King Louis XIV: The Greatest King Of France

Louis XIV: The Greatest King of France

Shadi Zaker
Ms. Piperias
CHY 4U1
Tuesday December 17th, 2013

A country like France has developed over many years and continues to flourish. French history is well known to countless people for the reason being the famous blood line of the Louis’. France had a total of seventeen King Louis that ruled France at one point. The controversy of which king was the greatest could still exist to this day. Who was the greatest king of France? A question that numerous of people would like to know the answer of. Unfortunately this question could be a mystery till the end of time. As kings go, Louis XIV was the greatest king of France because he was persistent. Under Louis XIV,
In absolutist states, monarchs claimed to rule by divine right.5 Plato believed in rule by philosopher kings. King Louis XIV believed in the divine right of kings. But Louis XIV also believed in the responsibility of the king to live up to the divine appointment. Louis XIV was superior in the sense that the biological descendents created a clear cut designation of the ruler. Whereas Plato 's ambiguous mention of philosopher kings left a free for all civil strife as to who would the "philosopher" should be. The dictionary definition of the word absolutism is, 'A political theory holding that all power should be vested in one ruler or other authority '. Louis XIV believed strongly in this and believed himself to be an absolute ruler. He used various ways to make his mark, beginning with the idea of absolutism as this was an attractive option when his personal rule began in 1661.6 He inherited this concept from his father and believed that he would be a superior ruler by following on this tradition. During the seventeenth-century, Louis constructed a great palace at Versailles, twelve miles outside the city of Paris. It can be argued that Louis XIV had this palace designed to make the abstract political concept of absolutism visible and the idea that the king exercised absolute or unlimited authority over his lands and people.7 Louis ' reign can
Versailles became a dazzling, awe-inspiring setting for state affairs and the reception of foreign dignitaries. At Versailles, the king alone commanded attention. Several reasons have been suggested for the creation of the extravagant and stately palace, as well as the relocation of the monarchy 's seat. Louis generously supported the royal court of France and those who worked under him. He brought the Académie Française under his patronage and became its "Protector".10 He allowed Classical French literature to flourish by protecting such writers as Molière, Racine and La Fontaine, whose works remain greatly influential to this day. Louis also patronised the visual arts by funding and commissioning various artists, such as Charles Le Brun, Pierre Mignard, Antoine Coysevox and Hyacinthe Rigaud, whose works became famous throughout Europe. In music, composers and musicians such as Jean-Baptiste Lully, Jacques Champion de Chambonnières, and François Couperin thrived. In addition to portraits, Louis commissioned at least twenty statues of himself in the 1680s to stand in Paris and provincial towns as physical manifestations of his rule. He also commissioned "war artists" to follow him on campaigns to document his military triumphs.11 To remind the people of these triumphs, Louis erected