Mia McGillan

Louis XIV (Sun King)

Louis XIV impacted the culture of France. Louis XIV was born on September 5, 1638, in

Saint-Germaine-en-Laye, France (Louis XIV). From the young “age of four” (​Palace of

Versailles​) years old, Louis XIV came into the King position for France. From 1643 to 1715,

Louis ruled France. Louis led an absolute monarch throughout all 72 of his years as King. He

had complete control over all of France and all the power was his. In the year 1661, Louis was

able to finally start to accomplish one of his biggest goals, reforming the government. A man by

the name of Mazarin had been the reason Louis was unable to do this, but once he died in

1661, Louis was able to start transforming France into the nation he wanted it to be. During his

72 years as King, Louis was able to build a massive palace, Versailles, get control over

France’s tax situation, rule through absolutism, have multiple domestic and foreign policies, gain

many territories through the wars in which he enrolled France in, and lead France to be the

strongest country in all of Europe. A few of the most memorable things Louis did during his reign

were invading Spanish Netherlands, involving France in the Franco-Dutch War, and leading a

war between France and the Grand Alliance. On September 1st, 1715, Louis XIV died of

gangrene in his beloved palace of Versailles. The throne was then passed down to his great

grandson Louis XV.

Louis XIV impacted the culture of France through Versailles. Versailles “official

inauguration of the Palace of Versailles on 6 May 1682” (​Palace of Versailles​) was the start of

an important palace in France. In 1678, the artists assigned to decorate the palace began to

work on the Hall of Mirrors, which became the symbol of Louis XIV’s reign. The mirrors

represented Louis’s use of absolute monarchy, having the mirrors all reflect back on to him; the

mirrors showed how Louis held all the power. The palace of Versailles was able to house all of
the King’s nobility. The nobles used this as a way to get close to the King, show him that they

were there whenever he needed them. With strict surveillance and “under the sovereign's

watchful eye” (​Palace of Versailles)​ , the once untrustworthy nobles, were unable to plot against

Louis and his throne. All those who worked in the palace, were eager to serve to Louis’s every

need. Once again, holding all of the power, the King was able to use those under him to serve

his needs. Throughout Louis’s reign, he used the Palace of Versailles to gather information and

use his servants to the uses he wanted. Following the death of Louis XIV, the palace was still

used, but more as an embassy. Louis’s great grandson, Louis XV, resided in the palace starting

on June 15, 1722. Louis XV used the palace to increase his knowledge and as a place to finish

all that his great grandfather had left behind. Another major event that took place in Versailles

after Louis XIV’s death was the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The death of Louis did not

stop the palace from being in use. The Palace of Versailles impacted the culture of France

through becoming a symbol of the absolutism of Louis XIV.

Louis XIV impacted the culture of France through controlling taxes and trying to maintain

government spending. Louis obtained most of his money from the nobles who served him. Louis

took their money and the nobles were left with only a small portion of what they had earned.

“When Louis came to power the nobility were getting only about thirty percent of what was owed

to them and Louis was getting the rest” (“Controlled Taxes and Government Spending”).

Although it was wrong of Louis to take 70% of the nobles earnings, as long as the nobles paid

Louis, they could keep collecting money and keep it to fund their needs. Louis used the nobles

tax money “to expand roads and to invest in national industry” (“Controlled Taxes and

Government Spending”). The King did use some of this money towards his desires, such as

towards the Palace of Versailles, but he did also use it to better the economy of France. By

investing in the national industry, Louis was able to increase the exports leaving France and
increase the tax base. When Louis started to get comfortable to with the tax money coming into

his hands, he started to get greedy and put it all towards the palace. France was close to

reaching debt on multiple occasions. With this domino effect occurring in France, Louis realized

he was going to need more money. He looked to the people who he knew would have the

money he needed, the nobles. “In order to obtain this money he would raise taxes constantly”

(“Controlled Taxes and Government Spending”). Even with already taking majority of the nobles

money, Louis continued to raise their taxes and collect more of their earnings. If Louis had

never started to use what should have been the government spending money on Versailles, the

country may have not been facing debt as much as it did during his reign. With majority of the

tax money going to Versailles and the amount of money spent on the wars and army that Louis

put France through, the country struggled financially for awhile. The man in charge of France’s

finances, Jean baptiste Colbert, was no help in establishing a better way of spending their

money. To improve the country’s almost in debt situation, Louis improved the tax system and

managed to get control of the government’s spending.

Louis XIV impacted the culture of France through absolutism. Louis’s father, Louis III,

died at the young age of 41 years old. Through Hierarchy, the throne was passed down to his

eldest son, Louis XIV. Dying at such a young age, left Louis XIV as king at the age of four. Louis

devoted his life to being a strong king to France, someone that his people could look up to.

Louis even said, “It is now time that I govern them myself” (“Reign of Louis XIV”). He made a

pledge to his country that after Mazarin’s death he would become a “real king” (“Reign of Louis

XIV”) to France. During his reign, Louis relied on many people to support him, but he never

shared any of his power with them. He wanted complete rule over them and all other people in

France. If Louis felt threatened in any way, he took action and made sure that his threats were

taken care of so that he remained at the top of the power line. Louis began to feel threatened by
the Huguenots and he took action through the “destruction of Huguenot churches and the

closing of their schools” (“Reign of Louis XIV”). This group of people began to gain a lot of

attention and many people began to support their ways. When Louis noticed their growing in

strength, he put an end to their rapid growth and banned everything he could that would lead to

them growing even more support. He did not allow the protestants to practice their faith in

France anymore; eventually, Louis XIV forced the Huguenots to switch their religion over to

Catholic, to become apart of what majority of France was. The Huguenots of France began to

notice how powerful Louis was becoming and many of these people fled the country. They did

not want to be ruled by such a rendictive King and so they left. With this came the loss of many

skilled and industrialized people. Another example of Louis taking away power from someone

who seemed to be gaining too much recognition was Nicholas Fouquet. “When Fouquet began

to flaunt the enormous wealth and power he had amassed in the King's service, Louis ordered

his arrest and imprisoned” (“Reign of Louis XIV”). Again, Louis took immediate action of this

powerful man and imprisoned him for his successes. Through his use of absolutism, Louis was

able to eliminate any competition and remain the most powerful King during his reign.

Louis XIV impacted the culture of France through his domestic and foreign policies. With

his absolute power, Louis used the bourgeoisie to help build up his bureaucracy. Using the

middle class as a way to build up this new way of governing, Louis was able to have a lot of

support and be successful in his ways. With a change in mind, “Louis continued the nobility's

exemption from taxes but forced its members into financial dependence on the crown, thus

creating a court nobility occupied with ceremonial etiquette and petty intrigues” (“King of France

Louis XIV”). Louis no longer used the nobles tax money, but they were still forced to support

Louis and his decisions, therefore meaning their money would still be used to his needs.

Gaining even more power, Louis ensured the nobles “lost all political power” (“King of France
Louis XIV”). He used these people as his backbone, but when it came down to it, he gave them

no rights and merely used them for their wealth. During his reign, Louis also cut down on local

authorities and made new ministries. These new ministries were lead by professionals that

served under Louis’s authority. “Under his minister Jean Baptiste Colbert industry and

commerce expanded on mercantilist principles and a navy was developed” (“King of France

Louis XIV”). More success came from Colbert when a new navy was developed under Louis’s

domestic policy. The war minister, the marquis de Louvois, also created the foundation of what

would become France’s military greatness. Aside from all of Louis’s domestic policies, Louis

was involved in many foreign policies. Louis was married to a women by the name of Marie

Therese. This marriage was used as an excuse for the War of Devolution which was started so

that Loui could become intertwined in and apart of Flanders. After this war went terribly wrong,

“for the next ten years the king limited his policies to diplomacy” (“King of France Louis XIV”).

Louis realized that he had wasted a lot of time and money in wars that France did not come out

successful in, so he cut back on his foreign policies. Instead of joining wars, Louis “setup

“chambers of reunion" to unearth legal grounds for claims on a number of cities, which Louis

promptly annexed” (“King of France Louis XIV”). This was financially smarter for the country and

Louis. Through his domestic and foreign policies, Louis XIV was able to gain territory for France

and become more efficient with where his money was going.

Louis XIV impacted the culture of France through the wars the country was involved in

during his reign. During the Dutch War, which lasted from 1672 to 1678-79, the French army

crossed the Rhine, which is one of France’s greatest achievements. “The crossing of the Rhine

in June 1672 is one of the great feats of French military history” (From Dutch to European

War…). The reasoning behind the Dutch War was for Louis to take revenge on Holland because

the Dutch “ moved against him with the Triple Alliance of 1668” (“King of France Louis XIV”).
Louis was angry with the Dutch and so he instituted the Dutch War. This war was not as

successful as Louis had hoped it would be. The Dutch were able to stop the French from

invading and following this, they proposed a settlement to Louis. He had for gone this settlement

in a year later, the French were still unable to seize the Dutch Empire. Louis had one goal in

mind, to take down the Dutch, and even when they offered him a settlement, he ignored it and

continued on this drive to end them. He cost France a lot of money and men by doing this.

Unable to conquer the Dutch, “Louis XIV occupied himself by conquering Maastricht in June and

subduing Alsace in August” (From Dutch to European War…). Louis’s next stop was Nancy, and

by September of 1673, he had an army by his side and was ready to conquer them. “He stood

poised with an army at Nancy preparing to invade the Spanish-owned province of

Franche-Comte, apart of the former Burgundian inheritance that had been an objective of

French arms since the time of Richelieu” (From Dutch to European War…). With 14,000 troops

by his side, Louis was prepared to take control of Nancy. Before the troops could entire battle,

Louis was informed that his troops failed under Turenne’s leadership in Germany and the

Hapsburgs took control over Germany again. Louis abandoned his plan at Franche-Comte and

planned to focus on what land he really wanted. Louis then sent reinforcements to Flanders,

Germany and Cologne. By this time, Louis had troops in the Netherlands, Spain, and in

Germany. Even though it seemed as though Louis was set with the amount of troops he had

scattered throughout Europe, none of them were ever successful in their conquests. Louis

realized that he had been spreading his troops to thin and that is why they were so unsuccessful

in their many attempts to seize many different places. With this knowledge in his back pocket,

Louis continued to push ahead and left his troops in the Netherlands in fear that he would lose

his Dutch conquests. "In the 0 present mood he would rather give up Paris or Versailles than

Maastricht” (From Dutch to European War…). Louis would have rather given up his beloved
Palace of Versailles then to lose Maastricht. Throughout the many wars that France was

involved in during Louis XIV’s reign, they were unsuccessful because the king disregarded their

failures and only worried about seizing territories.

Louis XIV impacted the culture of France through giving the country dominant power in

Europe. Although Louis did have a negative effect on France in many ways, when he died, he

left the country more successful than what it was at the beginning of his reign. By the end of his

reign, 20 million people resided in France, “far surpassing that of any other state in Europe”

(The Legacy of Louis XIV). More residents, means more money, which is good for France due

to the multiple occasions where it faced debt. Louis also did add a lot of territory to France, even

though he did lose many wars. “Louis left a territory larger than the one he had inherited, well

defended by a series of fortresses and the greatest army on the continent” (The Legacy of Louis

XIV). Now, France had grown in size and it was being well defended by the army that Louis XIV

had built up over many years. State tuitions became more efficient and “streamlined” (The

Legacy of Louis XIV). Louis also left behind “an impressive network of police and

intelligence-gathering agents”, which “ensured protection against domestic conspiracies or

foreign subversion” (The Legacy of Louis XIV). The country was well defended physically by the

fortresses built and the army that the country had, but also intellectually by the agents Louis

gathered to protect France. Finally, Louis’s reign spiked French culture and language. It became

the Golden Age for french writers, dramatists, musicians, architects, and landscape designers.

Things such as science, art, architecture, literature and theater became praised throughout

europe during his reign as well. When Louis’s reign came to an end, he left France well

protected and more prosperous than what it had been when his reign started in 1643.

Louis XIV impacted the culture of France. Louis impacted the culture of France through

Versailles by spending majority of the tax money on improving this palace and by using the
nobles and their money to his power. The culture of France was impacted by Louis through

tweaking the countries taxation system and keeping in check government spending as a way to

stay out of debt. Louis also impacted the culture of France through absolutism and his absolute

monarch by taking all power and being the only decision maker for the nation. Louis’s domestic

and foreign policies impacted the French culture through the many changes he made to the

government system and the involvement he had with other countries. Louis impacted the culture

of France through the wars the country was involved in because he tried to take control over as

much land as he could, through using his army to win battles. The culture of France changed

when the country became the most dominant power in Europe. I think that Louis XIV was an

important king of France because although he put the nation through many hardships, in the

end he made the nation much stronger than what it was before, and he left the country in a

place where it could become more prosperous in the years to come. Louis had a major impact

on the country and because of the decisions he made during his reign, France was able to

become the most dominant power in all of Europe. Although I don’t agree with some of the

tactics he used, he overall was a good leader for the bettering of France.

Works Cited

“Controlled Taxes and Government Spending.” ​King Louis XIV,​

french-king-louis-xiv.weebly.com/controlled-taxes-and-government-spending.html.

Ekberg, Carl J. "From Dutch to European War: Louis XIV and Louvois Are Tested." ​French
Historical Studies​, vol. 8, no. 3, Spring74, pp. 393-408. EBSCO​host,​
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=aph&AN=14348909&site=
ehost-live&custid=s5519304.

“History.” ​Palace of Versailles,​ 8 Feb. 2018,

en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/history#louis-xiii-and-versailles1607---1638.
"King of France Louis XIV." ["Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition"]. ​Columbia
Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition,​ Mar. 2017, p. 1. EBSCO​host,​
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=khh&AN=39018975&site=hrc-live.

“Louis XIII.” ​Biography.com,​ A&E Networks Television, 11 Feb. 2015,

www.biography.com/people/louis-xiii-9386868.

“Louis XIV.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 28 Apr. 2017,

www.biography.com/people/louis-xiv-9386885​.

“Louis XIV.” ​Palace of Versailles​, 1 Mar. 2018,

en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/history/louis-xiv#the-royal-family.

O'Connor, John T. "The Legacy of Louis XIV." ​Calliope​, vol. 12, no. 8, Apr. 2002, p. 37.
EBSCO​host​,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=mat&AN=6444600&site=e
host-live&custid=s5519304.

“Reign of Louis XIV.” ​Archimedes,​ www2.stetson.edu/~psteeves/classes/louisxiv.html.