Louis XIV: A Royal Life

He made the Palace at Versailes the most spectacular court in Europe. I loved how Louis XIV was able to subdue the nobility without resorting to violence. All court life centered around Louis XIV. Louis believed in keeping his friends close and his enemies even closer. He wanted them away from their districts so that they would not resort to rebellion reminiscent of the Fronde He was a young pleasure loving King who had the discipline to keep the Superintendent Fouquet unaware he was being investigated for thievery. Louis XIV was the first French monarch to be briefed daily about his country's finances. He made France the fashion capital of the world. People all over the world have gone to see the Palace of Versailles and the criticism leveled at him for its extravagance has been paid for many times over. His belief in himself as the Sun King blinded him to unnecessary wars. His later years were marked by the rigidity of court life. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in knowing how France became renowned for their architecture, food, country,poetry, plays and court life.

I enjoyed this bio a great deal. This is the first bio that I have read on King Louis XIV, so I learned a great deal. He was very active, energetic and ad a very good grasp on the government. The author was quite in-depth in the long scope of the kings life. I did not know much about what France was like during his reign (both geographically, culturally or politically). King Louis XIV both solidified the government and revolutionized it at the same time, ending the countless Civil Wars and raising the standards. The book goes into relationships with foreign governments, various internal players (both royal and non) and of course his many love interests. Versailles, of course, stand central, but other places which were new to me were part of his court and life. I would recommend this one, especially if the reader does not know much about the king.

It's been several years since I read this book, so I have to apologize for being a bit fuzzy on the details. I remember it being well-written, and full of details that help to explain both who Louis XIV Bourbon was, and the kind of environment he operated in.

In general it might be said that absolutist systems tend to produce executives who are unsuited to wield the plenitude of power that system bestows upon them. For the most part they grow up in sheltered, luxurious, ritual-intensive circumstances, and as a result this is pretty much all they know about the world. They might be timid, violent, cruel, fanatical, bewildered, indifferent to politics, or for any other number of reasons unsuited for command. One thinks of Claudius and Nero, Charles I and II, Nicholas II, of Louis XV, XVI, and XVIII, etc. Louis XIV seems to have been one of those rare individuals, like Constantine or Fredrick II, who was both temperamentally suited and intellectually equipped to make an absolutist system work.

He chose wise ministers, he knew how to delegate, and he knew how to play the long game in politics. He unified the French state, established the power of the monarchy, and brought the nobility to heel in his great palace at Versailles, where he forced them to squander their fortunes on lavish living and tempted them to expend their best energies in petty rivalries with one another. However, like many other absolutist rulers, the universal deference shown to him seems to have given him some unrealistic notions about the scope of his own power. Constantine reasoned that, having conquered an Empire, he could surely get a few quarreling bishops to agree on minor points of doctrine - only to frustrated time and again by their petty quarreling. Fredrick II pursued aggressive wars of expansion in eastern Europe, which eventually provoked the ire of mighty Russia against the small and isolated state of Prussia. He was only saved from utter ruin by the timely death of the Russian Czarina Elizabeth. Louis, for his part, squandered the wealth of the nation in the war of Spanish succession, which failed in its object of uniting the French and Spanish monarchies, and cost the French important overseas colonies. He also persecuted the Protestants who had put the house of Bourbon on the throne. Since Protestantism was mostly a phenomena of the towns, of merchants and industrialists, this meant the senseless waste of human resources in the name of religious intolerance. Toward the end of his life he was worn out, disillusioned, and utterly isolated by power.

Few figures have so completely dominated their age as Louis XIV did his. For a generation French became the language of culture and diplomacy throughout Europe, and every potentate of any pretension whatever felt compelled to build a miniature replica of Versailles. When Louis began to go bald, he started wearing whigs - for the next century all respectable Europeans did so as well. All together these developments amply illustrate the awesome prestige that this man and his regime commanded in his own time.

For people who want to understand European history, some kind of engagement with Louis XIV is essential. I found this volume accessible, informative, and lively. I recommend it.

"It is given to few men not only to alter the course of history but also to create a myth which endures century after century, and as we look back, even with a critical gaze, we cannot help but be moved by the golden glow which, after so much time, still illuminates the figure of the Sun King."

A good, easy read. If you are going to France some time soon, read up on Louis XIV so that you have a fix on at least part of French history.

One of the best books I ever read.

Good book.