Louis XIV (Sun King). Biography. Personal life. Biography of Louis XIV (Louis XIV)

King of France and Navarre from May 14, 1643. Reigned for 72 years - longer than any other monarch of the largest European states.

He ascended the throne as a minor and control of the state passed into the hands of his mother and Cardinal Mazarin. Even before the end of the war with Spain and the House of Austria, the highest aristocracy, supported by Spain and in alliance with Parliament, began unrest, which received the general name of the Fronde and ended only with the subjugation of the Prince de Condé and the signing of the Pyrenees Peace (November 7, 1659).

In 1660, Louis married the Spanish Infanta Maria Theresa of Austria. At this time, the young king, who grew up without proper upbringing and education, did not raise even greater expectations. However, as soon as Cardinal Mazarin died (1661), Louis began to govern the state independently. He had the gift of selecting talented and capable employees (for example, Colbert, Vauban, Letelier, Lyonne, Louvois). Louis elevated the doctrine of royal rights to a semi-religious dogma.

Thanks to the works of the brilliant Colbert, much was done to strengthen state unity, the welfare of the working classes, and encourage trade and industry. At the same time, Louvois brought order to the army, united its organization and increased fighting strength. After the death of King Philip IV of Spain, he declared French claims to part of the Spanish Netherlands and retained it in the so-called war of devolution. Concluded on May 2, 1668, the Peace of Aachen gave French Flanders and a number of border areas into his hands.

War with the Netherlands

From this time on, the United Provinces had a passionate enemy in Louis. Contrasts in foreign policy, state views, trade interests, and religion led both states to constant clashes. Louis in 1668-71 masterfully managed to isolate the republic. Through bribery, he managed to distract England and Sweden from the Triple Alliance and win Cologne and Munster to the side of France. Having brought his army to 120,000 people, Louis in 1670 occupied the possessions of the ally of the Estates General, Duke Charles IV of Lorraine, and in 1672 he crossed the Rhine, within six weeks conquered half of the provinces and returned to Paris in triumph. The breakdown of dams, the emergence of William III of Orange in power, and the intervention of European powers stopped the success of French weapons. The Estates General entered into an alliance with Spain and 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 connected to France. In 1674, Louis opposed his enemies with 3 large armies: with one of them he personally occupied Franche-Comté; another, under the command of Conde, fought in the Netherlands and won at Senef; the third, led by Turenne, devastated the Palatinate and successfully fought the troops of the emperor and the great elector in Alsace. After a short interval due to the death of Turenne and the removal of Condé, Louis appeared in the Netherlands at the beginning of 1676 with renewed vigor and conquered a number of cities, while Luxembourg was devastated by Breisgau. The entire country between the Saar, Moselle and Rhine was turned into a desert by order of the king. In the Mediterranean, Duquesne prevailed over Reuther; Brandenburg's forces were distracted by a Swedish attack. Only as a result of hostile actions on the part of England, Louis concluded the Peace of Nimwegen in 1678, which gave him large acquisitions from the Netherlands and the entire Franche-Comté from Spain. He gave Philippsburg to the emperor, but received Freiburg and retained all his conquests in Alsace.

Louis at the height of his power

This world marks the apogee of Louis's power. His army was the largest, best organized and led. His diplomacy dominated all European courts. The French nation has reached unprecedented heights with its achievements in the arts and sciences, in industry and commerce. The court of Versailles (Louis moved the royal residence to Versailles) became the subject of envy and surprise of almost everyone modern sovereigns who tried to imitate the great king even in his weaknesses. Strict etiquette was introduced at 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, Fontanges) reigned. The entire high aristocracy sought court positions, since living away from the court for a nobleman was a sign of opposition or royal disgrace. “Absolute 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 inevitably going to lead to the gradual decline of the entire edifice of the monarchy.

The king restrained his desires less and less. In Metz, Breisach and Besançon, he established chambers of reunion (chambres de réunions) to determine the rights of the French crown to certain areas (September 30, 1681). The imperial city of Strasbourg was suddenly occupied by French troops in peacetime. Louis did the same with regard to the Dutch borders. In 1681, his fleet bombarded Tripoli, in 1684 - Algeria and Genoa. Finally, an alliance was formed between Holland, Spain and the emperor, which forced Louis to conclude a 20-year truce in Regensburg in 1684 and refuse further “reunions.”

Religious politics

Within the state, the new fiscal system meant only an increase in taxes and taxes for growing military needs; At the same time, Louis, as the “first nobleman” of France, spared the material interests of the nobility that had lost political significance and, as a faithful son of the Catholic Church, did not demand anything from the clergy. He tried to destroy the latter’s political dependence on the pope, achieving at the national council in 1682 a decision in his favor against the pope (see Gallicanism); but in matters of faith, his confessors (the Jesuits) made him an obedient instrument of the most ardent Catholic reaction, which was reflected in the merciless persecution of all individualistic movements within the church (see Jansenism). A number of harsh measures were taken against the Huguenots; the Protestant aristocracy was forced to convert to Catholicism in order not to lose their social benefits, and against Protestants from other classes, restrictive decrees were used, ending with the Dragonades of 1683 and the repeal of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. These measures, despite severe penalties for emigration, forced more than 200,000 hardworking and enterprising Protestants to move to England and Holland and Germany. An uprising even broke out in the Cevennes. The king's growing piety found support from Madame de Maintenon, who, after the death of the queen (1683), was united to him by secret marriage.

War for the Palatinate

In 1688 it broke out new war, the reason for which was, among other things, the claims to the Palatinate made by Louis on behalf of his daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Charlotte of Orleans, who was related to Elector Charles Ludwig, who had died shortly before. Having concluded an alliance with the Elector of Cologne, Karl-Egon Fürstemberg, Louis ordered his troops to occupy Bonn and attack the Palatinate, Baden, Württemberg and Trier. At the beginning of 1689, French troops horribly devastated the entire Lower Palatinate. An alliance was formed against France from England (which had just overthrown the Stuarts), the Netherlands, Spain, Austria and the German Protestant states. Luxembourg defeated the allies on July 1, 1690 at Fleurus; Catinat conquered Savoy, Tourville defeated the British-Dutch fleet on the heights of Dieppe, so the French a short time had an advantage even at sea. In 1692, the French besieged Namur, Luxembourg gained the upper hand at the Battle of Stenkerken; but on May 28, the French fleet was completely destroyed by Rossel at Cape La Gogue. In 1693-95, the advantage began to lean towards the allies; Luxembourg died in 1695; in the same year a huge war tax was needed, and peace became a necessity for Louis. It took place in Ryswick in 1697, and for the first time Louis 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 led Louis to war with the European coalition. The War of the Spanish Succession, in which Louis wanted to reconquer the entire Spanish monarchy for his grandson Philip of Anjou, inflicted lasting wounds on Louis's power. The old king, who personally led the struggle, held himself in the most difficult circumstances with amazing dignity and firmness. According to the peace concluded in Utrecht and Rastatt in 1713 and 1714, he retained 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 its maritime dominion. The French monarchy did not have to recover from the defeats of Hochstedt and Turin, Ramilly and Malplaquet until the revolution itself. It was suffering 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 Louis's entire system was the economic ruin and poverty of France. Another consequence was the growth of opposition literature, especially developed under the successor of the “great” Louis. Home life The elderly king at the end of his life presented a sad picture. On April 13, 1711, his son, the Dauphin Louis (born 1661), died; in February 1712 he was followed by the Dauphin's eldest son, the Duke of Burgundy, and on March 8 of the same year by the latter's eldest son, the young Duke of Breton. On March 4, 1714, the younger brother of the Duke of Burgundy, the Duke of Berry, fell from his horse and was killed to death, so that, in addition to Philip V of Spain, there was only one heir left - the four-year-old great-grandson of the king, the 2nd son of the Duke of Burgundy (later Louis XV). Even earlier, Louis legitimized his 2 sons from Madame Montespan, the Duke of Maine and the Count of Toulouse, and gave them the surname 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 supporting court etiquette and the appearance of his “great century,” which was already beginning to fall. He died on September 1, 1715.

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

The history of the nickname “Sun King”

From the age of 12, Louis XIV danced in the so-called “ballets of the Palais Royal.” These events were quite in the spirit of the times, since they were held during the carnival.

The Baroque Carnival is not just a holiday, it is an upside-down world. For several hours the king became a jester, an artist, a buffoon (just as the jester could well afford to appear in the role of a king). In these ballets, young Louis had the opportunity to play roles Rising Sun(1653) and Apollo - the Solar God (1654).

Later, court ballets were held. The roles in these ballets were assigned by the king himself or his friend de Saint-Aignan. In these court ballets, Louis also dances the roles of the Sun or Apollo.

Another cultural event of the Baroque era was also important for the origin of the nickname - the so-called Carousel. This is a festive carnival cavalcade, something between sports festival and masquerade. In those days, Carousel was simply called “equestrian ballet.” At the Carousel of 1662, Louis XIV appeared before the people as a Roman emperor with a huge shield in the shape of the Sun. This symbolized that the Sun protects the king and with him the whole of France.

The princes of the blood were “forced” to depict various elements, planets and other creatures and phenomena subject to the Sun.

From the ballet historian F. Bossant we read: “It was on the Grand Carousel of 1662 that the Sun King was, in a way, born. His name was given not by politics or the victories of his armies, but by equestrian ballet.”

The image of Louis XIV in popular culture

Louis XIV appears in the Musketeers trilogy by Alexandre Dumas. IN last book In the Vicomte de Bragelonne trilogy, an impostor (allegedly the king’s twin brother) is involved in a conspiracy, with whom they are trying to replace Louis. In 1929, the film "The Iron Mask" was released, based on "The Vicomte de Bragelonne", where Louis and his twin brother were played by William Blackwell. Louis Hayward played twins in the 1939 film The Man in the Iron Mask. Richard Chamberlain played them in the 1977 film adaptation, and Leonardo DiCaprio played them in the film's 1999 remake.

Louis XIV also appears in the film Vatel. In the film, the Prince of Condé invites him to his castle of Chantelly and tries to impress him in order to take the post of chief marshal in the war with the Netherlands. Responsible for entertaining the royalty is Master Vatel, brilliantly played by Gerard Depardieu.

Vonda McLintre's novella The Moon and the Sun depicts the court of Louis XIV at the end of the 17th century. The king himself appears in the Baroque cycle of Neal Stephenson's trilogy.

Louis XIV is one of the main characters in Gerard Corbier's film The King Dances.

Louis XIV appears as a beautiful seducer in the film "Angelique and the King", where he was played by Jacques Toja, and also appears in the films "Angelique - Marquise of Angels" and "The Magnificent Angelique".

For the first time in modern Russian cinema, the image of King Louis XIV was performed by the artist of the Moscow New Drama Theater Dmitry Shilyaev, in Oleg Ryaskov’s film “The Servant of the Sovereigns”.

Louis XIV is one of the main characters in the 1996 Nina Companéez series "L" Allée du roi" "The Way of the King". A historical drama based on the novel by Françoise Chandernagor "Royal Alley: Memoirs of Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon, wife of the King of France." Dominique Blanc stars as Françoise d'Aubigné and Didier Sandre as Louis XIV.

Louis 14 – the Sun King – is the most charismatic monarch of France. The era of his reign, which lasted 72 years, is called by historians the “Great Age”. The French king became the “hero” of numerous novels and films. Even during his lifetime, legends were made about him. And the monarch was worthy of them.

It was King Louis 14 who came up with the idea of ​​building a grandiose palace complex on the site of a small hunting lodge. The majestic Versailles, which has amazed the imagination for centuries, became not just the residence of the monarch during his lifetime, here he accepted his death with dignity, as befits an august person.

The greatest of the Bourbon dynasty - “God-given” Louis 14

King Louis 14 de Bourbon – long-awaited heir. That is why at birth he received the “iconic” name - Louis-Dieudonne - “God-given”. The era of his rule over France began when little Louis was barely five years old. The regents were Anna of Austria, the mother of the Sun King, and the well-known Cardinal Mazarin, who tried with all his might to connect his family with family ties with the Bourbons. Interestingly, the skillful strategist almost succeeded.

King Louis 14 inherited from his mother, a proud Spaniard, strength of character and enormous self-esteem. It is quite natural that the young monarch did not “share the throne” with the Italian cardinal for a long time. Although he was his godfather. Already at the age of 17, Louis first showed disobedience, expressing dissatisfaction in front of the entire French parliament. “The State is me” is a phrase that characterizes the entire era of the reign of King Louis 14.

Unsolved mysteries of the biography of Louis de Bourbon

The biggest mystery remains the very birth of King Louis 14. According to the legend, which many believed in that era, Anne of Austria gave birth to not one, but two Dauphins. Did Louis have a twin brother? Historians still doubt this. But in many novels and even chronicles there are references to the mysterious “Iron Mask” - a man who, by order of the king, was forever hidden from human eyes. This decision can be considered justified, because the twin heirs are the cause of political scandals and upheavals.

King Louis 14 did have a brother, but the younger one was Philippe. The Duke of Orleans did not lay claim to the throne and never tried to intrigue against the Sun King. On the contrary, he called him “my little daddy”, since Louis constantly tried to take care of him. Photos of portraits of two brothers give a clear idea of ​​their mutual sympathy.

Women in the life of Louis de Bourbon - favorites and wives

Cardinal Mazarin, having become the godfather of King Louis 14, wanted to get even closer to the Bourbon dynasty. The clever intriguer never forgot that he came from a rather seedy Italian family. It was one of the cardinal’s nieces, brown-eyed Maria Mancini, who became the first love of young Louis 14. The King of France was twenty at that time, his beloved was only two years younger than him. The court whispered that the monarch from the Bourbon dynasty would soon marry for love. But fate decreed otherwise.

Maria Mancini - the first love of King Louis 14

Maria and Louis had to separate simply because, for political reasons, King Louis 14 needed to marry Maria Theresa, the daughter of the Spanish king. Mazarin very quickly “attached” his niece, marrying her to an Italian prince. It was from the moment when the young monarch was forced to enter into a political marriage that his series of love affairs began.

Historians believe that King Louis 14 de Bourbon inherited his amorousness and ardent temperament from his grandfather, Henry 4. But the Sun King was more prudent in his hobbies: none of his favorites influenced the politics of France. Did the wife know about the monarch’s many love interests and his illegitimate children? Yes, but Maria Theresa was a proud Spaniard and the daughter of a king, so she remained unperturbed - Louis 14 did not hear any tears or reproaches from her.

Queen Maria Theresa - first wife of King Louis 14

The queen died much earlier than her husband. Literally a few months after her death, King Louis 14 entered into a second marriage. With whom? The chosen one was the governess of his illegitimate children born to the Marquise de Montespan, Françoise de Maintenon. The woman was older than Louis; before that, she was married to the then famous writer Paul Scarron. At court she was known only as “the Widow Scarron.” It was with Françoise that King Louis 14 “met old age,” it was she who became his last passion, and it was her few whims that he fulfilled throughout all the years of marriage.

Interesting facts from the biography of Louis 14 – the Sun King

The excellent appetite of Louis 14 was known not only to the entire court, even ordinary residents of Paris knew about it. The dishes that the monarch ate at dinner could feed not only all the queen's ladies-in-waiting, but also his retinue. And this meal was not the only one. The king constantly satisfied his hunger at night, but he did it alone; his valet secretly brought him food.

King Louis 14 almost always fulfilled the whims of his favorites, but with regard to his second wife, the king outdid himself. When Françoise wished to ride a sleigh in the summer heat, her loving husband fulfilled her whim. Literally the next morning, Versailles sparkled with “snow,” which was perfectly replaced by tons of salt and sugar.

King Louis 14 adored luxury. Historians believe that this was due to the fact that as a child his expenses were carefully controlled by Mazarin, and he grew up completely “not like a king.” When Louis became a "state", he was able to satisfy his passion. There were about 500 luxurious beds in the residences of the monarch. He had more than a thousand wigs, and his clothes were made by 40 of the best tailors in France.

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French king (since 1643), from the Bourbon dynasty, son of Louis XIII and Anne of Austria. His reign is the apogee of French absolutism. He fought numerous wars - the Devolutionary War (1667...1668), for the Spanish Succession (1701...1714), etc. By the end of his reign, France had up to 2 billion in debt, the king introduced huge taxes, which caused popular discontent. Louis XIV is credited with the saying: “The State is me.”

It was as if Louis XIV was destined to be the darling of fate. His very birth, after twenty years of his parents’ married life, could serve good sign. At the age of five, he became heir to the most beautiful and powerful of the thrones of Europe. Louis XIV was called the Sun King. A handsome man with dark curls, regular features of a blooming face, graceful manners, majestic bearing, and also the ruler of a great country, he really made an irresistible impression. Could women not love him?

The first lesson of love was taught to him by the queen's chief chambermaid, Madame de Beauvais, who in her youth was quite a libertine. One day she waylaid the king and took him to her room. Louis XIV was fifteen years old, Madame de Beauvais was forty-two...

The admiring king spent all the subsequent days with his chambermaid. Then he wished for variety and, as the philosopher Saint-Simon said, “everyone was good for him, as long as there were women.”

He began with ladies who wanted to obtain his virginity, and then began to methodically conquer the ladies-in-waiting who lived at court under the supervision of Madame de Navay.

Every night - alone or in the company of friends - Louis XIV went to these girls in order to taste the healthy pleasure of physical love with the first maid of honor who came to his hand.

Naturally, these nightly visits eventually became known to Madame de Navay, and she ordered bars to be placed on all the windows. Louis XIV did not retreat in the face of the obstacle that arose. Calling on the masons, he ordered to break through the secret door in the bedroom of one of the mademoiselles.

For several nights in a row, the king successfully used the secret passage, which during the day was masked by the headboard of the bed. But the vigilant Madame de Navay discovered the door and ordered it to be walled up. In the evening, Louis XIV was surprised to see a smooth wall where the secret passage had been the day before.

He returned to himself in a rage; the next day Madame de Navay and her husband were informed that the king no longer needed their services and ordered them to immediately go to Guienne.

Fifteen-year-old Louis XIV no longer tolerated interference in his love affairs...

Some time after all these events, the monarch made the gardener's daughter his mistress. Probably as a sign of gratitude, the girl gave birth to a child. The king's mother, Anna of Austria, greeted this news with great displeasure.

If at night Louis XIV had fun with the Queen Mother's ladies-in-waiting, during the day he was most often seen in the company of Mazarin's nieces. It was then that the king suddenly fell in love with his peer Olympia, the second of the Mancini sisters.

The court learned about this idyll on Christmas Day 1654. Louis XIV made Olympia the queen of all festive celebrations in the last week of the year. Naturally, a rumor soon spread throughout Paris that Olympia would become queen of France.

Anna of Austria was seriously angry. She was ready to turn a blind eye to her son’s excessive affection for Mazarin’s niece, but she was offended by the very idea that this friendship could be legitimized.

And young Olympia, who had gained too much power over the king in the hope of winning the throne, was ordered to leave Paris. Mazarin quickly found her a husband, and soon she became Countess of Soissons...

In 1657, the king fell in love with Mademoiselle de la Motte d'Argencourt, the queen's maid of honor. Mazarin reacted with annoyance to this news and informed the young monarch that his chosen one was the mistress of the Duke de Richelieu, and one evening they were taken by surprise when “they made love on a stool.” Louis XIV did not like the details, and he broke off all relations with the beauty, after which he went with Marshal Turenne to the northern army.

After the capture of Duncker (June 12, 1658), Louis XIV fell ill with a severe fever. He was transported to Calais, where he finally fell ill. Within two weeks the monarch was on the verge of death, and the entire kingdom offered up prayers to God for his recovery. On June 29, he suddenly became so ill that it was decided to send for sacred gifts.

At that moment, Louis XIV saw the girl’s face drenched in tears. Seventeen-year-old Maria Mancini, another niece of Mazarin, had long loved the king, without admitting it to anyone. Louis looked at her from his bed with eyes shining with heat. According to Madame de Motteville, she was black and yellow, with large dark eyes the fire of passion had not yet been lit, and that is why they seemed dull, the mouth was too large, and, if not for very beautiful teeth, she could pass for ugly.”

However, the king realized that he was loved and was moved by this look. The doctor brought the patient medicine “from a wine infusion of antimony.” This amazing mixture had a miraculous effect: Louis XIV began to recover before his eyes and expressed a desire to return to Paris in order to quickly be near Marie...

When he saw her, he realized “by the beating of his heart and other signs” that he had fallen in love, but did not admit it, but only asked that she and her sisters come to Fontainebleau, where he decided to stay until he fully recovered.

For several weeks, entertainment took place there: boat trips accompanied by musicians: dancing until midnight, ballets under the trees of the park. Marie was the queen of all entertainment.

The court then returned to Paris. The girl was in seventh heaven. “I discovered then,” she wrote in her “Memoirs,” “that the king did not have hostile feelings towards me, for I already knew how to recognize that eloquent language that speaks clearer than any beautiful words. The courtiers, who always spy on kings, guessed, like me, about His Majesty’s love for me, demonstrating this even with excessive importunity and showing the most incredible signs of attention.”

Soon the king became so bold that he confessed his love to Marie and gave her several amazing gifts. From now on they were always seen together.

In order to please the one whom he already considered his bride, Louis XIV, who had received a rather superficial upbringing, began to study intensively. Ashamed of his ignorance, he improved his knowledge of French and began to study Italian, at the same time paying much attention to ancient authors. Under the influence of this educated girl, who, according to Madame de Lafayette, was distinguished by an “extraordinary mind” and knew many poems by heart, he read Petrarch, Virgil, Homer, became passionate about art and discovered a new world, the existence of which he did not even suspect, while he was under the tutelage of his teachers.

Thanks to Maria Mancini, this king was subsequently involved in the construction of Versailles, provided patronage to Moliere and financial assistance to Racine. However, she managed not only to transform the spiritual world of Louis XIV, but also to instill in him the idea of ​​the greatness of his destiny.

“The king was twenty years old,” said one of his contemporaries, Amédée Rene, “and he still obediently obeyed his mother and Mazarin. Nothing in him foreshadowed a powerful monarch: when discussing state affairs, he was openly bored and preferred to shift the burden of power to others. Marie awakened the dormant pride in Louis XIV; she often talked with him about glory and extolled the happy opportunity to command. Whether it was vanity or calculation, she wanted her hero to behave as befits a crowned person.”

Thus, we can come to the conclusion that the Sun King was born from love...

The king experienced real feeling for the first time in his life. He shuddered at the sound of violins, sighed on moonlit evenings and dreamed of “the sweet embrace” of a delightful Italian woman who grew prettier day by day.

But at the same time, talk began at court that the king would soon marry the Spanish Infanta Maria Theresa.

Knowing in detail the progress of negotiations with Spain, Mancini, as versed in politics as in music and literature, suddenly realized that the passion of Louis XIV could have the most fatal consequences for the entire kingdom. And on September 3, she wrote to Mazarin that she was abandoning the king.

This news plunged Louis XIV into despair.

He sent her begging letters, but received no response to any of them. In the end, he ordered his beloved dog to be taken to her. The exile had enough courage and determination not to thank the king for the gift, which, however, brought her painful joy.

Then Louis XIV signed a peace treaty with Spain and agreed to marry the infanta. Maria Theresa had an unusually calm disposition. Preferring silence and solitude, she spent her time reading Spanish books. On the day when the festive bells rang throughout the kingdom, in Brouage Marie burst into burning tears. “I could not think,” she wrote in her Memoirs, “that I had paid a heavy price for the peace that everyone was so happy about, and no one remembered that the king would hardly have married the infanta if I had not sacrificed myself. .."

Maria Theresa sometimes waited all night for the return of the king, who flitted from one lover to another at that time. In the morning or the next day, the wife bombarded Louis XIV with questions, in response he kissed her hands and referred to state affairs.

Once, at a ball at Henrietta of England's, the king met the eyes of a charming girl and began to persistently court the maid of honor Louise de La Vallière.

Louis XIV loved Louise so much that he surrounded his relationship with her, in the words of the Abbé de Choisy, “an impenetrable secret.” They met at night in the park of Fontainebleau or in the room of the Comte de Saint-Aignan, but in public the king did not allow himself a single gesture that could reveal “the secret of his heart.”

Their connection was discovered by chance. One evening the courtiers were walking through the park when suddenly a heavy downpour poured down. To escape the thunderstorm, everyone took refuge under the trees. The lovers fell behind. Lavaliere because of his lameness, and Louis for the simple reason that no one walks faster than his beloved.

In front of the court, the king led his favorite into the palace in the pouring rain, baring his head to cover her with his hat.

Naturally, such a gallant manner of treating the young lady-in-waiting caused a stream of satirical couplets and epigrams from malicious poets.

After some time, jealousy again made Louis XIV forget about his restraint.

One young courtier named Lomenie de Brienne had the imprudence to court Louise de La Vallière a little. Having met her one evening in the chambers of Henrietta of England, he invited her to pose for the artist Lefebvre in the form of Magdalene. During the conversation, the king entered the room.

“What are you doing here, mademoiselle?”

Louise, blushing, spoke of Brienne's proposal.

“Isn’t that a good idea?” - he asked.

The king was unable to hide his displeasure: “No. She should be depicted as Diana. She's too young to pose as a penitent."

Lavaliere sometimes refused a date, citing illness. But the king found thousands of ways to see her. One day she volunteered to accompany Henrietta to Saint-Cloud, where she hoped to hide from him. He immediately jumped on his horse and, under the pretext that he wanted to inspect construction works, visited Vincennes Castle, the Tuileries and Versailles in one day.

At six o'clock in the evening he was in Saint-Cloud.

“I came to have dinner with you,” he told his brother.

After dessert, the king went up to the bedroom of Louise, the maid of honor of his brother's wife. He rode thirty-seven leagues just to spend the night with Louise - an absolutely incredible act that caused amazement among all his contemporaries.

Despite this evidence of ardent passion, the naive girl initially hoped that the king would become more prudent in the last weeks before his wife gave birth.

However, after a quarrel with Maria Theresa, the king decided to devote himself entirely to his mistress. He couldn't miss this opportunity. And Louise, who thought that he could return to the true path, now spent almost every night with him, experiencing both unspeakable pleasure and strong remorse in his arms...

On November 1st, the queen gave birth to a son, who was named Louis. This happy event temporarily brought the crowned spouses closer together. However, as soon as the Dauphin was christened, the monarch returned to Mademoiselle de La Vallière’s bed. On this bed, warmed by a heating pad, the favorite experienced joys that quenched the languor of the body, but at the same time brought confusion into the soul...

One day the king asked Louise about the love affairs of Henrietta of England. The favorite, who promised her friend to keep the secret, refused to answer. Louis XIV retired to severe irritation, slamming the door and leaving a sobbing Louise in the bedroom.

Meanwhile, even at the beginning of their relationship, the lovers agreed that “if they happen to quarrel, then neither of them will go to bed without writing a letter and making an attempt at reconciliation.”

So Louise waited all night for the messenger to knock on her door. At dawn it became clear to her: the king had not forgiven the insult. Then she, wrapped in an old cloak, left the Tuileries in despair and ran to the Chaillot monastery.

This news brought the king into such confusion that he, forgetting about decency, jumped on his horse. The Queen, who was present, said that he had absolutely no self-control.

Louis brought Louise to the Tuileries in his carriage and kissed her publicly, so that all witnesses to this scene were amazed...

Having reached the chambers of Henrietta of England, Louis XIV “began to rise very slowly, not wanting to show that he was crying.” Then he began to ask for Louise and achieved - not without difficulty - Henrietta's consent to keep her with him... The greatest king of Europe turned into a humiliated petitioner, concerned only that Mademoiselle de La Vallière would not shed any more tears.

In the evening, Louis visited Louise. Alas! The more pleasure she received, the more she was tormented by remorse. “And languid sighs mixed with sincere lamentations...”

At this time, Mademoiselle de la Mothe Udencourt, burning with passion, made a desperate attempt to lure Louis XIV into her network. But the king could not afford two relationships at the same time, especially since he was too busy - he was building Versailles.

For several months now, the monarch, with the help of architects Le Brun and Le Nôtre, had been building the most beautiful palace in the world in honor of Louise. For the twenty-four-year-old king, this was an intoxicating activity that absorbed all his time.

When he happened to push aside the drawings that cluttered his desk, he began to write a tender letter to Louise. Once he even wrote her an exquisite couplet on the two of diamonds during a card game. And Mademoiselle de La Vallière, with her usual wit, responded with a real little poem, where she asked her to write on the deuce of hearts, because this is a more reliable suit.

When the king returned to Paris, he immediately rushed to Louise, and both lovers then experienced such joy that they completely forgot about caution.

The result was not long in coming: one evening the favorite, in tears, announced to the king that she was expecting a child. Louis XIV, delighted, threw away his usual restraint: from now on he began to walk around the Louvre with his girlfriend, which he had never done before.

Several months have passed. Louis XIV went to fight with the Duke of Lorraine and, at the head of a victorious army, returned on October 15, 1663, covering himself with glory. Louise was waiting for him impatiently. She could no longer hide her pregnancy.

On December 19, at four o’clock in the morning, Colbert received the following note from the obstetrician: “We have a boy, strong and healthy. Mother and child are doing well. God bless. I'm waiting for orders."

The orders turned out to be cruel for Louise. On the same day, the newborn was carried to Saint-Lay: by secret order of the king, he was recorded as Charles, son of M. Lencourt and Mademoiselle Elisabeth de Bey.

All winter, Louise hid in her house, not receiving anyone except the king, who was very upset by this seclusion. In the spring he brought her to Versailles, which was almost completed. Now she took the position of the officially recognized favorite, and the courtesans fawned over her in every possible way. However, Louise did not know how to be happy and therefore cried.

But she would have cried even more bitterly if she had known that she was carrying under her heart a second little bastard, conceived the previous month.

This child was born under the cover of the deepest secrecy on January 7, 1665 and was christened Philippe, “the son of Francois Dersy, a bourgeois, and Marguerite Bernard, his wife.” Colbert, who still had to deal with the arrangement of the babies, entrusted him to the care of reliable people.

In the end, Louis XIV got tired of appeasing his mistress, and he turned his attention to the Princess of Monaco. She was young, charming, witty and unusually attractive; but in the eyes of the king her greatest advantage was that she shared a bed with Lauzen, a famous seducer, and therefore had a wealth of experience.

Louis XIV began to diligently court the princess, who happily allowed herself to be seduced.

Three weeks later, the king parted with the Princess of Monaco, because he found her affection somewhat tiresome for himself, and again returned to de La Vallière.

On January 20, 1666, regent Anne of Austria, mother of Louis XIV, died. With her, the last barrier that had kept the king at least a little within the bounds of decency disappeared. Soon everyone was convinced of this. A week later, Mademoiselle de La Vallière stood next to Maria Theresa during mass...

It was then that one young lady-in-waiting of the queen tried to attract the attention of the king, who realized that circumstances were developing in her favor. She was beautiful, cunning and sharp-tongued. Her name was Françoise Athenais, she had been married to the Marquis de Montespan for two years, but she was not distinguished by impeccable marital fidelity.

Louis XIV soon fell under her spell. Without abandoning Louise, who was pregnant again, he began to flutter around Athenais. The modest favorite quickly realized that from now on it was not only she that interested the king. As always, having quietly been relieved of her burden, she hid in her mansion and prepared to suffer in silence.

But the future Sun King loved theatricality, so that everything happened in front of the audience. Therefore, he organized celebrations in Saint-Germain under the name “Ballet of the Muses”, where Louise and Madame de Montespan received exactly the same roles, so that it became clear to everyone that both would share his bed on equal terms.

On May 14, around noon, amazing news broke. It became known that the king had just bestowed the title of Duchess on Mademoiselle de La Vallière and recognized her third child, little Maria Anna, as his daughter (the first two sons died in infancy).

The pale Madame de Montespan hurried to the queen to find out the details. Maria Theresa was crying. Around her, the courtiers were discussing in whispers the charter of grant, already approved by parliament. There was no limit to amazement. They said that such shamelessness had not happened since the time of Henry IV.

On October 3, Lavaliere gave birth to a son, who was immediately taken away. He was to receive the name Comte de Vermandois. This event brought the king somewhat closer to the gentle Lavaliere, and the alarmed Montespan hurried to the sorceress Voisin. She handed her a bag of “love powder” made from charred and crushed toad bones, mole teeth, human nails, Spanish flies, bat blood, dry plums and iron powder.

That same evening, the unsuspecting King of France swallowed this disgusting potion along with his soup. It was difficult to doubt the power of witchcraft, since the king almost immediately left Louise de La Valliere, returning to the arms of Madame de Montespan.

Soon Louis XIV decided to give his mistresses official status in order to demonstrate his disdain for all kinds of moralists. At the beginning of 1669, he placed Louise and Françoise in adjacent apartments in Saint-Germain. Moreover, he demanded that both women maintain the appearance of friendly relations. From now on, everyone saw them playing cards, dining at the same table, and walking hand in hand through the park, chatting animatedly and amiably.

The king silently waited to see how the court would react to this. And soon couplets appeared, very disrespectful towards the favorites, but restrained as far as the king was concerned. Louis XIV realized that the game could be considered won. Every evening, with a calm soul, he went to his beloved and found more and more pleasure in this.

Of course, preference was almost always given to Madame de Montespan. She did not hide her delight. She really liked the king's caresses. Louis XIV did this with knowledge of the matter, since he read Ambroise Paré, who argued that “a sower should not invade the field of human flesh at a swoop...” But after that it was possible to act with the courage of a husband and king.

This approach could not fail to bear fruit. At the end of March 1669, Madame de Montespan gave birth to a delightful girl.

The king, who became more and more attached to the ardent marquise, practically ignored de La Vallière. Madame de Montespan was so favored by the king that on March 31, 1670, she gave birth to her second child, the future Duke of Maine. This time the child was born in Saint-Germain, “in the ladies' quarters,” and Madame Scarron, whom the king did not like, did not dare to come there. But Lozen did everything for her. He took the child, wrapped him in his own cloak, walked quickly through the chambers of the queen, who was in ignorance, crossed the park and approached the grating where the teacher's carriage was waiting. Two hours later the boy had already joined his sister.

Suddenly, stunning news spread: Mademoiselle de La Vallière, having secretly left the court during a ball in the Tuileries, went to the Chaillot monastery at dawn. Louise, humiliated by Madame de Montespan, abandoned by the king, crushed by grief and tormented by remorse, decided that only in religion could she find solace.

Louis XIV was informed of this when he was about to leave the Tuileries. Having listened dispassionately to the news, he climbed into the carriage along with Madame de Montespan and Mademoiselle de Montpensier, and it seemed to many that Louise’s flight had left him completely indifferent. However, as soon as the carriage entered the road to Versailles, tears began to flow down the king’s cheeks. Seeing this, Montespan burst into tears, and Mademoiselle de Montpensier, who always cried willingly at the opera, thought it best to join her.

That same evening, Colbert brought Louise to Versailles by order of the king. The unfortunate woman found her lover in tears and believed that he still loved her.

But after on December 18, 1673, in the Church of Saint-Sulpice, the king forced her to be the godmother of Madame de Montespan's next daughter, Louise made the most important decision of her life.

On June 2, at the age of thirty, she took monastic vows and became the merciful Sister Louise. And she bore this name until her death, for thirty-six years.

Meanwhile, in Paris, Madame de Montespan did not sit idle. She constantly sent love powders to Saint-Germain, which were then mixed into the king's food through bribed servants. Since these powders contained Spanish fly and other stimulants, Louis XIV again began to wander around the apartments of the young ladies-in-waiting, and many girls acquired the status of women thanks to this circumstance...

Then the beauty de Montespan turned to the Norman sorcerers, who began to regularly supply her with love potions and aphrodisiacs for Louis XIV. This went on for many years. The potion had an increasingly stronger effect on the king. strong impact than Madame de Montespan would like. The monarch began to experience an insatiable need for sexual intercourse, as many ladies-in-waiting soon became aware of.

The first person the king noticed was Anne de Rohan, Baroness de Soubise, a delightful young woman of twenty-eight years of age, who respectfully yielded to the not very respectful proposal. The monarch met with her in the apartments of Madame de Rochefort. Receiving endless pleasure from these dates, he tried to act as carefully as possible so that no one would find out anything, because the beauty was married.

But Louis XIV was tormented in vain: de Soubise was well brought up and had an easy-going character. Moreover, he was a business man. Seeing his dishonor as a source of income, he did not protest, but demanded money. “A vile deal was completed,” the chronicler wrote, “and the noble scoundrel, into whose baronial mantle golden rain poured, bought the former palace of the Guises, which received the name Soubise. He made a million-dollar fortune for himself.”

When someone expressed admiration for his wealth, the indulgent husband replied with commendable modesty: “I have nothing to do with it, this is the merit of my wife.”

The lovely Anna was as greedy and insatiable as her husband. She benefited all her relatives: this family was showered with favors from the king. From Baroness de Soubise, the favorite turned into Princess de Soubise and felt that she could now look down on Madame de Montespan.

The Marquise, jealous of her rival, ran to the sorceress Voisin and got hold of a new potion in order to discourage Louis XIV from Anna. It is difficult to say whether this powder caused his disgrace, but the king suddenly left his young mistress and returned to Françoise’s bed.

At the end of 1675, Louis XIV, having bestowed his affection first on Mademoiselle de Grandce and then on Princess Marie-Anne of Würtenburg, fell in love with Françoise's chambermaid. From then on, on his way to see his favorite, the king invariably lingered in the hallway, engaging in not very decent pastimes with Mademoiselle de Hoye.

Having discovered that she was being deceived, de Montespan, in a rage, instructed her reliable friends to turn to Auvergne healers and get from them a potion stronger than Voisin powders. Soon, mysterious vials containing a cloudy liquid were delivered to her, which then ended up in the king's food.

However, the results were encouraging: Louis XIV, who did not tolerate monotony, left Mademoiselle de Hoye, and Madame de Montespan was imbued with even greater faith in the power of love potions. She ordered other stimulants to be prepared in order to once again become the king’s only mistress, but she achieved the opposite.

Once again the monarch could not be satisfied with the charms of his favorite; he needed one more "sweet flesh" to satisfy his desire. He entered into a relationship with Mademoiselle de Ludre, a maid of honor from the Queen’s retinue. But this woman also showed immodesty.

The marquise, overwhelmed by jealousy, began to look for even stronger remedies and for two weeks fed them to the king, who, admittedly, had great health if he managed to digest preparations containing crushed toad, snake eyes, boar's testicles, cat urine, fox feces, artichokes and capsicums.

One day he came to Françoise while under the influence of a potion and gave her an hour of pleasure. Nine months later, on May 4, 1677, the radiant marquise gave birth to a daughter, who was christened Françoise Marie of Bourbon. She was subsequently recognized as the king's legitimate daughter under the name Mademoiselle de Blois.

But Françoise did not manage to gain a foothold in her former capacity as the only mistress, because the beautiful Mademoiselle de Ludre, wanting to maintain her “position,” decided to pretend that she had also become pregnant by the king.

Accomplices delivered a box of gray powder to Françoise, and, by a strange coincidence, Louis XIV completely lost interest in Mademoiselle de Ludre, who ended her days in the convent of the daughters of St. Mary in the suburbs of Saint-Germain.

However, the monarch, overly inflamed by the Provençal drug, again eluded Françoise: in the witty expression of Madame de Sevigne, “there was a fresh smell again in the country of Quanto.”

Among the ladies-in-waiting, Madame Louis XIV spotted a delightful blonde with gray eyes. She was eighteen years old and her name was Mademoiselle de Fontanges. It was about her that the Abbé de Choisy said that “she is as beautiful as an angel and stupid as a cork.”

The king was inflamed with desire. One evening, unable to restrain himself any longer, he left Saint-Germain, accompanied by several guards, and went to the Palais Royal, the residence of Henrietta of England. There he knocked on the door with the agreed signal, and one of the princess's ladies-in-waiting, Mademoiselle de Adré, who became an accomplice of the lovers, escorted him to her friend's chambers.

Unfortunately, when he returned to Saint-Germain at dawn, the Parisians recognized him, and soon Madame de Montespan received comprehensive information about this love affair. Her rage is beyond description. Perhaps it was then that the idea came to her to poison both the king and Mademoiselle de Fontanges out of revenge.

On March 12, 1679, the poisoner Voisin, whose services de Montespan had repeatedly resorted to, was arrested. The favorite, mad with fear, left for Paris.

A few days later, Françoise, convinced that her name had not been mentioned, calmed down a little and returned to Saint-Germain. However, upon arrival, a blow awaited her: Mademoiselle de Fontanges settled in apartments adjacent to the king’s chambers.

Ever since Françoise discovered Mademoiselle de Fontanges in her place, she was determined to poison the king. At first it occurred to her to do this with the help of a petition soaked strong poison. Trianon, Voisin's accomplice, "prepared a poison so strong that Louis XIV had to die as soon as he touched the paper." The delay prevented the execution of this plan: Madame de Montespan, knowing that La Reynie, after the arrest of the poisoners, doubled her vigilance and intensely guarded the king, decided ultimately to resort to damage rather than poison.

For some time, both favorites seemed to live in good harmony. Mademoiselle de Fontanges gave gifts to Françoise, and Françoise herself dressed up Mademoiselle de Fontanges before the evening balls. Louis XIV paid attention to both his ladies and seemed to be at the height of bliss...

Fontanges died on June 28, 1681, after an agony of eleven months, at the age of twenty-two. Rumors immediately spread about the murder, and the Princess of the Palatinate noted: “There is no doubt that Fontanges was poisoned. She herself blamed Montespan for everything, who bribed the footman, and he killed her by pouring poison into her milk.”

Of course, the king shared the court's suspicions. Fearing that his mistress had committed a crime, he forbade an autopsy of the deceased.

Although the king had to behave with the Marchioness as if he knew nothing, he still could not continue to play the lover and returned to Maria Theresa.

He embarked on this path not without the help of Madame Scarron, née Françoise D'Aubigné, the widow of a famous poet, who was slowly gaining influence, acting in the shadows, but extremely cleverly and cautiously. She raised Montespan's illegitimate children from the king.

Louis XIV saw with what love she raised the children abandoned by Madame de Montespan. He had already managed to appreciate her intelligence, honesty and directness and, not wanting to admit it to himself, increasingly sought her company.

When she bought the lands of Maintenon, a few leagues from Chartres, in 1674, Madame de Montespan expressed extreme displeasure: “Is that so? A castle and an estate for the teacher of bastards?

“If it is humiliating to be their teacher,” replied the newly-minted landowner, “then what can we say about their mother?”

Then, in order to silence Madame de Montespan, the king, in the presence of the entire court, speechless with amazement, called Madame Scarron by a new name - Madame de Maintenon. From that moment on, and by special order of the monarch, she signed only with this name.

Years passed, and Louis XIV became attached to this woman, so different from Madame de Montespan. After the case of the poisoners, he naturally turned his gaze to her, for his troubled soul required consolation.

But Madame de Maintenon did not want to take the place of the favorite. “Strengthening the monarch in faith,” said the Duke de Noailles, “she used the feelings that she inspired in him in order to return him to the pure family bosom and pay to the queen those signs of attention that rightfully belonged only to her.”

Maria Theresa could not believe her luck: the king spent evenings with her and talked with tenderness. For almost thirty years, she had not heard a single kind word from him.

Madame de Maintenon, stern and pious almost to the point of hypocrisy, although she had, according to many, a rather stormy youth, was now distinguished by amazing rationality and restraint. She treated the monarch with extreme respect, admired him and considered herself chosen by God to help him become “the most Christian king.”

For several months, Louis XIV met with her daily. De Maintenon gave excellent advice, skillfully and unobtrusively intervened in all matters and, ultimately, became necessary for the monarch.

Louis XIV looked at her with burning eyes and “with some tenderness in his facial expression.” Without a doubt, he longed to embrace this beautiful touch-me-not, who at forty-eight years of age was experiencing a brilliant decline.

The monarch considered it indecent to make a mistress out of a woman who raised his children so well. However, the dignified behavior and restraint of Françoise de Maintenon excluded any thought of adultery. She was not one of those ladies who could easily be lured to the first bed that came her way.

There was only one way out: to marry her in secret. Louis, having made up his mind, sent his confessor, Father de Lachaise, one morning to propose to Françoise.

The marriage took place in 1684 or 1685 (no one knows the exact date) in the king's office, where the newlyweds were blessed by Monsignor Harle de Chanvallon in the presence of Father de Lachaise.

Many then began to guess about the king’s secret marriage with Françoise. But this did not come to the surface, because everyone tried to keep the secret. Only Madame de Sevigne, whose pen was as uncontrollable as her tongue, wrote to her daughter: “Madame de Maintenon’s position is unique, nothing like this has ever happened and never will happen...”

Under the influence of Madame de Maintenon, who, with her knees drawn together and her lips pursed, continued the work of “cleansing” morals, Versailles turned into such a boring place that, as they said then, “even the Calvinists would howl here with melancholy.”

At court, all playful expressions were prohibited, men and women no longer dared to openly communicate with each other, and beauties, burned by internal fire, were forced to hide languor under the mask of piety.

On May 27, 1707, Madame de Montespan died on the waters of Bourbon-l'Archambault. Louis XIV, having learned about the death of his former mistress, said with complete indifference: “She died too long ago for me to mourn her today.”

On August 31, 1715, Louis XIV fell into a coma and on September 1, at a quarter past nine in the morning, he breathed his last.

In four days he would have turned seventy-seven years old. His reign lasted seventy-two years.

Muromov I.A. 100 great lovers. – M.: Veche, 2002.

The birth of this child was all the more long-awaited because King Louis XIII of France and Anne of Austria had no children for 22 years after their marriage in 1615.

On September 5, 1638, the queen finally had an heir. This was such an event that the famous philosopher, monk of the Dominican Order Tomaso Campanella was invited to predict the future of the royal baby, and Cardinal Mazarin himself became his godfather.

The future king was taught horse riding, fencing, playing the spinet, lute and guitar. Like Peter I, Louis built a fortress in the Palais Royal, where he disappeared every day, staging “amusing” battles. For several years he did not experience serious health problems, but at the age of nine he suffered a real test.

On November 11, 1647, Louis suddenly felt a sharp pain in his lower back and lower spine. The king's first doctor, Francois Voltier, was called to the child. The next day was marked by fever, which, according to the customs of that time, was treated by bloodletting from the cubital vein. The bloodletting was repeated on November 13, and on the same day the diagnosis became clearer: the child’s body was covered with smallpox pustules.

On November 14, 1647, a council consisting of doctors Voltier, Geno and Vallot and the first doctors of the queen, uncle and nephew Seguin, gathered at the patient’s bedside. The venerable Areopagus prescribed observation and mythical cardiac remedies, and meanwhile the child’s fever increased and delirium appeared. Over the course of 10 days, he underwent four venesections, which had little effect on the course of the disease - the number of rashes “increased a hundredfold.”

Dr. Vallot insisted on using a laxative, based on the medieval medical postulate “Give an enema, then bleed, then cleanse (use an emetic).” The nine-year-old Majesty is given calomel and an infusion of Alexandria leaf. The child behaved courageously to endure these painful, unpleasant and bloody manipulations. And this was not the end.

The life of Louis is surprisingly reminiscent of the biography of Peter I: he is fighting the noble Fronde, fighting the Spaniards, Holy Empire, with the Dutch and at the same time creates the General Hospital in Paris, royal house disabled people, the national manufactory "Tapestries", academies, an observatory, rebuilds the Louvre Palace, builds the gates of Saint-Denis and Saint-Martin, the Royal Bridge, the ensemble of Place Vendôme, etc.

At the height of hostilities, on June 29, 1658, the king became seriously ill. He was transported to Calais in very serious condition. For two weeks everyone was sure that the monarch would die. Doctor Antoine Vallot, who treated smallpox for the king 10 years ago, considered the causes of his illness to be unfavorable air, contaminated water, overwork, a cold on his feet and refusal of preventive bloodletting and intestinal lavage.

The illness began with fever, general lethargy, severe headache, and loss of strength. The king hid his condition and walked around, although he already had a fever. On July 1, in Calais, in order to free the body from the “poison” that “has accumulated in it, poisoning the bodily fluids and disturbing their proportions,” the king is given an enema, then bloodletting and given cardiac medications.

The fever, which doctors determine by touch, by pulse and changes in the nervous system, does not subside, so Louis is bled again and the intestines are washed several times. Then they do two bloodlettings, several enemas and cardiac medications. On July 5, the doctors' imagination runs out - the crown bearer is given an emetic and an abscess plaster is applied.

On July 7 and 8, venesection is repeated and cordials are given, then Antoine Vallot mixes several ounces of emetic wine with several ounces of antimony salt (the most powerful laxative of the time) and gives the king a third of this mixture to drink. It worked very well: the king passed through 22 times and vomited twice four to five hours after taking this potion.

Then he was bled three more times and given enemas. In the second week of treatment, the fever subsided, only weakness remained. It is most likely that this time the king was suffering from typhus or relapsing fever - one of the frequent companions of overcrowding during hostilities (“war typhus”).

At that time, during protracted positional combat, sporadic cases often occurred, and more often, epidemic outbreaks of “camp” or “war” fever, the losses from which were many times greater than from bullets or cannonballs. During his illness, Louis also received a lesson in statesmanship: not believing in his recovery, the courtiers began to openly show affection for his brother, who was the heir to the throne.

Having recovered from his illness (or from treatment?), Louis travels around France, concludes the Pyrenees Peace, marries the Spanish Infanta Maria Theresa, changes favorites and favorites, but most importantly, after the death of Cardinal Mazarin, in April 1661, he becomes a sovereign king.

Achieving the unity of France, he creates an absolute monarchy. With the help of Colbert (French version of Menshikov), he carries out a reform government controlled, finance, army, builds a fleet more powerful than the English one.

The extraordinary flowering of culture and science could not happen without his participation: Louis patronized the writers Perrault, Corneille, La Fontaine, Boileau, Racine, Molière, and lured Christian Huygens to France. Under him, the Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Dance, Arts, Literature and Inscriptions, the Royal Garden of Rare Plants were founded, and the “Newspaper of Scientists” began to be published, which is still published.

It was at this time that the French ministers of science carried out the first successful blood transfusion from animal to animal. The king gives the nation the Louvre Palace - it soon became the most famous collection of works of art in Europe. Louis was a passionate collector.

Under him, Baroque gives way to classicism, and Jean-Baptiste Moliere lays the foundations of the Comedy Francaise. Pampered and adoring ballet, Louis is seriously engaged in army reform and is the first to begin conferring military ranks. Pierre de Montesquiou D'Artagnan (1645-1725) becomes Marshal of France at this very time. And at the same time, the king is seriously ill...

Unlike many other heads of state (and Russia primarily), the state of health of the first person of France was not elevated to the level of a state secret. The king’s doctors did not hide from anyone that every month, and then every three weeks, Louis was prescribed laxatives and enemas.

In those days it was generally a rare occurrence for gastrointestinal tract worked fine: people walked too little and didn’t eat enough vegetables. The king, having fallen from his horse in 1683 and dislocated his arm, began to go hunting with hounds in a light carriage, which he drove himself.

From 1681, Louis XIV began to suffer from gout. Vivid clinical symptoms: acute arthritis of the first metatarsophalangeal joint, which appeared after meals richly flavored with wine, prodrome - “the rustle of gout”, an acute pain attack in the middle of the night, “under the crowing of a rooster” - were already too well known to doctors, but they did not know how to treat gout , and they have already forgotten about the empirically used colchicine.

The sufferer was offered the same enemas, bloodletting, emetics... Six years later, the pain in his legs became so intense that the king began to move around the Castle of Versailles in a chair with wheels. He even went to meetings with diplomats in a chair pushed by hefty servants. But in 1686, another problem appeared - hemorrhoids.

Numerous enemas and laxatives did not benefit the king at all. Frequent exacerbations of hemorrhoids resulted in the formation of an anal fistula. In February 1686, the king developed a tumor on his buttock, and doctors without thinking twice took up lancets. The court surgeon, Charles Felix de Tassy, ​​cut the tumor and cauterized it to widen the wound. Suffering from this painful wound and from gout, Louis could not only ride a horse, but also be in public for a long time.

There were rumors that the king was about to die or had already died. In March of the same year, a new “small” incision and a new useless cauterization were made, on April 20 - another cauterization, after which Louis fell ill for three days. Then he went to be treated with mineral water at the Barege resort, but this helped little.

The king held on until November 1686 and finally dared to undertake a “big” operation. C. de Tassy, ​​who has already been mentioned, in the presence of Bessières, “the most famous surgeon of Paris,” the favorite minister of the king, François-Michel Letelier, the Marquis de Louvois, who held the king’s hand during the operation, and the old favorite of the king, Madame de Maintenon, without Anesthesia operates on the king.

Surgical intervention ends with copious bloodletting. On December 7, doctors saw that the wound was “not in good condition” and that “hardenings had formed in it, interfering with healing.” followed new operation, the hardening was removed, but the pain that the king experienced was unbearable.

The incisions were repeated on December 8 and 9, 1686, but a month passed before the king finally recovered. Just think, France could lose the “sun king” because of banal hemorrhoids! As a sign of solidarity with the monarch, Philippe de Courcillon, Marquis da Dangeau in 1687, and Louis-Joseph, Duke of Vendôme in 1691 underwent the same operation.

One can only marvel at the courage of the spoiled and pampered king! I will mention the chief doctors of Louis XIV: Jacques Cousineau (1587-1646), Francois Voltier (1580-1652), Antoine Vallot (1594-1671), Antoine d'Aquin (1620-1696), Guy-Crissant Fagon (1638-1718).

Can Louis' life be called happy? Probably, it is possible: he accomplished a lot, saw France great, was loved and loved, remained forever in history... But, as often happens, the ending of this long life was overshadowed.

In less than a year - from April 14, 1711 to March 8, 1712 - death claimed the son of Louis Monseigneur, the king's daughter-in-law, the Duchess of Bourbon, the Princess of Savoy, his grandson, the Duke of Burgundy, the second heir, and a few days later the eldest of his great-grandsons - the Duke of Breton, third heir.

In 1713, the Duke of Alençon, the great-grandson of the king, died, in 1741 - his grandson, the Duke of Berry. The king's son died of smallpox, his daughter-in-law and grandson died of measles. The deaths of all the princes in a row plunged France into horror. They assumed poisoning and blamed everything on Philip II of Orleans, the future regent of the throne, whose every death brought him closer to the crown.

The king held on with all his might, buying time for his minor heir. For a long time he really amazed everyone with his strength of health: back in 1706 he slept at open windows, was not afraid of “neither heat nor cold”, continued to use the services of his favorites. But in 1715, on August 10, in Versailles, the king suddenly felt unwell and with great difficulty walked from his office to his prayer bench.

The next day, he also held a meeting of the cabinet of ministers and gave audiences, but on August 12, the king developed severe pain in his leg. Guy-Cressant Fagon makes a diagnosis that modern interpretation sounds like “sciatica”, and prescribes routine treatment. The king still leads his usual way of life, but on August 13 the pain intensifies so much that the monarch asks to be moved to the church in a chair, although at the subsequent reception of the Persian ambassador he stood on his feet for the entire ceremony.

History has not preserved the course of the diagnostic search of doctors, but they were mistaken from the very beginning and held their diagnosis as a flag. I note that the flag turned out to be black...

On August 14, pain in the foot, leg and thigh no longer allowed the king to walk; he was carried everywhere in a chair. Only then did G. Fagon show the first signs of concern. He himself, the attending physician Boudin, the pharmacist Biot, and the first surgeon Georges Marechal remain overnight in the king’s chambers so as to be at hand at the right moment.

Louis had a bad, very restless night, tormented by pain and bad premonitions. On August 15, he receives visitors lying down, sleeps poorly at night, and is tormented by pain in his leg and thirst. On August 17, the pain was joined by a stunning chill, and - an amazing thing! — Fagon does not change the diagnosis.

The doctors are completely at a loss. Now we cannot imagine life without a medical thermometer, but then doctors did not know this simple instrument. Fever was determined by placing a hand on the patient’s forehead or by the quality of the pulse, because only a few doctors had a “pulse watch” (a prototype of a stopwatch), invented by D. Floyer.

Louis is brought bottles of mineral water and even given a massage. On August 21, a consultation gathers at the king’s bedside, which probably seemed ominous to the patient: doctors of that time wore black robes, like priests, and a visit from a priest in such cases did not mean anything good...

Completely confused, the respectable doctors give Louis cassia potion and a laxative, then add quinine with water, donkey milk to the treatment, and finally bandage his leg, which was in a terrible state: “all covered with black grooves, which was very similar to gangrene.”

The king suffered until August 25, his name day, when in the evening his body was pierced by unbearable pain and terrible convulsions began. Louis lost consciousness and his pulse disappeared. Having come to his senses, the king demanded communion of the Holy Mysteries... Surgeons came to him to make an unnecessary dressing. On August 26, at about 10 a.m., doctors bandaged the leg and made several cuts down to the bone. They saw that gangrene had affected the entire thickness of the lower leg muscles and realized that no medicine would help the king.

But Louis was not destined to calmly retire to a better world: on August 27, a certain Monsieur Brun showed up at Versailles, who brought with him a “most effective elixir” capable of overcoming gangrene, even “internal.” The doctors, having already come to terms with their helplessness, took the medicine from the charlatan, dropped 10 drops into three spoons of Alicante wine and gave the king this drug, which had a disgusting smell, to drink.

Louis obediently poured this abomination into himself, saying: “I must obey the doctors.” They began to regularly give the disgusting drink to the dying man, but the gangrene “had advanced very much,” and the king, who was in a semi-conscious state, said that it was “disappearing.”

On August 30, Louis fell into stupor (he was still reacting to calls), but, having woken up, he still found the strength to read “Ave Maria” and “Credo” together with the prelates... Four days before his 77th birthday, Louis “gave his soul to God without the slightest effort, like a candle that goes out”...

History knows at least two episodes similar to the case of Louis XIV, who undoubtedly suffered from obliterating atherosclerosis, the level of damage was the iliac artery. This is the disease of I.B. Tito and F. Franco. They could not be helped even 250 years later.

Epicurus once said: “The ability to live well and die well is one and the same science,” but S. Freud corrected him: “Physiology is fate.” Both aphorisms seem to be quite applicable to Louis XIV. He lived, of course, sinfully, but beautifully, and died terribly.

But this is not what makes the king’s medical history interesting. On the one hand, it demonstrates the level of medicine of that time. It would seem that William Harvey (1578-1657) had already made his discovery - by the way, it was the French doctors who met him most hostilely, very soon the revolutionary in diagnosis L. Auenbrugger would be born, and the French doctors were in the dogmatic captivity of medieval scholasticism and alchemy.

Louis XIII, the father of Louis XIV, underwent 47 bloodlettings over the course of 10 months, after which he died. Contrary to the popular version about the death of the great Italian artist Raphael Santi at the age of 37 from an excess of love passion for his beloved Fornarina, he most likely died from an excessive number of bloodlettings, which were prescribed to him as an “antiphlogistic” remedy for an unknown febrile illness.

The following people died from excess bloodletting: the famous French philosopher, mathematician and physicist R. Descartes; French philosopher and physician J. La Mettrie, who considered the human body as a self-winding clock; first US President D. Washington (although there is another version - diphtheria).

Moscow doctors completely bled Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (already in the middle of the 19th century). It is not clear why doctors so stubbornly clung to the humoral theory of the origin of all diseases, the theory of “spoilage of juices and liquids”, which are the basis of life. It seems that even simple everyday common sense contradicted this.

After all, they saw that a bullet wound, or a prick with a sword, or a blow with a sword did not immediately lead a person to death, and the picture of the disease was always the same: inflammation of the wound, fever, clouded consciousness of the patient and death. After all, Ambroise Pare treated wounds with hot oil infusions and bandages. He didn’t think that this would somehow change the movement and quality of the body’s juices!

But this method was also used by Avicenna, whose works were considered classic in Europe. No, everything went along some kind of shamanic path.

The case of Louis XIV is also interesting because he, without a doubt, suffered from damage to the venous system (he probably also had varicose veins), a particular case of which is hemorrhoids, and atherosclerosis of the arteries of the lower extremities. As for hemorrhoids, everything is generally clear: the rectum is located the lowest in any position of the body, which, other things being equal, obstructs blood circulation and adds to the influence of gravity.

Blood stagnation also develops due to the pressure of the intestinal contents, and the king, as already mentioned, suffered from constipation. Hemorrhoids have always been a dubious “property” of scientists, officials and musicians, that is, people leading a predominantly sedentary lifestyle.

And besides, the king, who sat all the time on a soft one (even the throne was upholstered in velvet), always seemed to have a warming compress in the rectum area! And this leads to chronic expansion of her veins. Although hemorrhoids can not only be “incubated,” but also “insisted” and “found,” Louis incubated them.

However, during the time of Louis, doctors still adhered to the theory of Hippocrates, who considered hemorrhoids to be a tumor of the vessels of the rectum. Hence the barbaric operation that Louis had to endure. But the most interesting thing is that bloodletting in cases of venous congestion alleviates the condition of patients, and here the doctors hit the nail on the head.

Very little time will pass, and the place of bloodletting will be replaced by leeches, which France purchased from Russia in millions of pieces. “Bleeding and leeching have shed more blood than Napoleon’s wars,” says a famous aphorism. A curious thing is the way French doctors liked to portray doctors.

In J.-B. Moliere, a talented contemporary of the “Sun King,” looked at doctors as shameless and narrow-minded charlatans; Maupassant portrayed them as helpless but bloodthirsty vultures, “contemplators of death.” They look prettier in O. de Balzac's work, but their appearance in a whole council at the patient's bedside - in black clothes, with gloomy, concentrated faces - did not bode well for the patient. One can only imagine what Louis XIV felt when he saw them!

As for the king’s second illness, gangrene, its cause, without a doubt, was atherosclerosis. The doctors of that time, no doubt, knew the aphorism of C. Galen, an outstanding Roman physician during the gladiatorial battles: “Many canals, scattered throughout all parts of the body, transmit blood to these parts in the same way as the canals of a garden transmit moisture, and the spaces separating these channels , are so wonderfully disposed by nature that they never lack the blood necessary for absorption, and are never overloaded with blood.”

W. Harvey, an English physician, showed what these channels are, and it would seem that it should be clear that if the channel is blocked, moisture will no longer flow into the garden (blood in the tissue). The average life expectancy of ordinary Frenchmen in those days was short, but, of course, there were old people, and doctors could not ignore the changes in their arteries.

“A person is as old as his arteries,” doctors say. But this has always been the case. Quality arterial wall is inherited and depends on the harm to which a person has exposed it during his life

The king, no doubt, moved little and ate well and plentifully. There is a well-known aphorism by D. Cheyne, who lost weight from 160 kg to normal: “Every prudent person over fifty years of age should, at least, reduce the amount of his food, and if he wants to continue to avoid important and dangerous diseases and preserve his senses and abilities to the end, then every seven years he must gradually and sensitively moderate his appetite and finally die in the same way as he entered into it, even if he had to switch to a children’s diet.”

Of course, Louis did not plan to change anything in his lifestyle, but gout had a much worse effect on his blood vessels than diet.

A long time ago, doctors noticed that in patients with gout, blood vessels are affected; they often have angina pectoris and other signs of atherosclerotic vascular disease. Toxins from impaired metabolism can cause degenerative changes in the middle and outer lining of the arteries, doctors believed not so long ago

Gout leads to kidney damage, this causes hypertension and secondary atherosclerosis, we are talking now. But still, there is more reason to think that Louis had the so-called. “senile arteriosclerosis”: large arteries are dilated and tortuous and have thin and inflexible walls, and small arteries turn into intractable tubes.

It is in such arteries that atherosclerotic plaques and blood clots form, one of which probably killed Louis XIV.

I am convinced that Louis had no pre-existing “intermittent claudication.” The king hardly walked, so what happened was a bolt from the blue. Only a “guillotine”, one-stage amputation of the (high) hip could have saved him, but without painkillers and anesthesia it would have been a death sentence.

And bloodletting in this case only increased the anemia of the already bloodless limb. Louis XIV was able to build a lot, but even the “Sun King” could not carry modern medicine forward a century, to the time of Larrey or N.I. Pirogov...

Nikolay Larinsky, 2001-2013

Louis XIV de Bourbon, who received the name Louis-Dieudonné (“God-given”) at birth

Reign of Louis XIV

Louis XIV de Bourbon, also known as the "Sun King", also Louis the Great, (born September 5, 1638, died September 1, 1715) - King of France and Navarre since May 14, 1643.

Not every European monarch could say about himself: “The State is me.” However, these words rightfully apply to Louis XIV, whose reign became the period of the highest flowering of absolutism in France.

Childhood and young years

The Sun King, the luxury of whose court eclipsed all the august courts of Europe, is the son of Louis XIII and Anne of Austria. The boy was 5 years old when, after the death of his father, he inherited the throne of France and Navarre. But at that time, the dowager queen became the sole ruler of the country, contrary to her husband’s will, which provided for the creation of a regency council.

But in reality, power was concentrated in the hands of her favorite Cardinal Mazarin - a man who was extremely unpopular, even despised by all layers of society, hypocritical and treacherous, who was characterized by insatiable acquisitiveness. It was he who became the tutor of the young sovereign.

The cardinal taught him methods of conducting government affairs, diplomatic negotiations, and political psychology. He was able to instill in his student a taste for secrecy, a passion for fame, and faith in his own infallibility. The young man became vindictive. He forgot nothing and did not forgive.

Louis XIV had a contradictory character. He combined hard work, determination and firmness in implementing his plans with unshakable stubbornness. Appreciating educated and talented people, he meanwhile selected into his circle those who could not outshine him in anything. The king was characterized by extraordinary conceit and lust for power, selfishness and coldness, heartlessness and hypocrisy.

Characteristics given to a king different people, are contradictory. His contemporary Duke Saint-Simon noted: “Praise, or better yet, flattery, pleased him so much that he willingly accepted the rudest, and savored the lowest even more. Only in this way was it possible to approach him... Cunning, baseness, servility, a humiliated pose, groveling... - this was the only way to please him.

As soon as a person deviated even a little from this path, there was no turning back.” Voltaire considered him “a good father, a skillful ruler, always decent in public, hardworking, impeccable in business, thoughtful, easy to speak, combining courtesy with dignity.” And he said that Louis XIV “was a great king: it was he who elevated France to the rank of the first nations of Europe... Which French king from time to time can compare with Louis in all respects?”

Be that as it may, any of these characteristics suits Louis. He was a worthy student of Cardinal Mazarin.

The Emperor was well built, even graceful, and, despite all the “efforts” of the doctors, had enviable health. The only illness that haunted him all his life was insatiable hunger. He ate both day and night, swallowing food in large pieces. Physically, the monarch remained quite strong in old age: he rode horseback, drove a carriage with four horses, and shot accurately while hunting.

Rise to power

From his childhood, from 1648, the king was faced with actions of the Fronde (nobility), directed both personally against Mazarin and against the strengthening of absolutism. These protests resulted in a civil war. But in 1661, Louis was officially declared an adult. In his short speech in parliament, he said: “Gentlemen, I came to my parliament to tell you that, according to the law of my state, I am taking the government into my own hands...”

Now any speeches against the cardinal could be considered treason or a crime against His Majesty, because Mazarin only had the appearance of power: now only Louis XIV signed laws, made decisions, and appointed ministers. At this time, he, while accepting with satisfaction the activities of the Prime Minister in the field of foreign policy, diplomacy and military affairs, expressed dissatisfaction with the situation in domestic policy, finance, management.

Reign of Louis XIV

Cardinal Mazarin

After the death of the cardinal in 1661, the king declared at a meeting of the Council of State: “I have assembled you with my ministers and secretaries of state to tell you... the time has come for me to govern myself. You will help me with your advice when I ask you for it.” And when the council was dissolved, he added that he would “convene them when it is necessary to find out their opinion.” However, the State Council never met again.

Louis XIV created a government completely controlled by him, consisting of three people: the chancellor, the controller general of finance and the secretary of state for foreign affairs. Now even his mother could not influence his decision. In France, a system began to take shape that in the 20th century would be called administrative. The monarch received the right, based on the interests of the public good, to go beyond the limits of power prescribed to him: the powers of parliament were limited: it was deprived of the opportunity to influence the course of public affairs, to make even minor amendments to royal ordinances and legislative acts.

Disobedience and free-thinking of citizens were severely punished: the death penalty, life imprisonment, hard labor, galleys. At the same time, a certain semblance of democracy was maintained. At times, public investigations were carried out. This is the case of the abuses of the Minister of Finance Fouquet, and the case of poisoning, in which a number of courtiers and even titled persons were brought to justice. Entered income tax, obligatory for nobles as well. Millions of sums were invested in the development of manufacturing and trade, which greatly contributed to the improvement of the economic situation of France and helped restore the fleet and create the largest army in Europe.

Foreign policy

The king’s foreign policy was a continuation of the policy of Mazarin and his predecessor: “He who has strength has the right in the affairs of the state,” Richelieu indicated in his will, “and he who is weak can hardly remove himself from the ranks of the wrong in the eyes of the majority.” " Significant military forces were created that were supposed to serve the glory and power of the dynasty, because the central problem at this time was the struggle against domination in Europe at home and to establish Bourbon hegemony.

This began with Louis's claims to the Spanish inheritance, to the throne of Spain, which the Spanish infanta renounced upon her marriage to the French king. France put forward claims to the entire Spanish Netherlands and a number of German lands. The confrontation with England, which formed an anti-French coalition, intensified. Although Louis XIV was unable to establish hegemony in Europe, he left the state better protected than what he inherited: the Bourbons owned Spain and the colonies, and the eastern border was strengthened. His armies fought on the territory of the Holy Roman Empire, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and America.

Domestic policy

Continuous wars depleted the treasury, a financial crisis threatened, and there were several years of poor harvests. All this led to unrest in the city and countryside, food riots. The government resorted to brutal repression. In a number of cities, entire streets and even districts were demolished.

Terror against the Huguenots intensified: they began to expel Protestant pastors, destroy Protestant churches, banned the departure of Huguenots from the country, Catholic baptism and marriage became mandatory. All this led to many French Protestants renouncing their faith, but the king's goal of restoring the Catholic faith was not achieved. Protestantism went underground, and at the beginning of the 18th century there was a Huguenot uprising, which in some places took on the scale of a civil war. Only in 1760 were regular troops able to suppress it.

Royal Court of Louis XIV

Not only the constant wars, but also the maintenance of the royal court, which numbered about 20 thousand people, was a heavy burden on the state’s finances. At the court, festive performances, theatrical and musical performances, which remained in the memory of posterity for a long time.

But the monarch was engaged not only in entertainment, but also in the affairs of his subjects: on Mondays, in the premises of the royal guard, on a large table, petitioners folded their letters, which were then sorted by secretaries and handed over with the appropriate report to the king. He personally made decisions on each case. This is what Louis did in all his affairs. “France is a monarchy,” he wrote, “the king represents the whole nation in it, and before the king everyone is only a private person. Therefore, all power, all strength is concentrated in the hands of the king, and no other power can exist in the kingdom except that which is established by him.”

At the same time, the court of Louis XIV was distinguished by a wide variety of vices and perversions. The courtiers were addicted to gambling to such an extent that they lost estates, fortunes and even life itself. Drunkenness, homosexuality, and lesbianism flourished. Holiday expenses were frequent and ruinous. So, only Marshal Bufflet, the commander of the troops, supported 72 cooks and 340 servants. Meat, game, fish, even drinking water were brought to him from various parts of the country, even from abroad.

Maria Theresa (wife of Louis XIV)

Against this background, Louis preferred to emphasize his modesty. He wore a cloth or satin camisole, mainly Brown. Only the shoe buckles, garters and hat were decorated with jewelry. On special occasions, the monarch wore a long blue order ribbon with precious stones worth up to 10 million livres under his caftan.

For a long time, the king did not have a permanent residence. He lived and worked either in the Louvre and the Tuileries in Paris, then in the Chambord Palace, 165 km from the capital, then in the Saint-Germain Palace, then in Vincennes, then in Fontainebleau. In this regard, Louis XIV and his court often traveled around, carrying furniture, carpets, linen, and dishes in multi-kilometer convoys.

Only in 1682 did the move to the still unfinished Palace of Versailles take place, which over time became one of the wonders of French and world culture and cost 60 million livres. With its construction, the king, who chose the sun as his emblem back in 1662, wanted to express his greatness. The palace had 1252 rooms with fireplaces and 600 without them. Next to the royal bedroom was the Great Gallery, or gallery of mirrors, 75 m long and 10 m wide, with 17 windows and a panel of 400 mirrors. There, on special days, 3 thousand candles burned. Only in the 90s. life from Versailles began to move to Paris, facilitated by economic and financial difficulties and, to a large extent, the influence of Madame de Maintenon.

Personal life king

Despite the easy morals of the royal court, the king, a pious man, did not encourage debauchery, although he had many fleeting connections and even long-term affections that lasted for years. He visited his wife Maria Theresa every night; none of the favorites could influence his political decisions. The exact number of love affairs of the monarch is shrouded in mystery. His first deep relationship arose with Maria Mancini, Mazarin’s niece, back in 1658, he even wanted to marry her.

But under pressure from the cardinal and his mother, in 1660, for political reasons, he married a Spanish princess from the house of Habsburg, his cousin Maria Theresa, a very homely and unassuming girl, who quickly came to terms with her husband’s love affairs. Several children were born from this marriage, but only one survived, the heir, who received the right only to attend meetings of the royal council.

And the official favorites of the king in the 60s. there were also the Duchess de La Vallière, who bore him 4 children, of whom two survived, and the Marquise de Montespan, who bore the king 8 children, of whom 4 survived. The king legitimized all his children, did not spare anything for them, especially since he borrowed from the state treasury. Thus, he gave his illegitimate daughter, who was getting married, a million livres in cash, jewelry worth 300 thousand livres, an annual pension of 100 thousand livres; He paid monthly for his son’s entertainment - 50 thousand livres, many thousands of card losses, both his own and his wife’s and mistresses.

Since the beginning of the 80s. A new favorite appeared at court - the Marquise de Maintenon, an intelligent and pious woman, who at one time raised the illegitimate children of the monarch. She had apartments in Versailles adjacent to the royal chambers. After the death of Maria Theresa in 1683, a secret marriage took place between Louis XIV and Madame Maintenon, who was 3 years older than her husband.

Death of Louis XIV

Time passed, the king grew old, people close to him died. In 1711–1712 one after another, a son, grandson and great-grandson passed away. This endangered the dynasty itself. And then the sovereign violated the “Salic law” - the law on succession to the throne. By order of 1714, his children born from a relationship with the Marquise de Montespan were allowed to succeed to the throne. In August 1715, the king fell ill, his condition worsened, and gangrene began. On September 1st, Louis XIV died.

Although he left the country with disorganized finances and never achieved hegemony over other European states, France nevertheless gained the opportunity to play a primary political role in Europe.