Louis XIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 1638 – 1 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great (Louis le Grand) or the Sun King (le Roi Soleil), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any sovereign....
Death of Louis XIV On September 1, 1715, four days before his 77th birthday, Louis XIV died of gangrene at Versailles. His reign had lasted 72 years, longer than that of any other known European monarch, and left an indelible mark on the culture, history and destiny of France. His five...
Taking in the full breadth of the king’s reign from when he ascended the throne at the age of five to his death in 1774, the show includes a vast range of nearly 400 artworks. Highlights include Nicolas de Largillière’s Madame de Ventadour with King Louis XIV and his heirs (c. 17...
Madame Scarron (later created Marquise de Maintenon). Soon, she replaced Madame Montespan in the King’s affection. After the death of Queen Marie-Thérèse in 1683, King Louis XIV married Madame de Maintenon in a private ceremony conducted by the Archbishop of Paris. Because the marriage was ...
King XIV’s Later Years and Death The last years of King Louis XIV’s life were not happy ones. He was unable to get over the many tragedies that had been suffered, both personally and by the country he ruled. He was also not able to get his finances back under control. Additionally...
France with very little pomp or ceremony, per his wishes that the French people not be subjected to any excessive or unnecessary expense due to his death. Knowing his death was near, the King had revised his will, limiting the powers of his wife who would go on to serve as Regent for ...
Louis XIV (born 1638) was the King of France from 1643 to his death in 1715 (the record for longest reign of any European monarch). Known as the "Sun King," Louis XIV centralized French society around his rule, serving as the archetypal "absolute monarch" in Europe....
Madeleine's shared history with the king holds the key to her family's life...or death. Seventeenth century France is an unsafe time to be a Huguenot. By order of King Louis XIV, all French Protestants must immediately convert or face imprisonment--or death. The king's dragoons ferret ...
Was Louis XIV Catherine de Medici's son? How did Suleiman the Magnificent destroy King Louis? Did King William III own slaves? Was Louis XVI descended from Charles the Bald? Did the Magna Carta help end the feudal system? Did the death of King Louis end the Crusades?
Inspired by the recent anniversary of the death of Louis XIV, we investigated our two editions of the Médailles sur les principaux événements du règn