ABSTRACT
During the early summer of 1715 the old king was clearly not himself. Courtiers were saddened by his drawn face and weary demeanour. He had lost weight and had to be propelled round the palace in an armchair on castors. Louis said goodbye to his tearful courtiers, to whom he apologised for not being a better master. Bluche enthusiastically quotes Leibniz–a Protestant and a German–to the effect that Louis XIV was 'one of the greatest kings who ever lived'. Other sympathetic biographers, from Voltaire to contemporary admirers of the Sun King such as Treasure, Fraser and Dunlop, reiterate that Louis was a 'great king'. More critical historians from Lavisse to Briggs are impressed by Louis's mediocrity. Louis XIV's irresponsible aggression inflicted suffering on millions. He forced Christians to the communion table. He got the worst of all possible worlds in his struggle with the Jansenists.
