Louis XIV
Louis XIV
Louis XIV (1638–1715), known as "the Sun King," was King of France from 1643 until his death, a reign of 72 years, the longest of any monarch in European history. Coming to the throne at four, he grew up amid the unrest of the Fronde, and on the death of Cardinal Mazarin in 1661 he chose to govern personally without a chief minister. With Jean-Baptiste Colbert he strengthened finances, trade and manufacturing and supported projects such as the Canal du Midi. He transformed his father's hunting lodge into the Palace of Versailles, founded academies for science, dance and architecture, and was patron to Molière, Racine and Lully. He also founded Les Invalides as a home for aged and wounded soldiers. His court set standards of art, manners and the French language that were followed across Europe for generations.
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Monarchs of the Age of Absolutism
Louis XIV, the Sun King, ruled France for 72 years and made his court at Versailles a model for monarchs across Europe. Peter the Great modernized Russia on Western lines and founded Saint Petersburg. In the eighteenth century, Frederick the Great of Prussia and Catherine the Great of Russia, both correspondents of Voltaire, became the best-known examples of enlightened absolutism.
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