Europe chose the path of centralized power, and it was constructed by Louis XIV. He referred to himself as the "Sun King," the monarch at the center of the political constellation. He built Versailles and ruled his kingdom. He made absolutism the wave of the future and the high road to mili...

Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, was the absolute monarch of France from 1643 to 1715. He was the third monarch of the Bourbon Family, who ruled for 72 years, the longest reign of any European Monarch. Louis guided France through a great era that signified France's continental European ...

King Louis XIV Louis XIV was born at the royal chateau in Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1638. He was only five when he became king upon the death of his father, Louis XIII. During the time of his childhood, Louis witnessed a period of rebellion known as the Fronde, led first by the nobility then by t...