Louis XIV (King of the French Bourbon dynasty) (September 5, 1638 to September 1, 1715)

Louis XIV (King of the French Bourbon dynasty)

Louis XIV (French: Louis XIV; September 5, 1638-September 1, 1715), full name Louis-Dieudonne (Louis-Dieudonne), self-titled Sun King (French: le Roi du Soleil), was the king of France and Navarre of the Bourbon dynasty. Reigned for 72 years and 110 days, he is one of the longest reigned monarchs and is also the longest-reigning sovereign monarch in world history.

The beginning of the reign of Louis XIV, by his Austrian mother of Anne Regent, Until 1661, the French prime minister Cardinal Mazarin's death that he really began reign. In the Cardinal Armand Jean Deep Lacey de Richelieu support and Mazarin diplomatic achievements of Louis XIV in France established an absolute monarchy of the centralized kingdom. He concentrated the great nobles in the Palace of Versailles and concentrated the entire French bureaucracy around him, thereby strengthening the French king's military, financial and institutional decision-making power. The absolute monarchy he established lasted until the French Revolution.

During his administration (1661-1715), France launched three major wars: the Legacy War, the French-Dutch War, and the Grand League War, and two small-scale conflicts, which made him become the hegemon of Western Europe 1680; The two battles were against the three-strong alliance of Shanghai, England, and Austria. The Grand League war was reconciled due to the exhaustion of war between the two sides. In the Spanish succession war, the French king Sun succeeded to the throne. Lost in old age.

Louis-Dieudonné, Louis XIVAliasLouis XIV,

the Sun King Country of CitizenshipFrancenationalityFrenchdate of birth September 5, 1638 Date of death September 1, 1715, Major achievements during his tenure, France became the most powerful country in Europe

during his tenure in France to break expansion of soil

to establish Absolute Monarchy

wage law Dutch War, War of Spanish Succession, Nine Years' Warplace of birthSaint-Germain-en-Laye CastleBeliefCatholicismCemeteryBasilica of Saint-Denis

life

Chong-age succession

Louis XIV was the eldest son of King Louis XIII. He was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France. His brother Philip I, Duke of Orleans, was born in 1640. My Mother is Anne of Austria. In 1615, in Marie de Medici, under the auspices of the Queen Mother, the son of Louis XIII and the Spanish Princess Anne married (because the Spanish Habsburg was born in Austria, so-called customary Anna Queen Anne of Austria). Richelieu emerged in 1617 and was appreciated by Louis XIII. He was later appointed cardinal. Richelieu remained in the internal affairs to promote the monarchy. Richelieu died in 1642. In 1643, Louis XIII died, and on May 14, 1643, Louis XIV ascended the throne. At the beginning of Louis XIV's accession to the throne, the French aristocracy became active again and formed the slingers with Prince Condé, Madame Chevres, and Madame Longueville as the core. This was the grim situation when Louis XIV came to the throne.

Since Louis XIV was under the age of five when he came to the throne, he was regent by the Queen Mother Anne of Austria, but it was Richelieu's loyal successor Ma Zaran who held the real power. At this time, Mazaran was not only the prime minister and godfather of the young king Louis XIV but also the lover of the regent empress dowager. It is conceivable that its position respects weight. When Mazaran accepted the government, it was precisely when the French army had a decisive victory in the Thirty Years' War. In order to meet the needs of the war, Mazaran made advance payments to financiers, in exchange for allowing them to collect taxes and collect the country's income. These tax packagers made huge profits from it, which aroused the envy of the nobles and the anger of the people.

On August 26, 1648, an armed uprising of the people broke out in Paris. Anti-government uprisings also broke out in other provinces. In October 1648, King Louis XIV left the capital and Mazarin was exiled for the first time. The riot was not until October 21, 1652, when Louis XIV was able to return to Paris. This is the first "Spapler movement" in French history.

Continuous chaos

Main article: Fronde Movement

In 1648, when the Catapult movement broke out because France was still fighting with Spain (1635-1659), it fell into serious internal and external troubles. France's national power was severely weakened, and it caused its original hegemony business to be abruptly interrupted; and after the rebellion, France's national power was still difficult to recover in a short time, and its international status temporarily declined to a second-rate country. It can be said that the rebellion not only caused social chaos, but the government also reduced its military power from 150,000 to more than 50,000 due to a sharp drop in tax revenue.

After the first "Splash Movement", Prince Condé failed to obtain the position of Mazaran, so he united with the princes Conte, Gunte, and the Duchess of Longueville who were dissatisfied with the court to plot to overthrow the Mazaran government. In January 1650, Mazarin arrested the Prince of Condé, the Prince's brother Conti, and his brother-in-law, the Duke of Longueville. The prince’s supporters rioted in other provinces, and the priests also united with the nobles to fight against the court. The rebels made Turenne Viscount led (Viscount de Turenne), a joint Spanish troops to attack France. In December 1650, the Duke of Du Plessis (Comte du Plessis-Praslin) defeated Tirena in the Battle of Champ-Blanc. At the same time, between March and April 1651, other local rebels were gradually suppressed. Under pressure from all parties, the nobles such as Conde were released, and Mazaran was exiled for the second time. The first civil war ended.

In December 1651, Mazarin was recalled to the capital city of Paris. Prince Condé and Leopold of Spain invaded France with Grand Duke Ilhelm. Between February and April 1652, the rebels achieved a series of military victories. The royal family once again fled from Paris. Tirena led the royal army to fight against Prince Conde's army and achieved a series of important military achievements near Paris. At this time, Mazaran once again used the tactic of retreat to advance, announcing that he had retired into exile. After Mazaran resigned, Prince Kongdai lost the basis of popular support. Let the dignitaries of the sling stone party once again fall into internal fighting; Mazarin used the sacred sovereignty of Louis XIV to let the Parisians, tired of the "tyranny" of the Grand Conde and the internal fighting of the sling stone party, greet Louis X with joy at the end of 1652. The four mothers and sons returned to Paris to rebuild the centralized royal government; finally, at the beginning of 1653, Louis XIV ordered the recall of Mazarin and re-appointed power.

At this point (1653), the slingshot movement was completely over, and Mazaran established an unshakable dominance in the country. The lonely Grand Condé had gone into exile in Spain in September 1652. King Felipe IV of Spain authorized Condé to command the Spanish army to fight against France and gave him Luxembourg. It was not until 1659 that he obtained it. Forgive Louis XIV and return to France. In October 1652, fourteen-year-old Louis XIV was welcomed back to Paris by the people. Gaston Jean Baptiste , Duke of Orleans, was demoted. The second civil war gradually subsided.

Take charge

The young Louis XIV was a tending adult in the face of adversity, he and his mother, brother and transfer Mazarin a province of a province, for the young Louis twice escaped during the riot in Paris, probably for small Louis Have a far-reaching impact. Louis XIV saw the crazy riots of the people of Paris during the sling movement. The tragic experience of being abandoned by the people of Paris and forced to flee left a shadow on the king. The king always believed that "Paris is not safe and people do not love him." He decided to never allow such riots to recur and began planning to settle in Versailles in the future.

In March 1661, Mazaran died of illness. Before his death, he had secretly watched that Louis XIV was going to take power personally. He announced that he would no longer appoint a prime minister; therefore, the 24-year-old young king declared pro-government. He also dismissed Nicholas Fouquet, who believed he was the heir of Mazaran (reasoned for bribery).

After the pro-government, Louis XIV was a king who would do everything by himself. He worked more than eight hours a day, governed the country with unparalleled enthusiasm and spirit, and created an absolute monarchy unparalleled in history. By means of missionary bishop genius Shibo Xu sad to actively promote the divine and absolute monarchy, and Louis's own efforts, he completely tamed the French nobility and bishops, both with extraordinary abilities of the middle class ( bourgeoisie ), for him to take care of the division of labor Among the more and more refined national affairs, the best is Colbert; and the capable Pierre Serguière ( 1588-1672 ) was responsible for foreign affairs and court affairs, and made outstanding contributions to the early diplomatic achievements of France. It is Louis XIV's hands-on and diligent governance that the country can operate in an orderly manner and can provide a good internal environment for economic development.

Absolute kingship

The construction of the Palace of Versailles was one of Louis XIV’s strategies for concentrating political power. Louis XIV completed the efforts of Richelieu and Mazarin to establish a centralized and authoritarian nation-state. He turned the nobles into members of his court, dismissed their rights as local governors, thereby weakening the power of the nobles, and for this he built the Palace of Versailles. On May 6, 1682 he moved into this huge palace on the outskirts of Paris . The rules of the court forced the nobles to pay huge sums of money for clothing. They had to stay in the palace from morning to night to participate in dances, banquets and other celebrations. It is said that Louis XIV has an amazing memory. When he enters the hall, he can see who is present and who is absent. Louis XIV allowed these nobles to indulge in winning the favor of the king, and they had no time to manage the problems of the place, and gradually they lost the power to rule the place.

Louis XIV believed that in order to gain supreme power, it is necessary to unify the religious beliefs of France, that is, to prohibit religious freedom. So the Protestants exert pressure only. Especially the Fontainebleau edict of 1685. Enthused by the ardent Catholics-Minister of War Marquis Rufouis and Archbishop Bossuay, and others, he overthrew King Henry IV. Nantes edict to tolerate Protestantism in 1598. After the edict was issued, the Huguenot church was destroyed, the Protestant school was closed, and most Huguenots were forced to convert to Catholicism. In March 1715, he reiterated his brutal policy in a statement: Depriving Protestants of all legal status, Protestants continue to live in France is considered to "prove that they have embraced Roman Catholicism." These orders of Louis forced more than 200,000 Huguenots who did not want to convert to emigrate. They moved to the Netherlands, Prussia, England, Northern Europe, and North America. Many historians consider this to be a fatal mistake because many of these fugitives were skilled craftsmen, and their skills went into exile with them. These exiles brought great wealth to the country they arrived. But to Louis and his pious archbishopIn terms of people, a unified France should be a Catholic France; and in fact, the policy of forcing Huguenots to convert has gained the fanatical support of the majority of Catholics in France (Catholics account for more than 90% of the population) . The French believe that fighting against the "heretical" Huguenots is an important task given to them by God.

His ruling period is a typical European monarchy. To the provinces who dare to rebelRuthlessly suppressed the nobles; at the same time, they built the Palace of Versailles and called the nobles from all over the country into the palace to serve the royal family. Louis XIV also sent "judicial, police, and financial supervisors" to the provinces to rectify the armaments and expand the source of troops, introduce new weapons and advanced technology, and control the dispatching power of the provincial troops in the hands of the central government. Ideologically, all subjects are required to believe in Catholicism. Economically, Louis XIV handed over economic issues to Colber and promoted mercantilism. In the Cardinal Armand Jean Deep Lacey de Richelieu support and Mazarin diplomatic achievements of Louis XIV in France it established him as a center of baroque autocratic kingdom. He launched wars, held lavish celebrations at the Palace of Versailles , and funded the development of art and science to honor himself. With the help of his ministers such as Jean Baptiste Colbert, he concentrated the entire French bureaucracy around him, thereby strengthening the military, financial and institutional strength of the French king. Events that were unfavorable to his administration included his feud with the Pope, his persecution of the Huguenots, and the War of the Spanish Succession. "The French treasury was on the verge of bankruptcy in the latter part of his administration."

European Soba

Louis XIV, who had lingering fears about the rebellious Netherlands in the legacy war , launched the vengeful French-Dutch War in 1672. Louis used this battle to inflict heavy damage on the Netherlands and become famous in Western Europe. Since then, the Netherlands has declined. The French-Dutch War not only caused the "Year of Disaster" in the Netherlands, it also became the "Sun King". Therefore, in the 1680s, Louis XIV decided to continue to conquer, in order to fulfill his dream of complete dominance in Europe. However, Louis XIV abolished the Nantes edict and persecuted the Huguenots in the country in 1685, it aroused widespread hostility among European Protestant countries and severely undermined their diplomatic achievements, such as the original allies of Prussia and Sweden. He alienated France and turned to each other.

Because of the victory of the French-Dutch War in 1678, it became a veritable hegemon of Europe. But at the same time, his lifelong enemy, the Dutch ruling William III, also actively joined forces in diplomacy, planning to attack the hegemony of Louis XIV. At this time, France's strong neighbor, the Holy Roman Empire, was fighting Ottoman Turkey. Louis XIV decided to take this opportunity to expand its influence in the German region. At the same time, the French invasion also forced the European countries Austria, Spain, Sweden, Bavaria, Saxony and Balladin to form an alliance. Austrian Emperor Leopold I of the Habsburg dynasty perceives Louis’ intentions, so he formed the League of Augsburg on July 9, 1686 under the call of the Dutch ruling William III (1689). After Britain joined, it was renamed the "Great League") , hoping to prevent Louis from expanding in Germany. However, in September 1688, Louis XIV took advantage of the fact that the Habsburgs had just defeated Turkey in the east, and the weak forces in the west had invaded Germany and launched a quick battle plan against the Habsburgs, the " Great League War ". Officially opened. In October, the French army captured Palatina and completely occupied the area the following year. The Habsburg emperor had to control Turkey with part of his forces in the east, and divided his forces on the western front, and tried his best to deal with France, causing the French to ravage Germany back and forth. west. As all countries participating in the war have increased their economic burdens due to this protracted war, the war tends to be reconciled.

At that time, French agriculture was hit hard by the severe cold disaster at the end of 1694. Hundreds of thousands or even millions of people died of freezing and starvation. The wealthy Holland was also forced to buy expensive grains from the German countries that took the opportunity to raise prices . Britain’s anti-war Emotions are also rising, making the anti-war Tory party elected as the new congressional majority. Therefore, on September 20, 1697, France signed the " Riswick Peace Treaty " with Britain, the Netherlands, the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, and other countries, ending the nine-year Grand Alliance War, which made the warring parties gain and lose each other. Although France acquired Strasbourg, it lost the territories and maritime rights of other countries that were newly seized in the "Grand League" war; France lowered its tariffs on the Netherlands; France returned the majority occupied after 1679 to please Spain Territory Savoy, Lorraine of Germany, and Luxembourg; at the same time, Louis XIV recognized William III as the legal King of England (removed support for James II ) and recognized his powerful European monarch status.

Heyday

The Kingdom of Spain, which once dominated Europe in the 16th century, gradually declined after the Thirty Years' War. The emerging European monarchy powers, such as Britain, France, and the Netherlands, are all eyeing Spanish territory. The beginning of the war was the Spanish Habsburg dynasty under Carlos II (the demons) after the death of died out, and Carlos II died, under highly recommended induction of ministers and the Roman pope, in wills The announcement of his nephew Philip ( Felipe V ), Duke of Anjou , who was also the second grandson of French King Louis XIV, was a victory for French diplomacy. The Bourbon dynasty won the Spanish throne. This caused the dissatisfaction of the Habsburg royal family of Austria. They believed that the Spanish throne should be inherited by the Austrian Archduke Charles (later Emperor Charles VI ) who was also the Habsburg royal family . Therefore, they actively sought alliances in order to fight against France. Declare war and retake the Spanish throne.

The British, Dutch and other maritime powers were destroyed by France due to the balance of power and soon signed an anti-French covenant with Austria in 1701. In this war, the hostile parties formed alliances with friendly countries, forming two camps. France formed alliances with Spain, Bavaria , Cologne and the German states, Savoy , and Portugal ; while the Holy Roman Empire (controlled by the Habsburgs of Austria at the time) formed alliances with Britain, the Netherlands, Brandenburg, Hanover and Most small German states and most of Italy city-states formed a new anti-French " grand alliance " ( Savoy and Portugal fell to join the anti-French alliance in 1703 ). In May 1702, the Grand League officially declared war on France, and the War of the Spanish Succession was officially launched.

France eventually became the winner of the Spanish throne, because the Spanish throne was finally succeeded by Felipe V of the Bourbon dynasty . France has since eliminated the worry of being attacked by the Habsburg dynasty on both sides and gained a powerful future Spain as an ally, and expanded Has increased the influence of France in Europe. pass through" Utrecht Peace Treaty " , the European enclaves of the Spanish Empire were divided up , and France and Spain could not be merged in name. But the French army also suffered heavy losses in the war: the navy was almost completely destroyed, and the army was also broken, only one-third of its heyday. At the same time, cold natural disasters (the Great Chill in 1709) and soaring war costs dragged down the French economy, and the massive deaths of hungry people caused the society to be on the verge of collapse. The French population may have dropped from about 21 million in the 1670s to 1712. Of less than 19 million. When the harsh " Utrecht Peace Treaty " was announced, the French were seriously disappointed with the results, which made Louis XIV's original great image and super high morale lost in his later years; the people's praise of the king as the sun disappeared in France. People's speech and memory. However, in the early and mid-term of Louis XIV, France's military power always maintained first place in Western Europe. This was something that Napoleon, who was able to maintain the popular spirit, could not do.

Later years

In France, Louis XIV was respected because he made France strong, but his immeasurable war bankrupted the French national economy, and he had to gradually strengthen the tax requirements on farmers. French historian Alexis de Tocqueville believes that this heavy tax and his dissatisfaction with the policies of the aristocracy and the dissatisfaction of the civil class with no political power were the political, social, and economic reasons that led to the French Revolution in 1789.

Louis and the Spanish Princess in 1660 Maria Theresa. After Maria Theresa died in 1683, he married Françoise de Obini, a farmer of Mante who was in a lower position than him. Louis lived longer than his son and eldest grandson, and his great-grandson Louis XV succeeded him.

politics

Strengthen imperial power

During the fifty-four years of the reign of Louis XIV (1661-1715), the power of the king was developed to its peak. In politics, he advocated the supremacy of kingship, "I am the country", and Louis XIV concentrated all power in his own hands. [23] And used "sovereign power granted by God" to create a theoretical basis for the supremacy of king power. Absolute royal rule, which is typical of monarch power conferred by the gods, is a political strategy that can save France from the three major problems of destructive local separatism, corruption of high-ranking officials, and incompetence of the monarch. [twenty four] Louis XIV implemented a high-handed policy against the nobility, canceled the Paris High Court's right to accuse the king's edict, and refused to convene a three-level conference of the kingdom.

Court personnel

In the time of Louis XIV., Louis XIV abolished the Prime Minister and personally selected 6 ministers. These six ministers gave advice to the king, and it was Louis XIV himself who ultimately decided. Although the navy and army generals were also court officials, Louis XIV selected 8,000 from the best legions in France to defend the Palace of Versailles. At that time, there were sculptors and others in the palace of Versailles.

Louis XIV knew how to control and use ministers. On the one hand, the king gave the minister full trust. During Colbert's tenure as Finance Director, Louis XIV gave sufficient trust and privileges and communicated frequently through letters. In reply to Colbert's letter, the king said: "I am very satisfied with what you have done and have a friendship." Under the dual pressure of war and large-scale construction in the country, Louis XIV encouraged his ministers: "You only need to make progress to get the king's approval." It is under the full trust of the king that Colber can proceed smoothly in rectifying finances, developing industry and commerce, and overseas trade. On the other hand, the king will maintain his absolute authority. Louis XIV took all of the countries into his own hands and operated according to his own wishes. "All orders must be absolutely obeyed, fully understood, implemented according to requirements, and there can be no resistance." Through the combined measures of rigidity and flexibility, the country operated in an orderly manner under the control of Louis XIV.

Build a new palace

On May 6, 1682, he moved into this huge palace on the outskirts of Paris. The rules of the court forced the nobles to pay huge sums of money for clothing, and they had to stay in the palace from morning to night to participate in dances, banquets, and other celebrations, which were part of palace life.

It is said that Louis XIV has amazing memories. After he enters a hall, he can see who is present and who is absent. Therefore, every nobleman who wishes to be favored by the king must be present every day. These nobles love France. Let them have no time to manage the problems of the place, and slowly they lose the power of the place.

military

Suppress the rebellion

When Louis was young, a huge riot broke out in France (the sling slingshot, 1648-1653), which was mainly aimed at the policy of Cardinal Julenian-Mazarin. This riot may have had a great impact on Louis, and he decided to never allow such a riot to happen again.

Strengthen coastal defense

Louis XIV in uniform

A strong coastal defense force is the guarantee for the normal operation of overseas trade. France is relatively close to Europe’s inland geographical location. Since the Middle Ages, it has been overly dependent on land trade. In modern times, maritime trade has gradually replaced land trade. The development of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom has shown a strong advantage in maritime trade. Compared with the maritime powers of the Netherlands, Britain and France are relatively weak in overseas trade and naval construction. In order to compete for overseas markets and compete with the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, Colber began overseas trade on the premise of restoring the French economy. For this reason, he vigorously formed the navy and built ships to strengthen naval power.

In 1662, the state allocated 1 million lives for naval construction. First, a large shipyard and a forging workshop were established. In order to improve shipbuilding technology, Körber sent a professional inspection team to the Netherlands to study, hired foreign technicians for technical guidance, and provided generous treatment to shipbuilders; secondly, he built and established a seaport. Color dredged or expanded some ports. In the north of France, there are Dunkirk (bought from the UK) and Rochefort, La Rochelle is built in the west, and the three ports of Toulon, Sete and Marseille are in the south. , A total of 33 new forts were built, while 200 old forts were also repaired. However, in the later period of the reign of Louis XIV, with the increasingly serious situation of the European continent for hegemony, France could not continue to adopt the strategy of advancing both land and sea. The strategic guiding ideology of "Land is more important than the sea" made Louis XIV decisively abandon naval construction and reduce overseas trade. During the period, the weak awareness of the French nation’s maritime strategy made the construction of the French navy even worse.

External expansion

Both Louis XIV and his minister Colbert were believers in mercantilism , and they accumulated a lot of precious metals in France according to this theory. During his reign, France participated in four major wars: the war with Spain for the inheritance of the Netherlands from 1667 to 1668 (the War of Devolution), and the war with the Netherlands from 1672 to 1688 ( The French-Dutch War ), the Nine Years’ War between 1688 and 1697 with the Holy Roman Emperor (the Great League War , also known as the Augsburg League War, the War of the Balladin Succession to the Throne), and the 1702-1713 War of the Spanish Succession . These wars depleted the French treasury and plunged the country into high debt.

In 1674, the French government bought Martinique from a private company. In 1689, Louis XIV issued the "Code Noir" (Code Noir) to allow the slave trade in all French colonies.

During his lifetime, Louis XIV expanded the territory of France, making it the strongest country in Europe at that time. But at the same time, France is heavily indebted, and the lives of the French people are poor.

economy

Rectify finances

When Louis XIV came to power in 1661, France was already on the verge of bankruptcy. He promoted the development of commerce and the circulation of currency through a large number of wars and court expenditures. In the late period of his reign, it was estimated that half of the French tax was spent on spending at the Palace of Versailles. In addition, a lot of money disappeared in the corruption of the bureaucracy. At that time, French taxes included commercial taxes (aides, douanes), salt taxes (gabelle), and land taxes (taille). At that time, the outdated tax system in France stipulated that nobles and monks did not have to pay taxes, so the heavy tax burden fell entirely on the peasants and the rising middle class (citizens). later the French Revolution, one of the reasons is unfair dissatisfaction with the French tax system.

Facing France's hard-to-return and extremely chaotic economic situation, Kolber first rectified its fiscal system. Investigate officials who engage in malpractices and succumb to their own interests, and strictly rectify the tax package system. The prevalence of the tax package system, especially the arbitrary taxation by tax package officials, is an important reason for the poverty and riots of the farmers. For this reason, Kolber reduced the number of tax package officials in the country and changed the tax package to the state to collect taxes. "Only the king himself In the territory, income increased to 55 million lives, more than 10 times more than before" . In addition, controlling the selling of official officials is an ancient act in France and an important method for the country to obtain income. However, it has caused a lot of government officials and different taxes. This act of drinking poison to quench thirst is an important reason for the abandonment of the national financial system. On the one hand, Erber reduced the number of official posts and redeemed unnecessary official posts; on the other hand, he set a fixed income standard for official posts. On the issue of exempting some priests and nobles from the poll tax, Colber proposed to increase indirect tax. These Kolber policies enabled French taxation to break even in 1675.

Mercantilism

The Minister of Finance of Louis XIV, Colber , used methods to overcome corruption and rectify the bureaucracy to increase France's taxes, but these methods still failed to reduce France's huge debt. Colber practiced mercantilism. He believed that the more wealth the country had, the better, and the more wealth, the stronger the national power. Therefore, he encouraged exports and restricted imports. Vigorously develop industry and commerce. These measures promoted the development of the French economy. However, various countries are vying to follow suit. Caused commercial competition. It is not conducive to social and economic development.

After rectifying his finances, Kolber began to strengthen the construction of industry and commerce. Friederich emphasized that "the emergence of the large industry was just after Kolber became the chancellor of finance" [31]. Körber used national funds to build a factory and spent a lot of money inviting advanced foreign technical personnel for guidance. The most typical example is the development of the French glass mirror industry. Before the middle of the 17th century, glass mirrors were still luxury goods. The technology was monopolized by the Venetians. The national law stipulated that any technician who leaked the technology would be subject to strict legal sanctions. The rare thing was precious. The mirror industry was regarded as The most profitable industry. Facing the good prospects of the mirror industry, Kolber began to build a mirror factory. First, he used a lot of money to attract, win over, and even smuggle the Venetian mirror technicians, paying the Venetian mirror maker Della an annual cost of as much as 1,200 livres. Next, Colber focused on cultivating France’s own skilled workers. Get rid of dependence on Venetian technicians. With the strong support of Colbert's efforts and Louis XIV, the glass mirror industry developed rapidly in France, and the technology continued to improve, eventually replacing Venice as the leader of the mirror industry. The mirror met the needs of Louis XIV, provided essential materials for the decoration of the Palace of Versailles, and became France's most important export commodity.

diplomatic

Based on the strong naval power, the French government actively expanded overseas colonies. In the 17th century, France, following Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, entered the path of colonial expansion. Relying on the support of the country, France successively established overseas colonial strongholds such as the West, East India Company, and the North Company. The establishment of the East India Company in 1664 was supported by the king and ministers. Louis XIV invested 3 million shares, and Mazaran and Conde also invested in shares. In the ties with the East, Siam, in particular, established overseas colonies driven by religion and became an important base for French overseas trade. The establishment of colonial companies with national power was a product of Louis XIV’s absolute kingship. In a short period of time, due to Louis XIV’s powerful kingship and social stability, this model has brought rewards to the country, but this kind of high pressure and despotism The model is very susceptible to the personal preferences of Louis XIV. In his later years, Louis XIV was unable to support the company due to a lack of financial resources, and France's foreign trade quickly fell into desperation.

culture

Cultural despotism

The cultural control strategies of the Louis XIV era can be summarized into two basic methods: promoting the nationalization of culture, monitoring the society by the state, establishing national cultural institutions and implementing a national funding system, and integrating cultural and artistic activities and talents in the social field. Contained within the national system.

The most important manifestation of "cultural nationalization" is the establishment of a series of national cultural institutions, which incorporate various cultural fields such as literature, art, and science under the control of the state. On the one hand, this move can separate the literati and linked from private funders, lest they act as pamphlet writers during periods of religious and political disputes such as the "Spapling Movement", which is conducive to dispelling disputes and maintaining the unity of the kingdom’s ideology. , On the other hand, they can be used as one's own to shape the glory of kingship. Louis XIV inherited Richelieu's cultural control strategy on a large scale. The ten years after he took power in 1661 was the peak of the establishment of various national cultural institutions in France. ]

In March 1661, Louis XIV issued a charter and established the Royal Academy of Dance; in February 1663, the Kingdom’s Minister Corbe drew up the basic structure for the Academy of Painting and Sculpture and officially incorporated this artist group established in 1648 into the national organization. Under the wings, its 90 members are responsible for royal art affairs. In 1666, the Royal Government established the French Academy in Rome to institutionalize the traditional practice of sending artists to Italy to study and train. So far, Louis XIV and Colber have achieved almost complete control of the cultural field. These academies movement from Paris to the locality established a national cultural monopoly system centered on Paris. Almost every talented and ambitious literati walked into the golden cage in the face of the economic and prestigious temptation provided by the state.

Religious policy

Louis XIV believed that in order to gain supreme power, he must unify the religious beliefs of the French. So the Protestants exert pressure only. Especially the Fontainebleau edict of 1685 was ferocious. With this, he overturned the tolerant Nantes decree made by King Henry IV of France in 1598. After the edict was issued, the Huguenot church was destroyed and the Protestant school was closed. This order of Louis forced many Huguenots to emigrate, most of whom moved to the Netherlands, Prussia, England, and the United States. This is a historic mistake because many of these fugitives were very good handicraftsmen, and their skills went into exile with them. These exiles brought great wealth to the country they arrived. For Louis and his archbishops, a unified France is a Catholic France.

science

Louis XIV proposed some plans:

1. The idea of electricity and storage comes from analyzing ocean elements to find materials suitable for generating electricity.

2. And encourage the experiment to burn suitable metal wire, replace the candle with metal; affect Edison (Thomas Alva Edison).

3. Use weapons to understand the characteristics of various metals, even density, and so on.

4. Study tidal phenomena and the atmosphere.

5. Also remind the scientific community to legislate to respect the intellectual rights and inventions of individuals.

Historical evaluation
General comment

Louis XIV used his prowess and generality, and his martial arts skills made France the strongest country in Western Europe at that time. The Western emperor at the time of Kangxi was honored as the " Sun King " at that time.

Historical evaluation

Elizabeth Charlotte, the Duchess of Orleans, praised Louis XIV's speech and behavior in her memoirs: "His speech was greatly welcomed. He seemed to have a pleasant skill, behaved naturally and decently, without any pretentiousness."

Philip I , Duke of Orleans, the king’s younger brother, is frank: Even in dangerous situations, Louis XIV often behaves indifferently, "At the last moments of death, the king can still arrange everything calmly. It seems that death is just another. Field trip".

The court lady Madam Mortville commented that in terms of fairness, kindness, generosity, self-control, and strictness, all the kings of the present and the past could not catch up with Louis XIV; the French aristocratic scholar Count Saint-Simon believed that Louis’s temperament was gentle and prudent. Acts and words are extremely restrained; critics, including Voltaire , blamed Louis XIV's late years on arrogance and arrogance, believing that his preference for power and glory led to poverty and disaster in French society; Duke Luo said: "Many citizens even thought it was not worth insulting when his coffin passed by."

Saint Simon pointed out in his memoirs: Give me a watch and a yearbook, and I can grasp the situation of Louis XIV even thousands of miles away, which is enough to show that Louis XIV is serious and organized in his work. Colber mentioned that Louis XIV worked 6-8 hours a day, and even doubled when government affairs were busy. For normal people, 8 hours was close to the limit, let alone the king. At that time, Latin was mostly used in diplomatic documents. In order to grasp diplomatic information more accurately and understand diplomatic documents, Louis XIV even studied Latin hard. When a person has power and status, and is still studying hard and making progress, many things will become very simple. It is logical that Louis XIV brought France to the summit of Europe in a very short time.

Leibniz, a contemporary German Protestant philosopher, commented on him: "One of the greatest kings ever."

The German writer Goethe praised: "He is a perfect example of the emperor created by nature, but doing so has exhausted himself and ruined the mold."

Napoleon, who opposed the Bourbon dynasty, praised Louis XIV and said: "Louis XIV was a great king. It was he who created France's first-class position in the world. Since Charlemagne, who can compare to him? "(Implying that only oneself can be compared with Charlemagne and Louis XIV)

The 19th-century British historian Lord Acton believed that he was the most capable of modern kings.

Voltaire praised his reign as an "era to be remembered forever" (a great era).

He Bingsong: The King of France is not only right-handed but also a warrior. And his ambition of great success is far better than his ambition to cultivate internal affairs. Gaiqi has an excellent army, an officer serving his orders, and a long-term desire to succeed. But the disaster is the result of a company of soldiers, and the soldiers call the treasury to be the disaster of emptiness. Sincerely the great misfortune of France

Interpersonal relationship

parents

Father: Louis XIII

Mother: Anne of Austria, Princess of Spain, Queen of France

Children

Louis XIV and his queen Maria Theresa had three men and three women , but all of them died young except for the crown prince Louis (the eldest prince). In addition, he has 16 recognized adopted children, but he and his concubine Mante Farmer have no children.

Louis de Bourbon (November 1, 1661-1711, April 14) first married Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria, the second representative sister , and married Marie Emily de Bourbon after the death of his original partner. Jolie de Shuan intermarriage. He is the father of Louis, Duke of Burgundy (little prince) and King Felipe V of Spain , and the grandfather of King Louis XV of France . [38] .

Elizabeth Anne de Bourbon (Anne Élisabeth; 1662 Nian 11 18 - 30 December 1662), died young

Marie Anne de Bourbon (Marie-Anne; 1664 Nian 11 16 - 26 December 1664), died young

Marie Therese de Bourbon (Marie-Thérèse; 1667 Nian 1 2 - March 1, 1672), died young

Philip Charles de Bourbon (Philippe-Charles; 1668 Nian 8 Jan. 5 - July 10, 1671) Duke of Anjou, died young.

Louis-François (Louis-François; June 14, 1672-November 4, 1672), Duke of Anjou, died early [38] .

grandson

Eldest grandson: Grandson of Louis (little prince), Duke of Burgundy, married to Maria Adelaide , the second representative sister of Savoy , father of Louis XV.

Second grandson: Philip, Duke of Anjou, King of Spain ( Felipe V ), married Maria Luisa Gabriela of Savoy and Elizabeth Farnese of Parma , creating Spain Bourbon dynasty.

Third grandson: Charlie , Duke of Berry, married the second cousin Mary Louise Elizabeth de Orleans .

Great-grandson

The great-grandson of Louis XIV was the son of the eldest grandson, Emperor Louis

Great-great-grandson: Great-grandson of Emperor Louis , Duke of Brittany

Second great-grandson: Louis XV

Mistress and illegitimate children

[39] .

He has three sons and one daughter with Lavalier :

Charles (Charles; 1663-1665)

Philippe (1665-1666)

Marie Anne de Bourbon (Marie-Anne de Bourbon; 1666 Nian 10 2 - May 3, 1739), her father, Louis XIV gave her legal title before, she was known as "Bruce Miss Wa". Later, she married Louis Armand I de Bourbon, Prince Conte. Through this marriage, she obtained the recognition of the princess' blood and was called "Princess Conte";

Louis de Bourbon (Louis de Bourbon; October 2, 1667-168311 18), Count of Vermanduis. He died in his first expedition at the age of 16.

He has three sons and three daughters with Mrs. Montespan :

Louise Françoise de Bourbon (March 1669-February 23, 1672)

Louis-Auguste de Bourbon (Louis-Auguste de Bourbon; March 31, 1670-May 14, 1736), Duke of Mann . Married to Princess Louise-Benedict de Bourbon of Condé and has descendants

Louis-César de Bourbon (Louis-César de Bourbon; June 20, 1672-January 10, 1683)

Louise Francoise de Bourbon (Louise Françoise de Bourbon; 1673 Nian 6 1st - June 16, 1743), and the Condé Prince Louis III de Bourbon married with offspring

Louise Marie Anne de Bourbon (Louise Marie Anne de Bourbon; November 12, 1674-September 15, 1681)

Francoise Marie de Bourbon (Françoise Marie de Bourbon; 1677 Nian 5 4 - February 1, 1749), the Duke of Orleans and cousin Philip II married with offspring

Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon (Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon; June 6, 1678-December 1, 1737), Count of Toulouse. Married to Marie-Victoire de Noyer and has descendants

Anecdote

Luxury feast

Louis XIV set off a "golden radiant" luxury wind in the court, and it blew this wind all over the land of France. [40] First of all, the tableware used by the king was made of gold, while the princes and nobles used gilded tableware. The king’s chief yelled: "Let’s share the meat given by the king! The dishes are also exquisite, and the dishes are filled with the starter of the dinner: delicious meat and vegetable soup, carefully made meat or bread soup with rich taste. Drink soup before eating. The owner will usually prepare two or three different soups, such as nutrient soup (actually a relatively long time to stew meat soup), "The Queen" soup (the soup into partridge meat or pheasant chicken meat a Soup, sometimes with a little butter ), and shrimp soup with Bisque sauce. In addition to the delicious soup, there are also several kinds of meat, artichokes, mushrooms, and other toppings and loaves for guests. The bread must be big enough for every man with a big appetite to eat, and even its crust must be enough for a lady to dip in the soup. The king’s bread is always much softer than others because Louis XIV’s teeth are very bad.

Before serving the second dish, the servant must replace each guest with a new set of tableware and hand over a wet towel to wipe their hands. This is a necessary procedure before serving. The second dish is also a starter, which can be regarded as a smorgasbord. The food is mainly small pieces of roast meat, hot pies, round bread, ham, sausage, sausage, and fruit as a starter. A large plate full of food will never be placed in front of a more distinguished guest because it will block the sight of the guest and cause him inconvenience to pass food or talk to others.

The climax is not reached until the third course of the banquet. Beef , veal , and lamb can all be taken as the protagonists of the third course, which is usually grilled, boiled in a thick soup, or made into meat fillings. If it’s grilled meat, put orange, lemon, or olive in the middle of the meat to make the roast more fragrant, oily, and not greasy.

The next small barbecue is mostly made of birds. The swans, cranes, and herons that were popular in the Middle Ages were replaced by pigeons, chickens, and ducks in the time of Louis XIV. The ducks for the king are raised in Rouen in northwestern France, while the chickens are raised in Le Mans. In order to make this poultry more meaty, some plant spices are added to the feeding. the food.

Of course, fish are indispensable in the banquet: the most popular river fish are salmon and trout, while sea fish are cod and sole.

Cold dishes are the sixth course of the dinner. Vegetable salad with colorful jelly is placed in the middle of the table. Commonly used vegetables are mushrooms, cabbage, artichokes, chrysanthemum, and small peas that Louis XIV liked very much.

Fruit is the finale of the banquet. Exquisite fruit basket, a wide variety of liquids or solids jam, sugar-coated wrapped in different flavors (there are musk smell also has Ambergris 's) of beans flavored with aniseed marzipan, very welcomed by the French, and became popular in France The chocolates are waiting for all guests.

Marriage of close relatives

Louis XIV’s marriage was a veritable marriage of close relatives, not only close relatives, but also a set-off because his aunt Elizabeth married his uncle Felipe IV, and he married the daughter of his uncle and aunt Maria. Teresa became the queen, which means that his uncle became his father-in-law and his aunt became his mother-in-law; for the queen Maria Theresa, her uncle Louis XIII became the father-in-law, and the aunt Anne of Austria became the mother-in-law, and Louis XIV was only five days older than his cousin Maria Theresa. Louis XIV and his cousin Maria Theresa had three boys and three girls. Three of them died that year. The other two, Princess Marie Therese de Bourbon, lived to be five years old, and Philippe Xia, Duke of Anjou. El de Bourbon lived to be three years old, only the eldest son Crown Prince Louis lived to be 50 years old. The crown prince's son, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, lived only 30 years old, so when the great Sun King fell, he had to pass the throne to his five-year-old grandson Louis XV . Louis XIV and his first mistress, Lavalier, had three illegitimate children and an illegitimate daughter. And the second chief mistress Monte Greenspan wife gave birth to four men and two women.

Invent high heels

Louis XIV was a short man with a height of about 154cm, so he was very dissatisfied with his height. He felt that his position and height did not match, so he called a shoemaker and put a thick heel on the heel when he made shoes for him. The first high heels in the modern sense.

But in fact, the first appearance of high-heeled shoes was because the palace ladies in the court of Louis XIV often sneaked out of the palace wall to participate in the ball at night. In order to imprison these unruly women, Louis XIV asked craftsmen to design a way for the palace ladies. For shoes with limited mobility, the shoemaker raised the heels of the palace ladies, and when they stepped on the floor, they would make a creaking sound to arouse people's alertness and stop the palace ladies sneaking behavior. Unexpectedly, after a few months, these palace ladies would become accustomed to high heels. They learned how to dance in high heels, and discovered the benefits of high heels in stretching their legs. They continued to flee while wearing these shoes to participate in the nobles' dance parties, which eventually made high heels popular among the upper class. After Louis XIV learned the truth, he also began to flee. He wore high heels, but the soles of his shoes were red, which symbolized the king's honor. This can also be clearly seen in the paintings in the Palace of Versailles.

Letter to Kangxi

Louis XIV once sent an envoy to Kangxi. They brought 30 boxes of scientific instruments such as armchairs. They offered cinchona cream to cure Kangxi’s malaria. They helped Kangxi negotiate on the Sino-Russian northeast border issue. They participated in the mapping of China. The first modernized national map in history, " Huang Yu Quan Map ". Louis XIV even wrote a personal letter to Kangxi. [42]

Among the emperors of the past, the one who likes to study science the most is undoubtedly the Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty. Louis XIV was obsessed with dance. Kangxi's obsession with science reached the point where the imperial physician had to persuade him to affect his health. Louis XIV simply went into battle on his own, starring in 21 ballets one after another. A courtier even worried that the king would become ill due to over-practice. Of course, there is one thing that Kangxi did not have-Louis XIV was regarded as a miracle at the time, because his parents had been married for 23 years and had no children, and Louis XIV's life span was longer than that of his son and eldest grandson. It is long, so his successor will be the great-grandson, Louis XV .