King Louis XIV of France
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Series 28 Son of Louis XIII, born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1638. He succeeded his father in 1643 under the regency of Anne of Austria and his minority was agitated by the struggles of the Parliament against the Regent and the troubles of the Fronde. In 1660, he married Marie-Therese, daughter of Philip IV, King of Spain and wanted to reign by himself. He began by disgracing Fouquet, calling Colbert to finance, and Louvois to the army, while Vauban fortified the frontiers. Considering himself the representative of God on earth, he reduced the great to a kind of domesticity and wanted to be as absolute outside as inside; of all the wars which brought much glory to France, but which exhausted it. His reign was the most brilliant for Letters and Arts, which were brought to a high degree of perfection. He died 1st September 1715. |
