The beginning of the reign of Louis 14. Louis XIV - biography, information, personal life. The history of the nickname “Sun King”

Booker Igor 06/03/2019 at 14:17

The frivolous public willingly believes in fairy tales about the love of the French king Louis XIV. Against the backdrop of the morals of that time, the number of love victories of the “sun king” simply fades. The timid young man, getting to know women, did not become a notorious libertine. Louis was characterized by attacks of generosity towards the ladies he left behind, who continued to enjoy many favors, and their offspring received titles and estates. Among the favorites stands out Madame de Montespan, whose children from the king became Bourbons.

The marriage of Louis XIV with Maria Theresa was a political marriage and the French king was bored with his wife. The daughter of the King of Spain was a pretty woman, but she had no charm at all (despite the fact that she was the daughter of Elizabeth of France, she had not an ounce of French charm in her) and there was no cheerfulness. At first, Louis looked at Henrietta of England, his brother's wife, who was disgusted by her husband, a fan of same-sex love. At one of the court balls, Duke Philippe of Orleans, who showed courage and leadership qualities on the battlefield, dressed in a woman's dress and danced with his handsome gentleman. An unattractive 16-year-old big girl with a drooping lower lip had two advantages - a lovely opal complexion and amenability.

Contemporary French writer Eric Deschodt, in his biography of Louis XIV, testifies: “The relationship between Louis and Henrietta does not go unnoticed. Monsieur (title Monsieur given to the brother of the King of France, next in rank - ed.) complains to his mother. Anne of Austria scolds Henrietta. Henrietta suggests that Louis, in order to divert suspicion from himself, pretend that he is courting one of her ladies-in-waiting. For this they choose Françoise Louise de La Baume Le Blanc, the La Vallière girl, a seventeen-year-old native of Touraine, a delightful blonde (in those days, as later in Hollywood, men prefer blondes), - whose voice can move even an ox, and whose gaze can soften a tiger.”

For Madame - a title Madame was given to the wife of the brother of the King of France, who was next in seniority and had the title “Monsieur” - the result was disastrous. It’s impossible to say without looking, but Louis traded Henrietta’s dubious charms for the blond beauty. From Maria Theresa, who in 1661 gave birth to the Grand Dauphin (the king's eldest son), Louis hid his affair in greatest secret. “Contrary to all appearances and legends, from 1661 to 1683, Louis XIV always tried to keep his love affairs a great secret,” writes French historian François Bluche. “He does this primarily to spare the queen.” Those around the ardent Catholic Anne of Austria were in despair. Lavaliere will give birth to four children from the “sun king”, but only two will survive. Louis recognizes them.

The farewell gift to her mistress would be the Duchy of Vojour, then she would retire to the Parisian Carmelite monastery, but for some time she stoically endured the bullying of the new favorite Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart or the Marquise de Montespan. It is difficult for historians to establish an exact list and chronology of Louis’s love affairs, especially since he, as noted, often returned to his former passions.

Even then, witty compatriots noted that Lavaliere loved the monarch like a mistress, Maintenon like a governess, and Montespan like a mistress. Thanks to the Marquise de Montespan, on July 18, 1668, a “grand royal holiday at Versailles” took place, the Bath Apartments, the porcelain Trianon were built, the Versailles bosquets were created, and an amazing castle (“Armide’s Palace”) was built in Clagny. Both contemporaries and modern historians tell us that the king’s affection for Madame de Montespan (where spiritual intimacy played no less a role than sensuality) continued even after the end of their love affair.

At the age of 23, Mademoiselle de Tonnay-Charente was married to the Marquis de Montespan of the house of Pardaillan. The husband was constantly afraid of arrest for debts, which extremely irritated Athenais. She answered the call of the king, who had already become less timid and shy than during the cupids with Louise de La Vallière. The Marquis could have taken his wife to the provinces, but for some reason he did not. Having learned about the marquise's betrayal, the Gascon blood awakened in the cuckold and one day he lectured the monarch and ordered a memorial service for his wife.

Louis was not a tyrant and, although he was quite fed up with the Gascon, he not only did not put him in prison, but also promoted in every possible way the legitimate son of the Marquis and Marquise de Montespan. First he made him lieutenant general, then general director construction work and finally granted him the titles of Duke and Peerage. Madame de Montespan, awarded the title maîtresse royale en titre- "the official mistress of the king, bore Louis eight children. Four of them reached adulthood and were legitimized and made Bourbons. Three of them married into royal blood. After the birth of the seventh bastard, Count of Toulouse, Louis avoids intimacy with Montespan.

Not even on the horizon, but almost in the royal chambers, Marie Angelique de Scorraille de Roussille, the maiden of Fontanges, appears, arriving from Auvergne. The aging king falls in love with an 18-year-old beauty, according to contemporaries, “who has not been seen at Versailles for a long time.” Their feelings are mutual. The maiden Fontanges has in common with Montespan the arrogance shown towards Louis’ former and forgotten favorites. Perhaps the only thing she lacked was de Montespan's causticity and sharp tongue.

Madame de Montespan stubbornly did not want to give up her place for a healthy living, and the king, by nature, was not inclined to make an open break with the mother of his children. Louis allowed her to continue living in his luxurious apartments and even visited his former mistress from time to time, flatly refusing to have sex with his overweight favorite.

“Marie Angelica sets the tone,” writes Eric Deschaudt. “If during a hunt in Fontainebleau she ties a stray strand of hair with a ribbon, then the next day the whole court and all of Paris do it. The hairstyle “a la Fontanges” is still mentioned in dictionaries But the happiness of the one who invented her turned out to be not so long-lasting. A year later, Louis is already missing a replacement. It seems that she was stupid, but this was hardly the only reason for her disgrace. The king granted the Duchess de Fontanges a pension of 20 thousand livres. A year after losing her prematurely born son, she died suddenly.

Subjects forgave their monarch for his love affairs, which cannot be said about gentlemen historians. Historiographers connected the “reign” of the Marquise de Montespan and her “resignation” with unseemly cases, such as the “poisoning case” (L’affaire des Poisons). “During the investigation, they very soon started talking about miscarriages, evil eyes, witchcraft, and damage , black masses and all sorts of other devilry, but at first it was only about poisoning, as is clear from its name, under which it appears to this day,” says historian Francois Bluche.

In March 1679, the police arrested one Catherine Deshayes, Monvoisin's mother, who was simply called La Voisin, suspected of witchcraft. Five days later, Adam Quéré or Cobre, aka Dubuisson, aka “Abbé Lesage,” was arrested. Their interrogation revealed or allowed to imagine that witches and sorcerers fell into the hands of justice. These, in the words of Saint-Simon, “fashionable crimes”, were dealt with by a special court established by Louis XIV, nicknamed Chambre ardente- "Fire Chamber". This commission included high-ranking officials and was chaired by Louis Bouchra, the future chancellor.

and for 22 years the marriage of Louis’s parents was barren, and therefore the birth of an heir was perceived by the people as a miracle. After the death of his father, young Louis and his mother moved to the Palais Royal, the former palace of Cardinal Richelieu. Here the little king was brought up in a very simple and sometimes squalid environment. His mother was considered the regent of France, but real power was in the hands of her favorite, Cardinal Mazarin. He was very stingy and did not care at all not only about bringing pleasure to the child king, but even about his availability of basic necessities.

The first years of Louis's formal reign saw events civil war, known as the Fronde. In January 1649, an uprising against Mazarin broke out in Paris. The king and ministers had to flee to Saint-Germain, and Mazarin generally fled to Brussels. Peace was restored only in 1652, and power returned to the hands of the cardinal. Despite the fact that the king was already considered an adult, Mazarin ruled France until his death. In 1659, peace was signed with. The agreement was sealed by the marriage of Louis with Maria Theresa, who was his cousin.

When Mazarin died in 1661, Louis, having received his freedom, hastened to get rid of all guardianship over himself. He abolished the position of first minister, announcing to the State Council that from now on he himself would be the first minister, and no decree, even the most insignificant, should be signed by anyone on his behalf.

Emblem of the Sun King

Louis was poorly educated, barely able to read and write, but possessed common sense and a firm determination to maintain his royal dignity. He was tall, handsome, had a noble bearing, and tried to express himself briefly and clearly. Unfortunately, he was overly selfish, as no European monarch was distinguished by monstrous pride and selfishness. All previous royal residences seemed to Louis unworthy of his greatness. After some deliberation, in 1662 he decided to turn the small hunting castle of Versailles into a royal palace. It took 50 years and 400 million francs. Until 1666, the king had to live in the Louvre, from 1666 to 1671 - in the Tuileries, from 1671 to 1681 alternately in Versailles, which was under construction, and Saint-Germain-O-l"E. Finally, since 1682, Versailles became the permanent residence of the royal court and government From now on, Louis visited Paris only on visits. The king's new palace was distinguished by its extraordinary splendor. The so-called “large apartments” - six salons, named after ancient deities - served as hallways for the Mirror Gallery, 72 meters long, 10 meters wide and 16 meters high. Buffets were held in the salons, guests played billiards and cards. In general, card games became an indomitable passion at court. Bets reached several thousand livres at stake, and Louis himself stopped playing only after he lost 600 thousand livres in six months.

Also comedies were staged in the palace, first by Italian and then by French authors: Corneille, Racine and especially often Moliere. In addition, Louis loved to dance, and repeatedly took part in ballet productions at court. The splendor of the palace also corresponded to the complex rules of etiquette established by Louis. Any action was accompanied by a whole set of carefully designed ceremonies. Meals, going to bed, even basic quenching of thirst during the day - everything was turned into complex rituals.

From a young age, Louis was very ardent and partial to pretty women. Despite the fact that the young Queen Maria Theresa was beautiful, Louis was constantly looking for entertainment on the side. The king's first favorite was 17-year-old Louise de La Vallière, the maid of honor of the wife of Louis's brother. Louise was not an impeccable beauty and had a slight limp, but she was very sweet and gentle. The feelings that Louis had for her could be called true love. From 1661 to 1667, she bore the king four children and received the ducal title. After this, the king began to grow cold towards her, and in 1675 Louise was forced to go to the Carmelite monastery.

The king's new passion was the Marquise de Montespan, who was the complete opposite of Louise de La Vallière. The bright and ardent marquise had a calculating mind. She knew very well what she could get from the king in exchange for her love. Only in the first year of meeting the Marchioness, Louis gave her family 800 thousand livres to pay off debts. The golden shower did not become scarce in the future. At the same time, Montespan actively patronized many writers and other artists. The Marchioness was the uncrowned Queen of France for 15 years. However, since 1674, she had to fight for the king’s heart with Madame d’Aubigné, the widow of the poet Scarron, who was raising Louis’s children. Madame d’Aubigné was granted the Maintenon estate and the title of Marquise. After the death of Queen Maria Theresa in 1683 and the removal of the Marquise de Montespan, she gained very strong influence over Louis. The king highly valued her intelligence and listened to her advice. Under her influence, he became very religious, stopped organizing noisy festivities, replacing them with soul-saving conversations with the Jesuits.

Under no other sovereign did France wage such a number of large-scale wars of conquest as under Louis XIV. After his death in 1667-1668, Flanders was captured. In 1672, a war began with Holland and those who came to its aid, and. However, the coalition, called the Grand Alliance, was defeated, and France acquired Alsace, Lorraine, Franche-Comté and several other lands in Belgium. The peace, however, did not last long. In 1681, Louis captured Strasbourg and Casale, and a little later Luxembourg, Kehl and a number of surrounding areas.

However, from 1688, things began to go worse for Louis. Through efforts, the anti-French League of Augsburg was created, which included Holland and several German principalities. At first, Louis managed to capture the Palatinate, Worms and a number of other German cities, but in 1689 he became king of England and directed the resources of this country against France. In 1692, the Anglo-Dutch fleet defeated the French in Cherbourg harbor and began to dominate the sea. On land, the French successes were more noticeable. was defeated near Steinkerke and on the Neerwinden Plain. Meanwhile, in the south, Savoy, Girona and Barcelona were taken. However, a war on several fronts required a huge amount of money from Louis. During the ten years of war, 700 million livres were spent. In 1690, royal furniture made of solid silver and various small utensils were melted down. At the same time, taxes increased, which hit peasant families especially hard. Louis asked for peace. In 1696 it was returned to the rightful duke. Then Louis was forced to recognize the king of England and abandon all support for the Stuarts. The lands beyond the Rhine were returned to the German emperor. Luxembourg and Catalonia were returned. Lorraine regained its independence. Thus, the bloody war ended with the acquisition of only Strasbourg.

However, the most terrible thing for Louis was the War of the Spanish Succession. In 1700, the childless king of Spain died, bequeathing the throne to Louis's grandson with the condition, however, that the Spanish possessions would never be annexed to the French crown. The condition was accepted, but the rights to the French throne were retained. In addition, the French army invaded Belgium. It was immediately restored Grand Union as part of both Holland, and in 1701 the war began. The Austrian prince Eugene invaded what belonged to the king of Spain. At first, things went well for the French, but in 1702, due to the Duke's betrayal, the advantage passed to the Austrians. At the same time, the Duke of Marlborough's English army landed in Belgium. Taking advantage of the fact that it had joined the coalition, another English army invaded. The French attempted to launch a counterattack and marched on Vienna, but in 1704, at Hochstedt, troops under the command of Prince Eugene of Savoy and Duke John Churchill of Marlborough defeated the Franco-Bavarian army under the command of the Bavarian Elector and the French marshals Marcin and Tallard.

Soon Louis had to leave Belgium and Italy. In 1707, a 40,000-strong Allied army even crossed the Alps to invade France and besieged Toulon, but to no avail. There was no end in sight to the war. The people of France were suffering from hunger and poverty. All the gold utensils were melted down, and even black bread was served on Madame de Maintenon’s table instead of white. However, the Allied forces were not unlimited. In Spain, they managed to turn the tide of the war in their favor, after which the British began to lean towards peace. In 1713, peace was signed in Utrecht, and a year later in Rishtadt - with. France lost practically nothing, but lost all its European possessions outside the Iberian Peninsula. In addition, he was forced to renounce his claims to the French crown.

Louis's foreign policy problems were aggravated by family problems. In 1711, the king's son, the Grand Dauphin Louis, died of smallpox. A year later, the wife of the younger Dauphin, Marie-Adelaide, died from a measles epidemic. After her death, her correspondence with the heads of hostile states was opened, in which many state secrets of France were revealed. A few days after the death of his wife, the younger Dauphin Louis also died. Another three weeks passed, and five-year-old Louis of Brittany, son of the younger Dauphin and heir to the throne, died of the same disease. The title of heir passed to his younger brother, who was still an infant at that time. Soon he also fell ill with some kind of rash. The doctors expected his death from day to day, but a miracle happened and the child recovered. Finally, in 1714, Charles of Berry, the third grandson of Louis, suddenly died.

After the deaths of his heirs, Louis became sad and gloomy. He practically never got out of bed. All attempts to rouse him led to nothing. Soon, Louis XIV, while dancing at a ball, stepped on a rusty nail. On August 24, 1715, the first signs of gangrene appeared on his leg; on August 27, he made his last dying orders and died on September 1. His 72-year reign was one of the longest of any monarch.

The birth of this child was all the more long-awaited because King Louis XIII of France and Anne of Austria had no children for 22 years after their marriage in 1615.

On September 5, 1638, the queen finally had an heir. This was such an event that the famous philosopher, monk of the Dominican Order Tomaso Campanella was invited to predict the future of the royal baby, and Cardinal Mazarin himself became his godfather.

The future king was taught horse riding, fencing, playing the spinet, lute and guitar. Like Peter I, Louis built a fortress in the Palais Royal, where he disappeared every day, staging “amusing” battles. For several years he did not experience serious health problems, but at the age of nine he suffered a real test.

On November 11, 1647, Louis suddenly felt a sharp pain in his lower back and lower spine. The king's first doctor, Francois Voltier, was called to the child. The next day was marked by fever, which, according to the customs of that time, was treated by bloodletting from the cubital vein. The bloodletting was repeated on November 13, and on the same day the diagnosis became clearer: the child’s body was covered with smallpox pustules.

On November 14, 1647, a council consisting of doctors Voltier, Geno and Vallot and the first doctors of the queen, uncle and nephew Seguin, gathered at the patient’s bedside. The venerable Areopagus prescribed observation and mythical cardiac remedies, and meanwhile the child’s fever increased and delirium appeared. Over the course of 10 days, he underwent four venesections, which had little effect on the course of the disease - the number of rashes “increased a hundredfold.”

Dr. Vallot insisted on using a laxative, based on the medieval medical postulate “Give an enema, then bleed, then cleanse (use an emetic).” The nine-year-old Majesty is given calomel and an infusion of Alexandria leaf. The child behaved courageously to endure these painful, unpleasant and bloody manipulations. And this was not the end.

The life of Louis is surprisingly reminiscent of the biography of Peter I: he is fighting the noble Fronde, fighting the Spaniards, Holy Empire, with the Dutch and at the same time creates the General Hospital in Paris, the royal Invalides, the national Tapestries manufactory, academies, an observatory, rebuilds the Louvre Palace, builds the gates of Saint-Denis and Saint-Martin, the Royal Bridge, the ensemble of Place Vendôme, etc. .d.

At the height of hostilities, on June 29, 1658, the king became seriously ill. He was transported to Calais in very serious condition. For two weeks everyone was sure that the monarch would die. Doctor Antoine Vallot, who treated smallpox for the king 10 years ago, considered the causes of his illness to be unfavorable air, contaminated water, overwork, a cold on his feet and refusal of preventive bloodletting and intestinal lavage.

The illness began with fever, general lethargy, severe headache, and loss of strength. The king hid his condition and walked around, although he already had a fever. On July 1, in Calais, in order to free the body from the “poison” that “has accumulated in it, poisoning the bodily fluids and disturbing their proportions,” the king is given an enema, then bloodletting and given cardiac medications.

Fever, which doctors determine by touch, pulse and changes nervous system, does not subside, so Louis is bled again and the intestines are washed several times. Then they do two bloodlettings, several enemas and cardiac medications. On July 5, the doctors' imagination runs out - the crown bearer is given an emetic and an abscess plaster is applied.

On July 7 and 8, venesection is repeated and cordials are given, then Antoine Vallot mixes several ounces of emetic wine with several ounces of antimony salt (the most powerful laxative of the time) and gives the king a third of this mixture to drink. It worked very well: the king passed through 22 times and vomited twice four to five hours after taking this potion.

Then he was bled three more times and given enemas. In the second week of treatment, the fever subsided, only weakness remained. It is most likely that this time the king was suffering from typhus or relapsing fever - one of the frequent companions of overcrowding during hostilities (“war typhus”).

At that time, during protracted positional combat, sporadic cases often occurred, and more often, epidemic outbreaks of “camp” or “war” fever, the losses from which were many times greater than from bullets or cannonballs. During his illness, Louis also received a lesson in statesmanship: not believing in his recovery, the courtiers began to openly show affection for his brother, who was the heir to the throne.

Having recovered from his illness (or from treatment?), Louis travels around France, concludes the Pyrenees Peace, marries the Spanish Infanta Maria Theresa, changes favorites and favourites, but most importantly, after the death of Cardinal Mazarin, in April 1661, he becomes a sovereign king.

Achieving the unity of France, he creates an absolute monarchy. With the help of Colbert (French version of Menshikov), he carries out a reform government controlled, finance, army, builds a fleet more powerful than the English one.

The extraordinary flowering of culture and science could not happen without his participation: Louis patronized the writers Perrault, Corneille, La Fontaine, Boileau, Racine, Molière, and lured Christian Huygens to France. Under him, the Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Dance, Arts, Literature and Inscriptions, the Royal Garden of Rare Plants were founded, and the “Newspaper of Scientists” began to be published, which is still published.

It was at this time that the French ministers of science carried out the first successful blood transfusion from animal to animal. The king gives the nation the Louvre Palace - it soon became the most famous collection of works of art in Europe. Louis was a passionate collector.

Under him, Baroque gives way to classicism, and Jean-Baptiste Moliere lays the foundations of the Comedy Francaise. Pampered, adoring ballet, Louis is seriously engaged in army reform and is the first to begin to appropriate military ranks. Pierre de Montesquiou D'Artagnan (1645-1725) becomes Marshal of France at this very time. And at the same time, the king is seriously ill...

Unlike many other heads of state (and Russia primarily), the state of health of the first person of France was not elevated to the level of a state secret. The king’s doctors did not hide from anyone that every month, and then every three weeks, Louis was prescribed laxatives and enemas.

In those days it was generally a rare occurrence for the gastrointestinal tract to function normally: people walked too little and did not eat enough vegetables. The king, having fallen from his horse in 1683 and sprained his arm, began to ride hound hunting in a light carriage, which he drove himself.

From 1681, Louis XIV began to suffer from gout. Vivid clinical symptoms: acute arthritis of the first metatarsophalangeal joint, which appeared after meals richly flavored with wine, prodrome - “the rustle of gout”, an acute pain attack in the middle of the night, “under the crowing of a rooster” - were already too well known to doctors, but they did not know how to treat gout , and they have already forgotten about the empirically used colchicine.

The sufferer was offered the same enemas, bloodletting, emetics... Six years later, the pain in his legs became so intense that the king began to move around the Castle of Versailles in a chair with wheels. He even went to meetings with diplomats in a chair pushed by hefty servants. But in 1686, another problem appeared - hemorrhoids.

Numerous enemas and laxatives did not benefit the king at all. Frequent exacerbations of hemorrhoids resulted in the formation of an anal fistula. In February 1686, the king developed a tumor on his buttock, and doctors without thinking twice took up lancets. The court surgeon, Charles Felix de Tassy, ​​cut the tumor and cauterized it to widen the wound. Suffering from this painful wound and from gout, Louis could not only ride a horse, but also be in public for a long time.

There were rumors that the king was about to die or had already died. In March of the same year, a new “small” incision and a new useless cauterization were made, on April 20 - another cauterization, after which Louis fell ill for three days. Then he went to be treated with mineral water at the Barege resort, but this helped little.

The king held on until November 1686 and finally dared to undertake a “big” operation. C. de Tassy, ​​who has already been mentioned, in the presence of Bessières, “the most famous surgeon of Paris,” the favorite minister of the king, François-Michel Letelier, the Marquis de Louvois, who held the king’s hand during the operation, and the old favorite of the king, Madame de Maintenon, without Anesthesia operates on the king.

The surgical intervention ends with copious bloodletting. On December 7, doctors saw that the wound was “not in good condition” and that “hardenings had formed in it, interfering with healing.” A new operation followed, the hardening was removed, but the pain that the king experienced was unbearable.

The incisions were repeated on December 8 and 9, 1686, but a month passed before the king finally recovered. Just think, France could lose the “sun king” because of banal hemorrhoids! As a sign of solidarity with the monarch, Philippe de Courcillon, Marquis da Dangeau in 1687, and Louis-Joseph, Duke of Vendôme in 1691 underwent the same operation.

One can only marvel at the courage of the spoiled and pampered king! I will mention the chief doctors of Louis XIV: Jacques Cousineau (1587-1646), Francois Voltier (1580-1652), Antoine Vallot (1594-1671), Antoine d'Aquin (1620-1696), Guy-Crissant Fagon (1638-1718).

Can Louis' life be called happy? Probably, it is possible: he accomplished a lot, saw France great, was loved and loved, remained forever in history... But, as often happens, the ending of this long life was overshadowed.

In less than a year - from April 14, 1711 to March 8, 1712 - death claimed the son of Louis Monseigneur, the king's daughter-in-law, the Duchess of Bourbon, the Princess of Savoy, his grandson, the Duke of Burgundy, the second heir, and a few days later the eldest of his great-grandsons - the Duke of Breton, third heir.

In 1713, the Duke of Alençon, the great-grandson of the king, died, in 1741 - his grandson, the Duke of Berry. The king's son died of smallpox, his daughter-in-law and grandson died of measles. The deaths of all the princes in a row plunged France into horror. They assumed poisoning and blamed everything on Philip II of Orleans, the future regent of the throne, whose every death brought him closer to the crown.

The king held on with all his might, buying time for his minor heir. For a long time, he really amazed everyone with his good health: back in 1706, he slept with the windows open, was not afraid of “neither heat nor cold,” and continued to use the services of his favorites. But in 1715, on August 10, in Versailles, the king suddenly felt unwell and with great difficulty walked from his office to his prayer bench.

The next day, he also held a meeting of the cabinet of ministers and gave audiences, but on August 12, the king developed severe pain in his leg. Guy-Cressan Fagon makes a diagnosis, which in modern interpretation sounds like “sciatica,” and prescribes routine treatment. The king still leads his usual way of life, but on August 13 the pain intensifies so much that the monarch asks to be moved to the church in a chair, although at the subsequent reception of the Persian ambassador he stood on his feet for the entire ceremony.

History has not preserved the course of the diagnostic search of doctors, but they were mistaken from the very beginning and held their diagnosis as a flag. I note that the flag turned out to be black...

On August 14, pain in the foot, leg and thigh no longer allowed the king to walk; he was carried everywhere in a chair. Only then did G. Fagon show the first signs of concern. He himself, the attending physician Boudin, the pharmacist Biot, and the first surgeon Georges Marechal remain overnight in the king’s chambers so as to be at hand at the right moment.

Louis spent a bad, very restless night, tormented by pain and bad apprehensions. On August 15, he receives visitors lying down, sleeps poorly at night, and is tormented by pain in his leg and thirst. On August 17, the pain was joined by a stunning chill, and - an amazing thing! — Fagon does not change the diagnosis.

The doctors are completely at a loss. Now we cannot imagine life without a medical thermometer, but then doctors did not know this simple instrument. Fever was determined by placing a hand on the patient’s forehead or by the quality of the pulse, because only a few doctors had a “pulse watch” (a prototype of a stopwatch), invented by D. Floyer.

Louis is brought bottles of mineral water and even given a massage. On August 21, a consultation gathers at the king’s bedside, which probably seemed ominous to the patient: doctors of that time wore black robes, like priests, and a visit from a priest in such cases did not mean anything good...

Completely confused, the respectable doctors give Louis cassia potion and a laxative, then add quinine with water, donkey milk to the treatment, and finally bandage his leg, which was in a terrible state: “all covered with black grooves, which was very similar to gangrene.”

The king suffered until August 25, his name day, when in the evening his body was pierced by unbearable pain and terrible convulsions began. Louis lost consciousness and his pulse disappeared. Having come to his senses, the king demanded communion of the Holy Mysteries... Surgeons came to him to make an unnecessary dressing. On August 26, at about 10 a.m., doctors bandaged the leg and made several cuts down to the bone. They saw that gangrene had affected the entire thickness of the lower leg muscles and realized that no medicine would help the king.

But Louis was not destined to calmly retreat to better world: On August 27, a certain Monsieur Bren showed up at Versailles, bringing with him a “most effective elixir” capable of overcoming gangrene, even “internal.” The doctors, having already come to terms with their helplessness, took the medicine from the charlatan, dropped 10 drops into three spoons of Alicante wine and gave the king this drug, which had a disgusting smell, to drink.

Louis obediently poured this abomination into himself, saying: “I must obey the doctors.” They began to regularly give the disgusting drink to the dying man, but the gangrene “had advanced very much,” and the king, who was in a semi-conscious state, said that it was “disappearing.”

On August 30, Louis fell into stupor (he was still reacting to calls), but, having woken up, he still found the strength to read “Ave Maria” and “Credo” together with the prelates... Four days before his 77th birthday, Louis “gave his soul to God without the slightest effort, like a candle that goes out”...

History knows at least two episodes similar to the case of Louis XIV, who undoubtedly suffered from obliterating atherosclerosis, the level of damage was the iliac artery. This is the disease of I.B. Tito and F. Franco. They could not be helped even 250 years later.

Epicurus once said: “The ability to live well and die well is one and the same science,” but S. Freud corrected him: “Physiology is fate.” Both aphorisms seem to be quite applicable to Louis XIV. He lived, of course, sinfully, but beautifully, and died terribly.

But this is not what makes the king’s medical history interesting. On the one hand, it demonstrates the level of medicine of that time. It would seem that William Harvey (1578-1657) had already made his discovery - by the way, it was the French doctors who met him most hostilely, very soon the revolutionary in diagnosis L. Auenbrugger would be born, and the French doctors were in the dogmatic captivity of medieval scholasticism and alchemy.

Louis XIII, the father of Louis XIV, underwent 47 bloodlettings over the course of 10 months, after which he died. Contrary to the popular version about the death of the great Italian artist Raphael Santi at the age of 37 from an excess of love passion for his beloved Fornarina, he most likely died from an excessive number of bloodlettings, which were prescribed to him as an “antiphlogistic” remedy for an unknown febrile illness.

The following people died from excess bloodletting: the famous French philosopher, mathematician and physicist R. Descartes; French philosopher and physician J. La Mettrie, who considered human body like a self-winding watch; first US President D. Washington (although there is another version - diphtheria).

Moscow doctors completely bled Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (already in the middle of the 19th century). It is not clear why doctors so stubbornly clung to the humoral theory of the origin of all diseases, the theory of “spoilage of juices and liquids”, which are the basis of life. It seems that even simple everyday common sense contradicted this.

After all, they saw that a bullet wound, or a prick with a sword, or a blow with a sword did not immediately lead a person to death, and the picture of the disease was always the same: inflammation of the wound, fever, clouded consciousness of the patient and death. After all, Ambroise Pare treated wounds with hot oil infusions and bandages. He didn’t think that this would somehow change the movement and quality of the body’s juices!

But this method was also used by Avicenna, whose works were considered classic in Europe. No, everything went along some kind of shamanic path.

The case of Louis XIV is also interesting because he, without a doubt, suffered from damage to the venous system (he probably also had varicose veins), a particular case of which is hemorrhoids, and atherosclerosis of the arteries of the lower extremities. As for hemorrhoids, everything is generally clear: the rectum is located the lowest in any position of the body, which, other things being equal, obstructs blood circulation and adds to the influence of gravity.

Blood stagnation also develops due to the pressure of the intestinal contents, and the king, as already mentioned, suffered from constipation. Hemorrhoids have always been a dubious “property” of scientists, officials and musicians, that is, people leading a predominantly sedentary lifestyle.

And besides, the king, who sat all the time on a soft one (even the throne was upholstered in velvet), always seemed to have a warming compress in the rectum area! And this leads to chronic expansion of her veins. Although hemorrhoids can not only be “incubated,” but also “insisted” and “found,” Louis incubated them.

However, during the time of Louis, doctors still adhered to the theory of Hippocrates, who considered hemorrhoids to be a tumor of the vessels of the rectum. Hence the barbaric operation that Louis had to endure. But the most interesting thing is that bloodletting in cases of venous congestion alleviates the condition of patients, and here the doctors hit the nail on the head.

Very little time will pass, and the place of bloodletting will be replaced by leeches, which France purchased from Russia in millions of pieces. “Bleeding and leeching have shed more blood than Napoleon’s wars,” says famous aphorism. A curious thing is the way French doctors liked to portray doctors.

In J.-B. Moliere, a talented contemporary of the “Sun King,” looked at doctors as shameless and narrow-minded charlatans; Maupassant portrayed them as helpless but bloodthirsty vultures, “contemplators of death.” They look prettier in O. de Balzac's work, but their appearance in a whole council at the patient's bedside - in black clothes, with gloomy, concentrated faces - did not bode well for the patient. One can only imagine what Louis XIV felt when he saw them!

As for the king’s second illness, gangrene, its cause, without a doubt, was atherosclerosis. The doctors of that time, no doubt, knew the aphorism of C. Galen, an outstanding Roman physician during the gladiatorial battles: “Many canals, scattered throughout all parts of the body, transmit blood to these parts in the same way as the canals of a garden transmit moisture, and the spaces separating these channels , are so wonderfully disposed by nature that they never lack the blood necessary for absorption, and are never overloaded with blood.”

W. Harvey, an English physician, showed what these channels are, and it would seem that it should be clear that if the channel is blocked, moisture will no longer flow into the garden (blood in the tissue). The average life expectancy of ordinary Frenchmen in those days was short, but, of course, there were old people, and doctors could not ignore the changes in their arteries.

“A person is as old as his arteries,” doctors say. But this has always been the case. The quality of the arterial wall is inherited and depends on the hazards to which a person has exposed it during his life.

The king, no doubt, moved little and ate well and plentifully. There is a famous aphorism by D. Cheyne, who lost weight from 160 kg to normal: “Every prudent person over fifty years of age should at least reduce the amount of his food, and if he wants to continue to avoid important and dangerous diseases and preserve his feelings to the end and abilities, then every seven years he must gradually and sensitively moderate his appetite and, in conclusion, leave life in the same way as he entered it, even if he had to switch to a children's diet.

Of course, Louis did not plan to change anything in his lifestyle, but gout had a much worse effect on his blood vessels than diet.

A long time ago, doctors noticed that in patients with gout, blood vessels are affected; they often have angina pectoris and other signs of atherosclerotic vascular disease. Toxins from impaired metabolism can cause degenerative changes in the middle and outer lining of the arteries, doctors believed not so long ago

Gout leads to kidney damage, this causes hypertension and secondary atherosclerosis, we are talking now. But still, there is more reason to think that Louis had the so-called. “senile arteriosclerosis”: large arteries are dilated and tortuous and have thin and inflexible walls, and small arteries turn into intractable tubes.

It is in such arteries that atherosclerotic plaques and blood clots form, one of which probably killed Louis XIV.

I am convinced that Louis had no pre-existing “intermittent claudication.” The king hardly walked, so what happened was a thunderbolt among clear skies. Only a “guillotine”, one-stage amputation of the (high) hip could have saved him, but without painkillers and anesthesia it would have been a death sentence.

And bloodletting in this case only increased the anemia of the already bloodless limb. Louis XIV was able to build a lot, but even the “Sun King” could not carry modern medicine forward a century, to the time of Larrey or N.I. Pirogov...

Nikolay Larinsky, 2001-2013

Louis XIV de Bourbon, who received the name Louis-Dieudonné (“God-given”) at birth

Louis XIV

short biography

Louis XIV de Bourbon, who received the name Louis-Dieudonné at birth (“God-given”, French Louis-Dieudonné), also known as "sun king"(French: Louis XIV Le Roi Soleil), also Louis Great(French: Louis le Grand), (September 5, 1638, Saint-Germain-en-Laye - September 1, 1715, Versailles) - King of France and Navarre from May 14, 1643. Reigned for 72 years - longer than any other European king in history (of the monarchs of Europe, only some rulers of the small states of the Holy Roman Empire, for example, Bernard VII of Lippe or Charles Friedrich of Baden, were in power longer).

Louis, who lived through the wars of the Fronde in his childhood, became a staunch supporter of the principle absolute monarchy and the divine right of kings (he is credited with the expression “The State is me!”), he combined the strengthening of his power with a successful selection statesmen to key political positions. The reign of Louis was a time of significant consolidation of the unity of France, its military power, political weight and intellectual prestige, the flowering of culture, went down in history as the Great Age. At the same time, the long-term military conflicts in which France participated during the reign of Louis the Great led to increased taxes, which placed a heavy burden on the shoulders of the population and caused popular uprisings, and as a result of the adoption of the Edict of Fontainebleau, which abolished the Edict of Nantes on religious tolerance within the kingdom, about 200 thousand Huguenots emigrated from France.

Childhood and young years

Louis XIV came to the throne in May 1643, when he was not yet five years old, therefore, according to his father's will, the regency was transferred to Anne of Austria, who ruled in close tandem with the first minister, Cardinal Mazarin. Even before the end of the war with Spain and the House of Austria, the princes and high aristocracy, supported by Spain and in alliance with the Paris Parliament, began unrest, which received common name Fronde (1648-1652) and ended only with the subjugation of the Prince de Condé and the signing of the Pyrenees Peace (November 7, 1659).

In 1660, Louis married the Spanish Infanta Maria Theresa of Austria. At this time, the young king, who grew up without sufficient upbringing and education, did not yet show much hope. However, as soon as Cardinal Mazarin died (1661), the next day Louis XIV assembled the Council of State, at which he announced that he henceforth intended to rule independently, without appointing a first minister.

So Louis began to independently govern the state, a course the king followed until his death. Louis XIV had the gift of selecting talented and capable employees (for example, Colbert, Vauban, Letelier, Lyonne, Louvois). One might even say that Louis elevated the doctrine of royal rights to a semi-religious dogma. Thanks to the works of the talented economist and financier J.B. Colbert, much was done to strengthen state unity, the welfare of representatives of the third estate, encourage trade, and develop industry and the fleet. At the same time, the Marquis de Louvois reformed the army, unified its organization and increased its fighting strength.

After the death of King Philip IV of Spain (1665), Louis XIV declared French claims to part of the Spanish Netherlands and retained it in the so-called War of Devolution. The Treaty of Aachen, concluded on May 2, 1668, transferred French Flanders and a number of border areas into his hands.

War with the Netherlands

From this time on, the United Provinces had a passionate enemy in Louis. Contrasts in foreign policy, state views, trade interests, religion led both states to constant clashes. Louis in 1668-1671 masterfully managed to isolate the republic. Through bribery, he managed to distract England and Sweden from the Triple Alliance and win Cologne and Munster to the side of France. Having brought his army to 120,000 people, Louis in 1670 occupied the possessions of the ally of the Estates General, Duke Charles IV of Lorraine, and in 1672 he crossed the Rhine, within six weeks conquered half of the provinces and returned to Paris in triumph. The breakthrough of the dam, the emergence of William III of Orange in power, and the intervention of European powers stopped the success of French weapons. The Estates General entered into an alliance with Spain, Brandenburg and Austria; The Empire also joined them after the French army attacked the Archbishopric of Trier and occupied the 10 imperial cities of Alsace, already half connected to France. In 1674, Louis confronted his enemies with 3 large armies: with one of them he personally occupied Franche-Comté; another, under the command of Conde, fought in the Netherlands and won at Senef; the third, led by Turenne, devastated the Palatinate and successfully fought the troops of the emperor and the great elector in Alsace. After a short interval due to the death of Turenne and the removal of Condé, Louis came to the Netherlands with renewed vigor at the beginning of 1676 and conquered a number of cities, while Luxembourg devastated Breisgau. The entire country between the Saar, Moselle and Rhine was turned into a desert by order of the king. In the Mediterranean, Duquesne prevailed over Reuther; Brandenburg's forces were distracted by a Swedish attack. Only as a result of hostile actions on the part of England, Louis concluded the Peace of Nimwegen in 1678, which gave him large acquisitions from the Netherlands and the entire Franche-Comté from Spain. He gave Philippsburg to the emperor, but received Freiburg and retained all his conquests in Alsace.

Louis at the height of his power

This moment marks the apogee of Louis's power. His army was the largest, best organized and led. His diplomacy dominated all European courts. The French nation has reached unprecedented heights with its achievements in the arts and sciences, in industry and commerce. The Versailles court (Louis moved the royal residence to Versailles) became the subject of envy and surprise of almost all modern sovereigns, who tried to imitate the great king even in his weaknesses. Strict etiquette was introduced at court, regulating all court life. Versailles became the center of all high society life, in which the tastes of Louis himself and his many favorites (Lavaliere, Montespan, Fontanges) reigned. The entire high aristocracy sought court positions, since living away from the court for a nobleman was a sign of opposition or royal disgrace. “Absolute without objection,” according to Saint-Simon, “Louis destroyed and eradicated every other force or authority in France, except those that came from him: reference to the law, to the right was considered a crime.” This cult of the Sun King, in which capable people were increasingly pushed aside by courtesans and intriguers, inevitably had to lead to the gradual decline of the entire edifice of the monarchy.

The king restrained his desires less and less. In Metz, Breisach and Besançon, he established chambers of reunion (chambres de réunions) to determine the rights of the French crown to certain areas (September 30, 1681). The imperial city of Strasbourg was suddenly occupied by French troops in peacetime. Louis did the same with regard to the Dutch borders. In 1681, his fleet bombarded Tripoli, and in 1684 - Algiers and Genoa. Finally, an alliance was formed between Holland, Spain and the emperor, which forced Louis to conclude a 20-year truce in Regensburg in 1684 and refuse further “reunions.”

Religious politics

Louis XIV tried to destroy the political dependence of the clergy on the Pope. He even intended to form a French patriarchate independent from Rome. But, thanks to the influence of Bossuet, the famous Bishop of Mosse, the French bishops refrained from breaking with Rome, and the views of the French hierarchy received official expression in the so-called. statement of the Gallican clergy (declaration du clarge gallicane) 1682

In matters of faith, Louis XIV's confessors (the Jesuits) made him an obedient instrument of the most ardent Catholic reaction, which was reflected in the merciless persecution of all individualistic movements within the church.

A number of harsh measures were taken against the Huguenots: churches were taken away from them, priests were deprived of the opportunity to baptize children according to the rules of their church, perform marriages and burials, and perform divine services. Even mixed marriages between Catholics and Protestants were prohibited.

The Protestant aristocracy was forced to convert to Catholicism so as not to lose their social advantages, and restrictive decrees were used against Protestants from among other classes, ending with the Dragonades of 1683 and the repeal of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. These measures, despite severe penalties for emigration forced more than 200 thousand Protestants to move to England, Holland and Germany. An uprising even broke out in the Cevennes. The king's growing piety found support from Madame de Maintenon, who, after the death of the queen (1683), was united to him by secret marriage.

War for the Palatinate

In 1688 it broke out new war, the reason for which was the claims to the Palatinate made by Louis XIV on behalf of his daughter-in-law, Elizabeth-Charlotte Duchess of Orleans, who was related to Elector Charles Ludwig, who had died shortly before. Having concluded an alliance with the Elector of Cologne, Karl-Egon Fürstemberg, Louis ordered his troops to occupy Bonn and attack the Palatinate, Baden, Württemberg and Trier.

At the beginning of 1689, French troops horribly devastated the entire Lower Palatinate. An alliance was formed against France from England (which had just overthrown the Stuarts), the Netherlands, Spain, Austria and the German Protestant states.

The Marshal of France, the Duke of Luxembourg, defeated the allies on July 1, 1690 at Fleurus; Marshal Catinat conquered Savoy, Vice Admiral Tourville defeated the British-Dutch fleet at the Battle of Beachy Head, so that the French for a short time had an advantage even at sea.

In 1692, the French besieged Namur, Luxembourg gained the upper hand at the Battle of Stenkerken; but on May 28, the French fleet was defeated at Cape La Hougue.

In 1693-1695, the advantage began to lean towards the allies; in 1695 the Duke de Luxembourg, a student of Turenne, died; in the same year a huge war tax was needed, and peace became a necessity for Louis. It took place in Ryswick in 1697, and for the first time Louis XIV had to confine himself to the status quo.

War of the Spanish Succession

France was completely exhausted when, a few years later, the death of Charles II of Spain led Louis to war with the European coalition. The War of the Spanish Succession, in which Louis wanted to reconquer the entire Spanish monarchy for his grandson Philip of Anjou, inflicted lasting wounds on Louis's power. The old king, who personally led the struggle, held himself in the most difficult circumstances with dignity and firmness. According to the peace concluded in Utrecht and Rastatt in 1713 and 1714, he retained Spain proper for his grandson, but its Italian and Dutch possessions were lost, and England, by destroying the Franco-Spanish fleets and conquering a number of colonies, laid the foundation for its maritime dominion. The French monarchy did not have to recover from the defeats of Hochstedt and Turin, Ramilly and Malplaquet until the revolution itself. It was suffering under the weight of debts (up to 2 billion) and taxes, which caused local outbreaks of discontent.

Last years. Family tragedy and the question of a successor

Thus, the result of Louis's entire system was the economic ruin and poverty of France. Another consequence was the growth of opposition literature, especially developed under the successor of the “great Louis”.

The family life of the elderly king at the end of his life presented a far from rosy picture. On April 13, 1711, his son, the Grand Dauphin Louis (born in 1661), died; in February 1712 he was followed by the Dauphin's eldest son, the Duke of Burgundy, and on March 8 of the same year by the latter's eldest son, the young Duke of Breton. On March 4, 1714, he fell from his horse and a few days later, the younger brother of the Duke of Burgundy, the Duke of Berry, died, so that, in addition to Philip V of Spain, the Bourbons had only one heir left - the four-year-old great-grandson of the king, the third son of the Duke of Burgundy (later Louis XV).

Even earlier, Louis legitimized his two sons from Madame de Montespan - the Duke of Maine and the Count of Toulouse, and gave them the surname Bourbon. Now, in his will, he appointed them members of the regency council and declared their eventual right to succession to the throne. Louis himself remained active until the end of his life, firmly supporting court etiquette and the decor of his “great century,” which was already beginning to fade.

Louis XIV died on September 1, 1715 at 8:15 am, surrounded by courtiers. Death occurred after several days of agony, from gangrene of the leg, which the king damaged when falling from a horse while hunting (he considered amputation unacceptable for royal dignity). The reign of Louis XIV lasted 72 years and 110 days.

The king's body was exhibited for 8 days for farewell in the Salon of Hercules in Versailles. On the night of the ninth day, the body was transported (having taken the necessary measures to prevent the population from organizing holidays along the funeral procession) to the basilica of the Abbey of Saint-Denis, where Louis was interred in compliance with all the rites of the Catholic Church due to the monarch.

In 1822, an equestrian statue (based on Bosio's model) was erected to him in Paris, on the Place des Victories.

Marriages and children

• (from June 9, 1660, Saint-Jean de Luz) Maria Theresa (1638-1683), Infanta of Spain, cousin of Louis XIV on two lines - both maternal and paternal:
  • Louis the Great Dauphin (1661-1711)
  • Anna Elizabeth (1662-1662)
  • Maria Anna (1664-1664)
  • Maria Teresa (1667-1672)
  • Philip (1668-1671)
  • Louis-Francois (1672-1672).

Louis

Anna-Elizabeth and Maria-Anna

Maria Teresa

Philip

• (from June 12, 1684, Versailles) Françoise d'Aubigné (1635-1719), Marquise de Maintenon.
• Ext. connection Louise de La Baume Le Blanc (1644-1710), Duchess de La Vallière:
  • Charles de La Baume Le Blanc (1663-1665)
  • Philippe de La Baume Le Blanc (1665-1666)
  • Marie-Anne de Bourbon (1666-1739), Mademoiselle de Blois
  • Louis de Bourbon (1667-1683), Comte de Vermandois.
• Ext. connection Françoise-Athenais de Rochechouart de Mortemart (1641-1707), Marquise de Montespan:
  • Louise-Françoise de Bourbon (1669-1672)
  • Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, Duke of Maine (1670-1736)
  • Louis-César de Bourbon (1672-1683)
  • Louise-Françoise de Bourbon (1673-1743), Mademoiselle de Nantes
  • Louise Marie Anne de Bourbon (1674-1681), Mademoiselle de Tours
  • Françoise-Marie de Bourbon (1677-1749), Mademoiselle de Blois
  • Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, Count of Toulouse (1678-1737).
• Ext. connection(1678-1680) Marie-Angelique de Scoray de Roussil (1661-1681), Duchess of Fontanges:
  • N (1679-1679), the child was born dead.
• Ext. connection Claude de Vines (c.1638 - September 8, 1686), Mademoiselle des Hoye:
  • Louise de Maisonblanche (1676-1718).

The history of the nickname Sun King

In France, the sun was a symbol royalty and personally the king and until Louis XIV. The luminary became the personification of the monarch in verse, solemn odes and court ballets. The first mentions of solar emblems go back to the reign of Henry III; the grandfather and father of Louis XIV used them, but only under him did solar symbolism become truly widespread.

At the age of twelve (1651), Louis XIV made his debut in the so-called “ballets de cour” - court ballets, which were staged annually during the carnival.

The Baroque carnival is not just a holiday and entertainment, but an opportunity to play in an “upside-down world.” For example, the king became a jester, an artist or a buffoon for several hours, while at the same time the jester could well afford to appear in the guise of a king. In one of the ballet productions (“Ballet of the Night” by Jean-Baptiste Lully), young Louis had the opportunity to appear before his subjects for the first time in the form of Rising Sun(1653), and then Apollo - the Sun God (1654).

When Louis XIV began to rule independently (1661), the genre of court ballet was put at the service of state interests, helping the king not only create his representative image, but also manage court society (as well as other arts). The roles in these productions were distributed only by the king and his friend, the Comte de Saint-Aignan. Princes of the blood and courtiers, dancing next to their sovereign, depicted various elements, planets and other creatures and phenomena subject to the Sun. Louis himself continues to appear before his subjects in the form of the Sun, Apollo and other gods and heroes of Antiquity. The king left the stage only in 1670.

But the emergence of the nickname of the Sun King was preceded by another important cultural event of the Baroque era - the Carousel of the Tuileries in 1662. This is a festive carnival cavalcade, which is something between sports festival(in the Middle Ages these were tournaments) and masquerade. In the 17th century, the Carousel was called an “equestrian ballet”, since this action was more reminiscent of a performance with music, rich costumes and a fairly consistent script. At the Carousel of 1662, given in honor of the birth of the first-born of the royal couple, Louis XIV pranced in front of the audience on a horse dressed as a Roman emperor. In his hand the king had a golden shield with the image of the Sun. This symbolized that this luminary protects the king and with him the whole of France.

According to the historian of the French Baroque F. Bossan, “it was on the Grand Carousel of 1662 that, in a way, the Sun King was born. His name was given not by politics or the victories of his armies, but by equestrian ballet.”

The image of Louis XIV in popular culture

Fiction

• Louis XIV is one of the main historical characters in the trilogy about the musketeers by Alexandre Dumas.
• Michael Bulgakov. Cabal of saints.
• The hero of the series of novels “Angelique” by Anna and Serge Gallon.
• The hero of the novel by Françoise Chandernagore “Royal Alley: Memoirs of Françoise d’Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon, wife of the King of France”
• A.A.Gurshtein"Stars of Paris" 2016. (A novel chronicling the life of astronomers during the times of Louis XIV).

Movie

• The Iron Mask (USA; 1929) directed by Allan Duon, in the role of Louis, William Bakewell.
• The Man in the Iron Mask (USA; 1939) directed by James Whale, Louis Hayward as Louis.
• The Iron Mask / Le masque de fer (Italy, France; 1962) directed by Henri Decoin, in the role of Louis Jean-François Poron.
• The seizure of power by Louis XIV / La prise de pouvoir par Louis XIV (France; 1966) directed by Roberto Rossellini, in the role of Louis Jean-Marie Patt.
• The Man in the Iron Mask (UK, USA; 1977) directed by Mike Newell, Richard Chamberlain as Louis.
• The King's Path / L "allée du roi (France; 1996) directed by Nina Companeets, in the role of King Louis XIV Didier Sandre.
• In 1993, Roger Planchon directed the biographical film Louis, the Child King about the childhood and youth of Louis XIV.
• In the 1998 film The Man in the Iron Mask, Louis XIV is portrayed as cruel, selfish, fun-loving, and a weak politician. According to the plot of the film, Louis has a twin brother, who later takes the place of king and leads France to the “Golden Age”. Louis XIV was played by Leonardo DiCaprio.
• A film directed by Gerard Corbier is also dedicated to him. "The King Dances", which reveals the theme of the relationship between power and art.
• Louis XIV is one of the main characters in Roland Joffe's drama Vatel. In the film, the Prince of Condé invites the king to his castle of Chantilly and tries to impress him in order to take the post of commander in chief in the upcoming war with Holland. Louis XIV is played by Julian Sands.
• Louis XIV appears as a beautiful seducer in the film “Angelique and the King”, where he was played by Jacques Toja, and also appears in the first two films of the epic “Angelique - Marquise of Angels” and “The Magnificent Angelique”.
• In Oleg Ryaskov’s film “The Servant of the Sovereign,” the role of King Louis XIV was played by the artist of the Moscow New Drama Theater Dmitry Shilyaev.
• In the films by George Yungvald-Khilkevich “The Secret of Queen Anne, or The Musketeers Thirty Years Later” (1993) and “The Return of the Musketeers or The Treasures of Cardinal Mazarin” (2008), Louis XIV was played by Dmitry Kharatyan.
• In Alan Rickman's film An Affair of Versailles (2014), Alan Rickman played the role of King Louis XIV.
• TV series "Versailles" (France-Canada, 2015-). The role of King Louis XIV is played by George Blagden.
• The Death of Louis XIV / La mort de Louis XIV (Portugal, France, Spain; 2016) directed by Albert Serra, in the role of Louis Jean-Pierre Léaud.

Musical

• The musical “The Sun King” was staged in France about Louis XIV.

Documentaries

• 2015 - Death of the Sun King / 1715. The Sun King is Dead! / La mort de Louis XIV (dir. Sylvie Faiveley)

Categories:

Louis XIV reigned for 72 years, longer than any other European monarch. He became king at the age of four, took full power into his own hands at 23 and ruled for 54 years. “The state is me!” - Louis XIV did not say these words, but the state has always been associated with the personality of the ruler. Therefore, if we talk about the blunders and mistakes of Louis XIV (the war with Holland, the repeal of the Edict of Nantes, etc.), then the assets of the reign should also be credited to him.

The development of trade and manufacturing, the emergence of the French colonial empire, the reform of the army and the creation of the navy, the development of the arts and sciences, the construction of Versailles and, finally, the transformation of France into a modern state. These are not all the achievements of the Century of Louis XIV. So what was this ruler who gave his name to his time?

Louis XIV de Bourbon, who received the name Louis-Dieudonné (“God-given”) at birth, was born on September 5, 1638. The name “God-given” appeared for a reason. Queen Anne of Austria gave birth to an heir at the age of 37.

For 22 years, the marriage of Louis's parents was barren, and therefore the birth of an heir was perceived by the people as a miracle. After the death of his father, young Louis and his mother moved to the Palais Royal, the former palace of Cardinal Richelieu. Here the little king was brought up in a very simple and sometimes squalid environment.

Louis XIV de Bourbon.

His mother was considered regent of France, but real power lay in the hands of her favorite, Cardinal Mazarin. He was very stingy and did not care at all not only about providing pleasure to the child king, but even about his availability of basic necessities.

The first years of Louis's formal reign included the events of a civil war known as the Fronde. In January 1649, an uprising against Mazarin broke out in Paris. The king and ministers had to flee to Saint-Germain, and Mazarin generally fled to Brussels. Peace was restored only in 1652, and power returned to the hands of the cardinal. Despite the fact that the king was already considered an adult, Mazarin ruled France until his death.

Giulio Mazarin - ecclesiastical and political figure and first minister of France in 1643-1651 and 1653-1661. He took up the post under the patronage of Queen Anne of Austria.

In 1659, peace was signed with Spain. The agreement was sealed by the marriage of Louis with Maria Theresa, who was his cousin. When Mazarin died in 1661, Louis, having received his freedom, hastened to get rid of all guardianship over himself.

He abolished the position of first minister, announcing to the State Council that from now on he himself would be the first minister, and no decree, even the most insignificant, should be signed by anyone on his behalf.

Louis was poorly educated, barely able to read and write, but had common sense and a strong determination to maintain his royal dignity. He was tall, handsome, had a noble bearing, and tried to express himself briefly and clearly. Unfortunately, he was overly selfish, as no European monarch was distinguished by monstrous pride and selfishness. All previous royal residences seemed to Louis unworthy of his greatness.

After some deliberation, in 1662 he decided to turn the small hunting castle of Versailles into a royal palace. It took 50 years and 400 million francs. Until 1666, the king had to live in the Louvre, from 1666 to 1671. in the Tuileries, from 1671 to 1681, alternately in the Versailles under construction and Saint-Germain-O-l"E. Finally, from 1682, Versailles became the permanent residence of the royal court and government. From now on, Louis visited Paris only on short visits.

The king's new palace was distinguished by its extraordinary splendor. The so-called (large apartments) - six salons, named after ancient deities - served as hallways for the Mirror Gallery, 72 meters long, 10 meters wide and 16 meters high. Buffets were held in the salons, and guests played billiards and cards.

The Great Condé greets Louis XIV on the Staircase at Versailles.

In general, card games became an uncontrollable passion at court. The bets reached several thousand livres at stake, and Louis himself stopped playing only after he lost 600 thousand livres in six months in 1676.

Also comedies were staged in the palace, first by Italian and then by French authors: Corneille, Racine and especially often Moliere. In addition, Louis loved to dance, and repeatedly took part in ballet productions at court.

The splendor of the palace also corresponded to the complex rules of etiquette established by Louis. Any action was accompanied by a whole set of carefully designed ceremonies. Meals, going to bed, even basic quenching of thirst during the day - everything was turned into complex rituals.

War against everyone

If the king were only concerned with the construction of Versailles, the rise of the economy and the development of the arts, then, probably, the respect and love of his subjects for the Sun King would be limitless. However, the ambitions of Louis XIV extended much beyond the borders of his state.

By the early 1680s, Louis XIV had the most powerful army in Europe, which only whetted his appetite. In 1681, he established chambers of reunification to determine the rights of the French crown to certain areas, seizing more and more lands in Europe and Africa.

In 1688, Louis XIV's claims to the Palatinate led to the whole of Europe turning against him. The so-called War of the League of Augsburg lasted for nine years and resulted in the parties maintaining the status quo. But the huge expenses and losses incurred by France led to a new economic decline in the country and a depletion of funds.

But already in 1701, France was drawn into a long conflict called the War of the Spanish Succession. Louis XIV hoped to defend the rights to the Spanish throne for his grandson, who was to become the head of two states. However, the war, which engulfed not only Europe, but also North America, ended unsuccessfully for France.

According to the peace concluded in 1713 and 1714, the grandson of Louis XIV retained the Spanish crown, but its Italian and Dutch possessions were lost, and England, by destroying the Franco-Spanish fleets and conquering a number of colonies, laid the foundation for its maritime dominion. In addition, the project of uniting France and Spain under the hand of the French monarch had to be abandoned.

Sale of offices and expulsion of the Huguenots

This last one military campaign Louis XIV brought him back to where he started - the country was mired in debt and groaning from the burden of taxes, and here and there uprisings broke out, the suppression of which required more and more resources.

The need to replenish the budget led to non-trivial decisions. Under Louis XIV, the trade in government positions was put on stream, reaching its maximum extent in last years his life. To replenish the treasury, more and more new positions were created, which, of course, brought chaos and discord into the activities of state institutions.

Louis XIV on coins.

The ranks of opponents of Louis XIV were joined by French Protestants after the “Edict of Fontainebleau” was signed in 1685, repealing the Edict of Nantes of Henry IV, which guaranteed freedom of religion to the Huguenots.

After this, more than 200 thousand French Protestants emigrated from the country, despite strict penalties for emigration. The exodus of tens of thousands of economically active citizens dealt another painful blow to the power of France.

The unloved queen and the meek lame woman

At all times and eras, the personal life of monarchs influenced politics. Louis XIV is no exception in this sense. The monarch once remarked: “It would be easier for me to reconcile all of Europe than a few women.”

His official wife in 1660 was a peer, the Spanish Infanta Maria Theresa, who was Louis’s cousin on both his father and mother.

The problem with this marriage, however, was not the close family ties of the spouses. Louis simply did not love Maria Theresa, but he meekly agreed to the marriage, which had important political significance. The wife bore the king six children, but five of them died in childhood. Only the first-born survived, named, like his father, Louis and who went down in history under the name of the Grand Dauphin.

The marriage of Louis XIV took place in 1660.

For the sake of marriage, Louis broke off relations with the woman he really loved - the niece of Cardinal Mazarin. Perhaps the separation from his beloved also influenced the king’s attitude towards his legal wife. Maria Theresa accepted her fate. Unlike other French queens, she did not intrigue or get involved in politics, playing a prescribed role. When the queen died in 1683, Louis said: “ This is the only worry in my life that she has caused me.».

The king compensated for the lack of feelings in marriage with relationships with his favorites. For nine years, Louise-Françoise de La Baume Le Blanc, Duchess de La Vallière, became Louis's sweetheart. Louise was not distinguished by dazzling beauty, and, moreover, due to an unsuccessful fall from a horse, she remained lame for the rest of her life. But the meekness, friendliness and sharp mind of Lamefoot attracted the attention of the king.

Louise bore Louis four children, two of whom lived to adulthood. The king treated Louise quite cruelly. Having begun to grow cold towards her, he settled his rejected mistress next to his new favorite - Marquise Françoise Athenaïs de Montespan. The Duchess de La Valliere was forced to endure the bullying of her rival. She endured everything with her characteristic meekness, and in 1675 she became a nun and lived for many years in a monastery, where she was called Louise the Merciful.

There was not a shadow of the meekness of her predecessor in the lady before Montespan. Representative of one of the most ancient noble families France, Françoise not only became the official favorite, but for 10 years turned into the “true Queen of France.”

Marquise de Montespan with four legitimized children. 1677 Palace of Versailles.

Françoise loved luxury and did not like counting money. It was the Marquise de Montespan who turned the reign of Louis XIV from deliberate budgeting to unrestrained and unlimited spending. Capricious, envious, domineering and ambitious, Francoise knew how to subjugate the king to her will. New apartments were built for her in Versailles, and she managed to place all her close relatives in significant government positions.

Françoise de Montespan bore Louis seven children, four of whom lived to adulthood. But the relationship between Françoise and the king was not as faithful as with Louise. Louis allowed himself hobbies besides his official favorite, which infuriated Madame de Montespan.

To keep the king with her, she began to practice black magic and even became involved in a high-profile poisoning case. The king did not punish her with death, but deprived her of the status of a favorite, which was much more terrible for her.

Like her predecessor, Louise le Lavalier, the Marquise de Montespan exchanged the royal chambers for a monastery.

Time for repentance

Louis's new favorite was the Marquise de Maintenon, the widow of the poet Scarron, who was the governess of the king's children from Madame de Montespan.

This king’s favorite was called the same as her predecessor, Françoise, but the women were as different from each other as heaven and earth. The king had long conversations with the Marquise de Maintenon about the meaning of life, about religion, about responsibility before God. The royal court replaced its splendor with chastity and high morality.

Madame de Maintenon.

After the death of his official wife, Louis XIV secretly married the Marquise de Maintenon. Now the king was occupied not with balls and festivities, but with masses and reading the Bible. The only entertainment he allowed himself was hunting.

The Marquise de Maintenon founded and directed Europe's first secular school for women, called the Royal House of Saint Louis. The school in Saint-Cyr became an example for many similar institutions, including the Smolny Institute in St. Petersburg.

For her strict disposition and intolerance to secular entertainment, the Marquise de Maintenon received the nickname the Black Queen. She survived Louis and after his death retired to Saint-Cyr, living the rest of her days among the pupils of her school.

Illegitimate Bourbons

Louis XIV recognized his illegitimate children from both Louise de La Vallière and Françoise de Montespan. They all received their father's surname - de Bourbon, and dad tried to arrange their lives.

Louis, Louise's son, was already promoted to French admiral at the age of two, and as an adult he went on a military campaign with his father. There, at the age of 16, the young man died.

Louis-Auguste, son from Françoise, received the title of Duke of Maine, became a French commander and in this capacity accepted the godson of Peter I and Alexander Pushkin's great-grandfather Abram Petrovich Hannibal for military training.

Grand Dauphin Louis. The only surviving legitimate child of Louis XIV by Maria Theresa of Spain.

Françoise Marie, Louis's youngest daughter, was married to Philippe d'Orléans, becoming Duchess of Orléans. Possessing the character of her mother, Françoise-Marie plunged headlong into political intrigue. Her husband became the French regent under the young King Louis XV, and Françoise-Marie's children married the scions of other European royal dynasties.

In a word, not many illegitimate children of ruling persons suffered the same fate that befell the sons and daughters of Louis XIV.

“Did you really think that I would live forever?”

The last years of the king's life turned out to be a difficult ordeal for him. The man, who throughout his life defended the chosenness of the monarch and his right to autocratic rule, experienced not only the crisis of his state. His close people left one after another, and it turned out that there was simply no one to transfer power to.

On April 13, 1711, his son, the Grand Dauphin Louis, died. In February 1712, the Dauphin's eldest son, the Duke of Burgundy, died, and on March 8 of the same year, the latter's eldest son, the young Duke of Breton, died.

On March 4, 1714, the Duke of Burgundy's younger brother, the Duke of Berry, fell from his horse and died a few days later. The only heir was the 4-year-old great-grandson of the king, the youngest son of the Duke of Burgundy. If this little one had died, the throne would have remained vacant after the death of Louis.

This forced the king to include even his illegitimate sons in the list of heirs, which promised internal civil strife in France in the future.

Louis XIV.

At 76 years old, Louis remained energetic, active and, as in his youth, regularly went hunting. During one of these trips, the king fell and injured his leg. Doctors discovered that the injury had caused gangrene and suggested amputation. The Sun King refused: this is unacceptable for royal dignity. The disease progressed rapidly, and soon agony began, lasting for several days.

At the moment of clarity of consciousness, Louis looked around those present and uttered his last aphorism:

- Why are you crying? Did you really think that I would live forever?

On September 1, 1715, at about 8 o'clock in the morning, Louis XIV died in his palace at Versailles. four days before reaching his 77th birthday.