Louis XIV

Le Roy Soleil

5 September 1638 - 1 September 1715

Introduction

As regards culture Louis XIV is remembered for raising the French arts to a peak level. On the political level Louis XIV is primarily remembered as a power hungry king who wanted to submit everyone to his authority. The cultural effects of his reign are to a certain extent side effects of this political agenda. Louis tried to achieve this primary agenda by crushing every independent authority in France and by waging incessant wars against his neighbors. I'll describe him as follows:

Events preceding the reign of Louis XIV

Louis XIV's father and grandfather

The policies of Louis XIV might perhaps be ascribed to his character but can just as well be explained by his character being formed by the early events of his reign and the events that had preceded it. It's useful to take a look at the lives of his father and grandfather in order to comprehend Louis' view of the world.

His grandfather Henry IV

The life of Louis XIV's grandfather Henry IV was dominated by the wars of religion which had started in 1562. In the midst of these Henry III had been assassinated in 1589. Thereupon the throne had fallen to the protestant leader Henry of Navara, who became known as King Henry IV. Because Henry was a protestant he had to convert to Catholicism and had conquer his kingdom by arms which led to a whole new round of bloodshed. Finally Henry IV succeeded in this and founded the Bourbon dynasty. He also put an end to religious civil wars in 1598. The edict of Nantes signed in that same year would succeed in keeping the religious peace for years to come. Henry IV was assassinated in turn in 1610 whereupon the throne fell to the underage Louis XIII (b. 1601).

His father Louis XIII

After the accession of Louis XIII French policy was managed by Cardinal de Richelieu. It began with an official policy of reconciliation with Spain but also saw the conquest of the protestant strong point of La Rochelle in 1628. Open conflict with Spain over the succession of Mantua would then lead to the French possession of Pignerol by the peace treaty of 1631. This peace was followed by a policy by which Richelieu covertly supported Spain's enemies up to 1635, bringing the Swedes to combat in Germany. After these were defeated Richelieu deemed it necessary to declare open war against Spain in 1635. During this conflict, that became part of the thirty years war, Richelieu died on 14 December 1642. Louis XIII died shortly after on 14 May 1643.

The Regency and the rule by Mazarin

Louis XIV moves to the Palais-Royal

The rather early death of his father meant that Louis XIV came to the throne at age 4. His mother Anne of Austria became regent and appointed Cardinal Mazarin as prime minister. She moved her household and both her children to live with her in the Palais-Royal 1). Here Louis XIV received the traditional education of the kings of France. It consisted of sparse lessons in literature, languages and history and a somewhat more intensive training in sword-fighting, shooting, use of the pike, horse-riding and dancing. Paramount in the education was the education in the art of war. It concerned the science of war, early participation in military affairs and above all playing with a vast array of military toys. This recent history of France in combination with such an education would have been enough to turn most men a bit paranoid about their safety, but there was more to come for Louis XIV.

The first Fronde

Cardinal Mazarin continued his predecessor's policy and he started out with the stunning French victory over Spain on 19 Mai 1643. This seemed to promis a lot, and Mazarin did not even make peace with Spain at the treaties of Westphalia. The Successes in this war did however bring about a high fiscal pressure and this led to the revolt of the Fronde in 1648. This first Fronde culminated in the royal family having to flee the capital in January 1649 and the royal army blockading Paris while a lot of the aristocracy sided with the insurgents in Paris. This first Fronde ended with the peace of Rueil signed in March 1649.

Fronde des Princes

But, internal warfare did not end. When Condé was arrested in January 1650 Turenne and several princes started an armed revolt against the crown and brought in Spanish help. This 'Fronde des princes' was beaten at Rethel in December 1650. This victory by Mazarin then brought about a nearer union of the parliament and the princes. It saw Louis' uncle Gaston amongst his enemies and it was only after the banishment of Mazarin that it ended in September 1651. However, Condé refused to submit to the crown, and went to Guyenne to raise his allies. With them he marched on Paris while Mazarin entered France from Germany. Condé was beaten and fled to the Spanish Netherlands permitting Louis XIV to reenter Paris in October 1652. The five years of civil war ended with the surrender of Bordeaux to the crown in August 1653. Meanwhile these civil wars did not mean that the war between Spain and France had ended. On 5 August 1654 Louis saw his first military action when France took Stenay. Peace was finally concluded in November 1659 with France getting considerable territorial advantages and Louis XIV marrying Maria Theresia of Spain, but forgiving Condé.

Conclusion about external influences on Louis' character

At age 21 Louis had been at war with Spain his whole life and had seen five years of civil war. Henry III and Henry IV had been assassinated and his own uncle and relations had plotted against him. One can easily understand that the mature Louis would see to every measure that would help insure his security against external and above all against internal foes. With that the main lines of his policy had been laid down.

Marriage to Maria Theresa of Spain

As said the marriage of Louis XIV to Maria Theresa was a condition forced upon Spain in order to get peace. As such the marriage, which took place on 9 June 1660, was purely political and had little to do with love. Maria Theresa was rather short, ugly and of very moderate intellect. To the credit of Louis XIV it's said that their first year or so was a real marriage. After that Louis would continue to sleep with her but reserve his real passion for his mistresses. Unlike most ambitious men Louis XIV would not find a counter weight in a trusted spouse who could stand up to him.

The reign of Louis XIV

Louis governs himself

Before Louis XIV started to govern by himself royal power had been exercised by delegation for more than half a century 2). The population had grown accustomed to this division between the royal power itself and the person who exercised it and therefore the act by which Louis took the government in his own hands was viewed as a revolution. It took place at the death of Prime Minister Mazarin in 1661, but the ease with which Louis performed this betrayed that it had been planned for a long time. It was made possible by the two cardinals who had left the young king a very efficient centralized burocracy manned by more than capable ministers.

One has to note that Louis did not take over silently but made a huge show of it. This show was intended to let everyone understand the event and his resolve to be in power personally. Legally the take over meant that the king again performed the most important duties previously performed by the prime minister, and in particular that he personally agreed to all expenses. In maintaining the efficient burocracy and continuing to exclude the aristocracy from it Louis would prove himself a good apprentice of the cardinals.

Conflict with Fouquet

As regards public expectations this step to reunite the person of the king with the royal power was applauded. The effect of the events of the preceding decades had however been that many doubted the lasting resolve of the young king to apply himself to all the work that was involved with this change. Among these there were probably also some who thought him not of the same stature and will power as the cardinals, or who thought they could shine next to the sun king. Chief amongst these was the Surintendant de Finances Fouquet.

The fortune of Fouquet is said to have amounted to the enormous sum of 40 million livres. This had enabled him to buy a party in society and to construct the magnificent palace of Vaux. Louis suspected Fouquet of plotting to re-establish ministerial rule over the king's and trying to rekindle the party of the Fronde. Fouquet next demonstrated his power by giving a very brilliant party for the court at Vaux, and it is said that on leaving Louis XIV decided to arrest him. The arrest came as a shock to many who ardently pleaded for Fouquet, but Louis XIV was inflexible. He had Fouquet judged by commissaries and not by the parliament that supported him. With Fouquet judged to life in prison Louis' ministers now understood that he could crush them with a few orders.

Springtime of the reign (1661-1668)

The young sovereign now lived the springtime of his reign. France was at peace and the court lived through a series of musical performances, ballets, operas and plays. Louis got his first child with his wife Maria Theresia on 1 November 1661, but also started to make his court elsewhere.

It was rumoured that the object of his first courtship was his brother's beautiful wife Henriette d'Angleterre. It seems that thereupon his mother or perhaps Henriette herself took measures to avoid scandal. Somehow someone made Louis XIV take a closer look at one of Henriette's ladies in waiting. This was the seventeen year old Demoiselle de la Vallière. Louis genuinely fell in love with her and started a long lasting affair. In December 1663 this led to the birth of Charles, the first of four children they would have together. Upon the death of his mother Louis went even further and openly displayed De la Vallière as his official mistress. Somewhere around 1667 Louis' love for her would end, even though he forced her to stay at court for a long time after.

Alongside these court affairs Louis executed a sound economic policy and waged a profitable war against Spain. After the example of Chateau Vaux Louis also started the construction of Versailles. One can say that up to the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1668 Louis XIV was doing very well.

Summer of the reign (1668-1684)

By the standards of the time Louis cannot be said to have done anything abnormal by having an affair with Demoiselle de la Vallière and waging a war with Spain. But, from about 1667/68 Louis' behavior started to become extravagant. Louis already had a family by his wife Maria Theresa and a family by De la Vallière, but even while De la Vallière still remained at court as official mistress he started other affairs and also his long affair with Madame de Montespan. This way he started his third family when Montespan got her first child in 1669. Now, in itself infidelities were not strange in royal households. The fact that Louis believed that he could openly live with yet another mistress did however insult the public because it perceived the king as having three wives.

One can thus either judge Louis' personal moral to have gone rotten by 1668 or doubt whether his own judgement was still sound when he decided to openly display his affair with Montespan. Anyway Louis' skills in government were still quite good, and the court still was a community centered on partying. The superbly planned invasion of the United Provinces almost succeeded, and the subsequent general war ended with France victorious at the truce of Regensburg in 1684.

Autumn of the reign (1684-1701)

The accession (from about 1680) of Louis' third major favorite Madame de Maintenon marked the beginning of the end of the joys of Versailles. The atmosphere was replaced by one of bigotry and the political mistakes started to accumulate. Because this is a biography of Louis XIV we should look at one of his biggest mistakes, which was the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. It had been preceded by the so called Dragonnades which had strated in 1681. The final revocation of the Edict of Nantes and the subsequent prosecution and flight of the Huguenots did enormous damage to the kingdom and is often ascribed to the influence of others.

The reason for ascribing it to others is that most thought Louis XIV not to be religious enough to want to eradicate Protestantism in France. One might however also reason that for Louis XIV the previous civil wars were reason enough. Anyway, the Huguenots were very loyal to the crown and in 1685 Louis had raised so much international opposition that stirring up trouble with the Huguenots was not only needless but also very dangerous. To a certain extent his enemies were ready for another war and if they succeeded in entering France one could then expect the freshly prosecuted Huguenots to lend them a hand. From this decision alone one can doubt whether Louis XIV still had a clear political judgement by 1685, but there was more to follow.

The outcry of Protestant Europe against the prosecution of the Huguenots did not suffice to install some carefulness into the government. His neighbors had meanwhile concluded the league of Augsburg to prevent further aggression. Not deterred by this Louis then invaded the Rhineland in 1688, demonstrated his cruelty there and enabled William III to invade and become king of England. In the crippling war that followed Louis barely escaped by the peace of Rijswijk in 1697.

Winter of his reign (1701-1715)

By 1700 France was not that enthusiastic anymore about Louis, but Louis was still full of ambition. This time it was about the crown of Spain, and though Louis openly sought to prevent another war, he was secretedly scheming to fulfill this life-time ambition by placing his grandson Philippe duc d'Anjou on the throne of Spain. The testament of Charles II was another triumph for French diplomacy, but in the end sparked of a war that brought France to the brink of disaster.

The French army suffered terrible defeats on the battlefield, while at home the population suffered from taxation and even hunger. In his personal life this phase of the reign would see the death of Louis' brother Philippe I d'Orleans, his son and grand-sons till only his grandson Felipe and a great grandson were left to follow him on the throne. In the end Louis would prevent a complete disaster and even succeed in keeping Felipe on the throne in Spain. By now France was however quite fed up with the sun king, and his passing led to relief rather than mourning.

Some general aspects of his rule

Versailles

The abovementioned party by Fouquet acquainted Louis with a residence created by the best contemporary artists. Vaux had gardens by Le Notre, wall paintings by Le Brun and statues by Puget. The festivities themselves were marked by illuminations, fireworks, ballet and theater. This probably gave Louis an idea or two because the construction of Versailles was begun in fall 1661. Even though the government would be relocated to Versailles in 1682, the construction of Versailles can only be considered to have been 'finished' by the end of 1689. Versailles can be considered as an expression of the glory of Louis XIV, but also served some practical purposes. It gave Louis a place where he could gather his court and the higher aristocracy and nobility and easily keep an eye on them. It also provided a place close to Paris, but not so close as to be easily surrounded by its sometimes unruly population.

Flattery, favoritism and folly

The absolute power Louis possessed naturally meant that his appreciation of reality was influenced by flattery and from it resulted favoritism and folly. Saint Simon gives many examples in which no one dared to tell Louis the truth, e.g. where Louis has to send Chamillart personally to the army in order to find out its state, or when misfortunes of the army were not reported to him. Louis had a lot of informers to counter this. Favoritism meant that a lot of functions were executed by people not on grounds of their ability, but on grounds of the credit they had with Louis or Madame de Maintenon. An example of this is the appointment of La Feuillade to head the siege of Turin when there were more experienced officers at hand. One can also wonder why Vendome, who had a very good service record, was retired after Oudenaarde. Was it because he had made a mistake there, or was it because he had openly insulted the duke of Burgundy, probably on account of not following orders? Folly is the only word applicable for Louis's recognition of the pretender as king of England that drove England into the war.

Grandeur

Louis is known as a great promoter of the arts. His commissions employed a great number of artists and definitely made French art leading in Europe. Louis' policy of encouraging a lifestyle with extravagant luxuries also secured a lot of work for artists. His art policy itself saw the foundation of a number of art academies. The construction of Versailles set an architectural example to Europe.

A hated monarch

Though a big part of the European elite looked up to the grandeur of France and its court, Louis made himself hated during his reign. His cruelty to the Huguenots, the war crimes committed by his troops in the Palatinate and in the United Provinces not only disgusted the European elite, but even the populace, especially the European Protestants. He combined this with a tendency not to let himself be disturbed by treaties he had signed. This again led to tenacity on the allied side and prolongation of the war.

Balance of his rule

One can basically judge a reign in today's perspective, in a contemporary perspective or even in periods. The contemporary perspective tends to stress the immediate power struggle. Today's perspective tends to stress the long term effects of a reign. Judgement in periods takes into account whether the reign was successful all the time or just part of the time.

In the perspective of the world A.D. 2006 Louis eternalized himself for ever by lifting the prestige of France and its arts to a peak that was only attained again by Napoleon. On a territorial level he extended the French borders a lot, but in the long run this probably only led to Alsace now being French. This 'achievement' is of set by losses in North America that led to the whole of North America now being Anglo-Saxon. On a constitutional level his innovations destructed the foundations of the societal hierarchy of the ancien regime and paved the way for the revolution and his descendant getting executed by the people. It also led to France even now being a very centralized state that lacks in private enterprise, but can achieve a lot in state enterprise (ESA, TGV, Minitel)

In the perspective of 1661- 1715 Louis of course could not foresee all. On a territoral level the strength of France allowed Louis to opt for war at sea in combination with war against perhaps two or three larger powers on the continent. This is also the basic policy with which Louis started by trying to annex the Spanish Netherlands, a goal he almost achieved. During his reign Louis XIV however made it clear that he wanted to rule the whole of Europe, a policy that could only lead to ranging the whole of Europe against him. When this led to the loss of control of the Mediterranean during the war of the League of Augsburg even Louis should have grasped that such a policy would ruin the colonies, merchant-shipping and wealth of France.

Even as late as 1700, when the will of Charles II came in Louis could still have made his reign a success by refuting the will and avoiding a crippling war. Spending only a fraction of the money and people the war cost overseas, especially in North America, would probably have resulted in lasting success in North America (In stead it was only the incompetence of Jack Hill that kept France from losing the whole of North America in this war). Looking at it in this way Louis reign was not only disaster for France in the contemporary perspective, but also in todays.

Career

Notes