Louis XIV: "I am the state"

France, 1643. King Louis XIII is dead. His son, Louis XIV, becomes king. At four years old, Louis is a little young for ruling France, so the job is carried out by a substitute ruler, a regent. Louis’ mother, Anne of Austria, takes on the regency with help from church leader-cum-politician Cardinal Mazarin.

Anne and Mazarin need to make money. France has been in a lot of expensive wars recently. So they put out a notice that taxes are to be raised. The ruling class — the nobility — are indignant: “You can’t raise our taxes willy-nilly, without permission!,” They demand new rules to limit the royals’ power. They fight royal soldiers in the streets.

The scuffles break into a series of civil wars. They are called The Fronde. The Fronde continues until 1653, when the royals finally suppress the nobility. In 1654, Louis is officially crowned king. He is just 15 years old.

Louis is determined to avoid the kind of uprisings he witnessed throughout his childhood. Somehow, he must keep the nobility loyal to the King… …and he knows just how to do it! Louis diverts the nobility’s attention from political and economic concerns to… fashion. He robes himself in opulent furs, and demands his subjects sport the latest royal fashions — from wig to red-heeled shoes. Clothing isn’t the only way the King showcases his style.

He decides to move his court from the noisy, boisterous city of Paris to the neighbouring countryside. Here, he will build an immense new palace complex: The Palace of Versailles. No expense is spared. Every detail exhibits the King’s brilliance and grandeur. Inside are lavishly furnished apartments for the King’s family and closest staff, salons with ornately painted ceilings, a Hall of Mirrors, 70 metres long, with 17 windows.

The windows overlook the palace’s stylised gardens, where a towering bronze statue depicts the King on horseback. Close by are outbuildings for the King’s thousands of servants, and a château for his numerous mistresses. The King keeps the nobility busy with the tasks of attending to his wives, mistresses, 17 children, and of course, himself. He conducts every part of his life — his rising from bed, his meals, hunting, mass — in the presence of his subjects. His subjects, in turn, fight over who will put on the King’s shoes in the morning, and place bids to help him onto the commode before bed.

The King is at the heart of all activity, gracing those around him with warmth and brightness… he gets the nickname, The Sun King. With everyday court life a captivating show, there is little time for the nobility to think about power and politics. Calls to curb the King’s power, as in the time of The Fronde, are long forgotten. No person or law can tell the King what to do! Louis XIV has made himself the supreme ruling power, France’s first absolute monarch. “L’état, c’est moi!,” he is rumoured to declare. “I am the state!” The King, it turns out, isn’t satisfied being the ultimate authority in his own country.

He yearns to expand his rule, to make France the leading European power. His attempts lead to a number of wars, especially with the powerful House of Habsburg, which rules France’s neighbouring countries. In the last of these wars, Louis succeeds in ending the Habsburg’s encirclement of France. In 1715, Louis’ 72-year reign comes to a close. As he lies dying, he is said to declare, “I am going, but the State remains.” Indeed, France is more powerful than ever… if also on the brink of bankruptcy.