​Interesting facts from the life of King Louis XIV. Sun King Louis XIV and the English kings

The French king Louis XIV is one of the record holders for being on the throne - a total of seventy-two years, from 1643 to 1715. Of the monarchs of Europe, only some rulers of the small principalities of the Holy Roman Empire were in power for more time.

There is a version that Anna of Austria gave birth to twins in 1638. One became King Louis XIV, and the other became the “Iron Mask” and died in captivity. Little Louis was proclaimed king at the age of five (and our Ivan IV at the age of three). Louis, like Ivan the Terrible, received many unpleasant life experiences in his childhood. The events of the Fronde period (1648–1653) made him a supporter of the principle of absolute monarchy and the divine right of kings.

In 1660, Louis married Maria Theresa of Austria. The next year, after the death of Mazarin, who ruled the country along with his mother Anne of Austria, he announced that he would no longer appoint a first minister. He himself selected his assistants, who, with the approval of the king, did a lot for the development and strengthening of the country. It is enough to name the names of the famous economist and financier J.B. Colbert (see below), the army reformer Marquis de Lavoie and some others.

Under Louis XIV, France fought endlessly. The Netherlands, Luxembourg, and the German principalities suffered greatly from it.

Louis built a luxurious palace at Versailles. Around the king was the most luxurious court in Europe. No one dared to contradict the king and resist his will. “Absolutely without objection, Louis destroyed and eradicated every other force or authority in France, except those that came from him: reference to the law, to the right was considered a crime,” wrote the famous philosopher Henri Saint-Simon. Louis XIV was called the “Sun King” by his court flatterers. In France, royal power was compared to the sun. Under Louis XIV, this symbolism began to be widely used. The young king personally participated in ballet performances, in which he appeared in the image of the rising sun, and then played the role of Apollo, the sun god. So the king “worked off” his cognomen, an honorary nickname. Louis XIV was considered the most complete personification of absolutism. The expression is attributed to him: “The state is me.” He uttered this phrase in the Parisian parliament (court), personally tearing out “extra” sheets from court cases.

The king's reliable support was the powerful state apparatus. The central administration consisted of the Council of Ministers, the Council of Finance, the Postal, Trade, Ecclesiastical, State and Grand Councils. The highest official in the country was the chancellor. Four secretaries of state and thirty state councilors played an important role. Provinces were governed by governors and intendants, cities by councils.

Constant wars were accompanied by increased taxes, which were mainly borne by the third estate. The tax on salt, the gabelle, was considered the heaviest. In France, a tax on stamp paper was introduced. “Taxation is the art of plucking a goose so as to get the maximum number of feathers with a minimum squeak,” J. B. Colbert liked to say. In 1673, a set of laws in the field of trade was compiled in France, which was called the “Code of Savary” after its creator. It was forbidden to leave France under threat of confiscation of property. And those who left it without permission were prohibited from returning to the country under threat of death penalty.

Louis XIV was strongly influenced by the Jesuits and was a zealous defender of Catholicism. He quite persistently persecuted Protestants, even prohibiting mixed marriages. In 1683, the Edict of Nantes was repealed by the act of Fontainebleau, after which many Protestants left the country.

The last decade and a half have been very difficult for the aging king. He got involved in the War of the Spanish Succession against an entire coalition of European states. The French army suffered a number of heavy defeats. The British gained supremacy at sea. The territorial gains of previous years were partially lost. The country was exhausted.

Losses began in the closer circle. In 1711, the king's son, the Dauphin, that is, the heir to the throne, died. In 1712, the eldest son and grandson of the Dauphin, that is, the grandson and great-grandson of the king, died one after another. In 1714, another grandson of the king died. There was only one heir left - a four-year-old great-grandson, who became Louis XV. The “Sun King” had illegitimate children, but they were not considered as serious contenders for the throne. Louis XIV himself died in 1715, remaining on his feet and in his right mind until his last days.

The reign of Louis XIV is sometimes described as the "Great Century". Under him, the political consolidation of France took place, its military power increased, and there were significant achievements in material and spiritual culture.

In 1822, an equestrian statue of Louis XIV was erected on the Place des Victories in Paris.

Louis XIV is a popular character in many feature films based on the novels of A. Dumas and other authors.

1. The most brilliant of the kings of France was also the longest-serving monarch of Europe. He reigned for 72 years, and even the current English Queen Elizabeth, who ascended the throne in 1952, has not yet managed to “overtake” the illustrious Sun King.

2.Louis XIV believed that he was a kind of gift from God.

3. For more than twenty years, Queen Anne of Austria could not become pregnant from Louis XIII, when, finally, by an incredible chance, this happened, Louis XIII, to celebrate, decided to dedicate the entire country to the Blessed Virgin and place himself and the kingdom under her heavenly protection.

4. The royal couple was lucky - on September 5, 1638, a boy was born. Moreover, the little Dauphin was born on the most suitable day for this, on Sunday, the day of the sun. They also say that it was a divine manifestation of heavenly grace that Louis XIV was born with two teeth in his mouth. Therefore, he immediately received the nickname Louis-Dieudonné, that is, “given by God.”

5. The famous philosopher Tommaso Campanella, who lived at the French court in those years, and who once wrote the popular treatise “The City of the Sun,” connected his utopian city with the appearance of the heir of France on the day of the Sun, and confidently declared: “How he will please the sun with his warmth and light France and its friends."

King Louis 13

6.In 1643, Louis XIV ascended the throne as a four-year-old boy and began to build his future and the future of the country. People remember the reign of Louis XIV as the era of the Sun King. And this is all thanks to the enormous benefits received after the end of the 30-year war, the country’s rich resources, military victories and many other factors.

7.His father, Louis XIII, died on May 14, 1643 at the age of 41, when little Louis was 4 years and 8 months old. The throne automatically passed to him, but, of course, it was impossible to rule the state at such a tender age, so his mother, Anna of Austria, became regent. But in fact, the affairs of the state were managed by Cardinal Mazarin, who not only was the king’s godfather, but, in fact, for some time became his real stepfather and doted on him.

8. Louis XIV was officially crowned at the age of 15, but in fact, he did not rule the state for another seven years - until the death of Mazarin. By the way, this story was later repeated with his great-grandson Louis XV, who ascended the throne at the age of 5, after the death of his brilliant grandfather.

9. The 72 years of the reign of King Louis XIV received the name “Great Century” in French history.

10.When Louis was 10 years old, a virtual civil war broke out in the country, in which the opposition Fronde confronted the authorities. The young king had to endure a blockade in the Louvre, a secret escape and many other, not at all royal things.

Anne of Austria - mother of Louis 14

11. Louis XIV grew up, and along with him grew his firm intention to rule the country independently, because in the period from 1648 to 1653, civil wars raged in France, and at that time the young monarch found himself a puppet in the wrong hands. But he successfully defeated the rebellions and in 1661 took all power into his own hands after the death of the first minister, Mazarin.

12. It was during these years that his character and his views were formed. Remembering the turmoil of his childhood, Louis XIV was convinced that the country could prosper only under the strong, unlimited power of the autocrat.

13.After the death of Cardinal Mazarin in 1661, the young king convened the Council of State, at which he announced that from now on he intended to rule independently, without appointing a first minister. It was then that he decided to build a large residence in Versailles, so as not to return to the unreliable Louvre.

14. In 1661, the 23-year-old King Louis XIV of France arrived at his father’s small hunting castle, located near Paris. The monarch ordered large-scale construction of his new residence to begin here, which was to become his stronghold and refuge. The Sun King's dream has come true. In Versailles, created at his request, Louis spent his best years, and here he ended his earthly journey.

15.In the period from 1661 to 1673, the monarch carried out the most productive reforms for France. Louis XIV carried out reforms in the social and economic spheres to reorganize all state institutions. Literature and art began to flourish in the country.

Versailles

16. The royal court moves to the Palace of Versailles, it is considered a monument to the era of Louis XIV. The monarch there surrounds himself with noble nobles and keeps them constantly under control, thus he excluded any possibility of political intrigue.

17. This king, as they say, worked excellently with personnel. The de facto head of government for two decades was Jean-Baptiste Colbert, a talented financier. Thanks to Colbert, the first period of the reign of Louis XIV was very successful from an economic point of view.

18. Louis XIV patronized science and art, because he considered it impossible for his kingdom to flourish without a high level of development of these spheres of human activity.

19. If the king were only concerned with the construction of Versailles, the rise of the economy and the development of the arts, then, probably, the respect and love of his subjects for the Sun King would be limitless.

20.However, the ambitions of Louis XIV extended much beyond the borders of his state. By the early 1680s, Louis XIV had the most powerful army in Europe, which only whetted his appetite.

21. In 1681, he established chambers of reunification to determine the rights of the French crown to certain areas, seizing more and more lands in Europe and Africa.

22. Louis XIV became an absolute monarch and first of all he brought order to the treasury, created a strong fleet, and developed trade. By force of arms he realizes territorial claims. So, as a result of military operations, Franche-Comté, Metz, Strasbourg, a number of cities in the Southern Netherlands and some other cities went to France.

23.The military prestige of France rose high, which allowed Louis XIV to dictate his terms to almost all European courts. But this circumstance also turned against Louis XIV himself, the enemies of France rallied, and the Protestants turned against Louis for persecuting the Huguenots.

24. In 1688, Louis XIV's claims to the Palatinate led to the whole of Europe turning against him. The so-called War of the League of Augsburg lasted for nine years and resulted in the parties maintaining the status quo. But the huge expenses and losses incurred by France led to a new economic decline in the country and a depletion of funds.

25.But already in 1701, France was drawn into a long conflict, called the War of the Spanish Succession. Louis XIV hoped to defend the rights to the Spanish throne for his grandson, who was to become the head of two states. However, the war, which engulfed not only Europe, but also North America, ended unsuccessfully for France. According to the peace concluded in 1713 and 1714, the grandson of Louis XIV retained the Spanish crown, but its Italian and Dutch possessions were lost, and England, by destroying the Franco-Spanish fleets and conquering a number of colonies, laid the foundation for its maritime dominion. In addition, the project of uniting France and Spain under the hand of the French monarch had to be abandoned.

King Louis 15

26. This last military campaign of Louis XIV returned him to where he started - the country was mired in debt and groaning from the burden of taxes, and here and there uprisings broke out, the suppression of which required more and more resources.

27.The need to replenish the budget led to non-trivial decisions. Under Louis XIV, the trade in government positions was put on stream, reaching its maximum extent in the last years of his life. To replenish the treasury, more and more new positions were created, which, of course, brought chaos and discord into the activities of state institutions.

28.The ranks of opponents of Louis XIV were joined by French Protestants after the “Edict of Fontainebleau” was signed in 1685, repealing the Edict of Nantes of Henry IV, which guaranteed freedom of religion to the Huguenots.

29.After this, more than 200 thousand French Protestants emigrated from the country, despite strict penalties for emigration. The exodus of tens of thousands of economically active citizens dealt another painful blow to the power of France.

30.At all times and eras, the personal life of monarchs influenced politics. Louis XIV is no exception in this sense. The monarch once remarked: “It would be easier for me to reconcile all of Europe than a few women.”

Maria Theresa

31. His official wife in 1660 was a peer, the Spanish Infanta Maria Theresa, who was Louis’s cousin on both his father and mother.

32. The problem with this marriage, however, was not the close family ties of the spouses. Louis simply did not love Maria Theresa, but he meekly agreed to the marriage, which had important political significance. The wife bore the king six children, but five of them died in childhood. Only the first-born survived, named, like his father, Louis and who went down in history under the name of the Grand Dauphin.

33. For the sake of marriage, Louis broke off relations with the woman he really loved - the niece of Cardinal Mazarin. Perhaps the separation from his beloved also influenced the king’s attitude towards his legal wife. Maria Theresa accepted her fate. Unlike other French queens, she did not intrigue or get involved in politics, playing a prescribed role. When the queen died in 1683, Louis said: “This is the only worry in my life that she has caused me.”

Louise - Francoise de Lavalliere

34. The king compensated for the lack of feelings in marriage with relationships with his favorites. For nine years, Louise-Françoise de La Baume Le Blanc, Duchess de La Vallière, became Louis's sweetheart. Louise was not distinguished by dazzling beauty, and, moreover, due to an unsuccessful fall from a horse, she remained lame for the rest of her life. But the meekness, friendliness and sharp mind of Lamefoot attracted the attention of the king.

35. Louise bore Louis four children, two of whom lived to adulthood. The king treated Louise quite cruelly. Having begun to grow cold towards her, he settled his rejected mistress next to his new favorite - Marquise Françoise Athenaïs de Montespan. The Duchess de La Valliere was forced to endure the bullying of her rival. She endured everything with her characteristic meekness, and in 1675 she became a nun and lived for many years in a monastery, where she was called Louise the Merciful.

Françosasa Athenais Montespan

36. In the lady before Montespan there was not a shadow of the meekness of her predecessor. A representative of one of the most ancient noble families in France, Françoise not only became the official favorite, but for 10 years turned into the “true queen of France.”

37.Françoise loved luxury and did not like counting money. It was the Marquise de Montespan who turned the reign of Louis XIV from deliberate budgeting to unrestrained and unlimited spending. Capricious, envious, domineering and ambitious, Francoise knew how to subjugate the king to her will. New apartments were built for her in Versailles, and she managed to place all her close relatives in significant government positions.

38. Françoise de Montespan gave birth to seven children for Louis, four of whom lived to adulthood. But the relationship between Françoise and the king was not as faithful as with Louise. Louis allowed himself hobbies besides his official favorite, which infuriated Madame de Montespan. To keep the king with her, she began to practice black magic and even became involved in a high-profile poisoning case. The king did not punish her with death, but deprived her of the status of a favorite, which was much more terrible for her. Like her predecessor, Louise le Lavalier, the Marquise de Montespan exchanged the royal chambers for a monastery.

39. Louis's new favorite was the Marquise de Maintenon, the widow of the poet Scarron, who was the governess of the king's children from Madame de Montespan. This king's favorite was called the same as her predecessor, Françoise, but the women were as different from each other as heaven and earth. The king had long conversations with the Marquise de Maintenon about the meaning of life, about religion, about responsibility before God. The royal court replaced its splendor with chastity and high morality.

40.After the death of his official wife, Louis XIV secretly married the Marquise de Maintenon. Now the king was occupied not with balls and festivities, but with masses and reading the Bible. The only entertainment he allowed himself was hunting.

Marquise de Maintenon

41. The Marquise de Maintenon founded and directed the first secular school for women in Europe, called the Royal House of Saint Louis. The school in Saint-Cyr became an example for many similar institutions, including the Smolny Institute in St. Petersburg. For her strict disposition and intolerance to secular entertainment, the Marquise de Maintenon received the nickname the Black Queen. She survived Louis and after his death retired to Saint-Cyr, living the rest of her days among the pupils of her school.

42.Louis XIV recognized his illegitimate children from both Louise de La Vallière and Françoise de Montespan. They all received their father's surname - de Bourbon, and dad tried to arrange their lives.

43. Louis, son from Louise, was already promoted to French admiral at the age of two, and having matured, he went on a military campaign with his father. There, at the age of 16, the young man died.

44. Louis-Auguste, son from Françoise, received the title of Duke of Maine, became a French commander and in this capacity accepted the godson of Peter I and Alexander Pushkin’s great-grandfather Abram Petrovich Hannibal for military training.

45. Françoise Marie, Louis's youngest daughter, was married to Philippe d'Orléans, becoming Duchess of Orléans. Possessing the character of her mother, Françoise-Marie plunged headlong into political intrigue. Her husband became the French regent under the young King Louis XV, and Françoise-Marie's children married the scions of other European royal dynasties. In a word, not many illegitimate children of ruling persons suffered the same fate that befell the sons and daughters of Louis XIV.

46.The last years of the king’s life turned out to be a difficult ordeal for him. The man, who throughout his life defended the chosenness of the monarch and his right to autocratic rule, experienced not only the crisis of his state. His close people left one after another, and it turned out that there was simply no one to transfer power to.

47. On April 13, 1711, his son, the Grand Dauphin Louis, died. In February 1712, the Dauphin's eldest son, the Duke of Burgundy, died, and on March 8 of the same year, the latter's eldest son, the young Duke of Breton, died. On March 4, 1714, the Duke of Burgundy's younger brother, the Duke of Berry, fell from his horse and died a few days later. The only heir was the 4-year-old great-grandson of the king, the youngest son of the Duke of Burgundy. If this little one had died, the throne would have remained vacant after the death of Louis. This forced the king to include even his illegitimate sons in the list of heirs, which promised internal civil strife in France in the future.

48. When the French, along with their British competitors, were in full swing developing the newly discovered America, René-Robert Cavelier de la Salle staked out lands on the Mississippi River in 1682, calling them Louisiana, precisely in honor of Louis XIV. True, France later sold them.

49.Louis XIV built the most magnificent palace in Europe. Versailles was born from a small hunting estate and became a real royal palace, causing the envy of many monarchs. Versailles had 2,300 rooms, 189,000 square meters, a park on 800 hectares of land, 200,000 trees and 50 fountains.

50. At 76 years old, Louis remained active, active and, as in his youth, regularly went hunting. During one of these trips, the king fell and injured his leg. Doctors discovered that the injury had caused gangrene and suggested amputation. The Sun King refused: this is unacceptable for royal dignity. The disease progressed rapidly, and soon agony began, lasting for several days. At the moment of clarity of consciousness, Louis looked around those present and uttered his last aphorism: “Why are you crying?” Did you really think that I would live forever? On September 1, 1715, at about 8 o'clock in the morning, Louis XIV died in his palace at Versailles, four days short of his 77th birthday. France said goodbye to the great monarch. The threat from Britain, which was gaining strength, was growing.

In 1661, a 23-year-old King Louis XIV of France arrived at his father's small hunting castle located near Paris. The monarch ordered large-scale construction of his new residence to begin here, which was to become his stronghold and refuge.

The Sun King's dream has come true. In Versailles, created at his request, Louis spent his best years, and here he ended his earthly journey.

Louis XIV de Bourbon, who received the name at birth Louis-Dieudonné(“God-given”), was born on September 5, 1638.

Anna of Austria. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

The name “God-given” appeared for a reason. Queen Anne of Austria produced an heir at the age of 37, after more than 20 barren years of marriage.

Already at the age of 5 he became king after the death of his father, Louis XIII. Due to the king’s young age, the administration of the state was taken over by his mother, Anna of Austria, and First Minister - Cardinal Mazarin.

The state is me

When Louis was 10 years old, a virtual civil war broke out in the country, in which the opposition Fronde confronted the authorities. The young king had to endure a blockade in the Louvre, a secret escape and many other, not at all royal things.

Louis XIV as the god Jupiter. 1655 Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

It was during these years that his character and his views were formed. Remembering the turmoil of his childhood, Louis XIV was convinced that the country could prosper only under the strong, unlimited power of the autocrat.

After the death of Cardinal Mazarin in 1661, the young king convened the Council of State, at which he announced that he henceforth intended to rule independently, without appointing a first minister. It was then that he decided to build a large residence in Versailles, so as not to return to the unreliable Louvre.

At the same time, the king, as they say, worked excellently with personnel. The de facto head of government for two decades was Jean-Baptiste Colbert, a talented financier. Thanks to Colbert, the first period of the reign of Louis XIV was very successful from an economic point of view.

Louis XIV patronized science and art, because he considered it impossible for his kingdom to flourish without a high level of development in these spheres of human activity.

Jean-Baptiste Colbert. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

War against everyone

If the king were only concerned with the construction of Versailles, the rise of the economy and the development of the arts, then, probably, the respect and love of his subjects for the Sun King would be limitless. However, the ambitions of Louis XIV extended much beyond the borders of his state. By the early 1680s, Louis XIV had the most powerful army in Europe, which only whetted his appetite. In 1681, he established chambers of reunification to determine the rights of the French crown to certain areas, seizing more and more lands in Europe and Africa.

Louis XIV crossing the Rhine on June 12, 1672. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

In 1688, Louis XIV's claims to the Palatinate led to the whole of Europe turning against him. The so-called War of the League of Augsburg lasted for nine years and resulted in the parties maintaining the status quo. But the huge expenses and losses incurred by France led to a new economic decline in the country and a depletion of funds.

Louis XIV at the siege of Namur (1692). Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

But already in 1701, France was drawn into a long conflict called the War of the Spanish Succession. Louis XIV hoped to defend the rights to the Spanish throne for his grandson, who was to become the head of two states. However, the war, which engulfed not only Europe, but also North America, ended unsuccessfully for France. According to the peace concluded in 1713 and 1714, the grandson of Louis XIV retained the Spanish crown, but its Italian and Dutch possessions were lost, and England, by destroying the Franco-Spanish fleets and conquering a number of colonies, laid the foundation for its maritime dominion. In addition, the project of uniting France and Spain under the hand of the French monarch had to be abandoned.

Sale of offices and expulsion of the Huguenots

This last military campaign of Louis XIV returned him to where he started - the country was mired in debt and groaning under the burden of taxes, and here and there uprisings broke out, the suppression of which required more and more resources.

The need to replenish the budget led to non-trivial decisions. Under Louis XIV, the trade in government positions was put on stream, reaching its maximum extent in the last years of his life. To replenish the treasury, more and more new positions were created, which, of course, brought chaos and discord into the activities of state institutions.

French Protestants joined the ranks of opponents of Louis XIV after the Edict of Fontainebleau was signed in 1685, repealing the Edict of Nantes. Henry IV, which guaranteed freedom of religion to the Huguenots.

After this, more than 200 thousand French Protestants emigrated from the country, despite strict penalties for emigration. The exodus of tens of thousands of economically active citizens dealt another painful blow to the power of France.

Louis XIV on coins. 1701 Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

The unloved queen and the meek lame woman

At all times and eras, the personal life of monarchs influenced politics. Louis XIV is no exception in this sense. The monarch once remarked: “It would be easier for me to reconcile all of Europe than a few women.”

His official wife in 1660 was a Spanish woman of her own age. Infanta Maria Theresa, who was Louis’s cousin on both his father’s and mother’s sides.

The marriage of Louis XIV took place in 1660. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

The problem with this marriage, however, was not the close family ties of the spouses. Louis simply did not love Maria Theresa, but he meekly agreed to the marriage, which had important political significance. The wife bore the king six children, but five of them died in childhood. Only the first-born survived, named, like his father, Louis and went down in history under the name Grand Dauphin.

Louise de La Valliere. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

For the sake of marriage, Louis broke off relations with the woman he really loved - his niece Cardinal Mazarin. Perhaps the separation from his beloved also influenced the king’s attitude towards his legal wife. Maria Theresa accepted her fate. Unlike other French queens, she did not intrigue or get involved in politics, playing a prescribed role. When the queen died in 1683, Louis said: “This is the only worry in my life that she has caused me.”

The king compensated for the lack of feelings in marriage with relationships with his favorites. For nine years she became the lady of Louis's heart. Louise-Françoise de La Baume Le Blanc, Duchess de La Vallière. Louise was not distinguished by dazzling beauty, and, moreover, due to an unsuccessful fall from a horse, she remained lame for the rest of her life. But the meekness, friendliness and sharp mind of Lamefoot attracted the attention of the king.

Marquise de Montespan in a painting by an unknown artist. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Louise bore Louis four children, two of whom lived to adulthood. The king treated Louise quite cruelly. Having begun to grow cold towards her, he settled his rejected mistress next to his new favorite - Marquise Françoise Athenais de Montespan. The Duchess de La Valliere was forced to endure the bullying of her rival. She endured everything with her characteristic meekness, and in 1675 she became a nun and lived for many years in a monastery, where she was called Louise the Merciful.

There was not a shadow of the meekness of her predecessor in the lady before Montespan. A representative of one of the most ancient noble families in France, Françoise not only became the official favorite, but for 10 years turned into the “true queen of France.”

Françoise loved luxury and did not like counting money. It was the Marquise de Montespan who turned the reign of Louis XIV from deliberate budgeting to unrestrained and unlimited spending. Capricious, envious, domineering and ambitious, Francoise knew how to subjugate the king to her will. New apartments were built for her in Versailles, and she managed to place all her close relatives in significant government positions.

Françoise de Montespan bore Louis seven children, four of whom lived to adulthood.

But the relationship between Françoise and the king was not as faithful as with Louise. Louis allowed himself hobbies besides his official favorite, which infuriated Madame de Montespan. To keep the king with her, she began to practice black magic and even became involved in a high-profile poisoning case. The king did not punish her with death, but deprived her of the status of a favorite, which was much more terrible for her.

Like her predecessor, Louise le Lavalier, the Marquise de Montespan exchanged the royal chambers for a monastery.

Madame de Maintenon. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Time for repentance

Louis's new favorite was Marquise de Maintenon, widow poet Scarron, who was the governess of the king’s children from Madame de Montespan.

This king's favorite was called the same as her predecessor, Françoise, but the women were as different from each other as heaven and earth. The king had long conversations with the Marquise de Maintenon about the meaning of life, about religion, about responsibility before God. The royal court replaced its splendor with chastity and high morality.

After the death of his official wife, Louis XIV secretly married the Marquise de Maintenon. Now the king was occupied not with balls and festivities, but with masses and reading the Bible. The only entertainment he allowed himself was hunting.

The Marquise de Maintenon founded and directed Europe's first secular school for women, called the Royal House of Saint Louis. The school in Saint-Cyr became an example for many similar institutions, including the Smolny Institute in St. Petersburg.

For her strict disposition and intolerance to secular entertainment, the Marquise de Maintenon received the nickname the Black Queen. She survived Louis and after his death retired to Saint-Cyr, living the rest of her days among the pupils of her school.

Louis XIV and his family dressed as Roman gods. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Illegitimate Bourbons

Louis XIV recognized his illegitimate children from both Louise de La Vallière and Françoise de Montespan. They all received their father's surname - de Bourbon, and dad tried to arrange their lives.

Maria Theresa, wife of Louis XIV, with their only surviving son, the Grand Dauphin Louis. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Louis, son from Louise, was already promoted to French admiral at the age of two, and having matured, he went on a military campaign with his father. There, at the age of 16, the young man died.

Louis-Auguste, son from Françoise, received the title of Duke of Maine, became a French commander and in this capacity accepted military training Godson of Peter I And great-grandfather of Alexander Pushkin Abram Petrovich Hannibal.

Francoise-Marie, Louis's youngest daughter, was married to Philippe d'Orléans, becoming the Duchess of Orleans. Possessing the character of her mother, Françoise-Marie plunged headlong into political intrigue. Her husband became the French regent under the young King Louis XV, and Françoise-Marie's children married the scions of other European royal dynasties.

In a word, not many illegitimate children of ruling persons suffered the same fate that befell the sons and daughters of Louis XIV.

“Did you really think that I would live forever?”

The last years of the king's life turned out to be a difficult ordeal for him. The man, who throughout his life defended the chosenness of the monarch and his right to autocratic rule, experienced not only the crisis of his state. His close people left one after another, and it turned out that there was simply no one to transfer power to.

Grand Dauphin Louis. The only surviving legitimate child of Louis XIV by Maria Theresa of Spain. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

On April 13, 1711, his son, the Grand Dauphin Louis, died. In February 1712, the Dauphin's eldest son, the Duke of Burgundy, died, and on March 8 of the same year, the latter's eldest son, the young Duke of Breton, died. On March 4, 1714, the Duke of Burgundy's younger brother, the Duke of Berry, fell from his horse and died a few days later. The only heir was the 4-year-old great-grandson of the king, the youngest son of the Duke of Burgundy. If this little one had died, the throne would have remained vacant after the death of Louis.

Statue of Louis XIV. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

This forced the king to include even his illegitimate sons in the list of heirs, which promised internal civil strife in France in the future.

At 76 years old, Louis remained energetic, active and, as in his youth, regularly went hunting. During one of these trips, the king fell and injured his leg. Doctors discovered that the injury had caused gangrene and suggested amputation. The Sun King refused: this is unacceptable for royal dignity. The disease progressed rapidly, and soon agony began, lasting for several days.

At the moment of clarity of consciousness, Louis looked around those present and uttered his last aphorism:

- Why are you crying? Did you really think that I would live forever?

On September 1, 1715, at about 8 o'clock in the morning, Louis XIV died in his palace at Versailles, four days short of his 77th birthday.

The Castle of Versailles is a grandiose architectural monument of Louis XIV. Photo:

04.02.2018

Louis XIV is a monarch who ruled France for over 70 years. True, the first years of his reign can be called such only formally, since he received the throne at the age of 5. Royal power was then absolute; the “anointed one of God” was allowed to control all spheres of life of his subjects. But why did Louis XIV receive the nickname "Sun King"? Is it only because of this greatness? After all, both before Louis and after him, the throne was occupied by many individuals, but no one else claimed the “solar” title. There are several versions.

Version one

The most common version is this. Representatives of the royal house at that time were very interested in the theater. The young king himself danced in ballet - at the Palais Royal Theater, from the age of 12. Of course, he was given roles corresponding to his high position, for example, the god Apollo, or even the Rising Sun. It is quite possible that the nickname was “born” in those years.

Version two

The capital of France regularly hosted events called the “Carousel of the Tuileries”. They were something between knightly tournaments, sports competitions and masquerade.

In 1662, a particularly magnificent ceremony took place, in which Louis took part. In the hands of the king there was a huge shield, symbolizing the solar disk. This was supposed to indicate the divine origin of the ruler, and also instill in the subjects confidence that the king would protect them in the same way that the sun protects life on Earth.

Version three

The next option is related to a funny episode during a walk. One day, Louis, as a 6-7 year old child, went to the Tuileries Garden with his courtiers. In a huge puddle he saw the reflection of the shining sun (it was a fine day). “I am the sun!” - the child shouted in delight. Since then, the king's retinue began to call him that - first as a joke, and then seriously.

Version four

Another version explains the appearance of the nickname by the wide scope of the king’s actions, significant for France. Under him, economic prosperity began (though not for long), trade was encouraged, the Academy of Sciences was created, and the active development of the American colonies was underway. In addition, Louis pursued an offensive foreign policy, and his first campaigns were successful.

Version five

And finally, here is another theory regarding the royal nickname. The “Sun” was any monarch who was crowned during the regency period (that is, in childhood). That was the tradition. Louis simply became another “sunny” child ruler, and the nickname automatically stuck with him (maybe the courtiers often talked about him among themselves, using this term).

Duke Philippe d'Orléans (brother of Louis XIV) was one of the most controversial aristocratic figures in French history. Being second in line to the throne, he posed a serious threat to the monarchy, but even in the era of the Fronde and internal turmoil, Monsieur did not oppose the legitimate ruler. While remaining loyal to the crown, the Duke led a unique lifestyle. He regularly shocked the public, surrounded himself with many favorites, patronized the arts and, despite his effeminate image, periodically successfully led military campaigns.

King's brother

On September 21, 1640, Louis III and his wife Anne of Austria had a second son, the future Philippe d'Orléans. He was born at a residence in the Paris suburb of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. The boy was the younger brother of the monarch Louis XIV, who ascended the throne in 1643 after the death of their father.

The relationship between them was a big exception for royal families. There are many examples in history of how brothers (children of some ruler) hated each other and fought with each other for power. There were similar examples in France. For example, there is a theory that the penultimate monarch of Charles IX was poisoned by one of his younger brothers.

Monsieur

The hereditary principle, in which the eldest heir received everything, and the other remained in his shadow, was largely unfair. Despite this, Philip of Orleans never plotted against Louis. Warm relations have always been maintained between the brothers. This harmony became possible thanks to the efforts of mother Anna of Austria, who tried to do everything so that her children lived and were raised together in a friendly environment.

In addition, the character of Philip himself affected. By nature, he was extravagant and hot-tempered, which, however, could not drown out his good nature and gentleness. All his life, Philip bore the titles “Only Brother of the King” and “Monsieur,” which emphasized his special position not only in the ruling dynasty, but throughout the country.

Childhood

The news that she had given birth to a second boy was received with enthusiasm at court. The omnipotent was especially pleased. He understood that Philip of Orleans - the brother of Louis 14 - was another legitimate support of the dynasty and its future in the event that something happened to the Dauphin. From early childhood, the boys were invariably raised together. Together they played, studied and misbehaved, which is why they were spanked together.

At that time, the Fronde was raging in France. Princes were secretly taken from Paris more than once and hidden in distant residences. Philippe d'Orléans, the brother of Louis 14, just like the Dauphin, experienced many hardships and hardships. He had to feel fear and defenselessness in front of an angry crowd of rioters. Sometimes the brothers' childhood pranks escalated into fights. Although Louis was older, he did not always emerge victorious in fights.

Like all children, they could quarrel over trifles - plates of porridge, sharing beds in a new room, etc. Philip was temperamental, loved to shock others, but at the same time had an easy character and quickly moved away from insults. But Louis, on the contrary, was stubborn and could sulk at those around him for a long time.

Relations with Mazarin

The very fact that Philippe Duke of Orleans was the younger brother of the all-powerful king made it inevitable that there would be many ill-wishers who did not like Monsieur. One of his most influential opponents was Mazarin. The cardinal was put in charge of the education of the previously poorly performing Louis and his younger brother. Mazarin did not like Philip because of his fear that he would become a threat to the throne as he grew up. Monsieur could repeat the fate of Gaston - his own uncle, who opposed the monarchy with his claims to power.

Mazarin had many superficial reasons to fear such a development of events. The all-powerful nobleman could not help but notice what an adventurous person Philippe d'Orléans grew up to be. The duke's future biography showed that he also grew into a good commander who could lead armies and achieve victories on the battlefield.

Upbringing

Some biographers, not without reason, noted in their works that Philip could have been deliberately instilled in feminine habits and instilled an interest in homosexuality. If this was really done for ambiguous reasons, then Mazarin could thus count, firstly, on the fact that the Duke would not have a normal family and heir, and secondly, on the fact that Monsieur would be despised at court. However, the cardinal did not even need to take the initiative into his own hands.

Philip's feminine habits were brought up by his mother Anna of Austria. She liked the gentle character of her youngest son much more than Louis' boring habits. Anna loved to dress up the child as a girl and let him play with the maids of honor. Today, when Philippe d'Orléans is mentioned, he is often confused with his namesake descendant, but the 19th-century King Louis-Philippe d'Orléans had little in common with the 17th-century duke. Their upbringings were markedly different. It is enough to give an example of how the brother of Louis XIV could be jokingly pulled into a lady's corset.

The ladies-in-waiting who lived at court also loved theater and often gave the child comic roles in their productions. Perhaps it was these impressions that instilled in Philip an interest in the stage. At the same time, the boy was left to his own devices for a long time. All the strength of his mother and Cardinal Mazarin was spent on Louis, from whom they made a king. What would happen to his younger brother was of much less interest to everyone. All that was required of him was not to interfere with the throne, not to make claims to power and not to repeat the path of the rebellious uncle Gaston.

Wives

In 1661, Gaston's younger brother, Duke of Orleans, died. After his death, the title passed to Philip. Before that he was Duke of Anjou. In the same year, Philip of Orleans married Henrietta Anne Stuart, daughter of Charles I of England.

Interestingly, the first wife Henrietta was supposed to marry Louis XIV himself. However, during their adolescence, the royal power in England was overthrown, and a marriage with the daughter of Charles Stuart was considered unpromising at Versailles. Wives were then chosen according to the position and prestige of the dynasty. While the Stuarts remained without a crown under Cromwell, the Bourbons did not want to become related to them. However, everything changed in 1660, when Henrietta's brother regained his father's throne. The girl’s status became higher, but Louis had already married by that time. Then the princess received an offer to marry the king's younger brother. Cardinal Mazarin was an opponent of this marriage, but on March 9, 1661, he died, and the last obstacle to the engagement disappeared.

It is not known exactly what the future wife of Philippe d'Orleans sincerely thought about her groom. England heard conflicting rumors about Monsieur's hobbies and favorites. Nevertheless, Henrietta married him. After the wedding, Louis gave his brother the Palais Royal, which became the city residence of the couple. Philippe, Duke of Orleans, in his own words, was infatuated with his wife just two weeks after the wedding. Then everyday life set in, and he returned to the company of his favorites - the minions. The marriage was unhappy. In 1670, Henrietta died and Philip remarried. This time his chosen one was Elizabeth Charlotte, daughter of Karl Ludwig, Elector of the Palatinate. This marriage produced a son, Philip II, the future regent of France.

Favorites

Thanks to the surviving correspondence of the second wife, historians were able to collect a lot of evidence of the Duke’s homosexuality. Of his lovers, the most famous is Chevalier Philippe de Lorraine. He was a representative of the old aristocratic and influential family of Guise. Philippe d'Orléans and the Chevalier de Lorraine met at a young age. Later, both wives of the duke tried to remove the favorite from the court. He exerted a serious influence on Philip, which jeopardized the latter’s family life. Despite the efforts of Henrietta and Elizabeth, the Chevalier continued to remain close to the Duke of Orleans.

In 1670, the king tried to take control of the situation. Louis XIV imprisoned the Chevalier in the famous Prison If. However, the favorite's stay in prison was short-lived. Seeing his brother’s grief, Louis retreated and allowed the minion to first move to Rome and then return to the court of his patron. The relationship between Philippe d'Orléans and Philippe de Lorrain continued until the Duke's death in 1701 (the favorite survived him by only a year). When Louis buried his younger brother, he ordered all of Philip’s correspondence to be burned, fearing the publicity of his adventures and unsightly lifestyle.

Commander

Philip first distinguished himself as a military commander during the War of Devolution in 1667-1668, when France fought with Spain for influence in the Netherlands. In 1677 he returned to the army again. Then the war began against Holland, which was ruled by The conflict flared up on several fronts. In Flanders, Louis needed another commander, since all his usual commanders were already occupied. Then Philip 1 of Orleans went to this region. The duke's biography is an example of a faithful and loyal brother, who without wrangling carried out the orders of the monarch at the most crucial moment, when the fatherland was in danger.

The army under the command of Philip first captured Cambrai, and then began the siege of the city of Saint-Omer. Here the Duke learned that the main Dutch army was coming towards him from Ypres, led by King William III of Orange himself. Philip left a small part of his army under the walls of the besieged city, and he himself went to intercept the enemy. The armies clashed at the Battle of Kassel on April 11, 1677. The Duke headed the center of the army, in which the infantry stood. The cavalry positioned itself on the flanks. Success was ensured by a swift attack by dragoon units, which forced the enemy army to retreat.

The Dutch suffered a crushing defeat. They lost 8 thousand people killed and wounded, and another 3 thousand were captured. The French captured the enemy's camp, their banners, cannons and other equipment. Thanks to the victory, Philip was able to complete the siege of Saint-Omer and take control of the city. A radical change occurred in the war. This was the Duke's most significant success on the battlefield. After his triumph, he was recalled from the army. Louis XIV was clearly jealous and fearful of his brother's further victories. Although the king solemnly greeted Monsieur and publicly thanked him for defeating the enemy, he did not give him any more troops.

Philip and art

Thanks to his hobbies, Philippe d'Orleans was remembered by his contemporaries and descendants as the largest patron of the arts of his era. It was he who made the composer Jean-Baptiste Lully famous, and also supported the writer Moliere. The Duke had a significant collection of art and jewelry. His special passion was theater and satire.

Prince Philippe Duke of Orleans not only loved art, but later he himself became the hero of many works. His personality attracted a variety of writers, creators of musicals, directors, etc. For example, one of the most provocative images came from Roland Joffe in his 2000 film Vatel. In this painting, the Duke is depicted as an open homosexual and friend of the disgraced Condé. Philip's childhood is shown in another film - "The Child King", where the events of the Fronde unfold. The most famous French writer could not ignore the image of the Duke - In his novel “The Vicomte de Bragelonne, or Ten Years After,” the author took liberties with historical facts. In the book, Philippe is not the only brother of Louis XIV. In addition to him, on the pages of the novel there is the twin of the monarch, who became a prisoner in an iron mask due to political expediency.

Last years

Thanks to successful marriages, both of Philip's daughters became queens. His namesake son had a distinguished military career during the War of the League of Augsburg. In 1692 he took part in the Battle of Steenkirk and the Siege of Namur. The successes of the children were Philip's special pride, so in his last years he could live peacefully on his estates and rejoice for his descendants.

At the same time, relations between the Duke and his crowned brother were going through difficult times. On June 9, 1701, Prince Philippe d'Orléans died of an apoplexy that overtook him in Saint-Cloud after a long dispute with the king about the fate of his son. Louis tried in every possible way to limit his nephew, fearing the growth of his popularity in the army. This infuriated Philip. Another quarrel became fatal for him. Having become nervous, he survived the blow, which turned out to be fatal.

The body of 60-year-old Monsieur was buried in the Parisian Abbey of Saint-Denis. During the French Revolution, the grave was plundered. At court, the former favorite of the king, the Marquise de Montespan, grieved most of all about the death of the Duke.

It is interesting that the King of France, Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, who ruled the country in 1830-1848. and overthrown by the revolution, was a descendant of Monsieur. The ducal title was regularly passed on from descendant to descendant of Louis XIV's brother. Louis Philippe was his grandson in several generations. Although he did not belong to the previously reigning branch of the Bourbons, this did not prevent him from becoming king thanks to a bloodless coup. Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, although similar in name to his ancestor, actually had little in common with him.