He was seen as an inspirational actor, glutton, voluptuary. He was considered a formidable monarch, devout Catholic, selfish and ambitious. What was actually hidden behind the mask of the "sun king"?
The royal family waited a very long time for the birth of a legitimate heir. But, barely reaching the age of five, the little prince Louis Bourbon lost his father: Louis XIII died suddenly at the age of 41. His mother, Anne of Austria, became the formal regent under the minor king, and her favorite Cardinal Mazarin became the de facto ruler of France.
Childhood in patches
The avarice of Mazarin gave rise to a lot of anecdotes, but Louis in those years was not laughing.
The king of France did not dare to open his mouth under the all-powerful cardinal, and besides, he suffered from terrible poverty. For a year, the young monarch was entitled to only two changes of dress, and he often sported patches on shirts and camisoles. They cared no more about his upbringing and education. As a result, Louis grew up quite ignorant and barely knew how to read and write. However, he naturally had a quick mind, the ability to understand people and a firm awareness of his role in history. Louis remembers well the perfidy of the aristocrats who unleashed the civil war known in history as the Fronde.
The riots, which drained the country, lasted almost 4 years. The royal family even had to flee Paris and endure hunger and hardship as ordinary peasants. And yet the terrible days of the Fronde did not knock the ground out from under Louis Bourbon's feet. On the contrary, they nurtured a ruler whose equal history may not have known. Remembering the times when he was poor and powerless, Louis demanded respect towards himself, turning into reverence, and made sure that his power took first place among European neighbors.
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The many-faced sovereign
As soon as Mazarin died, Louis called the Royal Council. He announced that he was appointing himself as his own first minister, and no one but him would sign any more, even the most insignificant, decree. The king remained true to his word: he never missed meetings of the Council of State. Even illness could not prevent him - in this case, matters were discussed right at the bedside of the ailing crown bearer.
Louis also possessed other qualities necessary for a true autocrat. Contemporaries note that he was tall and had a noble appearance. In order not to fall into long-winded reasoning, he preferred to express himself briefly and clearly and pronounce exactly as much as necessary in order to be understood. He was distinguished by an excellent sense of humor, played the guitar and danced, and in general he had excellent acting skills.
But at the same time, Louis fully possessed boundless pride, selfishness and treachery. In his prone to excess age, he was known as a real glutton. Anna of Austria wrote that at dinner the son ate several bowls of soup, four changes of hot dishes and dessert. With bad teeth, like many in that century, Louis could not properly chew all these mountains of food and, as a result, had constant stomach problems.
But the legend about his aversion to hygiene is erroneous. According to the chronicler of the court of the Duke de Saint-Simon, the royal body was washed in the morning with pink lotion, wiped dry and put on a clean shirt. The king's hands were washed with a mixture of water and wine, several times a day he completely changed his clothes. Judging by this list of procedures, Louis was one of the cleanest people of his time.
However, with such a variety of properties of his nature, few people managed to see the real face of Louis. The poet Boileau called him "the first among the actors" - and not without reason, since the king's entire life was one big performance, started to demonstrate greatness. Everything served to strengthen the authority of the authorities: washing the feet of twelve beggars with their own hands every Holy Thursday, rituals like the solemn removal of the royal chamberpot, receiving petitioners and lavish celebrations at the slightest pretext.
Only a few confidants knew that by nature the king was a closed man, suspicious, desperately in need of loyal friends. All his life surrounded by thousands of people, Louis remained completely alone until the last day. But the high position of the king obliged him to forget about his weaknesses.
Symbols of power, face of the kingdom
Louis left his mark in literally every area of human activity. Whether for our own glory or for the greatness of France, we will never know. But it was during the years of his reign that landscape design, cooking, soap making, lace making, and tapestry production flourished. There is even a style of furniture named after him … Louis did not lose sight of anything that could glorify himself or his kingdom.
One of the monuments of the era of the "sun king", of course, is Versailles - a luxurious palace complex, the construction of which annually spent one seventh of the state budget. In the palace complex and in the gardens of Versailles, luxurious celebrations, performances and balls were held in a continuous sequence. The most seductive ladies considered it an honor to receive an invitation to the palace. The legal spouse and queen did not enjoy the royal attention, but many of the court beauties managed to attract the heart of the loving king. It is impossible to list all the royal affairs, as well as to name the exact number of his illegitimate children …
The Versailles celebrations were so large-scale that they were held in the park: this allowed several performances to be played at the same time. Massive fireworks illuminated the amusement fleet sailing through the canals. The plays of the comedian Moliere were played on several stages, and the Italian theater "Commedia dell'arte" showed its performances. Masquerades were held right there. Jean-Baptiste Lully, “Chief Quartermaster of the King’s Music,” invented a special “Versailles style” of music for garden ballets, pastorals and other outdoor entertainments.
At the court of Louis, not only the noble society gathered, but also the best artists, poets, and musicians. The king wanted all French art to serve the glorification of the kingdom and its ruler. For the same purpose, the Academy of Painting and Sculpture, the Royal Academy of Music, the Academy of Architecture and the Academy of Sciences were formed.
Sunset…
What are the results of the long reign of Louis XIV? France was a sad sight - it was almost empty. The burden of taxes fell not on the nobles and the clergy, but on the bourgeois and peasants who could not feed the country.
As time went on, the autocrat grew old. He could no longer delve into state affairs as deeply as before. In addition, the "sun king", who was always distinguished by his love, had no legal heirs, except for his four-year-old great-grandson, who was later crowned under the name of Louis XV. And when gangrene finally put the monarch to bed, the entourage were at a loss, not knowing what awaited them tomorrow. Sobbing by the sickbed of the courtiers, Louis gruffly asked: “Why are you crying? Did you really think that I would live forever? " Probably, this is exactly what they all believed: a man who lived 77 years, of which 72 he spent on the royal throne, simply could not die like an ordinary mortal. But he got worse and worse, and in 1715 the great king died. And with him passed his era - the golden age of the French monarchy.
Ekaterina KRAVTSOVA