Louis XIV

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Louis XIV
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Louis XIV The Extravagant Sun King

• Louis XIV, known as the Sun King, ruled France
  for over 72 years
• In the age of absolute monarchs he set new
  standards
• He saw himself as the center of French life and
  culture. He gave himself the nickname Sun
  King, because he saw himself as the source of
  all light in the nation
• To ensure himself as the greatest he built
  himself a grand palace in Versailles, southwest
  of Paris and forced important nobles to live
  there with him.
• He became the center of their lives, everything
  they did required Louiss approval

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Louis XIV
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• If Louis pet-nobles behaved themselves, they
  were allowed to participate in the ceremonies of
  the day
• The royal getting up
• The royal breakfast
• The royal lunch
• The royal supper
• The royal going to bed
• Nobles were also required to take ballet
  lessons so they could learn to move gracefully in
  front of the King.
• HOWEVER, they didnt have much else to do since
  they were not a part of government decisions,
  that was all Louis

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The Brink of Disaster

• Louis XIV became involved in a number of wars so
  he could expand French territory and assert his
  power
• In the 1660s he was largely unsuccessful in a war
  with the Dutch, although he did secure some
  territory for France he also depleted his
  treasury
• Louis also involved himself in the politics of
  the Holy Roman Empire, claiming France had
  special rights in the Roman Catholic Church
• At home, his persecution of Calvinist Protestants
  was so intense that it caused a huge decline in
  the population
• These conflicts, as well as his lavish spending
  (palace of Versailles) put the deficit twice the
  amount of government revenues for much of his
  reign
• When Louis XV came to the throne in 1715 when his
  great-grandfather died, he was only 5 years old
• During his reign, the extravagances of the court
  and the failure of the government to reform,
  pushed France towards disaster

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The Reign of Louis XVI

• He came to the throne in 1774
• He was not prepared to be King and was not ready
  for the turmoil ahead
• Louis was a detached ruler he left many
  decisions to the royal court and had little
  contact with the lower or middle class

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Louis XVI
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Louis XVI and Frances Big Issues

• 1) Laws were different in every region
• Some were based on Roman law and some on local
  customs (ex Custom of Paris)
• 2) Language barriers
• Many people in France did not speak French, they
  spoke Breton or German, or another local dialect
• 3) High taxes
• Merchants were charged at every border-from Paris
  to the Mediterranean Sea was 30 different taxes!!
• 4) Terrible poverty

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Stay tuned, next class you will learn about Louis
XVI wife,The very controversialMARIE
ANTOINETTE