Week 28 Essay

          This week I learned about several different acts and people. They were the Peace of Augsburg, William of Orange, Cardinal de Richelieu, and Louis XIV. All four of these topics were very interesting, but in this essay, I will write about Louis XIV.

          Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, was the king of France during the seventeenth century. He was a very influential king and he made many accomplishments, as well as things that were unheard of during his time. At seventy-two years, he is also credited for having the longest reign in all of Europe!

          His father died when he was four years old, but since he was too young to make important decisions and completely be king, his mother, Anne of Austria served in his place. As a child, he was neglected, and rarely ever had attention on him. He actually almost drowned when he was young because he was not being watched. Despite this, his mother taught him about God and the Bible, which helped him a lot later in life. Even with attention, he was still not completely safe. He and his mother were captured and held prisoner for a while, but they eventually returned to France. Louis XIV finally was able to rule without his mother in 1661, at the age of twenty-three.

          Louis made many accomplishments during his reign. Some of these accomplishments were, he strengthened the royal French line, he strengthened France and made it the strongest country in Europe for a time, he built many palaces throughout Europe, and he ended the line of chief minister.

          He made this last accomplishment possible by doing something very unusual. Since his second chief minister died, and there was no one to take his place, Louis became his own chief minister. Louis also believed in The Divine Right of Kings. The Divine Right of Kings was something the Henry VIII of the Tudor Dynasty created, and it meant that God appointed that king to the role, so that king will obey God, and no one else. Most kings who believed this, such as Louis XIV, abused this power. Because of the Divine Right of Kings and being the chief minister, Louis had complete control of the people. The Sun King also made the Edict of Fontanbleu, which was designed to go against the Edict of Nantes and get rid of the French Huguenots, which made him in charge of the Huguenots as well.

          As I said before, Louis XIV built many palaces throughout Europe. He was very interested in art and architecture and he spent a lot of money on those things. He even took the place of a hunting lodge of Louis XIII and made it into the Palace of Versailles, which is actually famous for being where the treaty for World War I was signed.

          Louis XIV died 1715, just four days before his seventy-seventh birthday! He had gangrene, developed from an infection in his leg, and it caused him to be in a lot of pain towards the end of his life. Gangrene is a disease where large parts of your body die and decay when you are still alive.

          Louis XIV is a very famous and well-known king today. This could be because of his long life and seventy-two year reign, his unusual and incredible accomplishments, or even his amazing architectural work. No matter which one it is, he actually did all three. Even though France did not stay the most powerful country in Europe for his whole reign, he is still considered a very powerful king today.