10 Crazy Facts About Louis XIV
1. He was king of France for 72 years (1643–1715)
Published in
3 min readSep 28, 2016
- This was the longest rule for any monarch of a major European country in history, and about double the life span of the average French citizen at the time
- He gained the throne as a four-year-old kid and stayed in power until he passed away at 77
2. When he ascended the throne, he looked like a little girl (1643)
- Just look at the painting on the right by Philippe De Champaigne
- Louis was a momma’s boy since his dad died when he was really young, so he clearly didn’t mind looking a bit effeminate
3. When he grew up, he looked like a 7-foot tall woman (1701)
- Louis XIV was only 5'4, so he would often wear high heels and a giant wig to look taller
- Even if he wasn’t the prettiest looking lady, Louis XIV was not afraid to strike a feminine pose, as in his famous portrait by Hyacinthe Rigaud (1701)
4. He had legz 4 dayz
- Louis XIV was an avid dancer trained by many professional instructors and was very proud of his legs
- He may have had a classic king’s gut, but he always made a point to have his court painters accentuate his legs
5. He really took it to heart when his parents told him he was God’s gift
- Louis XIII and his wife, Anne of Austria, spent 20 years trying to have their first baby until Louis XIV was born, which made them view his birth as a miracle
- Everyone around Louis XIV as a child, from his mom to his tutors to Bishop Boussuet to Cardinal Mazarin repeatedly told Louis he was God’s representative to France
- Louis XIV became known as The Sun King because just as the world revolved around the sun, France revolved around Louis (note: people were still hesitant to accept a heliocentric universe
6. As a direct representative of God, he thought he could tell people what religion they should be (hint: the correct answer was Catholic)
- Louis XIV was a devout Catholic and believed only his religion was the right one, so he banned French Protestants (Huguenots) from practicing their religion by Revoking the Edict of Nantes, which granted freedom of religion to France
- Made 200,000 Huguenots flee the country and executed hundreds more
7. Louis XIV really hated Paris (1648–1653)
- He had a scary experience there as a kid during The Fronde, a period when many groups of Frenchmen rebelled against the monarchy and Louis’ life was often in danger
- Everyone responds to traumatic childhoods differently; Louis XIV responded by spending 40 years and using over 35,000 workers to build the sickest palace of all time 13 miles away from Paris in Versailles
8. People went crazy trying to impress Louis XIV at Versailles, and some even died trying to impress him (1671)
- Versailles is the hallmark of Royal Absolutism: big enough to house thousands and thousands of people and becomes THE place to hang out for French Nobility trying to impress Louis XIV with their respect and etiquette
- One chef named Vatel had to prepare a banquet for 2,000 guests of Louis XIV, and when the fish was late, he stabbed himself through the heart to commit French Seppuku
9. Louis XIV loved watching people fight wars for him (1667–1714)
- Louis initiated almost 50 years of wars of aggression like the War of Devolution, the Dutch War, the War of the League of Augsburg, and the War of the Spanish Succession
- His wars gained France a couple minor new territories, but also caused all of Europe to band against France in the Grand Alliance and also made France never be allowed to ally with Spain after the Peace of Utrecht (1713)
10. Part of the United States is named after Louis XIV (1803)
- France’s territory in the United States was called the Louisiana Territory after their most famous Louis
- France sold the Louisiana Purchase to Thomas Jefferson and the United States in 1803 for $15 million, or about $250 million adjusted for today
