Louis XIV
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Louis XIV (1638-1715), also known as The Sun King (Roi du soleil) or Louis the Great, was the king of France from 1643 to 1715. The third monarch of the Bourbon family, Louis ruled France for 72 years, the longest reign in European history, and dominated European cultural and political affairs. During his reign, Louis typified the absolute monarchy of the Neoclassical age, established a sumptuous court at Versailles, and fought most of Europe in four wars. Louis XIV dominated French culture by gaining international recognition of French arts, literature, and science, drastically changing the country from its former Medieval ways into a more refined, sophisticated style of life.
Biography
Early Life
Louis XIV was born to Louis XIII and Anne of Austria at the royal Château Saint-Germain-en-Laye on September 5, 1638 and was christened Louis Dieudonné ("gift of God"}, as his parents had been childless for twenty-two years. He succeeded his father on the throne at the age of four on May, 14 1643. His mother served as a regent, ruling France in in his place with the assistance of Italian-born Cardinal Mazarin, who had been chief minister and tutor of five-year-old Louis. In 1648, the Thirty Years' War was brought to a successful conclusion in the Peace of Westphalia by Mazarin, severely weakening the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburgs. In the closing years of the Thirty Years' War, the Fronde (1648-53) broke out, in which the nobles of Paris launched a major revolt in reaction the policies of centralization pursued by Cardinal Richelieu and Mazarin.