ABSTRACT
The imperial element which was to be an important strand in the myth of Louis XIV was already present in 1638, for even then it matched the expectations of the French people. In prophetic style Louis XIV was presented as the universal monarch who's Empire will extend over all the seas and from the Rhine to the ends of the earth. Borne aloft into the domain of the ideal, the monarch proved incapable of lucidly analyzing reality, that is, of understanding the mistake he was making with regard to France and to himself, or even of being egoistic, as de Jouvenal explains. So as according to Le Siecle de everything begins with Louis XIV, an exemplary prince who could make France overflow with genius, achievements in the arts and beauty. The myth of Louis XIV, varied and protean as it is, has never been anything other than bright; it has never taken on the dark colours of the Napoleonic myth.
