Louis XIV

Also known as: the Sun King  

Born: 1638   Died: 1715  
Occupation: king of France
From: Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment, Revised Edition.

Background

As the symbol of absolute rule, Louis XIV was both hated and
admired held up as a model for emulation by a few writers and as
an example of abuse by others. Louis XIV was called both le
Grand (the Great) and le Roi Soleil (the Sun King) during his
lifetime. The French, even today, refer to the 17th century, on
which he left such an indelible imprint, as le Siècle d'Or (the
golden century) or l'Age classique (the classical era).

Louis was not quite five years old when he inherited the throne
from his father, Louis XIII, in 1643. Because he was so young,
the actual rule of the country lay in the hands of his mother, Anne
of Austria (daughter of Philip III of Spain), who served as regent.
Together with her powerful minister Cardinal Mazarin, Anne of
Austria directed France through a period of intense instability
during which various factions in France—the parlements and the
royal princes—used the weakness of the regency as an excuse to
rebel. The resultant civil war was called the Fronde and lasted from 1648 until 1653. The unrest
forced Louis XIV to spend five years of his youth on the road, moving from one spot to another
to avoid hostilities. The experience so disturbed him that he determined to squelch all possible
sources of revolt within the country.

Upon attaining his majority, he assumed the throne with his full rights, but Cardinal Mazarin
continued to exercise considerable influence until his death in 1661. After that, Louis XIV
proceeded to consolidate his royal power and, consequently, brought France as close as it ever
came to being an absolute monarchy. He was assisted by several ministers such as Jean-Baptiste
Colbert (1619–83), Michel Le Tellier (1603–85), and François-Michel Le Tellier, marquis de
Louvois (1639–91).

Government

Louis XIV made important contributions to the art of governing as an absolute monarch. He
outlined his philosophy in a document called his Testament, written for his heirs. It spelled out
the general goals of his reform activities and made recommendations for those who would follow
in his footsteps.

Louis's fundamental goal—summed up in the famous dictum ascribed to him, l'état, c'est moi
("The state, it is I")—was to unify all sovereign power within his person without a system of
checks and balances. To attain this goal, Louis XIV abandoned the practice of jointly ruling with
a prime minister elected from the nobles. He excluded nobles from councils. He also began to
make laws without calling the Estates General. The Estates General was a group of nobles who
would be summoned by the king periodically to give advice on foreign policy and approve of
laws passed by him. Not once in King Louis’ 72 year reign did he call a meeting of the Estates
General.

He also sought a program of centralization of the government, which eroded the power of local
governments. Prior to Louis’ rule, local government s could make laws for themselves without
the approval of the King. In fact, under Louis’ father, several towns made their own laws
refusing to follow the Edict of Nantes (religious tolerance), and Louis’s father publically
acknowledged their right to do so. King Louis XIV would not tolerate insubordination from
individual towns. Not only did he remove their right to make laws that were in direct conflict
with his policies, he also founded several royal academies to standardize the way politics, law,
science, art, writing, and music was taught in his entire kingdom. This ensured that the
education local people obtained favored Louis’ federal policies and ways of thinking.

To ensure he had tight control over his country, Louis strengthened the power of government
agents called intendents, who collected taxes and administered justice in local provinces. To
keep power under central control, he made sure that local officials communicated regularly with
him. He essentially created a system of spies for the local provinces.

Religion

Louis was raised by a strict Catholic mother and believed in the Catholic faith. He also
understood that if he was to have more power over his country he would have to fight the
Catholic clergy and the pope over control of the French church. He attempted to reinstate
religious uniformity within France because he wanted to bring order and peace to his country
after decades of chaos. He did not want a Protestant minority to threaten the harmony of his
country. Louis XIV did this by revoking the Edict of Nantes which ended religious tolerance.
He persecuted many French Huguenots and forced many to convert, die, or be imprisoned. As a
result, tens of thousands of Protestants fled the country.