over two million people died in two famines, made worse as foraging armies seized food supplies from the villages.{{Sfn|Ó Gráda|Chevet|2002|pp=706–733}} In desperation, Louis ordered a disastrous invasion of the English island of [[Guernsey]] in the autumn of 1704 with the aim of raiding their successful harvest. By the winter of 1708–09, he was willing to accept peace at nearly any cost. He agreed that the entire Spanish empire should be surrendered to Archduke Charles, and also consented to return to the frontiers of the Peace of Westphalia, giving up all the territories he had acquired over 60 years. But he could not promise that Philip{{Nbsp}}V would accept these terms, so the Allies demanded that Louis single-handedly attack his grandson to force these terms on him. If he could not achieve this within the year, the war would resume. Louis would not accept these terms.{{Sfn|Lynn|1999|p=326}}

===Turning point===
{{CSS image crop|Image=France 1709-A One Louis d'Or.jpg |bSize=445|cWidth=220|cHeight=220|oTop=3|oLeft=3|Location=right|Description=Louis XIV depicted on a [[Louis d'or]] in 1709}}

The final phases of the War of the Spanish Succession demonstrated that the Allies could not maintain Archduke Charles in Spain just as surely as France could not retain the entire Spanish inheritance for Philip{{Nbsp}}V. The Allies were definitively expelled from central Spain by the Franco-Spanish victories at the [[Battle of Villaviciosa|Battles of Villaviciosa]] and [[Battle of Brihuega|Brihuega]] in 1710. French forces elsewhere remained obdurate despite their defeats. The Allies suffered a [[Pyrrhic victory]] at the [[Battle of Malplaquet]] with 21,000 casualties, twice that of the French.{{Sfn|Lynn|1999|p=334}} Eventually, France recovered its military pride with the decisive victory at [[Battle of Denain|Denain]] in 1712.

French military successes near the end of the war took place against the background of a changed political situation in Austria. In 1705, Emperor Leopold{{Nbsp}}I died. His elder son and successor, [[Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor|Joseph&nbsp;I]], followed him in 1711. His heir was none other than Archduke Charles, who secured control of all of his brother's Austrian landholdings. If the Spanish empire then fell to him, it would have resurrected a domain as vast as Holy Roman Emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles&nbsp;V]]'s in the 16th century. To the maritime powers of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic, this would have been as undesirable as a Franco-Spanish union.{{Sfn|Lynn|1999|p=342}}

===Conclusion of peace===
[[File:Philippe Buache Carte de France divisee suivant les quatre departements de Messieurs les secretaires dEtat 07710637.jpg|thumb|Map of France after the death of Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV]]
As a result of the fresh British perspective on the European balance of power, Anglo-French talks began, culminating in the 1713 [[Peace of Utrecht]] between Louis, [[Philip&nbsp;V of Spain]], [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Anne of Great Britain]], and the [[Dutch Republic]]. In 1714, after losing [[Landau]] and [[Freiburg]], the Holy Roman Emperor also made peace with France in the Treaties of [[Treaty of Rastatt|Rastatt]] and [[Treaty of Baden (1714)|Baden]].

In the general settlement, Philip{{Nbsp}}V retained Spain and its colonies, while Austria received the Spanish Netherlands and divided [[Kingdom of Sicily under Savoy|Spanish Italy]] with [[Savoy]]. Britain kept [[Gibraltar]] and [[Menorca]]. Louis agreed to withdraw his support for James Stuart, son of James{{Nbsp}}II and pretender to the thrones of Great Britain and Ireland, and ceded [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]], [[Rupert's Land]], and [[Acadia]] in the Americas to Anne. Britain gained the most from the treaty, but the final terms were much more favourable to France than those being discussed in peace negotiations in 1709 and 1710.{{Citation needed|date=July 2016}} France retained [[Prince Edward Island|Île-Saint-Jean]] and [[Cape Breton Island|Île Royale]], and Louis acquired a few minor European territories, such as the [[Annexation of Orange|Principality of Orange]] and the [[Ubaye Valley]], which covered transalpine passes into Italy. Thanks to Louis, his allies the Electors of Bavaria and Cologne were restored to their prewar status and returned their lands.{{Sfn|Lynn|1999|pp=356–360}}

==Personal life==

===Marriages and children===
[[File:Louis XIV wedding.jpg|thumb|Wedding of Louis and Maria Theresa]]
[[File:Dual Cypher of King Louis XIV & Queen Marie Thérèse of France.svg|thumb|right|upright|Dual Cypher of King Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV & [[Maria Theresa of Spain|Queen Marie Thérèse]]]]
Louis and his wife [[Maria Theresa of Spain]] had six children from the marriage contracted for them in 1660. However, only one child, the eldest, survived to adulthood: Louis, ''[[le Grand Dauphin]]'', known as ''Monseigneur''. Maria Theresa died in 1683, whereupon Louis remarked that she had never caused him unease on any other occasion.

Despite evidence of affection early on in their marriage, Louis was never faithful to Maria Theresa. He took a series of mistresses, both official and unofficial. Among the better documented are [[Louise de La Vallière]] (with whom he had five children; 1661–1667), [[Bonne de Pons d'Heudicourt]] (1665), [[Catherine Charlotte de Gramont]] (1665), [[Françoise-Athénaïs, Marquise de Montespan]] (with whom he had seven children; 1667–1680), [[Anne de Rohan-Chabot]] (1669–1675), [[Claude de Vin des Œillets]] (one child born in 1676), [[Isabelle de Ludres]] (1675–1678), and [[Marie Angélique de Scorailles]] (1679–1681), who died at age 19 in childbirth. Through these liaisons, he produced numerous illegitimate children, most of whom he married to members of [[cadet branch]]es of the [[royal family]].

Louis proved relatively more faithful to his second wife, [[Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon]]. He first met her through her work caring for his children by Madame de Montespan, noting the care she gave to his favourite, [[Louis Auguste, Duke of Maine]].{{Sfn|Bryant|2004|p=80}} The king was, at first, put off by her strict religious practice, but he warmed to her through her care for his children.{{Sfn|Bryant|2004|p=80}}

When he legitimized his children by Madame de Montespan on 20 December 1673, Françoise d'Aubigné became the royal governess at Saint-Germain.{{Sfn|Bryant|2004|p=80}} As governess, she was one of very few people permitted to speak to him as an equal, without limits.{{Sfn|Bryant|2004|p=80}} It is believed that they were married secretly at Versailles on or around 10 October 1683{{Sfn|Buckley|2008|p=276}} or January 1684.{{Sfn|Bryant|2004|p=77}} This marriage, though never announced or publicly discussed, was an [[open secret]] and lasted until his death.

===Piety and religion===
[[File:Paris - Séminaire des Missions étrangères - 9.jpg|thumb|Louis XIV encouraged Catholic missions through the creation of the [[Paris Foreign Missions Society]]]]
Louis was a pious and devout king who saw himself as the head and protector of the [[Catholic Church in France]]. He made his devotions daily regardless of where he was, following the [[liturgical calendar]] regularly.{{Sfn|Wolf|1968|p=280}} Under the influence of his very religious second wife, he became much stronger in the practice of his [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] faith.{{Sfn|Bryant|2004|p=83}} This included banning opera and comedy performances during [[Lent]].{{Sfn|Bryant|2004|p=83}}

Towards the middle and the end of his reign, the centre for the King's religious observances was usually the [[Chapels of Versailles|Chapelle Royale]] at Versailles. Ostentation was a distinguishing feature of his daily Mass, annual celebrations (such as those of [[Holy Week]]), and special ceremonies.{{Sfn|Gaudelus|2000|pp=513–526}} Louis established the [[Paris Foreign Missions Society]], but his informal [[Franco-Ottoman alliance#Revival of the alliance under Louis XIV|alliance]] with the [[Ottoman Empire]] was criticised for undermining [[Christendom]].{{Sfn|Claydon|2007|p=182}}

===Patronage of the arts===
[[File:Portrait de Louis XIV entouré des arts et des sciences.jpg|thumb|left|Painting from 1667 depicting Louis as patron of the fine arts]]
[[File:Cour de Marbre du Château de Versailles October 5, 2011.jpg|thumb|left|The ''Cour royale'' and the ''Cour de marbre'' at Versailles]]
{{See also|Louis&nbsp;XIV style}}
Louis supported the royal court of France and those who worked under him. He brought the {{Lang|fr|[[Académie Française]]|italic=no}} under his patronage and became its "Protector". He promoted classical French literature by protecting such writers as [[Molière]], [[Jean Racine|Racine]], and [[Jean de La Fontaine|La Fontaine]]. Louis also patronised the visual arts by funding and commissioning artists such as [[Charles Le Brun]], [[Pierre Mignard]], [[Antoine Coysevox]], and [[Hyacinthe Rigaud]]. Composers and musicians such as [[Jean-Baptiste Lully]], [[Jacques Champion de Chambonnières]], and [[François Couperin]] thrived. In 1661, Louis founded the [[Académie Royale de Danse]], and in 1669, the [[Paris Opera|Académie d'Opéra]], important events in the evolution of ballet. He also attracted, supported and patronized such artists as [[André Charles Boulle]], who revolutionised [[marquetry]] with his art of [[inlay]], today known as "[[Boulle work]]". Always on the lookout for new talent, the king launched music competitions: in 1683, [[Michel-Richard de Lalande]] thus became deputy master of the Royal Chapel, composing his ''Symphonies for the Soupers du Roy'' along with 77 large scale ''Grand Motets''.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

Over the course of four building campaigns, Louis converted a hunting lodge commissioned by Louis{{Nbsp}}XIII into the spectacular [[Palace of Versailles]]. Except for the current Royal Chapel (built near the end of his reign), the palace achieved much of its current appearance after the third building campaign, which was followed by an official move of the royal court to Versailles on 6 May 1682. Versailles became a dazzling, awe-inspiring setting for state affairs and the reception of foreign dignitaries. At Versailles, the king alone commanded attention.

[[File:LouisXIV-Bernini.jpg|thumb|Bust of Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV by [[Gianlorenzo Bernini]]]]

Several reasons have been suggested for the creation of the extravagant and stately palace, as well as the relocation of the monarchy's seat. The memoirist [[Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon|Saint-Simon]] speculated that Louis viewed Versailles as an isolated power centre where treasonous cabals could be more readily discovered and foiled.<ref name="fordham">{{Cite web |last=Halsall |first=Paul |date=August 1997 |title=Modern History Sourcebook: Duc de Saint-Simon: The Court of Louis XIV |url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/17stsimon.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410084543/http://www.fordham.edu/HALSALL/mod/17stsimon.html |archive-date=10 April 2008 |access-date=19 January 2008 |website=Internet Modern History Sourcebook |publisher=History Department of Fordham University}}</ref> There has also been speculation that the revolt of the ''Fronde'' caused Louis to hate Paris, which he abandoned for a country retreat, but his sponsorship of many public works in Paris, such as the establishment of a police force and of street-lighting,{{Sfn|Dunlop|2000|pp=242–251}} lend little credence to this theory. As a further example of his continued care for the capital, Louis constructed the {{lang|fr|[[Les Invalides|Hôtel des Invalides]]}}, a military complex and home to this day for officers and soldiers rendered infirm either by injury or old age. While pharmacology was still quite rudimentary in his day, the ''Invalides'' pioneered new treatments and set new standards for hospice treatment. The conclusion of the [[Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668)|Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle]] in 1668 also induced Louis to demolish Paris's northern walls in 1670 and replace them with wide tree-lined boulevards.{{Sfn|Dunlop|2000|p=247}}

Louis renovated and improved the [[Palais du Louvre|Louvre]] and other royal residences. [[Gian Lorenzo Bernini]] was originally to plan additions to the Louvre; however, his plans would have meant the destruction of much of the existing structure, replacing it with an Italian summer [[villa]] in the centre of Paris. Bernini's plans were eventually shelved in favour of the elegant [[Louvre Colonnade]] designed by three Frenchmen: [[Louis Le Vau]], [[Charles Le Brun]], and [[Claude Perrault]]. With the relocation of the court to Versailles, the Louvre was given over to the arts and the public.{{Sfn|Bluche|1986|p=497}}
During his visit from Rome, Bernini also executed a renowned [[Bust of Louis XIV (Bernini)|portrait bust]] of the king.

==Image and depiction==
[[File:Bronze bust of Louis XIV. Circa 1660 CE, by unknown artist. From Paris, France. The Victoria and Albert Museum, London.jpg|thumb|Bronze bust of Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV. Circa 1660, by an unknown artist. From Paris, France. The [[Victoria and Albert Museum]], London.]]
Few rulers in world history have commemorated themselves in as grand a manner as Louis.{{Sfn|Burke|1992}} He cultivated his image as the Sun King (''le Roi Soleil''), the centre of the universe "without equal". Louis used court ritual and the arts to validate and augment his control over France. With his support, Colbert established from the beginning of Louis's personal reign a centralised and institutionalised system for creating and perpetuating the royal image. The King was thus portrayed largely in majesty or at war, notably against Spain. This portrayal of the monarch was to be found in numerous media of artistic expression, such as painting, sculpture, theatre, dance, music, and the almanacs that diffused royal propaganda to the population at large.

===Evolution of royal portraiture===
[[File:Le roi gouverne par lui-même.jpg|thumb|left|''Le roi gouverne par lui-même'', ''modello'' for the central panel of the ceiling of the [[Hall of Mirrors]] {{Circa|1680}} by [[Charles Le Brun|Le Brun]], (1619–1690)]]
Over his lifetime, Louis commissioned numerous works of art, including over 300 formal portraits. The earliest portrayals of Louis already followed the pictorial conventions of the day in depicting the child king as the majestically royal incarnation of France. This idealisation of the monarch continued in later works, which avoided depictions of the effect of smallpox that Louis contracted in 1647. In the 1660s, Louis began to be shown as a Roman emperor, the god [[Apollo]], or [[Alexander the Great]], as can be seen in many works of [[Charles Le Brun]], such as sculpture, paintings, and the decor of major monuments.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

Grandiose images of the king in allegorical or mythological guises followed conventions of historiated portraiture that had been common since the Renaissance.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Neuman |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SRRplwEACAAJ&q=Front+cover+image+for+Baroque+and+Rococo+Art+and+Architecture+Baroque+and+Rococo+Art+and+Architecture++neuman |title=Baroque and Rococo Art and Architecture |date=2013 |publisher=Pearson Education |isbn=978-0-205-94951-9 |pages=317 |language=en}}</ref> There is no better illustration of this than [[Hyacinthe Rigaud]]'s 1701 [[Portrait of Louis XIV|Portrait of Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV]], where a 63-year-old Louis appears to stand on a set of unnaturally young legs.{{Sfn|Perez|2003|pp=62–95}}

Rigaud's portrait exemplified the height of royal portraiture during Louis's reign. Although Rigaud crafted a credible likeness of Louis, the portrait was neither meant as an exercise in realism nor to explore Louis's character. Certainly, Rigaud was concerned with detail and depicted the king's costume with great precision, down to his shoe buckle.<ref>See also {{Cite journal |last=Schmitter |first=Amy M. |date=2002 |title=Representation and the Body of Power in French Academic Painting |journal=Journal of the History of Ideas |volume=63 |issue=3 |pages=399–424 |doi=10.1353/jhi.2002.0027 |issn=0022-5037 |jstor=3654315 |s2cid=170904125}}</ref>

However, Rigaud intended to glorify the monarchy. Rigaud's original, now housed in the [[Louvre]], was originally meant as a gift to Louis's grandson, [[Philip&nbsp;V of Spain]]. However, Louis was so pleased with the work that he kept the original and commissioned a copy to be sent to his grandson. That became the first of many copies, both in full and half-length formats, to be made by Rigaud, often with the help of his assistants. The portrait also became a model for French royal and imperial portraiture down to the time of [[Charles X of France|Charles&nbsp;X]] over a century later. In his work, Rigaud proclaims Louis's exalted royal status through his elegant stance and haughty expression, the royal regalia and throne, rich ceremonial fleur-de-lys robes, as well as the upright column in the background, which, together with the draperies, serves to frame this image of majesty.

===Other works of art===
In addition to portraits, Louis commissioned at least 20 statues of himself in the 1680s, to stand in Paris and provincial towns as physical manifestations of his rule. He also commissioned "war artists" to follow him on campaigns to document his military triumphs. To remind the people of these triumphs, Louis erected permanent [[triumphal arch]]es in Paris and the provinces for the first time since the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|decline of the Roman Empire]].

Louis's reign marked the birth and infancy of the art of medallions. Sixteenth-century rulers had often issued medals in small numbers to commemorate the major events of their reigns. Louis, however, struck more than 300 to celebrate the story of the king in bronze, that were enshrined in thousands of households throughout France.

He also used [[Tapestry|tapestries]] as a medium of exalting the monarchy. Tapestries could be allegorical, depicting the elements or seasons, or realist, portraying royal residences or historical events. They were among the most significant means to spread royal propaganda prior to the construction of the [[Hall of Mirrors]] at Versailles.{{Sfn|Sabatier|2000|p=527–560}}

===Ballet===
[[File:Ballet de la nuit 1653.jpg|thumb|Louis XIV as [[Apollo]] in the ''[[Ballet Royal de la Nuit]]'' (1653)]]
[[File:Chateau Versailles Galerie des Glaces.jpg|thumb|[[Hall of Mirrors]], Palace of Versailles]]
Louis loved [[French ballet|ballet]] and frequently danced in court ballets during the early half of his reign. In general, Louis was an eager dancer who performed 80 roles in 40 major ballets. This approaches the career of a professional ballet dancer.{{Sfn|Prest|2001|pp=283–298}}

His choices were strategic and varied. He danced four parts in three of [[Molière]]'s comédies-ballets, which are plays accompanied by music and dance. Louis played an Egyptian in ''Le Mariage forcé'' in 1664, a Moorish gentleman in ''Le Sicilien'' in 1667, and both Neptune and Apollo in ''Les Amants magnifiques'' in 1670.

He sometimes danced leading roles that were suitably royal or godlike (such as Neptune, Apollo, or the Sun).{{Sfn|Prest|2001|pp=283–298}} At other times, he would adopt mundane roles before appearing at the end in the lead role. It is considered that, at all times, he provided his roles with sufficient majesty and drew the limelight with his flair for dancing.{{Sfn|Prest|2001|pp=283–298}} For Louis, ballet may not have merely been a tool for manipulation in his propaganda machinery. The sheer number of performances he gave as well as the diversity of roles he played may serve to indicate a deeper understanding and interest in the art form.{{Sfn|Prest|2001|pp=283–298}}<ref>See also Louis' commissioned academy of dance, discussed in {{Cite journal |last=Needham |first=Maureen |date=1997 |title=Louis XIV and the Académie Royale de Danse, 1661: A Commentary and Translation |journal=Dance Chronicle |volume=20/2 |issue=2 |pages=173–190 |doi=10.1080/01472529708569278 |jstor=1568065| issn = 0147-2526 }}</ref>

Ballet dancing was used by Louis as a political tool to hold power over his state. He integrated ballet deeply into court social functions and fixated his nobles' attention on upholding standards in ballet dancing, effectively distracting them from political activities.{{Sfn|Homans|2010|p=52}} In 1661, the [[Académie Royale de Danse|Royal Academy of Dance]] was founded by Louis to further his ambition. [[Pierre Beauchamp]], his private dance instructor, was ordered by Louis to come up with a [[Beauchamp-Feuillet notation|notation system]] to record ballet performances, which he did with great success. His work was adopted and published by [[Raoul Auger Feuillet|Feuillet]] in 1700 as ''Choregraphie''. This major development in ballet played an important role in promoting French culture and ballet throughout Europe during Louis's time.{{Sfn|Homans|2010|pp=64–66}}

Louis greatly emphasized etiquettes in ballet dancing, evidently seen in "La belle danse" (the [[French ballet|French noble style]]). More challenging skills were required to perform this dance with movements very much resembling court behaviours, as a way to remind the nobles of the king's absolute power and their own status. All the details and rules were compressed in five positions of the bodies codified by Beauchamp.{{Sfn|Homans|2010|pp=66–72}}

===Unofficial image===
Besides the official depiction and image of Louis, his subjects also followed a non-official discourse consisting mainly of clandestine publications, popular songs, and rumours that provided an alternative interpretation of Louis and his government. They often focused on the miseries arising from poor government, but also carried the hope for a better future when Louis escaped the malignant influence of his ministers and mistresses, and took the government into his own hands. On the other hand, petitions addressed either directly to Louis or to his ministers exploited the traditional imagery and language of monarchy. These varying interpretations of Louis abounded in self-contradictions that reflected the people's amalgamation of their everyday experiences with the idea of monarchy.{{Sfn|Jens Ivo|2003|pp=96–126}}

===In fiction===
====Literature====
* [[Alexandre Dumas]] portrayed Louis in his two sequels to his 1844 novel ''[[The Three Musketeers]]'': first as a child in ''[[Twenty Years After]]'' (1845), then as a young man in ''[[The Vicomte de Bragelonne]]'' (1847–1850), in which he is a central character. The final part of the latter novel recounts the legend that a mysterious [[Man in the Iron Mask|prisoner in an iron mask]] was actually Louis's twin brother and has spawned numerous film adaptations generally titled ''The Man in the Iron Mask''.
* In 1910, the American historical novelist [[Charles Major (writer)|Charles Major]] wrote ''"The Little King: A Story of the Childhood of King Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV"''.
* Louis is a major character in the 1959 historical novel ''Angélique et le Roy'' ("Angélique and the King"), part of the [[Angélique (novel series)|''Angélique'' series]]. The protagonist, a strong-willed lady at Versailles, rejects the King's advances and refuses to become his mistress. A later book, the 1961 ''Angélique se révolte'' ("Angélique in Revolt"), details the dire consequences of her defying this powerful monarch.
* A character based on Louis plays an important role in ''[[The Age of Unreason]]'', a series of four [[alternate history]] novels written by American science fiction and fantasy author [[Gregory Keyes]].
* Louis features significantly in [[Neal Stephenson]]'s [[Baroque Cycle]], specifically in the 2003 novel ''[[The Confusion (novel)|The Confusion]]'', the greater part of which takes place at Versailles.
* In the ''39 Clues'' series universe, it has been noted that Louis was part of the Cahill branch, Tomas.
* He is called the son of Apollo in [[Rick Riordan]]'s ''[[Trials of Apollo]]'' series.
* Louis XIV is portrayed in [[Vonda N. McIntyre]]'s 1997 novel ''[[The Moon and the Sun]]''.

====Films====
* The film, ''[[The Taking of Power by Louis&nbsp;XIV]]'' (1966), directed by [[Roberto Rossellini]], shows Louis's rise to power after the death of [[Cardinal Mazarin]].
* The film [[The Man in the Iron Mask (1998 film)|''Man in the Iron Mask'']] (1998), directed by [[Randall Wallace]], focused on the identity of an anonymous masked prisoner who spent decades in the Bastille and other French prisons, and his true identity remains somewhat a mystery till date. The monarch was played by [[Leonardo DiCaprio]].
* The film, ''[[Le Roi Danse]]'' (2000; translated: ''The King Dances''), directed by [[Gérard Corbiau]], reveals Louis through the eyes of [[Jean-Baptiste Lully]], his court musician.
* [[Julian Sands]] portrayed Louis in Roland Jaffe's ''[[Vatel (film)|Vatel]]'' (2000).
* [[Alan Rickman]] directed, co-wrote, and stars as Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV in the film, ''[[A Little Chaos]]'', which centres on construction in the gardens of Versaille, at the time immediately before and after the death of Queen Maria Theresa.
* The 2016 film ''[[The Death of Louis&nbsp;XIV]]'', directed by [[Albert Serra]], is set during the last two weeks of Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV's life before dying of [[gangrene]], with the monarch played by [[Jean-Pierre Léaud]].

====Television====
* Louis XIV is portrayed by Thierry Perkins-Lyautey in the British television film ''[[Charles II: The Power and the Passion]].''
* The 15-year-old Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV, as played by the Irish actor [[Robert Sheehan]], is a major character of the short-lived historical fantasy series ''[[Young Blades]]'' from January to June 2005.
* [[George Blagden]] portrays Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV in the [[Canal+ (French TV channel)|Canal+]] series ''[[Versailles (TV series)|Versailles]]'' which aired for three seasons from 2015.

====Musicals====
* [[Emmanuel Moire]] portrayed Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV in the 2005-07 [[Kamel Ouali]] musical [[Le Roi Soleil (musical)|Le Roi Soleil]].

==Health and death==
[[File:Louis XIV of France and his family attributed to Nicolas de Largillière.jpg|thumb|left|Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV (seated) with his son ''[[Louis, Dauphin of France (1661–1711)|le Grand Dauphin]]'' (to the left), his grandson [[Louis of France, Duke of Burgundy|Louis, Duke of Burgundy]] (to the right), his great-grandson [[Louis XV|Louis Duke of Anjou]], and [[Madame de Ventadour]], Anjou's governess, who commissioned this painting; busts of [[Henry IV of France|Henry IV]] and [[Louis XIII of France|Louis XIII]] are in the background.]]
Despite the image of a healthy and virile king that Louis sought to project, evidence exists to suggest that his health was not very good. He had many ailments: for example, symptoms of [[diabetes]], as confirmed in reports of suppurating [[periostitis]] in 1678, [[dental abscess]]es in 1696, along with recurring [[boil]]s, fainting spells, [[gout]], [[dizziness]], hot flushes, and headaches.

From 1647 to 1711, the three chief physicians to the king (Antoine Vallot, [[Antoine d'Aquin]], and [[Guy-Crescent Fagon]]) recorded all of his health problems in the ''Journal de Santé du Roi'' (''Journal of the King's Health''), a daily report of his health. On 18 November 1686, Louis underwent a painful operation for an [[anal fistula]] that was performed by the surgeon [[Charles-François Félix|Charles-François Félix de Tassy]], who prepared a specially shaped curved [[scalpel]] for the occasion. The wound took more than two months to heal.{{Sfn|Régnier|2009|p=318}}
[[File:Thomas Jones Barker - La Mort de Louis XIV au palais de Versailles.jpg|left|thumb|''The Death of Louis XIV at the Palace of Versailles'', [[Thomas Jones Barker]], 1835-1840]]
Louis died of [[gangrene]] at Versailles on 1 September 1715, four days before his 77th birthday, after 72 years on the throne. Enduring much pain in his last days, he finally "yielded up his soul without any effort, like a candle going out", while reciting the [[psalm]] [[Psalm 70|''Deus, in adjutorium me festina'']] (''O Lord, make haste to help me'').{{Sfn|Dunlop|2000|p=468}} His body was laid to rest in [[Saint-Denis Basilica]] outside Paris. It remained there undisturbed for about 80 years until revolutionaries exhumed and destroyed all of the remains found in the Basilica.{{Sfn|Schama|1990|p=829}} In 1848, at [[Nuneham House]], a piece of Louis's mummified heart, taken from his tomb and kept in a silver locket by [[Edward Venables-Vernon-Harcourt|Lord Harcourt]], [[Archbishop of York]], was shown to the [[Dean of Westminster]], [[William Buckland]], who ate a part of it.<ref>{{Cite web |title=William Buckland |url=https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/william-buckland |access-date=17 January 2016 |publisher=Westminster Abbey |archive-date=24 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170724131211/http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/william-buckland |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Armand Gaston Maximilien de Rohan|Cardinal Armand Gaston Maximilien de Rohan]] gave [[Last rites|Last Rites]] ([[Sacrament of Penance|confession]], [[viaticum]], and [[Anointing of the Sick in the Catholic Church|unction]]) to king Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV.{{Sfn|Marquis de Dangeau|1858}}

===Succession===
Louis outlived most of his immediate legitimate family. His last surviving legitimate son, [[Louis, Grand Dauphin|Louis, Dauphin of France]], died in 1711 of smallpox and barely a year later, [[Louis, Duke of Burgundy]], the eldest of the Dauphin's three sons and then heir-apparent to Louis, died of measles. Burgundy's elder son, [[Louis, Dauphin of France (1707-1712)|Louis, Duke of Brittany]], died of the same disease a few weeks later. Thus, on his deathbed, Louis's heir-apparent was his five-year-old great-grandson, [[Louis XV|Louis, Duke of Anjou]], Burgundy's younger son.

Louis foresaw that his successor would not yet be mature and sought to restrict the power of his nephew [[Philip&nbsp;II, Duke of Orléans]], who, as his closest surviving legitimate relative in France, would probably become [[regent]] to the prospective Louis XV. Accordingly, the king created a regency council as Louis{{Nbsp}}XIII had in anticipation of Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV's own minority, with some power vested in his illegitimate son [[Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, Duke of Maine]].{{Sfn|Dunlop|2000|pp=454–455}} Orléans, however, had Louis's will annulled by the Parlement of Paris after his death and made himself sole regent. He stripped Maine and his brother, [[Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse|Louis-Alexandre, Count of Toulouse]], of the rank of [[Prince du Sang|Prince of the Blood]] that Louis had granted them and significantly reduced Maine's power and privileges.{{Sfn|Antoine|1989|pp=33–37}}

====Line of succession in 1715====
Below is the line of succession to the French throne at the time of the death of Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV in 1715. Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV's only surviving legitimate grandson, Philip{{Nbsp}}V, was not included in the line of succession because he had renounced the French throne after the [[war of the Spanish Succession]], a 14-year conflict following the death of [[Charles&nbsp;II of Spain]] in 1700.{{Sfn|Holsti|1991|p=74}}

{{Tree list}}
* [[File:Simple silver crown.svg|15px]] ''[[Louis XIII]] (1601–1643)''
** [[File:Simple gold crown.svg|15px]] '''Louis XIV''' ''(1638–1715)''
*** {{Tree list/final branch}} ''[[Louis, Grand Dauphin]] (1661–1711)''
**** ''[[Louis, Duke of Burgundy]] (1682–1712)''
***** ''[[Louis, Duke of Brittany (1707–1712)|Louis, Duke of Brittany]] (1707–1712)''
***** {{Tree list/final branch}} '''(1)''' [[Louis XV|Louis, Duke of Anjou]] (1710–1774)
**** [[Philip V of Spain]] (1683–1746)
**** {{Tree list/final branch}} ''[[Charles, Duke of Berry (1686–1714)|Charles, Duke of Berry]] (1686–1714)''
** {{Tree list/final branch}} ''[[Philippe I, Duke of Orléans]] (1640–1701)''
*** {{Tree list/final branch}} '''(2)''' [[Philippe II, Duke of Orléans]] (1674–1723)
**** {{Tree list/final branch}} '''(3)''' [[Louis, Duke of Orléans (1703–1752)|Louis, Duke of Chartres]] (1703–1752)
{{Tree list/end}}

Further down the French line of succession in 1715 was the [[House of Conde|House of Condé]], followed by the [[House of Conti]] (a [[cadet branch]] of the House of Condé). Both of these [[royal houses]] were descended in the [[Agnatic|male line]] from [[Henri II, Prince of Conde|Henri II, Prince of Condé]], a [[second cousin]] of French King Louis{{Nbsp}}XIII (the father of Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV) in the [[male line]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

==Legacy==

===Reputation===
According to [[Philippe de Courcillon]]'s ''Journal'', Louis on his deathbed advised his heir with these words: <blockquote>Do not follow the bad example which I have set you; I have often undertaken war too lightly and have sustained it for vanity. Do not imitate me, but be a peaceful prince, and may you apply yourself principally to the alleviation of the burdens of your subjects.{{Sfn|Bluche|1986|p=890}}</blockquote>

[[File:France_1643_to_1715-fr.svg|thumb|Territorial expansion of [[mainland France]] during Louis XIV's reign (1643–1715).]]

Some historians point out that it was a customary demonstration of piety in those days to exaggerate one's sins. Thus they do not place much emphasis on Louis's deathbed declarations in assessing his accomplishments. Rather, they focus on military and diplomatic successes, such as how he placed a French prince on the Spanish throne. This, they contend, ended the threat of an aggressive Spain that historically interfered in domestic French politics. These historians also emphasise the effect of Louis's wars in expanding France's boundaries and creating more defensible frontiers that preserved France from invasion until the Revolution.{{Sfn|Bluche|1986|p=890}}

Arguably, Louis also applied himself indirectly to "the alleviation of the burdens of [his] subjects." For example, he patronised the arts, encouraged industry, fostered trade and commerce, and sponsored the founding of an overseas empire. Moreover, the significant reduction in civil wars and aristocratic rebellions during his reign are seen by these historians as the result of Louis's consolidation of royal authority over feudal elites. In their analysis, his early reforms centralised France and marked the birth of the modern French state. They regard the political and military victories as well as numerous cultural achievements as how Louis helped raise France to a preeminent position in Europe.<ref>{{Harvnb|Dunlop|2000|p=433}}, citing Montesquieu: "''Louis established the greatness of France by building Versailles and Marly''."</ref> Europe came to admire France for its military and cultural successes, power, and sophistication. Europeans generally began to emulate French manners, values, goods, and deportment. French became the universal language of the European elite.

Louis's detractors have argued that his considerable foreign, military and domestic expenditure impoverished and bankrupted France. His supporters, however, distinguish the state, which was impoverished, from France, which was not. As supporting evidence, they cite the literature of the time, such as the social commentary in [[Montesquieu]]'s ''[[Persian Letters]]''.{{Sfn|Bluche|1986|p=876}}

Alternatively, Louis's critics attribute the social upheaval culminating in the French Revolution to his failure to reform French institutions while the monarchy was still secure. Other scholars counter that there was little reason to reform institutions that largely worked well under Louis. They also maintain that events occurring almost 80 years after his death were not reasonably foreseeable to Louis and that in any case, his successors had sufficient time to initiate reforms of their own.{{Sfn|Bluche|1986|pp=506, 877–878}}

[[File:Marche du Roy accompagné des ses gardes passant sur le pont neuf et allant au Palais.JPG|thumb|Royal procession passing the [[Pont-Neuf]] under Louis&nbsp;XIV]]

Louis has often been criticised for his vanity. The memoirist [[Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon|Saint-Simon]], who claimed that Louis slighted him, criticised him thus: <blockquote>There was nothing he liked so much as flattery, or, to put it more plainly, adulation; the coarser and clumsier it was, the more he relished it.</blockquote> For his part, [[Voltaire]] saw Louis's vanity as the cause for his bellicosity:<blockquote>It is certain that he passionately wanted glory, rather than the conquests themselves. In the acquisition of Alsace and half of Flanders, and of all of Franche-Comté, what he really liked was the name he made for himself.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sommerville |first=J. P. |title=The wars of Louis XIV |url=http://faculty.history.wisc.edu/sommerville/351/351-14.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603010836/http://faculty.history.wisc.edu/sommerville/351/351-14.htm |archive-date=3 June 2012 |access-date=4 May 2012 |website=History 351 – Seventeenth-Century Europe}}</ref></blockquote>

Nonetheless, Louis has also received praise. The anti-Bourbon [[Napoleon]] described him not only as "a great king", but also as "the only King of France worthy of the name".<ref>Napoleon Bonaparte, ''Napoleon's Notes on English History made on the Eve of the French Revolution'', illustrated from Contemporary Historians and referenced from the findings of Later Research by Henry Foljambe Hall. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1905, 258.</ref> [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz|Leibniz]], the German Protestant philosopher, commended him as "one of the greatest kings that ever was".{{Sfn|Bluche|1986|p=926}} And [[Lord Acton]] admired him as "by far the ablest man who was born in modern times on the steps of a throne".{{Sfn|Durant|Durant|1963|p=721}} The historian and philosopher Voltaire wrote: "His name can never be pronounced without respect and without summoning the image of an eternally memorable age".{{Sfn|Rogers Neill Sehnaoui|2013|p=4}} Voltaire's history, ''[[The Age of Louis&nbsp;XIV]]'', named Louis's reign as not only one of the four great ages in which reason and culture flourished, but the greatest ever.{{Sfn|Montoya|2013|p=47}}{{Sfn|Delon|2013|p=1227}}

===Quotes===
Numerous quotes have been attributed to Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV by legend.

The well-known "I am the state" (''"[[L'État, c'est moi]]."'') was reported from at least the late 18th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Erhard |first=C. D. |title=Betrachtungen über Leopolds des Weisen Gesetzgebung in Toscana |publisher=Richter |date=1791 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=q5hDAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA30 30] |language=de |trans-title=Reflections on Leopold's Wise Legislation in Toscana}}</ref> It was widely repeated but also denounced as [[apocryphal]] by the early 19th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Marignié |first=Jean Etienne François |title=Le roi ne peut jamais avoir tort, le roi ne peut mal faire |date=1818 |publisher=Le Normant |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=P6gnAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA12 12] |language=fr |trans-title=The king was not wrong, the king can do no wrong}}</ref>{{Efn|The anecdote as circulated after the [[French Revolution]], designed to illustrate the tyrannical character of the [[Absolute monarchy in France|absolutism]] of the ''[[Ancien Régime]]'', held that the president of the ''[[Parlement of Paris|parlement]]'' began to address the king with the words ''Sire, l'État [...]'' but was cut off by the king interjecting ''L'État, c'est moi''.}}<ref>{{Cite journal |date=February 1817 |title=Staatswissenschaften |journal=Jenaische Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung |language=de |volume=14.1 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=fQwbAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA241 241] |number=31}}</ref>

He did say, "Every time I appoint someone to a vacant position, I make a hundred unhappy and one ungrateful."{{Sfn|Blanning|2008|p=286}}{{Sfn|Wilson|2000|p=54}} Louis is recorded by numerous eyewitnesses as having said on his deathbed: "{{Lang|fr|Je m'en vais, mais l'État demeurera toujours.}}" ("I depart, but the State shall always remain."){{Sfn|Marquis de Dangeau|1858|p=[http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k55404p.image.r=M%C3%A9moire+sur+la+mort+de+Louis+XIV.f27.langFR 24]}}

==Arms==
{{Emblem table
| image             = Grand Royal Coat of Arms of France & Navarre.svg
| bannerimage       = Royal Standard of King Louis XIV.svg
| notes             = Upon his accession to the throne Louis assumed the [[coat of arms|royal coat of arms]] of France & Navarre.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Velde |first=François |date=22 April 2010 |title=Arms of France |url=http://www.heraldica.org/topics/france/frarms.htm |website=heraldica.org |access-date=11 May 2014 |archive-date=14 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140414072047/http://www.heraldica.org/topics/france/frarms.htm |url-status=live }}{{Self-published source|date=October 2020}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=May 2020}}
| year_adopted      = 1643–1715
| crest             = The [[French Crown Jewels|Royal crown of France]]
| helm              = An opened gold helmet, with blue and gold mantling.
| escutcheon        = ''Azure, three fleurs-de-lis Or (for France) impaling Gules on a chain in cross saltire and orle Or an emerald Proper (for Navarre)''.
| supporters        = The two supporters are two angels, acting as [[herald]]s for the two realms. The dexter angel carries a standard with the arms of France, and wears a [[tabard]] with the same arms. The sinister angel also carries a standard and wears a tabard, but that of Navarre. Both are standing on puffs of cloud.
| motto             = The motto is written in gold on a blue ribbon: '''[[Montjoie Saint Denis!|MONTJOIE SAINT DENIS]]''' the war cry of France, [[Basilica of St Denis|Saint Denis]] was also the abbey where the [[oriflamme]] was kept.
| orders            =  The escutcheons are surrounded first by the chain of the [[Order of Saint Michael]] and by the chain of the [[Order of the Holy Spirit]], both were known as the ''ordres du roi''.
| other_elements    =  Above all is a ''pavilion armoyé'' with the Royal crown. From it, is a royal blue mantle with a semis of fleurs-de-lis Or, lined on the inside with ermine.
| banner            =  Royal standard of the king
}}

==Order of Saint Louis==
On 5 April 1693, Louis also founded the [[Order of Saint Louis|Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis]] ({{Langx|fr|link=no|Ordre Royal et Militaire de Saint-Louis}}), a military [[order of chivalry]].<ref>* {{Cite book |last=Hamilton |first=Walter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_KIrAAAAYAAJ |title=Dated Book-plates (Ex Libris) with a Treatise on Their Origin |publisher=A.C. Black |date=1895 |page=37 |access-date=22 March 2023 |archive-date=13 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713192807/https://books.google.com/books?id=_KIrAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Sfn|Edmunds|2002|p=274}} He named it after [[Louis&nbsp;IX]] and intended it as a reward for outstanding officers. It is notable as the first decoration that could be granted to non-nobles and is roughly the forerunner of the ''[[Légion d'honneur]]'', with which it shares the red ribbon (though the ''Légion d'honneur'' is awarded to military personnel and civilians alike).

== Family ==

=== Ancestry ===
{{Ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''Louis XIV of France'''
|2= 2. [[Louis XIII of France]]
|3= 3. [[Anne of Austria]]
|4= 4. [[Henry IV of France]]{{Sfn|Anselme de Sainte-Marie|1726|pp=145–146}}
|5= 5. [[Marie de' Medici]]{{Sfn|Anselme de Sainte-Marie|1726|pp=145–146}}
|6= 6. [[Philip III of Spain]]<ref name="BLKO-Anna von Oesterreich">{{BLKO |wstitle=Habsburg, Anna von Oesterreich (Königin von Frankreich) |volume=6 |page=152}}</ref>
|7= 7. [[Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain|Margaret of Austria]]<ref name="BLKO-Anna von Oesterreich"/>
|8= 8. [[Antoine of Navarre]]{{Sfn|Anselme de Sainte-Marie|1726|pp=143–144}}
|9= 9. [[Jeanne d'Albret|Jeanne III of Navarre]]{{Sfn|Anselme de Sainte-Marie|1726|pp=143–144}}
|10= 10. [[Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany]]<ref name="Britannica-Marie">{{Britannica|365073|Marie de Médicis}}</ref>
|11= 11. [[Joanna of Austria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany|Joanna of Austria]]<ref name="Britannica-Marie"/>
|12= 12. [[Philip II of Spain]]<ref name="BLKO-Philip III">{{BLKO |wstitle=Habsburg, Philipp III. |volume=7 |page=120}}</ref>
|13= 13. [[Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain|Anna of Austria]]<ref name="BLKO-Philip III"/>
|14= 14. [[Charles II, Archduke of Austria|Charles II, Archduke of Inner Austria]]<ref name="BLKO-Margaretha">{{BLKO |wstitle=Habsburg, Margaretha (Königin von Spanien) |volume=7 |page=13}}</ref>
|15= 15. [[Maria Anna of Bavaria (1551–1608)|Maria Anna of Bavaria]]<ref name="BLKO-Margaretha"/>
}}

==== Patrilineal descent ====
{{Chart top|text-align=left|Patrilineal descent}}
Louis' patriline is the line from which he is descended from father to son.

[[Patrilineal descent]] is the principle behind membership in royal houses, as it can be traced back through the generations - which means that if King Louis were to choose a historically accurate house name it would be Robertian, as all his male-line ancestors have been of that house.

Louis is a member of the [[House of Bourbon]], a branch of the [[Capetian dynasty]] and of the [[Robertians]].

Louis' patriline is the line from which he is descended from father to son. It follows the Bourbon kings of France, and the Counts of Paris and Worms. This line can be traced back more than 1,200 years from Robert of Hesbaye to the present day, through Kings of France & Navarre, Spain and Two-Sicilies, Dukes of Parma and Grand-Dukes of Luxembourg, Princes of Orléans and Emperors of Brazil. It is one of the oldest in Europe.

# Robert II of Worms and Rheingau ([[Robert of Hesbaye]]), 770–807
# [[Robert III of Worms]] and Rheingau, 808–834
# [[Robert IV the Strong]], 820–866
# [[Robert I of France]], 866–923
# [[Hugh the Great]], 895–956
# [[Hugh Capet]], 941–996
# [[Robert II of France]], 972–1031
# [[Henry I of France]], 1008–1060
# [[Philip I of France]], 1053–1108
# [[Louis VI of France]], 1081–1137
# [[Louis VII of France]], 1120–1180
# [[Philip II of France]], 1165–1223
# [[Louis VIII of France]], 1187–1226
# [[Louis IX of France]], 1214–1270
# [[Robert, Count of Clermont]], 1256–1317
# [[Louis I, Duke of Bourbon]], 1279–1342
# [[James I, Count of La Marche]], 1319–1362
# [[John I, Count of La Marche]], 1344–1393
# [[Louis, Count of Vendôme]], 1376–1446
# [[Jean VIII, Count of Vendôme]], 1428–1478
# [[François, Count of Vendôme]], 1470–1495
# [[Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme]], 1489–1537
# [[Antoine of Navarre|Antoine, King of Navarre, Duke of Vendôme]], 1518–1562
# [[Henry IV of France|Henry IV, King of France and of Navarre]], 1553–1610
# [[Louis XIII of France|Louis XIII, King of France and Navarre]], 1601–1643
# Louis XIV, King of France and Navarre, 1638–1715
{{Chart bottom}}

=== Issue ===
{{Main|Descendants of Louis&nbsp;XIV of France}}

{|class="wikitable"
|-
! Name
! Birth
! Death
! Notes
|-
| colspan=4 | '''''By [[Maria Theresa of Spain|Maria Theresa, Infanta of Spain, Archduchess of Austria, Queen of France and of Navarre]] (20 September 1638 – 30 July 1683)'''''
|-
| [[Louis, Dauphin of France (1661-1711)|Louis, ''le Grand Dauphin'']]
| 1 November 1661
| 14 April 1711
| [[Fils de France]]. [[Dauphin of France]] (1661–1711). Had issue. Father of [[Louis, Dauphin of France (1682-1712)|Louis, Dauphin of France]], [[Philip V of Spain]] and [[Charles, Duke of Berry (1686-1714)|Charles, Duke of Berry]]. Grandfather of [[Louis XV]]
|-
| Anne Élisabeth
| 18 November 1662
| 30 December 1662
| [[Fille de France]]. Died in infancy.
|-
| Marie Anne
| {{Nowrap|16 November 1664}}
| {{Nowrap|26 December 1664}}
| [[Fille de France]]. Died in infancy.
|-
| [[Princess Marie Thérèse of France (1667–1672)|Marie Thérèse]]
| 2 January 1667
| 1 March 1672
| [[Fille de France]]. Known as [[Madame Royale]] and ''la Petite Madame''. Died in childhood.
|-
| {{Nowrap|[[Philippe Charles, Duke of Anjou]]}}
| 5 August 1668
| 10 July 1671
| [[Fils de France]]. Died in childhood.
|-
| Louis François, Duke of Anjou
| 14 June 1672
| 4 November 1672
| [[Fils de France]]. Died in infancy.
|}

This is an incomplete list of Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV's illegitimate children. He reputedly had more, but the difficulty in fully documenting all such births restricts the list only to the better-known or legitimised.

{|class="wikitable"
|-
! Name
! Birth
! Death
! Notes
|-
| colspan=4 | '''''By [[Nomen nescio|NN]], a gardener'''''
|-
|Daughter
| 1660
| unknown
| She married N de la Queue, a sentry.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marek |first=Miroslav |title=Capet 40 |url=http://genealogy.euweb.cz/capet/capet40.html |website=euweb.cz |access-date=13 February 2009 |archive-date=14 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014145729/http://www.genealogy.euweb.cz/capet/capet40.html |url-status=live }}{{Self-published source|date=May 2019}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=May 2019}}
|-
| colspan=4 | '''''By [[Louise de La Vallière]] (6 August 1644 – 6 June 1710)'''''
|-
|Charles de La Baume Le Blanc
| 19 December 1663
| 15 July 1665 (aged 1)
| Not legitimised.
|-
|Philippe de La Baume Le Blanc
| 7 January 1665
| 1666 (aged 1)
| Not legitimised.
|-
| [[Marie Anne de Bourbon]]
| 2 October 1666
| 3 May 1739 (aged 73)
| Legitimised on 14 May 1667. Married [[Louis Armand I, Prince of Conti]].
|-
| [[Louis, Count of Vermandois]]
| 3 October 1667
| 18 November 1683 (aged 16)
| Legitimised on 20 February 1669. Held the office of [[Admiral of France]].
|-
| colspan=4 | '''''By [[Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan]] (5 October 1641 – 27 May 1707)'''''
|-
| Louise Françoise de Bourbon
| at the end of March 1669
| 23 February 1672 (aged 2)
| 
|-
| [[Louis Auguste, Duke of Maine]]
| 31 March 1670
| 14 May 1736 (aged 66)
| Legitimised on 20 December 1673. Held numerous offices, of which: [[Maison du Roi|Colonel General of the Suisses et Grisons]], Governor of [[Languedoc]], General of the [[Galley]]s, and [[Grand Master of Artillery]]. Also Duke of Aumale, Count of Eu and Prince of Dombes. Had issue. Founder of the [[Bourbon du Maine|Maine Line]]. [[Heir presumptive]] for several days.
|-
| [[Louis César, Count of Vexin]]
| 20 June 1672
| 10 January 1683 (aged 10)
| Legitimised on 20 December 1673.
|-
| [[Louise Françoise de Bourbon (1673–1743)|Louise Françoise de Bourbon]]
| 1 June 1673
| 16 June 1743 (aged 70)
| Legitimised on 20 December 1673. Married [[Louis III, Prince of Condé]]. Had issue.
|-
| [[Louise Marie Anne de Bourbon]]
| 12 November 1674
| 15 September 1681 (aged 6)
| Legitimised in January 1676.
|-
| [[Françoise Marie de Bourbon]]
| 9 February 1677
| 1 February 1749 (aged 72)
| Legitimised in November 1681. Married [[Philippe II, Duke of Orléans]], the [[Régence|Regent of France]] under Louis XV. Had issue.
|-
| [[Louis Alexandre, Count of Toulouse]]
| 6 June 1678
| 1 December 1737 (aged 59)
| Legitimised on 22 November 1681. Held numerous offices, of which: [[Admiral of France]], Governor of [[Guyenne]], Governor of [[Brittany]], and [[Grand Huntsman of France]]. Also Duke of Damville, of Rambouillet and of Penthièvre. Had issue.
|-
| colspan=4 | '''''by [[Claude de Vin des Œillets|Claude de Vin, Mademoiselle des Œillets]] (1637 – 18 May 1687)'''''
|-
| [[Louise de Maisonblanche]]
| ''c''. 17 June 1676
| 12 September 1718 (aged 42)
| In 1696 she married Bernard de Prez, Baron de La Queue.
|-
| colspan=4 | '''''by [[Angélique de Fontanges]] (1661 – 28 June 1681)'''''
|-
|Son
| January 1680
| January 1680 (stillborn)
| 
|-
|Daughter
| March 1681
| March 1681 (stillborn)
| Her existence is uncertain.
|}

==See also==

{{Portal bar|Biography|Catholicism|Europe}}
* {{Interlanguage link|Charles de Lorme|fr|Charles Delorme}}, personal medical doctor to Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV
* [[Fundamental laws of the Kingdom of France]]
* [[House of France]]
* [[Levée (ceremony)]]
* [[List of French monarchs]]
* [[Outline of France]]
* [[Louis XIV style]]
* [[Nicolas Fouquet]]
* [[French forestry ordinance of 1669|French forestry Ordinance of 1669]]
* [[Potager du roi, Versailles|Potager du Roi]]
* [[Éléphante de Louis XIV]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group="note"}}
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

=== Works cited ===
{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* {{Cite book |last=Anselme de Sainte-Marie |first=Père |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k76026j |title=Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la maison royale de France |publisher=La compagnie des libraires |date=1726 |edition=3rd |volume=1 |location=Paris |language=fr |trans-title=Genealogical and chronological history of the royal house of France |access-date=30 August 2018 |archive-date=31 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331081748/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k76026j |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite book |last=Antoine |first=Michel |title=Louis XV |publisher=Fayard |date=1989 |isbn=978-2-2130-2277-2 |location=Paris |language=fr}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bailey |first=Gauvin Alexander |title=Architecture and Urbanism in the French Atlantic Empire: State, Church and Society, 1604–1830 |date=2018 |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |isbn=978-0-7735-5376-7 |location=Kingston, Ontario |author-link=Gauvin Alexander Bailey}}
* {{Cite book |last=Barentine |first=John C. |title=Uncharted Constellations: Asterisms, Single-Source and Rebrands |publisher=[[Springer Publishing]] |date=2016 |isbn=978-3-3192-7619-9}}
* {{Cite book |last=Barnes |first=Linda L. |title=Needles, Herbs, Gods, and Ghosts: China, Healing, and the West to 1848 |publisher=Harvard University Press |date=2005 |isbn=978-0-6740-1872-3}}
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* {{Cite book |last=Bély |first=Lucien |title=The History of France |publisher=Editions Jean-Paul Gisserot |date=2001 |isbn=978-2-8774-7563-1 |location=Paris}}
* {{Cite book |last=Black |first=Jeremy |title=Beyond the Military Revolution: War in the Seventeenth Century World |date=2011 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-0-2302-5156-4}}
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* {{Cite book |last=Bluche |first=François |title=Louis XIV |publisher=Hachette Littératures |date=1986 |isbn=978-2-0101-3174-5 |location=Paris |language=fr |author-link=François Bluche}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bluche |first=François |title=Louis XIV |publisher=Franklin Watts |date=1990 |isbn=978-0-5311-5112-9 |location=New York  |page=11 |translator-last=Greengrass |translator-first=Mark |author-link=François Bluche}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bluche |first=François |title=Dictionnaire du Grand Siècle 1589–1715 |publisher=Fayard |date=2005 |isbn=978-2-2136-2144-9 |language=fr |author-link=François Bluche}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |date=2004 |title=Partner, Matriarch, and Minister: Mme de Maintenon of France, Clandestine Consort, 1680–1715 |encyclopedia=Queenship in Europe 1660–1815: The Role of the Consort |publisher=Cambridge University Press |last=Bryant |first=Mark |editor-last=Campbell Orr |editor-first=Clarissa |pages=77–106 |isbn=978-0-5218-1422-5}}
* {{Cite book |last=Buckley |first=Veronica |title=Madame de Maintenon: The Secret Wife of Louis XIV |publisher=Bloomsbury |date=2008 |isbn=978-0-7475-8098-0 |location=London |author-link=Veronica Buckley}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Burke |first=Peter |date=1992 |title=The Fabrication of Louis XIV |journal=History Today |volume=42 |issue=2}}
* {{Cite book |last=Claydon |first=Tony |title=Europe and the Making of England, 1660–1760 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2007 |isbn=978-0-5218-5004-9}}
* {{Cite book |last=Delon |first=Michel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QEpJAgAAQBAJ |title=Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment |publisher=Routledge |date=2013 |isbn=978-1-1359-5998-2 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Dunlop |first=Ian |title=Louis XIV |publisher=Pimlico |date=2000 |isbn=978-0-7126-6709-8 |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Durant |first1=Will |title=[[The Story of Civilization]] |last2=Durant |first2=Ariel |publisher=Simon & Schuster |date=1963 |volume=8: The Age of Louis XIV |location=Boston}}
* {{Cite book |last=Dvornik |first=Francis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LACpYP-g1y8C |title=The Slavs in European History and Civilization |publisher=Rutgers University Press |date=1962 |isbn=978-0-8135-0799-6 |access-date=21 August 2021 |archive-date=17 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231017044641/https://books.google.com/books?id=LACpYP-g1y8C |url-status=live }}
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* {{Cite book |last=Holsti |first=Kalevi J. |title=Peace and War: Armed Conflicts and International Order, 1648–1989 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=1991 |isbn=978-0-5213-9929-6 |series=Cambridge Studies in International Relations |author-link=Kalevi Holsti}}
* {{Cite book |last=Homans |first=Jennifer |title=Apollo's Angels: A History of Ballet |date=2010 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-1-4000-6060-3 |edition=1st |location=New York |oclc=515405940}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Hutton |first=R |date=1986 |title=The Making of the Secret Treaty of Dover, 1668–1670 |journal=The Historical Journal |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=297–318 |doi=10.1017/S0018246X00018756 |jstor=2639064 |s2cid=159787254}}
* {{Cite book |last=Israel |first=Jonathan |title=Dutch Primacy in World Trade, 1585–1740 |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=1990 |isbn=978-0-1982-1139-6 |orig-date=1989}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Jens Ivo |first=Engels |date=July–September 2003 |title=Dénigrer, espérer, assumer la réalité. Le roi de France perçu par ses sujets, 1680–1750 |trans-title=Disparaging, Hoping, Taking on Reality: the French King as Perceived by His Subjects, 1680–1750 |journal=Revue d'Histoire Moderne et Contemporaine |language=fr |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=96–126 |jstor=20530985}}
* {{Cite book |last=Kamen |first=Henry |title=Philip V of Spain: The King Who Reigned Twice |publisher=Yale University Press |date=2001 |isbn=0-3000-8718-7}}
* {{Cite book |last=Keay |first=John |title=The Honourable Company: A History of the English East India Company |date=1994 |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]] |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last=Kleinman |first=Ruth |title=Anne of Austria: Queen of France |publisher=Ohio State University Press |date=1985 |isbn=978-0-8142-0429-0}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lossky |first=Andrew |title=Louis XIV and the French Monarchy |publisher=Rutgers University Press |date=1994 |isbn=978-0-8135-2081-0 |location=New Brunswick, NJ}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lynn |first=John |url=https://archive.org/details/warsoflouisxiv1600lynn |title=The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667–1714 (Modern Wars in Perspective) |date=1999 |publisher=Longman |isbn=978-0-5820-5629-9 |url-access=registration }}
* {{Cite book |last=Marquis de Dangeau |first=Philippe de Courcillon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hCsvgd5daH0C |author-link=Philippe de Courcillon |title=Mémoire sur la mort de Louis XIV |date=1858 |publisher=Didot frères, fils |language=fr |trans-title=Recollections of the Death of Louis XIV |access-date=29 November 2009 }}
* {{Cite book |last=McKay |first=Derek |url=https://archive.org/details/royalrepublicans0000unse |title=Small Power Diplomacy in the Age of Louis XIV. In Royal and Republican Sovereignty: Essays in Memory of Ragnhild Hatton |date=1997 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-5214-1910-9 |editor-last=Oresko |editor-first=Robert |editor-last2=Gibbs |editor-first2=G.C. |url-access=registration }}
* Mansel, Philip. ''King of the World: The Life of Louis XIV'' (University of Chicago Press, 2020) scholarly biography; [https://www.wsj.com/articles/king-of-the-world-review-solar-power-11602860424 online review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020070226/https://www.wsj.com/articles/king-of-the-world-review-solar-power-11602860424 |date=20 October 2020 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Merriman |first=John |title=A History of Modern Europe |publisher=W.W. Norton & Co. |orig-date=1996 |date=2019 |isbn=978-0-3939-6888-0 |edition=4th}}
* {{Cite book |last=Merryman |first=John Henry |title=The Civil Law Tradition: An Introduction to the Legal Systems of Europe and Latin America |publisher=Stanford University Press |date=2007 |isbn=978-0-8047-5568-9 |edition=3rd}}
* {{Cite book |last=Montoya |first=Alicia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=syb6-0eW-_sC&pg=PA47 |title=Medievalist Enlightenment: From Charles Perrault to Jean-Jacques Rousseau |date=2013 |publisher=DS Brewer |isbn=978-1-8438-4342-9 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Mungello |first=David E. |url=https://archive.org/details/greatencounterof0000mung_m1v1 |title=The Great Encounter of China and the West, 1500–1800 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |date=2005 |isbn=978-0-7425-3815-3 |url-access=registration }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Nathan |first=James |date=Autumn 1993 |title=Force, Order, and Diplomacy in the Age of Louis XIV |url=https://www.vqronline.org/essay/force-order-and-diplomacy-age-louis-xiv |journal=[[Virginia Quarterly Review]] |location=Charlottesville |publisher=[[University of Virginia]] |volume=69 |issue=4 |access-date=11 September 2019 |archive-date=11 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211194226/https://www.vqronline.org/essay/force-order-and-diplomacy-age-louis-xiv |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite book |last=Nolan |first=Cathal J. |title=Wars of the Age of Louis XIV, 1650–1715: An Encyclopedia of Global Warfare and Civilization |publisher=Greenwood Press |date=2008 |isbn=978-0-3133-3046-9}}
* Norton, Lucy (1982). ''The Sun King and His Loves''. The Folio Society.
* {{Cite journal |last1=Ó Gráda |first1=Cormac |last2=Chevet |first2=Jean-Michel |date=2002 |title=Famine And Market In ''Ancient Régime'' France |url=http://researchrepository.ucd.ie/bitstream/10197/368/3/ogradac_article_pub_039.pdf |journal=The Journal of Economic History |volume=62 |issue=3 |pages=706–733 |doi=10.1017/S0022050702001055 |pmid=17494233 |s2cid=8036361 |hdl-access=free |hdl=10197/368 |access-date=20 April 2018 |archive-date=23 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723072344/https://researchrepository.ucd.ie/bitstream/10197/368/3/ogradac_article_pub_039.pdf |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite book |last=Pagani |first=Catherine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8bXxHSZkWssC&pg=PA182 |title=Eastern Magnificence and European Ingenuity: Clocks of Late Imperial China |publisher=University of Michigan Press |date=2001 |isbn=978-0-4721-1208-1 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Panhuysen |first=Luc |title=Rampjaar 1672: Hoe de Republiek aan de ondergang ontsnapte |date=2009 |publisher=Uitgeverij Atlas |isbn=978-9-0450-1328-2 |language=nl}}
* {{Cite book |last=Panhuysen |first=Luc |title=Oranje tegen de Zonnekoning: De strijd van Willem III en Lodewijk XIV om Europa |publisher=Atlas Contact |date=2016 |isbn=978-9-0450-2329-8 |language=nl}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Perez |first=Stanis |date=July–September 2003 |title=Les rides d'Apollon: l'évolution des portraits de Louis XIV |trans-title=Apollo's Wrinkles: The Evolution of Portraits of Louis XIV |journal=Revue d'Histoire Moderne et Contemporaine |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=62–95 |doi=10.3917/rhmc.503.0062 |issn=0048-8003 |jstor=20530984 |doi-access=free}}
* {{Cite book |last=Petitfils |first=Jean-Christian |title=Louis XIV |publisher=Perrin |date=2002 |location=Paris |language=fr |oclc=423881843}}
* {{Cite book |last=Petitfils |first=Jean-Christian |title=Louise de La Vallière |publisher=Tempus Perrin |date=2011 |isbn=978-2-2620-3649-2 |language=fr}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Prest |first=Julia |date=2001 |title=Dancing King: Louis XIV's Roles in Molière's Comedies-ballets, from Court to Town |journal=Seventeenth Century |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=283–298 |doi=10.1080/0268117X.2001.10555494 |issn=0268-117X |s2cid=164147509}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Régnier |first=Christian |date=2009 |title=Famous French diabetics |url=http://www.medicographia.com/2010/01/famous-french-diabetics/Famous |journal=Medicographia |volume=31 |issue=3 |issn=0243-3397 }}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* {{Cite book |last=Reinhardt |first=Nicole |title=Voices of Conscience: Royal Confessors and Political Counsel in Seventeenth-Century Spain and France |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=2016 |isbn=978-0-1910-0870-2}}
* {{Cite book |last=Rogers Neill Sehnaoui |first=Caroline (Cally) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DJsDL6W-y5MC&pg=PA4 |title=Victorious Charles: A Ladies' Man: A Biography of King Charles VII of France (1403–1461) |date=2013 |publisher=Strategic Book Publishing |isbn=978-1-6251-6049-2 |language=en }}
* Roosen, William J. ''The Age of Louis XIV: The Rise of Modern Diplomacy'' (1976) [https://archive.org/details/ageoflouisxivris0000roos online].
* {{Cite journal |last=Sabatier |first=Gérard |date=2000 |title=La Gloire du Roi: Iconographie de Louis XIV de 1661 a 1672 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/hes_0752-5702_2000_num_19_4_2134 |journal=Histoire, Économie et Société |language=fr |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=527–560 |doi=10.3406/hes.2000.2134 |access-date=9 October 2020 |archive-date=22 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522101240/https://www.persee.fr/doc/hes_0752-5702_2000_num_19_4_2134 |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite book |last=Schama |first=Simon |url=https://archive.org/details/citizenschronicl00scha_0 |title=Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution |date=1990 |publisher=Vintage |isbn=978-0-6797-2610-4 |edition=Reprint }}
* {{Cite book |title=War, Diplomacy, and Imperialism, 1618–1763 |publisher=Walker & Co. |date=1974 |isbn=978-0-8027-2056-6 |editor-last=Symcox |editor-first=Geoffrey}}
* {{Cite book |last=Sonnino |first=Paul |title=Der Westfälische Friede: Diplomatie–Politische Zäsur–Kulturelles Umfeld–Rezeptionsgeschichte |publisher=Oldenberg Verlag GmbH |date=1998 |isbn=978-3-4865-6328-3 |editor-first=Heinz |editor-last=Duchhardt |location=München |chapter=Prelude to the Fronde: The French Delegation at the Peace of Westphalia}}
* {{Cite book |last=Spielvogel |first=Jackson J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eskaCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT419 |title=Western Civilization: A Brief History, Volume I: To 1715 |publisher=[[Cengage Learning]] |date=2016 |isbn=978-1-3058-8842-5 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Sturdy |first=David J. |title=Louis XIV |publisher=St Martin's Press |date=1998 |isbn=978-0-3122-1427-2}}
* {{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Peter H. |title=Absolutism in Central Europe |publisher=Routledge |date=2000 |isbn=978-0-4152-3351-4}}
* {{Cite book |last=Wolf |first=John B. |url=https://archive.org/details/louisxiv00wolf |title=Louis XIV |publisher=W.W. Norton & Co., Inc. |date=1968 |url-access=registration }}: a standard scholarly biography;
* {{Cite book |last=Wijn |first=J.W. |title=Het Staatsche Leger: Deel VII (The Dutch States Army: Part VII) |date=1950 |publisher=Martinus Nijhoff |lang=Dutch}}
{{Refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* ''Cambridge Modern History: Vol. 5 The Age of Louis XIV'' (1908), old, solid articles by scholars; [http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camenaref/cmh/cmh.html#cmh1 complete text online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140210213151/http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camenaref/cmh/cmh.html#cmh1 |date=10 February 2014 }}
* Lynn, John A. "Food, funds, and fortresses: resource mobilization and positional warfare in the campaigns of Louis XIV." in ''Feeding Mars: Logistics in Western Warfare from the Middle Ages to the Present'' (Taylor and Francis, 2019) pp. 150–172.
* Ashley, Maurice P. ''Louis XIV and the Greatness of France'' (1965) {{ISBN|0029010802}}
* [[William Beik|Beik, William]]. ''Louis XIV and Absolutism: A Brief Study with Documents'' (2000) {{ISBN|031213309X}}
* Beik, William. "The Absolutism of Louis XIV as Social Collaboration." ''Past & Present'' 2005 (188): 195–224. [https://muse.jhu.edu/article/188590 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422210856/https://muse.jhu.edu/article/188590 |date=22 April 2024 }} at [[Project MUSE]]
* Campbell, Peter Robert. ''Louis XIV, 1661–1715'' (London, 1993)
* Church, William F., ed. ''The Greatness of Louis XIV''. (1972).
* Cowart, Georgia J. ''The Triumph of Pleasure: Louis XIV and the Politics of Spectacle'' University of Chicago Press, 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-2261-1638-9}}
* [[Vincent Cronin|Cronin, Vincent]]. ''Louis XIV''. London: HarperCollins, 1996. {{ISBN|978-1-8604-6092-0}}
* Félix, Joël. "'The most difficult financial matter that has ever presented itself': paper money and the financing of warfare under Louis XIV." ''Financial History Review'' 25.1 (2018): 43–70 [http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/72452/2/The%20most%20difficult%20financial%20matter%20FH.pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226104833/http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/72452/2/The%20most%20difficult%20financial%20matter%20FH.pdf |date=26 February 2021 }}.
* {{Cite book |last=Goubert |first=Pierre |title=Louis XIV and Twenty Million Frenchmen |date=197 |isbn=978-0-3947-1751-7 |series=social history from [[Annales School]]}}
* Jones, Colin. ''The Great Nation: France from Louis XIV to Napoleon (1715–1799)'' (2002)
* Klaits, Joseph. ''Printed propaganda under Louis XIV: absolute monarchy and public opinion'' (Princeton University Press, 2015).
* [[Le Roy Ladurie, Emmanuel]]. ''The Ancien Régime: A History of France 1610–1774'' (1999), survey by leader of the [[Annales School]] {{ISBN|0631211969}}
* Lewis, W. H. ''The Splendid Century: Life in the France of Louis XIV'' (1953) {{ISBN|0881339210}}
* {{Cite book |last=Mitford |first=Nancy|author-link=Nancy Mitford |title=The Sun King: Louis XIV at Versailles |publisher=New York Review of Books |date=1966 |isbn=978-1-5901-7491-3 |edition=2012}}
* Prest, Julia, and Guy Rowlands, eds. ''The Third Reign of Louis XIV, c. 1682–1715'' (Taylor & Francis, 2016).
* Rothkrug, Lionel. ''Opposition to Louis XIV: The Political and Social Origins of French Enlightenment'' (Princeton University Press, 2015).
* Rowlands, Guy. ''The Dynastic State and the Army under Louis XIV: Royal Service and Private Interest, 1661–1701'' (2002)
* Rubin, David Lee, ed. ''Sun King: The Ascendancy of French Culture during the Reign of Louis XIV''. Washington: Folger Books and Cranbury: Associated University Presses, 1992.
* [[John C. Rule|Rule, John C.]], ''Louis XIV and the craft of kingship'' 1969.
* Shennan, J. H. ''Louis XIV'' (1993)
* Thompson, Ian. ''The Sun King's Garden: Louis XIV, André Le Nôtre And the Creation of the Gardens of Versailles''. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2006 {{ISBN|1-5823-4631-3}}
* Treasure, Geoffrey. ''The Making of Modern Europe, 1648–1780'' (3rd ed. 2003). pp. 230–296.
* Wilkinson, Rich. ''Louis XIV'' (Routledge, 2007). {{ISBN|978-0-4153-5815-6}}
* Cénat, Jean-Philippe. ''Le roi stratège: Louis XIV et la direction de la guerre, 1661–1715'' (Presses universitaires de Rennes, 2019).
* Croix, Alain. "Vingt millions de Français et Louis XIV." ''Revue dhistoire moderne contemporaine'' 2 (2020): 27–46.
* Engerand, Fernand, editor (1899). {{in lang|fr}} ''Inventaire des tableaux du Roy rédigé en 1709 et 1710 par Nicolas Bailly''. Paris: Ernest Leroux. [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6323734m/f11.image Copy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307153902/http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6323734m/f11.image |date=7 March 2016 }} at Gallica.
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|d=Q7742|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|species=no|s=Author:Louis XIV of France|wikt=no}}
* {{Cite book |editor-last=Ranum |editor-first=Orest |title=The Century of Louis XIV |work=SpringerLink |date=1972 |url=http://www.palgrave.com/in/book/9781349004997 |access-date=7 July 2017 |archive-date=7 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207182952/https://www.palgrave.com/in/book/9781349004997 |url-status=live |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-00497-3|isbn=978-1-349-00499-7 }}
* {{Internet Archive author |search=( "Louis XIV" OR "Louis the Great" OR "Sun King" OR ("1638-1715" AND Louis) )}}
* {{Librivox author |id=9631}}
* [http://www.history.com/topics/louis-xiv Louis XIV] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170622232619/http://www.history.com/topics/louis-xiv |date=22 June 2017 }} at ''History.com''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070616071522/http://www.smae.diplomatie.gouv.fr/choiseul/ressource/pdf/D16590004.pdf Full text of marriage contract], France National Archives transcription {{In lang|fr}}
* [[:s:fr:Le Siècle de Louis XIV|''Le Siècle de Louis XIV'']] by [[Voltaire]], 1751, hosted by French Wikisource

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{{S-hou|[[House of Bourbon]]|5 September|1638|1 September|1715|[[Capetian dynasty]]}}
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{{S-reg|}}
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{{S-bef|before=[[Louis XIII]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[King of France]] and [[Co-Prince of Andorra]]|years=14 May 1643 – 1 September 1715|start=1643|end=1715}}
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{{S-bef|before=[[Louis XIII|Louis]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Dauphin of France]]|years=5 September 1638 – 14 May 1643}}
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{{Dauphins of France}}
{{Princes of France}}
{{House of Bourbon (France)}}
{{Monarchs of France}}
{{Navarrese monarchs}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Louis 14}}
[[Category:Louis XIV| ]]
[[Category:1638 births]]
[[Category:1715 deaths]]
[[Category:17th-century kings of France]]
[[Category:18th-century kings of France]]
[[Category:17th-century princes of Andorra]]
[[Category:18th-century princes of Andorra]]
[[Category:Ancien Régime]]
[[Category:Burials at the Basilica of Saint-Denis]]
[[Category:Baroque architecture in France]]<!--patron-->
[[Category:Dauphins of France]]
[[Category:Deaths from gangrene]]
[[Category:Early modern history of France]]
[[Category:French art collectors]]
[[Category:French military personnel of the Nine Years' War]]
[[Category:French people of Portuguese descent]]
[[Category:Child monarchs from Europe]]
[[Category:French hunters]]
[[Category:French Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:People from Saint-Germain-en-Laye]]
[[Category:People of the Regency of Philippe d'Orléans]]
[[Category:Princes of Andorra]]
[[Category:Princes of France (Bourbon)]]
[[Category:1640s in France]]
[[Category:1650s in France]]
[[Category:1660s in France]]
[[Category:1670s in France]]
[[Category:1680s in France]]
[[Category:1690s in France]]
[[Category:1700s in France]]
[[Category:1710s in France]]
[[Category:Navarrese titular monarchs]]
[[Category:Sons of kings]]