ABSTRACT

Louis XIV was the king of France for over 72 years. He was born in 1638, he ascended the throne aged four in May 1643 and he reigned until September 1715. After the initial Regency led by his mother, Queen Anne, and the subsequent period in which the government was run by (and for) Cardinal Jules Mazarin, Louis decided in March 1661 to ‘govern by himself’ (in the words emblazoned on the ceiling of the Versailles Hall of Mirrors). He surprised the sceptics by not appointing another chief minister, and this socalled personal rule lasted until the very moment of the king’s death 54 years later. This reign spanned a period of European history that was by no means static, whether we consider international relations, high culture and the arts, political culture, religious history, trade and finance, colonization and the development of armed forces, to name but some of the issues. It is, however, too often seen as one reign divided into two parts: the eras before and after 1661, the periods of the king’s youth and of his maturity, respectively. There is much to be said for this schema, but it does not mean that it does justice to the way France as a country, and the monarchy as a regime, evolved during the ‘personal rule’. It is even beginning to look less than helpful for an understanding of the period before 1661, for the years after 1652 were in some respects very different from those prior to the Frondes, those rebellions against Anne and Mazarin’s regime by magistrates, office-holders and les grands, the magnates of the realm, which had begun in 1648.