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Birth of Louis XIV
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Louis XIV Becomes the King of France
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Spike in Population
By 1660, France had a population of 20 million people, making it the largest European country at the time. They had a much larger population than their enemies and were much better trained with weaponry. -
Louis XIV and Maria Theresa of Spain Get Married
Louis XIV and Maria Theresa were double first cousins. They got married through a contract and had six children, but only one of them survived to adulthood. Louis was a good husband for their first year of marriage, then he had a bunch of mistresses (both official and unofficial). -
Death of Cardinal Mazarin
Mazarin died when Louis was 22. Louis takes full control of France and governs without a first minister. He took control of the government and weakened the nobles' powers which lead to effectively increasing the power of intendants. -
Louis XIV Renews the Tower of Versailles
Louis XIV renewed the palace as his residence. To honor his grandfather's original plan, he added beautiful gardens surrounding the palace and even added a theatre to satisfy his passion for arts and ballet. -
Rivalry Between Louis XIV and William III of Orange
William III of Orange joined the league of Ausgburg which had a bunch of other European leaders. All of them together equaled the power of France. France was weakened by poor harvests and war which required Louis XIV to higher taxes on the French in order to pay for the wars. -
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The Treaties of Peace of Nijmegen
These were treaties signed in the Netherlands which ended various interconnected wars between France, the Dutch Republic, Spain, Brandenburg, Sweden, Denmark, the Prince Bishopric of Munster, and the Holy Roman Empire. -
Louis XIV Cancels the Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Nantes was created by Charles IV to promote unity in France and gave rights to the Huguenots and allowed them to practice their own religion. Louis XIV cancelled this edict because he wanted to have more order in France and wanted everyone to be Catholic. -
War of the Spanish Succession
After Charles II of Spain died, Louis XIV claimed his grandson to be the ruler of Spain and then invaded the Spanish Netherlands. This angered neighboring European states and they built an anti-French alliance and went to war against the French. -
Death of Louis XIV
