Volta
Person1638 – 1715

Louis XIV

Also called: Sun King, Louis the Great

King of France (r. 1643–1715), the “Sun King” and model absolute monarch, who built Versailles and pursued mercantilism through Colbert

Long awaited by Louis XIII, he was called “the God-given”. His childhood memory of fleeing Paris during the Fronde left him wary of the nobility. A keen dancer, he performed as the sun god Apollo in court ballets, fixing the name “Sun King”. He founded academies to patronise learning and the arts, and Molière and Racine worked at his court. Reigning 72 years, he outlived his son and grandson and was succeeded by his great-grandson Louis XV.

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3 related events

  1. 1
    1661 – 1715Absolutism of Louis XIVmonarch

    Ruling in person from 1661, Louis XIV invoked the divine right of kings and perfected absolute monarchy through a standing army, a bureaucracy and Colbert’s mercantilism, moving his court to the Palace of Versailles in 1682.

  2. 2
    1685Revocation of the Edict of Nantesmonarch

    In 1685 Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes with the Edict of Fontainebleau and outlawed Protestantism; hundreds of thousands of Huguenots fled to the Netherlands, England, Prussia and elsewhere.

  3. 3
    1701 – 1714War of the Spanish Successionmonarch

    When the Spanish Habsburg line died out, France and Spain fought Britain, the Netherlands and Austria in 1701–1714 over the accession of Louis XIV’s grandson as Philip V; under the Treaty of Utrecht Philip kept his throne, but Britain gained Gibraltar and lands in North America.

People who appear alongside

  • Jean-Baptiste Colbert1619 – 1683

    Louis XIV’s controller-general of finances (1665–1683), whose mercantilism rested on protective tariffs, royal manufactories and overseas trading companies

Themes this person appears in

  • Reformation and Absolutism1517 – 1796

    From Luther’s Ninety-five Theses to Catherine the Great — the wars of religion of a divided Christendom ended at Westphalia, and absolute monarchs armed with divine right, standing armies, bureaucracies and mercantilism, followed by the enlightened despots of eastern Europe, contended for the balance of power among sovereign states