Louis XIV of France

:For the musical group of the same name, see Louis XIV (band).

Early years

With his birth at Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1638, his parents, Louis XIII and Anne of Austria, who had been childless for twenty-three years, regarded him as a divine gift. (These circumstances have led some to postulate a different biological father for the boy, rather than Louis XIII.) He was christened "Louis-Dieudonné" (the latter word meaning "God-given"), and received the titles premier fils de France ("First Son of France") and the more traditional title Dauphin de Viennois.

Related Topics:
Saint-Germain-en-Laye - Louis XIII - Anne of Austria - Dauphin de Viennois

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Louis XIII and Anne had a second child, Philippe I, Duc d'Orléans, in 1640. Louis XIII, however, mistrusted his wife; he sought to prevent her from gaining influence over the realm after his death. Nevertheless, when Louis XIII died and the four-year-old Louis XIV ascended the throne on May 14, 1643, Anne became Regent. She entrusted all power to her chief minister, the Italian Cardinal Mazarin, whom most French political circles despised — in part as a non-Frenchman.

Related Topics:
Philippe I, Duc d'Orléans - 1640 - May 14 - 1643 - Regent - Italian - Cardinal Mazarin

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At the same time as the Thirty Years' War ended in 1648, a French civil war, known as the Fronde, began. Cardinal Mazarin continued the centralization policies of his predecessor, Armand Cardinal Richelieu. He attempted to augment the power of the Crown at the expense of the nobility. In 1648, he levied a tax on the members of the Parlement, a court whose judges comprised mostly nobles or high clergymen. The members of the Parlement not only refused to pay, but also pronounced all of Cardinal Mazarin?s entire earlier financial edicts void. When Cardinal Mazarin arrested the members of the Parlement, Paris broke into rioting and insurrection. Louis and his courtiers had to flee from the city. Shortly thereafter, the signing of the Peace of Westphalia released the French army under Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé to return to the aid of Louis and of his royal court. By January 1649, the Prince de Condé had started besieging Paris; the subsequent Peace of Rueil temporarily ended the conflict.

Related Topics:
Thirty Years' War - Fronde - Armand Cardinal Richelieu - 1648 - Parlement - Paris - Peace of Westphalia - Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé - January - 1649 - Peace of Rueil

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

France had continued involvement in war, however, against Spain. The French received aid in this military effort from England, then governed by the military dictator Oliver Cromwell. The Anglo-French alliance achieved victory in 1658 at the Battle of the Dunes. The subsequent Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659) fixed the border between France and Spain at the Pyrenees. Under the same treaty, Louis XIV became engaged to marry the daughter of Philip IV of Spain, Maria Theresa (Marie Thérèse). The marriage occurred in 1660; under the treaty, Maria agreed to renounce all claim to the Spanish Throne. Spain had agreed to pay a large dowry (50,000 gold écus), but failed to complete payment.

Related Topics:
Spain - England - Oliver Cromwell - 1658 - Battle of the Dunes - Treaty of the Pyrenees - 1659 - Pyrenees - Philip IV of Spain - Maria Theresa - 1660 - Dowry - écu

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~