French Louis
Specialties: French Louie serves dinner seven nights a week and brunch on weekends. Specialties include a rotating selection of steak frites, fresh local fish, east and west coast oysters on the half shell. Stars of the brunch menu include. Antique French Louis XV pair of side tables. In good condition, just some scratches about use. Measure: 24 3/4' High x 22 3/4' Wide x 12' Deep. Flat rate shipping includes: packing supplies, packing, shipping and insurance cost to anywhere in the U.S. From 21 January 1793 to 8 June 1795, Louis XVI's son Louis-Charles was titled King of France as Louis XVII. In reality, he was imprisoned in the Temple during this time. His power was held by the leaders of the Republic. On Louis XVII's death, his uncle Louis-Stanislas claimed the throne, as Louis XVIII. He was only de facto King of France in 1814. The Louis d'or (a gold coin) replaced the franc which had been in circulation (in theory) since John II.In actual practice the principal gold coin circulating in France in the earlier 17th century had been Spanish: the 6.7-gram double escudo or 'doubloon', of which the Louis d'or was an explicit copy.
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Philippe ErlangerLouis XIV, byname Louis the Great, Louis the Grand Monarch, or the Sun King, French Louis le Grand, Louis le Grand Monarque, or le Roi Soleil, (born September 5, 1638, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France—died September 1, 1715, Versailles, France), king of France (1643–1715) who ruled his country, principally from his great palace at Versailles, during one of its most brilliant periods and who remains the symbol of absolute monarchy of the classical age. Internationally, in a series of wars between 1667 and 1697, he extended France’s eastern borders at the expense of the Habsburgs and then, in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14), engaged a hostile European coalition in order to secure the Spanish throne for his grandson.
What is Louis XIV known for?
Louis XIV, king of France (1643–1715), ruled his country, principally from his great palace at Versailles, during one of the country’s most brilliant periods. Today he remains the symbol of absolute monarchy of the classical age.
How old was Louis XIV when he acceded to the throne?
Louis XIV succeeded his father as king of France on May 14, 1643, at the age of four years eight months. According to the laws of the kingdom, he became not only the master but the owner of the bodies and property of 19 million subjects.
How did Louis XIV die?
Louis XIV died in 1715, four days shy of his 77th birthday, from gangrene associated with an infection in his leg.
Early life and marriage
Louis was the son of Louis XIII and his Spanish queen, Anne of Austria. He succeeded his father on May 14, 1643. At the age of four years and eight months, he was, according to the laws of the kingdom, not only the master but the owner of the bodies and property of 19 million subjects. Although he was saluted as “a visible divinity,” he was, nonetheless, a neglected child given over to the care of servants. He once narrowly escaped drowning in a pond because no one was watching him. Anne of Austria, who was to blame for this negligence, inspired him with a lasting fear of “crimes committed against God.”
Louis was nine years old when the nobles and the Paris Parlement (a powerful law court), driven by hatred of the prime ministerJules Cardinal Mazarin, rose against the crown in 1648. This marked the beginning of the long civil war known as the Fronde, in the course of which Louis suffered poverty, misfortune, fear, humiliation, cold, and hunger. These trials shaped the future character, behaviour, and mode of thought of the young king. He would never forgive either Paris, the nobles, or the common people.
In 1653 Mazarin was victorious over the rebels and then proceeded to construct an extraordinary administrative apparatus with Louis as his pupil. The young king also acquired Mazarin’s partiality for the arts, elegance, and display. Although he had been proclaimed of age, the king did not dream of disputing the cardinal’s absolute power.
The war begun in 1635 between France and Spain was then entering its last phase. The outcome of the war would transfer European hegemony from the Habsburgs to the Bourbons. A French king had to be a soldier, and so Louis served his apprenticeship on the battlefield.
In 1658 Louis faced the great conflict between love and duty, a familiar one for princes of that period. He struggled with himself for two years over his love for Mazarin’s niece, Marie Mancini. He finally submitted to the exigencies of politics and in 1660 married Marie-Thérèse of Austria, daughter of King Philip IV of Spain, in order to ratify peace between their two countries.
The childhood of Louis XIV was at an end, but no one believed him capable of seizing the reins of power. No one suspected his thoughts. He wrote in his Mémoires:
In my heart I prefer fame above all else, even life itself.…Love of glory has the same subtleties as the most tender passions.…In exercising a totally divine function here on earth, we must appear incapable of turmoils which could debase it.
The young king
Mazarin died on March 9, 1661. The dramatic blow came on March 10. The king informed his astonished ministers that he intended to assume all responsibility for ruling the kingdom. This had not occurred since the reign of Henry IV. It cannot be overemphasized that Louis XIV’s action was not in accordance with tradition; his concept of a dictatorship by divine right was his own. In genuine faith, Louis viewed himself as God’s representative on earth and considered all disobedience and rebellion to be sinful. From this conviction he gained not only a dangerous feeling of infallibility but also considerable serenity and moderation.
He was backed up first by the great ministers Jean-Baptiste Colbert, marquis de Louvois, and Hugues de Lionne, among whom he fostered dissension, and later by men of lesser capacity. For 54 years Louis devoted himself to his task eight hours a day; not the smallest detail escaped his attention. He wanted to control everything from court etiquette to troop movements, from road building to theological disputes. He succeeded because he faithfully reflected the mood of a France overflowing with youth and vigour and enamoured of grandeur.
Despite the use of pensions and punishments, the monarchy had been unable to subdue the nobles, who had started 11 civil wars in 40 years. Louis lured them to his court, corrupted them with gambling, exhausted them with dissipation, and made their destinies dependent on their capacity to please him. Etiquette became a means of governing. From that time, the nobility ceased to be an important factor in French politics, which in some respects weakened the nation.
- born
- September 5, 1638
Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
- died
- September 1, 1715 (aged 76)
Versailles, France
- king, France (1642-1715)
- role in
- house / dynasty
French Louis Restaurant
French Louis Chaise
- spouse Françoise d’Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon
- spouse Marie-Thérèse of Austria
- father Louis XIII
- mother Anne of Austria
- son Louis de France
- brother Philippe I de France, duc d’Orléans