King Louis XIV

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King Louis XIV When Louis XIV took over the French throne, he was thrust into middle of the Thirty Years’ War. However, as Louis was only five at the time, he did not do much ruling. The Thirty Years’ War ended with France losing some of its military reputation. Louis grew up with a hatred for the nobles due to the insurrection during the beginning of his reign. Because of this, Louis XIV would never trust the nobles and would spend his reign slowly taking their power away from them. Louis XIV ruled for seventy-two years, from May 14, 1643 to September 1, 1715. During his time as king of France, Louis implemented many changes throughout France; some for the better and some for the worse. Louis XVI was born on September 5th, 1638 into the Bourbon family. At the time, the Bourbon family was the ruling family in France. Louis XIV’s birth was seen as a miracle, as his mother, Anne of Austria, could not have a child for 12 years. Louis took over the throne when his father, Louis XIII, died on May 14th, 1643. When Louis XIV took over power he was only four years old, so all decisions were made by the chief minister, Cardinal Mazarin (Schunk). Louis XIV truly took over the throne upon Cardinal Mazarin’s death on March 9, 1661. Louis XIV then swore to take complete control over the government. Louis began to call himself the “Sun King” as a symbol of his absolute power (Ellis 511). Louis XIV greatly centralized power in France through many changes to the government, including appointing intendants, nobles that were loyal to Louis XIV and collected taxes, recruited soldiers, and enforced his policies and building the Palace of Versailles (Ellis 512). The Palace of Versailles became the home of Louis XIV and the nobles (Ellis 512). Ther... ... middle of paper ... ...nd was a sign of his apparent overabundance of wealth (Ellis 512). Although King Louis XIV’s time in control of the French throne did not have a huge impact on Europe as a whole, it had a major impact on France and the French people. His reign started out well, with military victories that expanded France’s territory. However, starting with the limiting of the nobles’ power, things began to take a turn for the worse. Louis XIV built the Palace of Versailles in the town of Versailles, twenty kilometers outside of Paris. This led to an increased resentment of the King, as he had distanced himself from his citizens. The Palace of Versailles, coupled with the expensive territory wars, placed France in a massive amount of debt. To resolve the debt, high taxes were placed on the French people, causing a further decrease in King Louis XIV’s popularity with the people.

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