Louis XIV of France

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

Legacy

Louis XIV placed France in a dominant position in Europe. Even with several great alliances opposing him, he could continue to increase French territory. For his vigorous promotion of French national greatness, Louis XIV became known as the "Sun King". Voltaire compared him to Caesar Augustus and called his reign an "eternally memorable age". The Duc de Saint-Simon offered the following assessment: "There was nothing he liked so much as flattery, or, to put it more plainly, adulation; the coarser and clumsier it was, the more he relished it ? His vanity, which was perpetually nourished – for even preachers used to praise him to his face from the pulpit – was the cause of the aggrandisement of his Ministers."

Related Topics:
Voltaire - Caesar Augustus

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At the same time, however, Louis's efforts did not bring prosperity to the common people of France. His numerous wars and extravagant palaces effectively bankrupted the nation, forcing him to levy high taxes on the peasants. As the nobility and clergy had exemption from paying these taxes, the peasantry came to resent them. The peasantry also opposed the royal absolutism established by Louis. The French Revolution picked up on such sentiments in 1789.

Related Topics:
French Revolution - 1789

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Louis XIV achieved his dream of putting a member of the Bourbon Dynasty on the throne of Spain. The House of Bourbon retained the Crown of Spain for the remainder of the eighteenth century, but experienced overthrow and restoration several times after 1808. The present Spanish monarch, Juan Carlos I, descends from Louis XIV.

Related Topics:
1808 - Juan Carlos I

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In 1682, the explorer René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle named the basin of the Mississippi River in North America "Louisiane" in honour of Louis XIV. Both the Louisiana Territory and the State of Louisiana in the United States formed part of Louisiane.

Related Topics:
1682 - René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle - Mississippi River - Louisiana Territory - State of Louisiana - United States

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Louis XIV features in the d'Artagnan Romances by Alexandre Dumas. The plot of the last of the three Romances, The Vicomte de Bragelonne, involves a fictional twin brother of Louis XIV who tries to displace the King. In The Man in the Iron Mask, a 1929 movie based on The Vicomte de Bragelonne, William Blakewell portrayed Louis and his twin. Louis Hayward played the twins in a 1939 remake, and Leonardo DiCaprio did the same in a 1998 remake.

Related Topics:
D'Artagnan Romances - Alexandre Dumas - The Vicomte de Bragelonne - The Man in the Iron Mask - 1929 - William Blakewell - Louis Hayward - 1939 - Leonardo DiCaprio - 1998

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