TURNING POINTS IN THE REIGN OF LOUIS XIV (1643-1715)

1648-53: The Fronde

1661: The King declares on the death of Cardinal Mazarin that he will henceforth be his own chief minister

1672-78: Franco-Dutch War

1685: Revocation of the Edict of Nantes

1688-97: War of the League of Augsburg (9 Years’ War)

1701-14: War of Spanish Succession (famine & bread riots in 1709/10)

1715: Death of the Sun King; succeeded by his great-grandson Louis XV

Cardinal Mazarin, Anne of Austria, and King Louis XIII

MAJOR UPRISINGS OF THE FRONDE, 1648-53

The movement began in Paris with a popular uprising to free judges imprisoned for questioning the legality of Mazarin’s new taxes. By 1650 the movement was dominated by princes who had quarreled with Richelieu and Mazarin.

Medallion of Cardinal Mazarin (1602-1661), struck around 1660; he is shown as Hercules sharing

the burden of the globe with Atlas/Louis XIV

The young Louis XIV, dressed as

“The Sun,” dances in the

“Ballet de la Nuit” (1653)

Jean Nocret, “The Family of Louis XIV” (1670)

Louise de la Valliere (1644-1710) and her royal children

The Marquise de Montespan

(1640-1707), the King’s

mistress from 1667 until 1680

Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1666)

Pierre Patel, “View of the Chateau de Versailles” in 1668, as the King’s coach arrives

Van der Meulen, “Versailles under Construction” (1669)

P.D. Martin, “Chateau of Versailles,” 1722

Charles Riviere, “View of the Gardens of Versailles”

(and the rear of the palace)

Palace of Versailles, Entrance

The King’s Apartments, Palace of Versailles

Palace of Versailles: The Hall of Mirrors

Charles Le Brun, “Entry of Alexander into Babylon” (ca. 1664)

Charles Le Brun, “The Decision of Louis XIV to Make War on the Dutch Republic in 1671”

(study for the decoration of the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles)

Louis XIV leads his

army into the Netherlands

in 1672

THE MODEST TERRITORIAL GAINS ACHIEVED BY LOUIS XIV

Elias Hainzelmann,

“Louis the Great”

(engraving, 1686): Ruler of

the world, protector of the

Church

“THE NEW MISSIONARIES, dispatched by order of Louis the Great throughout the

Kingdom of France to return the heretics to the Catholic faith” (1686)

William of Orange,

Stadholder of the

Netherlands, who landed in England with 20,000 troops in November

1688

After the “Glorious

Revolution,” King William III

(1689-1702) and Queen Mary

forged an anti-French alliance of

England, the Netherlands, and

Austria

The expansion of

Austria, Russia, and

Brandenburg-Prussia

around 1700

Louis XIV in battle armor (1696)

Royal Chapel, Palace of Versailles (completed in 1710)

Ceiling of the Royal Chapel: The Holy Trinity

Hyacinthe Rigaud, “Louis XIV”

(1701)

OUTCOME OF THE WAR OF SPANISH SUCCESSION:Austria acquires the Spanish Netherlands (Belgium),

and the Bourbons acquire Naples

Louis & Antoine le Nain, “Peasant Family” (ca. 1640)

Le Nain brothers,

“Blacksmith at his Forge”

(1640s)

Le Nain brothers, “Smokers in an Interior” (1643)