Interesting facts from the life of King Louis XIV. What was wrong with the “sun king” Louis XIV? Reign of Louis 14

Booker Igor 06/03/2019 at 14:17

The frivolous public willingly believes in fairy tales about the abundance of love of the French king Louis XIV. Against the background of the morals of that time, the number of love victories of the "Sun King" simply fades. A timid young man, learning about women, did not become a libertarian. Louis was characterized by bouts of generosity in relation to the ladies left by him, who continued to enjoy many favors, and their offspring received titles and estates. Among the favorites, Madame de Montespan stands out, whose children from the king became Bourbons.

The marriage of Louis XIV to Maria Theresa was a political and french king bored with his wife. The daughter of the King of Spain was a pretty woman, but she was completely lacking in charm (despite the fact that she was the daughter of Elizabeth of France, there was not a grain of French charm in her) and there was no gaiety. At first, Louis looked at Henrietta of England, his brother's wife, who was disgusted with her husband, a fan of same-sex love. At one of the court balls, Duke Philippe of Orleans, who showed courage and commanding qualities on the battlefield, dressed in a woman's dress and danced with his handsome cavalier. An unattractive 16-year-old tall girl with a drooping lower lip had two advantages - a lovely opal complexion and accommodating.

The contemporary French writer Eric Deschodt, in his biography of Louis XIV, testifies: "The relationship between Louis and Henriette does not go unnoticed. Monsieur (title Monsieur was given to the brother of the king of France, next in seniority - ed.) complains to his mother. Anne of Austria scolds Henrietta. Henrietta proposes to Louis, in order to avert suspicion from herself, to pretend that he is courting one of her ladies-in-waiting. They choose for this Louise de la Baume le Blanc (Françoise Louise de La Baume Le Blanc), the girl La Vallière (La Vallière), a seventeen-year-old native of Touraine, a delightful blonde (in those days, as later in Hollywood, men prefer blondes), - whose voice can touch even an ox, and whose glance can soften a tiger."

For Madame - title Madame was given to the wife of the brother of the king of France, next in seniority and having the title of "Monsieur" - the result was deplorable. You can't tell without looking, but Louis traded Henrietta's dubious charms for a blond beauty. From Maria Theresa, who in 1661 gave birth to the Grand Dauphin (the eldest son of the king), Louis concealed his affair in the greatest secret. "Contrary to all appearances and legends, from 1661 to 1683, Louis XIV always tries to keep his love affairs in big secret, writes the French historian François Bluche. “He does this first of all to spare the queen.” The environment of the ardent Catholic Anna of Austria was in despair. Lavalier from the “sun king” will give birth to four children, but only two will survive. Louis recognizes them.

The Duchy of Vaujour will be a farewell gift to her mistress, then she will retire to the Carmelite convent in Paris, but for some time she stoically endured the bullying of the new favorite, Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart or the Marquise de Montespan (marquise de Montespan). It is difficult for historians to establish an exact list and chronology of Louis's love affairs, especially since, as noted, he often returned to his former passions.

Witty compatriots even then noted that Lavalier loved the monarch like a mistress, Maintenon like a governess, and Montespan like a mistress. Thanks to the Marquise de Montespan, on July 18, 1668, a “grand royal feast at Versailles” took place, the Bath Apartments, the porcelain Trianon were built, the Versailles bosquets were created, and an amazing castle (“Palace of Armida”) was built in Clagny. Both contemporaries and current historians tell us that the king's affection for Madame de Montespan (where spiritual intimacy played no less a role than sensuality) continued after the termination of their love affair.

At 23, Mademoiselle de Tonnay-Charente was married to the Marquis de Montespan of the Pardaillan family. The husband was constantly afraid of being arrested for debts, which irritated Atenais extremely. She answered the call of the king, who had already become less timid and shy than during the cupids with Louise de La Vallière. The marquis could have taken his wife to the provinces, but for some reason he did not. Having learned about the betrayal of the Marquise, Gascon blood woke up in the cuckold and one day he read a notation to the monarch and ordered a memorial service for his wife.

Louis was not a petty tyrant, and although the Gascon was decently fed up with him, he not only did not put him in prison, but also promoted the legitimate son of the Marquis and Marquise de Montespan in every possible way. First he made him lieutenant-general, then director-general of civil works, and finally he was granted the titles of duke and peer. Madame de Montespan, awarded the title maîtresse royale en titre- "the official mistress of the king, gave birth to eight children to Louis. Four of them reached adulthood and were legalized and made Bourbons. Three of them married persons of royal blood. After the birth of the seventh bastard, Count of Toulouse, Louis avoids intimacy with Montespan.

Not even on the horizon, but almost in the royal chambers, Marie Angélique de Scorraille de Roussille, the maiden Fontanges, who arrived from Auvergne, appears. The aging king falls in love with an 18-year-old beauty, according to contemporaries, "who has not been seen in Versailles for a long time." Their feelings are mutual. With Montespan, the girl Fontange is related by the arrogance shown in relation to the former and forgotten Louis favorites. Perhaps all she lacked was de Montespan's causticity and sharp tongue.

Madame de Montespan stubbornly did not want to give up her place for a great life, and the king, by nature, was not inclined to openly break with the mother of his children. Louis allowed her to continue living in his luxurious apartments and even visited his former mistress from time to time, flatly refusing to have sex with a plump favorite.

“Maria Angelica sets the tone,” writes Eric Deschodt. “If, during a hunt in Fontainebleau, she ties a strand of hair that has fallen out with a ribbon, then the whole court and all of Paris does it the next day. The hairstyle “a la Fontange” is still mentioned in dictionaries "But the happiness of the one who invented it turned out to be not so long. A year later, Louis is already bored. The beauty is a replacement. It looks like she was stupid, but this was hardly the only reason for disgrace." The Duchess de Fontanges was given a pension of 20,000 livres by the king. A year after the loss of her prematurely born son, she died suddenly.

The subjects forgave their monarch for his love affairs, which cannot be said about gentlemen historians. Historiographers connected the "reign" of the Marquise de Montespan and her "resignation" with unseemly cases, such as the "poisoning case" (L "affaire des Poisons"). , black masses and all sorts of other devilry, and at the beginning it was only about poisoning, as is clear from its name, under which it appears to this day, ”explains historian Francois Bluche.

In March 1679, the police arrested a certain Catherine Deshayes, Monvoisin's mother, who was called simply Voisin (la Voisin), suspected of witchcraft. Five days later, Adam Kere or Cobré, aka Dubuisson, aka "abbe Lesage" (abbé Lesage), was arrested. Their interrogation revealed or led to the idea that witches and sorcerers had fallen into the hands of justice. These, in the words of Saint-Simon, "fashionable crimes", were dealt with, established by Louis XIV, a special court, nicknamed Chambre ardente- "Fire chamber". This commission included high-ranking officials and was chaired by Louis Bouchre, the future Chancellor.

Louis XIV reigned for 72 years, longer than any other European monarch. He became king at the age of four, took full power into his own hands at 23 and ruled for 54 years. "The state is me!" - Louis XIV did not say these words, but the state has always been associated with the personality of the ruler. Therefore, if we talk about the mistakes and mistakes of Louis XIV (the war with Holland, the abolition of the Edict of Nantes, etc.), then the asset of the reign should also be recorded on his account.

The development of trade and manufacturing, the birth of the colonial empire of France, the reform of the army and the creation of the navy, the development of art and science, the construction of Versailles and, finally, the transformation of France into a modern state. These are not all the achievements of the Louis XIV Century. So what was this ruler who gave a name to his time?

Louis XIV de Bourbon.

Louis XIV de Bourbon, who received the name Louis-Dieudonnet ("God-given") at birth, was born on September 5, 1638. The name "God-given" appeared for a reason. Queen Anne of Austria produced an heir at the age of 37.

For 22 years, the marriage of Louis' parents was fruitless, and therefore the birth of an heir was perceived by the people as a miracle. After the death of his father, the young Louis and his mother moved to the Palais Royal, the former palace of Cardinal Richelieu. Here the little king was brought up in a very simple and sometimes wretched environment.

His mother was considered the regent of France, but the real power was in the hands of her favorite, Cardinal Mazarin. He was very stingy and did not care at all not only about pleasing the child-king, but even about the availability of basic necessities for him.

The first years of the formal reign of Louis saw the events civil war known as the Fronde. In January 1649, an uprising broke out in Paris against Mazarin. The king and ministers had to flee to Saint-Germain, and Mazarin to Brussels in general. Peace was restored only in 1652, and power returned to the hands of the cardinal. Despite the fact that the king was already considered an adult, Mazarin ruled France until his death.

Giulio Mazarin - church and politician and the first minister of France in 1643-1651 and 1653-1661. He took over the post under the patronage of Queen Anne of Austria.

In 1659 peace was signed with Spain. The treaty was sealed by the marriage of Louis with Maria Theresa, who was his cousin. When Mazarin died in 1661, Louis, having received his freedom, hastened to get rid of any guardianship over himself.

He abolished the office of First Minister, announcing to the State Council that from now on he would be First Minister himself, and no even the most insignificant decree should be signed by anyone on his behalf.

Louis was poorly educated, barely able to read and write, but possessed of common sense and a firm determination to uphold his royal dignity. He was tall, handsome, had a noble posture, strove to express himself briefly and clearly. Unfortunately, he was excessively selfish, as no European monarch was distinguished by monstrous pride and selfishness. All former royal residences seemed to Louis unworthy of his greatness.

After some deliberation, in 1662 he decided to turn the small hunting castle of Versailles into a royal palace. It took 50 years and 400 million francs. Until 1666, the king had to live in the Louvre, from 1666 to 1671. in the Tuileries, from 1671 to 1681, alternately in the construction of Versailles and Saint-Germain-O-l "E. Finally, from 1682, Versailles became the permanent residence of the royal court and government. From now on, Louis visited Paris only on short visits.

The new palace of the king was distinguished by extraordinary splendor. The so-called (large apartments) - six salons named after ancient deities - served as hallways for the Mirror Gallery 72 meters long, 10 meters wide and 16 meters high. Buffets were arranged in the salons, guests played billiards and cards.

The Great Condé greets Louis XIV on the Staircase at Versailles.

In general, the card game became an indomitable passion at court. The stakes reached several thousand livres per game, and Louis himself stopped playing only after he lost 600 thousand livres in six months in 1676.

Comedies were also staged in the palace, first by Italian and then by French authors: Corneille, Racine, and especially often Molière. In addition, Louis loved to dance, and repeatedly took part in ballet productions at court.

The splendor of the palace corresponded to the complex rules of etiquette established by Louis. Any action was accompanied by a whole set of carefully designed ceremonies. Meals, going to bed, even the simple quenching of thirst during the day - everything was turned into complex rituals.

War against everyone

If the king would only be engaged in the construction of Versailles, the rise of the economy and the development of the arts, then, probably, the respect and love of subjects for the Sun King would be limitless. However, the ambitions of Louis XIV extended much beyond the borders of his state.

By the early 1680s, Louis XIV had the most powerful army in Europe, which only whetted his appetites. In 1681, he established the chambers of reunification to seek the rights of the French crown to certain areas, capturing more and more lands in Europe and Africa.

In 1688, the claims of Louis XIV to the Palatinate led to the fact that all of Europe took up arms against him. The so-called War of the League of Augsburg dragged on for nine years and led to the parties maintaining the status quo. But the huge expenses and losses incurred by France led to a new economic decline in the country and the depletion of funds.

But already in 1701, France was embroiled in a long conflict, called the War of the Spanish Succession. Louis XIV expected to defend the rights to the Spanish throne for his grandson, who was to become the head of two states. However, the war, which engulfed not only Europe, but also North America, ended unsuccessfully for France.

According to the peace concluded in 1713 and 1714, the grandson of Louis XIV retained the Spanish crown, but its Italian and Dutch possessions were lost, and England, by destroying the Franco-Spanish fleets and conquering a number of colonies, laid the foundation for its maritime dominion. In addition, the project of uniting France and Spain under the hand of the French monarch had to be abandoned.

Sale of positions and expulsion of the Huguenots

This last military campaign of Louis XIV returned him to where he started - the country was mired in debt and groaning from the burden of taxes, and here and there rebellions broke out, the suppression of which required more and more new resources.

The need to replenish the budget led to non-trivial solutions. Under Louis XIV, trade in public offices was put on stream, reaching its maximum scope in last years his life. To replenish the treasury, more and more new positions were created, which, of course, brought chaos and discord into the activities of state institutions.

Louis XIV on coins.

French Protestants joined the ranks of Louis XIV's opponents after the Edict of Fontainebleau was signed in 1685, repealing the Edict of Nantes by Henry IV, which guaranteed the Huguenots freedom of religion.

After that, more than 200,000 French Protestants emigrated from the country, despite severe penalties for emigration. The exodus of tens of thousands of economically active citizens dealt another painful blow to the power of France.

The unloved queen and the meek lame

At all times and eras, the personal life of monarchs influenced politics. Louis XIV in this sense is no exception. Once the monarch remarked: "It would be easier for me to reconcile the whole of Europe than a few women."

His official wife in 1660 was a contemporary, the Spanish Infanta Maria Theresa, who was Louis's cousin both by father and mother.

The problem of this marriage, however, was not in close relationships. family ties spouses. Louis simply did not like Maria Theresa, but dutifully agreed to a marriage that was of great political importance. The wife bore the king six children, but five of them died in childhood. Only the first-born survived, named, like his father, Louis and went down in history under the name of the Great Dauphin.

The marriage of Louis XIV took place in 1660.

For the sake of marriage, Louis broke off relations with the woman he really loved - the niece of Cardinal Mazarin. Perhaps parting with his beloved also influenced the attitude of the king towards his lawful wife. Maria Theresa resigned herself to her fate. Unlike other French queens, she did not intrigue and did not get into politics, playing a prescribed role. When the queen died in 1683, Louis said: This is the only worry in life that she has caused me.».

The king compensated for the lack of feelings in marriage by relations with favorites. Louise-Francoise de La Baume Le Blanc, Duchess de La Vallière, became Louise-Francoise de La Baume Le Blanc, for nine years. Louise was not distinguished by dazzling beauty, besides, due to an unsuccessful fall from a horse, she remained lame for life. But the meekness, friendliness and sharp mind of Limps attracted the attention of the king.

Louise bore Louis four children, two of whom survived to adulthood. The king treated Louise quite cruelly. Becoming cool to her, he settled the rejected mistress next to the new favorite - the Marquise Francoise Athenais de Montespan. The heroine de Lavaliere was forced to endure the bullying of her rival. She endured everything with her usual meekness, and in 1675 she took the veil as a nun and lived for many years in a monastery, where she was called Louise the Merciful.

In the lady before Montespan there was not even a shadow of the meekness of her predecessor. Representative of one of the most ancient noble families France, Francoise not only became the official favorite, but for 10 years she turned into the "true Queen of France."

Marquise de Montespan with four legitimized children. 1677. Palace of Versailles.

Françoise loved luxury and did not like to count money. It was the Marquise de Montespan who turned the reign of Louis XIV from deliberate budgeting to unbridled and unlimited spending. Capricious, envious, imperious and ambitious Francoise knew how to subordinate the king to her will. New apartments were built for her in Versailles, she managed to arrange all her close relatives for significant government posts.

Françoise de Montespan bore Louis seven children, four of whom survived to adulthood. But the relationship between Françoise and the king was not as faithful as with Louise. Louis allowed himself hobbies in addition to the official favorite, which angered Madame de Montespan.

To keep the king to herself, she became involved in black magic and even got involved in a high-profile case of poisoning. The king did not punish her with death, but deprived her of the status of a favorite, which was much more terrible for her.

Like her predecessor, Louise le Lavaliere, the Marquise de Montespan changed her royal quarters to a convent.

Time for repentance

The new favorite of Louis was the Marquise de Maintenon, the widow of the poet Scarron, who was the governess of the king's children from Madame de Montespan.

This favorite of the king was called the same as her predecessor, Francoise, but the women differed from each other, like heaven and earth. The king had long conversations with the Marquise de Maintenon about the meaning of life, about religion, about responsibility before God. The royal court changed its luster to chastity and high morality.

Madame de Maintenon.

After the death of his official wife, Louis XIV was married in secret to the Marquise de Maintenon. Now the king was occupied not with balls and festivities, but with masses and reading the Bible. The only entertainment he allowed himself was hunting.

The Marquise de Maintenon founded and directed the first secular school for women in Europe, called the Royal House of Saint Louis. The school in Saint-Cyr has become an example for many such institutions, including the Smolny Institute in St. Petersburg.

For her strict disposition and intolerance for secular entertainment, the Marquise de Maintenon was nicknamed the Black Queen. She survived Louis and after his death retired to Saint-Cyr, living the rest of her days in the circle of pupils of her school.

Illegitimate Bourbons

Louis XIV recognized his illegitimate children from both Louise de La Vallière and Francoise de Montespan. They all received their father's surname - de Bourbon, and dad tried to arrange their lives.

Louise, the son of Louise, was promoted to French admiral at the age of two, and when he grew up, he went on a military campaign with his father. There, at the age of 16, the young man died.

Louis-Auguste, the son of Francoise, received the title of Duke of Maine, became a French commander and, in this capacity, received Abram Petrovich Hannibal, godson of Peter I and great-grandfather of Alexander Pushkin, for military training.

Grand Dauphin Louis. The only surviving legitimate child of Louis XIV by Maria Theresa of Spain.

Françoise-Marie, the youngest daughter of Louis, was married to Philippe d'Orleans, becoming the Duchess of Orleans. Possessing the character of a mother, Françoise-Marie plunged headlong into political intrigues. Her husband became the French regent under the infant king Louis XV, and the children of Francoise-Marie married the offspring of other royal dynasties of Europe.

In a word, not many illegitimate children of ruling persons got such a fate, which fell to the lot of the sons and daughters of Louis XIV.

"Did you really think that I would live forever?"

The last years of the king's life turned out to be a difficult test for him. The man who all his life defended the choice of God of the monarch and his right to autocratic rule, experienced not only the crisis of his state. His close people left one by one, and it turned out that there was simply no one to transfer power to.

On April 13, 1711, his son, the Grand Dauphin Louis, died. In February 1712, the eldest son of the Dauphin, the Duke of Burgundy, died, and on March 8 of the same year, the eldest son of the latter, the young Duke of Brittany.

March 4, 1714 fell from a horse and a few days later died the younger brother of the Duke of Burgundy, the Duke of Berry. The only heir was the 4-year-old great-grandson of the king, the youngest son of the Duke of Burgundy. If this baby had died, the throne after the death of Louis would have remained vacant.

This forced the king to add even his illegitimate sons to the list of heirs, which promised internal strife in France in the future.

Louis XIV.

At the age of 76, Louis remained active, active and, as in his youth, regularly went hunting. During one of these trips, the king fell and injured his leg. Doctors found that the injury had provoked gangrene and suggested amputation. The Sun King refused: it is unacceptable for royal dignity. The disease progressed rapidly, and soon the agony began, stretching for several days.

At the moment of clearing his mind, Louis looked around those present and uttered his last aphorism:

- Why are you crying? Did you think that I would live forever?

On September 1, 1715, at about 8 o'clock in the morning, Louis XIV died in his palace at Versailles, four days before reaching the age of 77.

Compilation of material - Fox

Louis XIV

short biography

Louis XIV de Bourbon, who received the name Louis-Dieudonné at birth ("God-given", French Louis-Dieudonné), also known as "sun king"(fr. Louis XIV Le Roi Soleil), also Louis Great(fr. Louis le Grand), (September 5, 1638, Saint-Germain-en-Laye - September 1, 1715, Versailles) - King of France and Navarre from May 14, 1643. Reigned 72 years - longer than any other European king in history (of the monarchs of Europe, only some rulers of the small states of the Holy Roman Empire, for example, Bernard VII of Lippe or Karl Friedrich of Baden, were in power longer).

Louis, who survived the wars of the Fronde in his childhood, became a staunch supporter of the principle absolute monarchy and the divine right of kings (he is credited with the expression “The state is me!”), He combined the strengthening of his power with a successful selection statesmen to key political positions. The reign of Louis - a time of significant consolidation of the unity of France, its military power, political weight and intellectual prestige, the flowering of culture, went down in history as the Great Age. At the same time, the long-term military conflicts in which France participated during the reign of Louis the Great led to higher taxes, which placed a heavy burden on the shoulders of the population and caused popular uprisings, and as a result of the adoption of the Edict of Fontainebleau, which canceled the Edict of Nantes on religious tolerance within the kingdom, about 200 thousand Huguenots emigrated from France.

Childhood and early years

Louis XIV came to the throne in May 1643, when he was not yet five years old, so, according to his father's will, the regency was transferred to Anna of Austria, who ruled in close tandem with the first minister, Cardinal Mazarin. Even before the end of the war with Spain and the House of Austria, the princes and the highest aristocracy, supported by Spain and in alliance with the Parlement of Paris, began unrest, which received common name The Fronde (1648-1652) and ended only with the submission of the Prince de Conde and the signing of the Peace of the Pyrenees (November 7, 1659).

In 1660, Louis married the Spanish Infanta Maria Theresa of Austria. At this time, the young king, who grew up without sufficient upbringing and education, did not yet show great promise. However, as soon as Cardinal Mazarin died (1661), the next day, Louis XIV convened a Council of State, at which he announced that he now intended to rule independently, without appointing a first minister.

So Louis began to independently manage the state, the king followed this course until his death. Louis XIV had a gift for choosing talented and capable employees (for example, Colbert, Vauban, Letelier, Lyonne, Louvois). It can even be said that Louis elevated the doctrine of royal rights to a semi-religious dogma. Thanks to the works of the talented economist and financier J. B. Colbert, much was done to strengthen state unity, the well-being of the representatives of the third estate, encourage trade, develop industry and the fleet. At the same time, the Marquis de Louvois reformed the army, unified its organization and increased its fighting strength.

After the death of King Philip IV of Spain (1665), Louis XIV announced France's claims to part of the Spanish Netherlands and kept it behind him in the so-called War of Devolution. The Treaty of Aachen, concluded on May 2, 1668, transferred French Flanders and a number of border areas into his hands.

War with the Netherlands

From that time on, the United Provinces had a passionate enemy in the person of Louis. Contrasts in foreign policy, state views, trade interests, religion led both states to constant clashes. Louis in 1668-1671 skillfully managed to isolate the republic. Through bribery, he managed to divert England and Sweden from the Triple Alliance, to attract Cologne and Munster to the side of France. Having brought his army to 120,000 people, Louis in 1670 occupied the possessions of an ally of the States General, Duke Charles IV of Lorraine, and in 1672 crossed the Rhine, conquered half of the provinces within six weeks and returned to Paris in triumph. The breakthrough of the dam, the rise of William III of Orange to power, the intervention of European powers stopped the success of French weapons. The States General entered into an alliance with Spain, Brandenburg and Austria; the Empire also joined them after the French army attacked the Archbishopric of Trier and occupied the 10 imperial cities of Alsace, already half-joined with France. In 1674, Louis opposed his enemies with 3 large armies: with one of them he personally occupied Franche-Comté; the other, under the command of Conde, fought in the Netherlands and won at Senef; the third, headed by Turenne, devastated the Palatinate and successfully fought the troops of the emperor and the great elector in Alsace. After a short break due to the death of Turenne and the removal of Condé, Louis at the beginning of 1676 came to the Netherlands with renewed vigor and conquered a number of cities, while Luxembourg devastated the Breisgau. The whole country between the Saar, the Moselle and the Rhine, by order of the king, was turned into a desert. In the Mediterranean, Duquesne defeated Reuter; Brandenburg's forces were distracted by an attack by the Swedes. Only as a result of hostile actions on the part of England, Louis in 1678 concluded the Treaty of Niemwegen, which gave him large gains from the Netherlands and the entire Franche-Comté from Spain. He gave Philippsburg to the emperor, but received Freiburg and kept all the conquests in Alsace.

Louis at the pinnacle of power

This moment marks the apogee of Louis' power. His army was the most numerous, best organized and led. His diplomacy dominated all European courts. The French nation, with its achievements in the arts and sciences, in industry and commerce, has reached unprecedented heights. The court of Versailles (Louis transferred the royal residence to Versailles) became the object of envy and surprise of almost all modern sovereigns, who tried to imitate the great king even in his weaknesses. Strict etiquette was introduced at the court, regulating all court life. Versailles became the center of all high society life, in which the tastes of Louis himself and his many favorites (Lavaliere, Montespan, Fontange) reigned. All the highest aristocracy coveted court positions, since living away from the court for a nobleman was a sign of sternness or royal disgrace. "Absolutely without objection, - according to Saint-Simon, - Louis destroyed and eradicated every other force or authority in France, except those that came from him: reference to the law, to the right was considered a crime." This cult of the Sun-King, in which capable people were increasingly pushed aside by courtesans and intriguers, was bound to lead inevitably to the gradual decline of the entire edifice of the monarchy.

The king held back his desires less and less. In Metz, Breisach and Besancon, he established chambers of reunification (chambres de réunions) to seek the rights of the French crown to certain localities (September 30, 1681). The imperial city of Strasbourg was suddenly occupied by French troops in peacetime. Louis did the same with respect to the Dutch borders. In 1681, his fleet bombarded Tripoli, in 1684 - Algiers and Genoa. Finally, an alliance was formed between Holland, Spain and the emperor, forcing Louis in 1684 to conclude a 20-year truce in Regensburg and abandon further "reunions".

Religious policy

The political dependence of the clergy on the Pope Louis XIV tried to destroy. He even intended to form a French patriarchate independent of Rome. But, thanks to the influence of Bossuet, the famous bishop of Moscow, the French bishops refrained from breaking with Rome, and the views of the French hierarchy received official expression in the so-called. declaration of the Gallican clergy (declaration du clarge gallicane) of 1682

In matters of faith, the confessors of Louis XIV (Jesuits) made him an obedient instrument of the most ardent Catholic reaction, which was reflected in the merciless persecution of all individualistic movements among the church.

A number of harsh measures were taken against the Huguenots: churches were taken away from them, priests were deprived of the opportunity to baptize children according to the rules of their church, perform marriages and burials, and conduct worship. Even mixed marriages between Catholics and Protestants were forbidden.

The Protestant aristocracy was forced to convert to Catholicism so as not to lose their social advantages, and restrictive decrees were launched against Protestants from among other classes, culminating in the dragonades of 1683 and the repeal of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. These measures, despite severe penalties for emigration, forced more than 200 thousand Protestants to move to England, Holland and Germany. An uprising even broke out in the Cévennes. The growing piety of the king was supported by Madame de Maintenon, who, after the death of the queen (1683), was united with him by secret marriage.

War for the Palatinate

In 1688 broke out new war, the reason for which was the claims to the Palatinate, presented by Louis XIV on behalf of his daughter-in-law, Elizabeth-Charlotte, Duchess of Orleans, who was related to the Elector Charles-Ludwig, who died shortly before that. Having entered into an alliance with the Elector of Cologne, Karl-Egon Furstemberg, Louis ordered his troops to occupy Bonn and attack the Palatinate, Baden, Württemberg and Trier.

At the beginning of 1689, French troops devastated the entire Lower Palatinate in the most terrible way. An alliance was formed against France from England (which had just overthrown the Stuarts), the Netherlands, Spain, Austria, and the German Protestant states.

The Marshal of France, the Duke of Luxembourg, defeated the Allies on July 1, 1690 at Fleurus; Marshal Catinat conquered Savoy, Vice-Admiral Tourville defeated the British-Dutch fleet at the Battle of Beachy Head, so that the French had an advantage even at sea for a short time.

In 1692, the French laid siege to Namur, Luxembourg gained the upper hand at the Battle of Steenkerken; on the other hand, on May 28, the French fleet was defeated at Cape La Hougue.

In 1693-1695, the preponderance began to lean towards the side of the allies; in 1695 the Duke de Luxembourg, a student of Turenne, died; in the same year a huge military tax was needed, and peace became a necessity for Louis. It took place at Ryswick in 1697, and for the first time Louis XIV had to confine himself to the status quo.

War of the Spanish Succession

France was completely exhausted when, a few years later, the death of Charles II of Spain brought Louis to war with the European coalition. The War of the Spanish Succession, in which Louis wanted to win back the entire Spanish monarchy for his grandson Philip of Anjou, inflicted incurable wounds on the power of Louis. The old king, who personally led the fight, held himself in the most difficult circumstances with dignity and firmness. According to the peace concluded in Utrecht and Rastatt in 1713 and 1714, he kept Spain proper for his grandson, but its Italian and Dutch possessions were lost, and England, by destroying the Franco-Spanish fleets and conquering a number of colonies, laid the foundation for her maritime dominion. The French monarchy did not have to recover until the very revolution from the defeats at Hochstadt and Turin, Ramilla and Malplaque. She languished under the weight of debts (up to 2 billion) and taxes, which caused local outbursts of discontent.

Last years. Family tragedy and the question of a successor

Thus, the result of the whole system of Louis was the economic ruin, the poverty of France. Another consequence was the growth of oppositional literature, especially developed under the successor of the "great Louis".

The family life of the elderly king at the end of his life was not at all a rosy picture. On April 13, 1711, his son, Grand Dauphin Louis (born in 1661), died; in February 1712 he was followed by the eldest son of the Dauphin, the Duke of Burgundy, and on March 8 of the same year, the eldest son of the latter, the infant Duke of Brittany. On March 4, 1714, the younger brother of the Duke of Burgundy, the Duke of Berry, died a few days later, so that, in addition to Philip V of Spain, the Bourbons had only one heir - the four-year-old great-grandson of the king, the third son of the Duke of Burgundy (later Louis XV).

Even earlier, Louis legitimized his two sons from Madame de Montespan - the Duke of Maine and the Count of Toulouse, and gave them the name Bourbon. Now, in his will, he appointed them members of the regency council and declared their eventual right to succession to the throne. Louis himself remained active until the end of his life, firmly maintaining court etiquette and the decor of his “great century” was already beginning to fade.

Louis XIV died on September 1, 1715 at 8:15 am, surrounded by courtiers. Death came after several days of agony, from gangrene of the leg, which the king injured when falling from a horse while hunting (he considered amputation unacceptable for royal dignity). The reign of Louis XIV lasted 72 years and 110 days.

The body of the king for 8 days was put up for parting in the Salon of Hercules in Versailles. On the night of the ninth day, the body was transported (taking the necessary measures so that the population did not arrange holidays along the funeral procession) to the basilica of the abbey of Saint-Denis, where Louis was buried in observance of all the rites of the Catholic Church laid down by the monarch.

In 1822, an equestrian statue (based on the model of Bosio) was erected to him in Paris, on the Place des Victories.

Marriages and children

(from June 9, 1660, Saint-Jean de Lutz) Maria Theresa (1638-1683), Infanta of Spain, cousin of Louis XIV in two lines - both maternal and paternal:
- Louis the Great Dauphin (1661-1711)
- Anna Elizabeth (1662-1662)
- Maria Anna (1664-1664)
- Maria Theresa (1667-1672)
- Philip (1668-1671)
- Louis Francois (1672-1672).

Louis

Anna Elizabeth and Mary Anna

Maria Theresa

Philip

(from June 12, 1684, Versailles) Francoise d'Aubigne (1635-1719), Marquise de Maintenon.
Vnebr. connection Louise de La Baume Le Blanc (1644-1710), Duchess de La Vallière:
- Charles de La Baume Le Blanc (1663-1665)
- Philippe de La Baume Le Blanc (1665-1666)
- Marie-Anne de Bourbon (1666-1739), Mademoiselle de Blois
- Louis de Bourbon (1667-1683), Comte de Vermandois.
Vnebr. connection Françoise-Athenais de Rochechouart de Mortemart (1641-1707), marquise de Montespan:
- Louise-Francoise de Bourbon (1669-1672)
- Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, Duke of Maine (1670-1736)
- Louis Cesar de Bourbon (1672-1683)
- Louise-Francoise de Bourbon (1673-1743), Mademoiselle de Nantes
- Louise-Marie-Anne de Bourbon (1674-1681), Mademoiselle de Tours
- Françoise-Marie de Bourbon (1677-1749), Mademoiselle de Blois
- Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, Count of Toulouse (1678-1737).
Vnebr. connection(1678-1680) Marie-Angelique de Skoray de Roussil (1661-1681), Duchess de Fontanges:
- N (1679-1679), the child was born dead.
Vnebr. connection Claude de Ven (c.1638 - September 8, 1686), Mademoiselle des Hoye:
- Louise de Maisonblanche (1676-1718).

The history of the nickname Sun King

In France, the sun acted as a symbol of royal power and the king personally even before Louis XIV. The luminary became the personification of the monarch in poetry, solemn odes and court ballets. The first mention of solar emblems dates back to the reign of Henry III, it was used by the grandfather and father of Louis XIV, but only under him did solar symbolism become truly widespread.

At the age of twelve (1651), Louis XIV made his debut in the so-called "ballets de cour" - court ballets, which were staged annually during the carnival.

The carnival of the Baroque era is not just a holiday and entertainment, but an opportunity to play in the “inverted world”. For example, the king for several hours became a jester, an artist or a buffoon, at the same time, the jester could well afford to appear in the form of a king. In one of the ballet performances (“Ballet of the Night” by Jean-Baptiste Lully), young Louis had the opportunity to appear for the first time before his subjects in the form of the Rising Sun (1653), and then Apollo, the Sun God (1654).

When Louis XIV began to rule independently (1661), the court ballet genre was put at the service of public interest, helping the king not only create his representative image, but also manage the court society (however, like other arts). The roles in these productions were distributed only by the king and his friend, the Comte de Saint-Aignan. Princes of the blood and courtiers, dancing next to their sovereign, depicted various elements, planets and other beings and phenomena subject to the Sun. Louis himself continues to appear before his subjects in the form of the Sun, Apollo and other gods and heroes of Antiquity. The king left the stage only in 1670.

But the emergence of the nickname of the Sun King was preceded by another important cultural event of the Baroque era - the Tuileries Carousel of 1662. This is a festive carnival cavalcade, which is a cross between a sports festival (in the Middle Ages, these were tournaments) and a masquerade. In the 17th century, the Carousel was called "equestrian ballet", since this action was more like a performance with music, rich costumes and a fairly consistent script. On the Carousel of 1662, given in honor of the birth of the first-born of the royal couple, Louis XIV pranced in front of the audience on a horse dressed as a Roman emperor. In the hand of the king was a golden shield with the image of the Sun. This symbolized that this luminary protects the king and, with him, all of France.

According to the historian of the French Baroque F. Bossan, “it was on the Great Carousel of 1662 that, in a way, the Sun King was born. He was given his name not by politics and not by the victories of his armies, but by equestrian ballet.

Image of Louis XIV in popular culture

Fiction

Louis XIV is one of the main historical characters in the trilogy about the musketeers by Alexandre Dumas.
Michael Bulgakov. The cabal of the saints.
The hero of the cycle of novels "Angelica" by Anna and Serge Gallon.
The hero of the novel by Francoise Chandernagor "Royal Avenue: Memoirs of Francoise d'Aubigne, Marquise de Maintenon, wife of the King of France"
A.A. Gurshtein"Stars of Paris" 2016. (A novel-chronicle from the life of astronomers in the time of Louis XIV).

Movie

iron mask/ The Iron Mask (USA; 1929) directed by Allan Dwan, in the role of Ludovic William Bakewell.
The Man in the Iron Mask / The Man in the Iron Mask (USA; 1939) directed by James Weil, in the role of Ludovic Louis Hayward.
The Iron Mask / Le masque de fer (Italy, France; 1962) directed by Henri Decoin, in the role of Ludovic Jean-Francois Poron.
Seizure of power by Louis XIV / La prise de pouvoir par Louis XIV (France; 1966) directed by Roberto Rossellini, as Louis Jean-Marie Patte.
The Man in the Iron Mask (UK, USA; 1977) directed by Mike Newell, as Ludovic Richard Chamberlain.
The King's Way / L "allée du roi (France; 1996) directed by Nina Kompaneets, in the role of King Louis XIV Didier Sandre.
In 1993, Roger Planchon directed the biographical film Louis the Child King about the childhood and youth of Louis XIV.
In the 1998 film The Man in the Iron Mask, Louis XIV is portrayed as cruel, selfish, fun-loving, and a weak politician. According to the plot of the film, Louis has a twin brother, who later takes the place of the king and leads France to the "Golden Age". Leonardo DiCaprio played Louis XIV.
A film directed by Gerard Corbier is also dedicated to him. "The King is Dancing", which reveals the theme of the relationship between power and art.
Louis XIV is one of the main characters in Roland Joffé's drama Vatel. In the film, the Prince of Condé invites the king to his castle of Chantilly and tries to impress him in order to take over as commander-in-chief in the upcoming war with Holland. Louis XIV is played by Julian Sands.
Louis XIV appears as a beautiful seducer in the film "Angelica and the King", where he was played by Jacques Toja (fr. Jacques Toja), also appears in the first two films of the epic film "Angelica - Marquis of Angels" and "Magnificent Angelica".
In the film by Oleg Ryaskov "The Servant of the Sovereigns", the role of King Louis XIV was played by the artist of the Moscow New Drama Theater Dmitry Shilyaev.
In the films by Georgy Yungvald-Khilkevich The Secret of Queen Anne, or The Musketeers Thirty Years Later (1993) and The Return of the Musketeers or The Treasures of Cardinal Mazarin (2008), Dmitry Kharatyan played Louis XIV.
Alan Rickman played the role of King Louis XIV in Alan Rickman's The Romance of Versailles (2014).
The series "Versailles" (France-Canada, 2015-). King Louis XIV is played by George Blagden.
Death of Louis XIV / La mort de Louis XIV (Portugal, France, Spain; 2016) directed by Albert Serra, in the role of Louis Jean-Pierre Leo.

Musical

The musical "The Sun King" was staged in France about Louis XIV.

Documentaries

2015 - Death of the Sun King / 1715. The Sun King is Dead! / La mort de Louis XIV (dir. Sylvie Faiveley)

Categories:

Louis XIV de Bourbon, who at birth received the name Louis-Dieudonné ("God-given", French Louis-Dieudonné), also known as the "Sun King" (Fr. Louis XIV Le Roi Soleil), also Louis the Great (Fr. Louis le Grand). Born September 5, 1638 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye - died September 1, 1715 in Versailles. King of France and Navarre from 14 May 1643.

He reigned for 72 years - longer than any other European king in history (of the monarchs of Europe, only some rulers of the small states of the Holy Roman Empire, for example, Bernard VII of Lippe or Karl Friedrich of Baden, were in power longer).

The reign of Louis - a time of significant consolidation of the unity of France, its military power, political weight and intellectual prestige, the flowering of culture, went down in history as the Great Age. At the same time, the long-term military conflicts in which France participated during the reign of Louis the Great led to an increase in taxes, which placed a heavy burden on the shoulders of the population and caused popular uprisings, and as a result of the adoption of the Edict of Fontainebleau, which canceled the Edict of Nantes on religious tolerance within the kingdom, about 200,000 Huguenots emigrated from France.

Louis XIV came to the throne in May 1643, when he was not yet five years old, so, according to his father's will, the regency was transferred, which ruled in close tandem with the first minister, Cardinal Mazarin. Even before the end of the war with Spain and the House of Austria, the princes and the highest aristocracy, supported by Spain and in alliance with the Parliament of Paris, began unrest, which received the general name of the Fronde (1648-1652) and ended only with the submission of the Prince de Condé and the signing of the Pyrenean Peace (7 November 1659).

In 1660, Louis married the Spanish Infanta Maria Theresa of Austria. At this time, the young king, who grew up without sufficient upbringing and education, did not yet show great promise. However, as soon as Cardinal Mazarin died (1661), the next day, Louis XIV convenes the Council of State, at which he announces that from now on he intends to rule independently, without appointing the first minister.

Having brought his army to 120,000 people, Louis in 1670 occupied the possessions of an ally of the States General, Duke Charles IV of Lorraine, and in 1672 crossed the Rhine, conquered half of the provinces within six weeks and returned to Paris in triumph. The breakthrough of the dam, the rise of William III of Orange to power, the intervention of European powers stopped the success of French weapons. The States General entered into an alliance with Spain, Brandenburg and Austria; the Empire also joined them after the French army attacked the Archbishopric of Trier and occupied the 10 imperial cities of Alsace, already half-joined with France.

In 1674, Louis opposed his enemies with 3 large armies: with one of them he personally occupied Franche-Comté; the other, under the command of Conde, fought in the Netherlands and won at Senef; the third, headed by Turenne, devastated the Palatinate and successfully fought the troops of the emperor and the great elector in Alsace. After a short break due to the death of Turenne and the removal of Condé, Louis at the beginning of 1676 came to the Netherlands with renewed vigor and conquered a number of cities, while Luxembourg devastated the Breisgau. The whole country between the Saar, the Moselle and the Rhine, by order of the king, was turned into a desert. In the Mediterranean, Duquesne defeated Reuter; Brandenburg's forces were distracted by an attack by the Swedes. Only as a result of hostile actions on the part of England, Louis in 1678 concluded the Treaty of Niemwegen, which gave him large gains from the Netherlands and the entire Franche-Comté from Spain. He gave Philippsburg to the emperor, but received Freiburg and kept all the conquests in Alsace.

The court of Versailles (Louis transferred the royal residence to Versailles) became the object of envy and surprise of almost all modern sovereigns, who tried to imitate the great king even in his weaknesses. Strict etiquette was introduced at the court, regulating all court life. Versailles became the center of all high society life, in which the tastes of Louis himself and his many favorites (Lavaliere, Montespan, Fontange) reigned. All the highest aristocracy coveted court positions, since living away from the court for a nobleman was a sign of strife or royal disgrace. "Absolutely without objection, - according to Saint-Simon, - Louis destroyed and eradicated every other force or authority in France, except those that came from him: reference to the law, to the right was considered a crime." This cult of the Sun-King, in which capable people were increasingly pushed aside by courtesans and intriguers, was bound to lead inevitably to the gradual decline of the entire edifice of the monarchy.

The central government of the state was carried out by the king with the help of various councils (conseils):

Council of Ministers (Conseil d "État)- considered issues of particular importance: foreign policy, military affairs, appointed the highest ranks of the regional administration, resolved conflicts of the judiciary. The council included state ministers with life salaries. The number of one-time members of the council never exceeded seven people. These were mainly secretaries of state, the comptroller-general of finance, and the chancellor. The king himself presided over the council. He was a permanent council.

Finance Council (Conseil royal des finances)- Considered fiscal issues, financial, as well as appeals against commissary orders. The council was created in 1661 and was initially chaired by the king himself. The council included the chancellor, the comptroller general, two state advisers and the quartermaster for financial affairs. He was a permanent council.

Postal Council (Conseil des dépêches)- reviewed general management issues, such as lists of all appointments. It was a permanent council. The Council of Trade was a temporary council established in 1700.

Spiritual Council (Conseil des conscience)- was also a temporary council in which the king conferred with his confessor on the replacement of spiritual positions.

State Council (Conseil des parties)- consisted of state advisers, quartermasters, in the meeting of which lawyers and managers of petitions took part. In the conditional hierarchy of councils, it was lower than the councils under the king (Council of Ministers, Finance, Postal and others, including temporary ones). He combined the functions of the cassation chamber and the highest administrative court, the source of precedents in the administrative law of France of those times. The Chancellor presided over the council. The council consisted of several departments: on awards, on matters from land holdings, salt tax, noble affairs, coats of arms and on various other issues, depending on the need.

Grand Council (Grand conseil)- a judicial institution which included four presidents and 27 advisers. He considered questions about bishoprics, church estates, hospitals, and was the last resort in civil cases.

In France, during the reign of Louis XIV, the first codification of commercial law was carried out and the Ordonance de Commerce - the Commercial Code (1673) was adopted. The significant advantages of the Ordinance of 1673 are due to the fact that its publication was preceded by a very serious preparatory work based on expert opinions. Savary was the chief worker, so this ordinance is often referred to as Savary's code.

In 1688, a new war broke out, the reason for which was the claims to the Palatinate, presented by Louis XIV on behalf of his daughter-in-law, Elisabeth-Charlotte, Duchess of Orleans, who was related to the Elector Charles-Ludwig, who had died shortly before that. Having entered into an alliance with the Elector of Cologne, Karl-Egon Furstemberg, Louis ordered his troops to occupy Bonn and attack the Palatinate, Baden, Württemberg and Trier.

In 1692, the French laid siege to Namur, Luxembourg gained the upper hand at the Battle of Steenkerken; on the other hand, on May 28, the French fleet was defeated at Cape La Hougue.

France was completely exhausted when, a few years later, the death of Charles II of Spain brought Louis to war with the European coalition. The War of the Spanish Succession, in which Louis wanted to win back the entire Spanish monarchy for his grandson Philip of Anjou, inflicted incurable wounds on the power of Louis. The old king, who personally led the struggle, held himself in the most difficult circumstances with dignity and firmness. According to the peace concluded in Utrecht and Rastatt in 1713 and 1714, he kept Spain proper for his grandson, but its Italian and Dutch possessions were lost, and England, by destroying the Franco-Spanish fleets and conquering a number of colonies, laid the foundation for her maritime dominion. The French monarchy did not have to recover until the very revolution from the defeats at Hochstadt and Turin, Ramilla and Malplaque. She languished under the weight of debts (up to 2 billion) and taxes, which caused local outbursts of discontent.

Louis XIV died on September 1, 1715 at 8:15 am, surrounded by courtiers. Death came after several days of agony. The reign of Louis XIV lasted 72 years and 110 days.

In 1822, an equestrian statue (based on the model of Bosio) was erected to him in Paris, on the Place des Victories.

The history of the nickname Sun King:

At the age of twelve (1651), Louis XIV made his debut in the so-called "ballets de cour" - court ballets, which were staged annually during the carnival.

When Louis XIV began to rule independently (1661), the court ballet genre was put at the service of state interests, helping the king not only create his representative image, but also manage the court society (however, like other arts). The roles in these productions were distributed only by the king and his friend, the Comte de Saint-Aignan. Princes of the blood and courtiers, dancing next to their sovereign, depicted various elements, planets and other beings and phenomena subject to the Sun. Louis himself continues to appear before his subjects in the form of the Sun, Apollo and other gods and heroes of Antiquity. The king left the stage only in 1670.

Marriages and children of Louis XIV:

first wife: from June 9, 1660 Maria Theresa (1638-1683), Infanta of Spain, cousin of Louis XIV in two lines - both maternal and paternal.

children of Louis XIV and Maria Theresa:

Louis the Great Dauphin (1661-1711)
Anna Elizabeth (1662-1662)
Maria Anna (1664-1664)
Maria Theresa (1667-1672)
Philip (1668-1671)
Louis Francois (1672-1672).

Extramarital affair: Louise de La Baume Le Blanc (1644-1710), duchess de Lavalière

children of Louis XIV and Duchess de La Vallière:

Charles de La Baume Le Blanc (1663-1665)
Philippe de La Baume Le Blanc (1665-1666)
Marie-Anne de Bourbon (1666-1739), Mademoiselle de Blois
Louis de Bourbon (1667-1683), Comte de Vermandois.

Extramarital affair: Françoise-Athenais de Rochechouart de Mortemart (1641-1707), marquise de Montespan

children of Louis XIV and the Marquise de Montespan:

Louise-Francoise de Bourbon (1669-1672)
Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, Duke of Maine (1670-1736)
Louis Cesar de Bourbon (1672-1683)
Louise-Francoise de Bourbon (1673-1743), Mademoiselle de Nantes
Louise-Marie-Anne de Bourbon (1674-1681), Mademoiselle de Tours
Françoise-Marie de Bourbon (1677-1749), Mademoiselle de Blois
Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, Count of Toulouse (1678-1737).

Extramarital affair (1678-1680): Marie-Angelique de Scorail de Roussil(1661-1681), Duchess de Fontanges (N (1679-1679), stillborn child).

Extramarital affair: Claude de Ven(c.1638 - 8 September 1686), Mademoiselle des Hoyers: daughter of Louise de Maisonblanche (1676-1718).

(1715-09-01 ) (76 years old)
Palace of Versailles, Versailles, Kingdom of France Genus: bourbons Father: Louis XIII Mother: Anna of Austria Spouse: 1st: Maria Theresa of Austria
Children: From 1st marriage:
sons: Louis the Great Dauphin, Philippe, Louis-Francois
daughters: Anna Elizabeth, Maria Anna, Maria Theresa
many illegitimate children, some legitimized

Louis XIV de Bourbon, who received at birth the name Louis-Dieudonné ("God-given", fr. Louis-Dieudonne), also known as "sun king"(fr. Louis XIV Le Roi Soleil), also Louis Great(fr. Louis le Grand), (September 5 ( 16380905 ) , Saint-Germain-en-Laye - September 1, Versailles) - King of France and Navarre since May 14. Reigned for 72 years - longer than any other European king in history (of the monarchs of Europe, only some rulers have been in power longer petty principalities of the Holy Roman Empire).

Louis, who survived the wars of the Fronde in childhood, became a staunch supporter of the principle of absolute monarchy and the divine right of kings (he is credited with the expression “The State is me!”), He combined the strengthening of his power with the successful selection of statesmen for key political posts. The reign of Louis - a time of significant consolidation of the unity of France, its military power, political weight and intellectual prestige, the flourishing of culture, went down in history as the Great Age. At the same time, the long-term military conflicts in which France participated during the reign of Louis the Great led to higher taxes, which placed a heavy burden on the shoulders of the population and caused popular uprisings, and as a result of the adoption of the Edict of Fontainebleau, which repealed the Edict of Nantes on religious tolerance within the kingdom, about 200,000 Huguenots emigrated from France.