Louis XIV
Louis XIV, known as "The Sun King" and as "Louis the Great", ruled France for seventy-two years. He reigned from 1643 to 1715. Louis was only four years old when his father died and his mother Queen Anne selected Cardinal Mazarin as Prime Minister. Mazarin's attempts to increase the revenue led to civil wars, called the Fronde, which lasted intermittently from 1649 to 1652. Riots wrecked Paris and violence continued for a number of years, resulting in Louis and Mazarin fleeing the city. However, internal differences between the nobles and the middle class and the overall chaos in the county contributed to Louis XIV's eventual return. After the death of Mazarin in 1661, Louis became his own prime minister and adopted the ideal of the Divine Right of Kings, which stated that God chose the king to rule, and only God had authority over him, not a parliamentary body or any group of nobles. Louis XIV also sought to control religion, believing that
By the end of the fourth war, the War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1714), fought because of Louis' efforts to lay claim to the Spanish throne for his grandson, the European countries of Holland, Great Britain, and Austria were able to contain Louis' territorial desires. Built 12 miles outside of Paris, at a cost of over $100 million, the palace at Versailles served as a fundamental tool of state policy under Louis. By the time of Louis' death in 1715, France was the leading nation on the European continent. The treaty ended French expansionism and left France on the brink of bankruptcy. During Louis XIV's 72-year reign, France became a dominant power in Europe. He destroyed Huguenot schools and churches and took away their civil rights. In 1685, he revoked the Edict of Nantes. He was able to control the nobles who were forced to live at Versailles and also used the elaborate architecture to impress his subjects and foreign visitors. The French armies were able to gain some territory in Germany and its surrounding areas. France was engaged in several wars: the War of Devolution or the First Dutch War (1667-1668); the Invasion of the Netherlands or the Second Dutch War (1672-1678); and the War of the League of Augsburg (1681-1697). In 1713, France signed the Peace of Utrecht, which forbade the union of France and Spain, stating that the two countries could not be ruled by the same monarch. Versailles became a reflection of French genius. However, his extravagant lifestyle at Versailles burdened the peasants with taxes, the long war emptied the treasury, drained the manpower of the country, and held back economic development of the country. Colbert's goal was to make France self sufficient by centralizing the economy through government control of trade and industry.
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