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Louis XIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 1638 – 1 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great (Louis le Grand) or the Sun King (le Roi Soleil), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any sovereign.
May 20, 2024 · Louis XIV, king of France (1643–1715) who ruled his country during one of its most brilliant periods and who remains the symbol of absolute monarchy of the classical age. He extended France’s eastern borders at the expense of the Habsburgs and secured the Spanish throne for his grandson.
- Louis XIV, king of France (1643–1715), ruled his country, principally from his great palace at Versailles, during one of the country’s most brillia...
- 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 b...
- Louis XIV died in 1715, four days shy of his 77th birthday, from gangrene associated with an infection in his leg.
Dec 2, 2009 · Learn about the life and reign of Louis XIV, the longest-serving monarch in European history, who transformed France into a dominant power and a cultural hub. Explore his wars, his court, his art and his legacy.
Apr 3, 2014 · Follow King Louis XIV's reign during France's classical age, including his revocation of the Edict of Nantes and aggressive foreign policy, on Biography.com.
- Jesse Greenspan
- Few monarchs have ruled for longer. Born in 1638, Louis XIV became king at age 4 following the death of his father, Louis XIII, and remained on the throne for the next 72 years.
- Louis’ mother served as his regent. In his will, Louis XIII arranged for a regency council to rule on his young son’s behalf. But his Habsburg wife, Anne of Austria, orchestrated an annulment of the council and took over as sole regent.
- He ruled without a chief minister. As a young man, Louis XIV largely left the decision-making to Mazarin, his mentor and godfather. But when Mazarin died in 1661, the 22-year-old immediately informed his astonished court that he would henceforth rule without a chief minister—something no French king had done for generations.
- Louis considered himself God’s representative on Earth. Although Louis XIV did not invent the “divine right of kings” doctrine, which held that monarchs derived their authority from God and were therefore entitled to wield absolute power, he was certainly an adherent.
Learn about the life and reign of Louis XIV, the Sun King, who ruled France from 1638 to 1715. Discover his achievements, his art, his women, and his legacy at the Palace of Versailles.
Louis XIV, known as the Sun King, (born Sept. 5, 1638, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France—died Sept. 1, 1715, Versailles), King of France (1643–1715), ruler during one of France’s most brilliant periods and the symbol of absolute monarchy of the Neoclassical age.
