Louis XIV: History’s Longest-Reigning Monarch

Many monarchs throughout history have reigned for an impressive number of years. Queen Elizabeth II, who spent seventy years on the throne, is the most recent example.

But there was another European monarch who reigned for even longer: King Louis XIV of France, whose reign lasted seventy-two years, from 1643 to 1715.

Louis’s influence was vast, both at home and abroad, and his reign continues to be a source of fascination for those interested in European history.

After more than two decades of marriage and several stillbirths, King Louis XIII and his wife, Queen Anne, welcomed a baby boy into the world on September 5, 1638.

Also named Louis, the baby was the heir apparent to the French throne, often referred to as the Dauphin. During his earliest years, Louis developed a close bond with his mother. His father, on the other hand, died of tuberculosis on May 14, 1643.

Louis, though only four years of age at the time, automatically became the new king of France. In line with traditional royal protocol, his first duty was to show himself to the people of Paris. So, perched on a pile of cushions, the little king was escorted through the French capital in a horse-drawn carriage.

Later, he was received at the Palais de Justice by politicians, councilors, and the presidents of the High Court. He was then carried into the hall and lifted onto his throne. But despite these formalities, the king was much too young to make any serious decisions on his own.

Contrary to her dead husband’s wishes, Anne became the sole regent of France and exiled some of the late king’s ministers. However, she did select Cardinal Mazarin to be her chief minister, a position Mazarin had also held during her husband’s reign.

Cardinal Mazarin

At the time of Louis XIII’s death, France was involved in the Thirty Years’ War. Though the war started as a local conflict in Bohemia, it eventually spread throughout Europe, leading to a massive death toll of eight million. France joined the war in 1635.

Mazarin played a significant role during the negotiations at the end of the war. The treaties (collectively known as the Peace of Westphalia) benefited France, with the country gaining the province of Alsace and the three bishoprics of Toul, Metz, and Verdun in Lorraine.

As well as being a competent administrator, Mazarin provided the young Louis with a rich education. He didn’t focus on traditional subjects like linguistics and the arts. Rather, Mazarin told Louis about French history, monarchy, and military affairs.

But he also had other matters to attend to. The price of war, high taxation, and bad harvests had put France in a perilous economic position. Hunger was widespread throughout the country, and people were enraged by the establishment.

These factors, in tandem with Mazarin’s continuation of the policies of his predecessor, Cardinal Richelieu, led to the outbreak of a war collectively known as the Fronde. Louis and the royal family took refuge in the Saint-Germain-en-Laye, while Mazarin exiled himself to the Rhineland and communicated with Anne and Louis by writing letters.

In contrast to the English Civil War (1642–1651), the rebellion in France was unsuccessful, and Mazarin kept his role as Louis’s chief minister.

Louis’s coronation was held on June 7, 1654, at Reims Cathedral. Wearing the crown of Charlemagne and carrying a scepter and the Hand of Justice, Louis sat upon the Throne of Dagobert, and the crowds outside cheered the crowning of their king.

Mazarin, meanwhile, was doing his utmost to repair the country’s economic woes. But it was difficult, for improvements continued to be hindered by harsh winters and crop failures. With the help of the Secretary of State for War Michel Le Tellier, Mazarin also worked to reorganize the army to deal with the threat of Spain.

Following France’s alliance with Oliver Cromwell, the French and the English defeated the Spanish at the Battle of the Dunes in June 1658. This led to the signing of the Treaty of Pyrenées, putting an end to the Franco-Spanish War. To reinforce the peace, Mazarin arranged for Louis to marry Maria Theresa, the daughter of King Philip IV of Spain.

Mazarin died a year after the wedding ceremony, marking the end of an impressive political career. Louis replaced him with Jean-Baptiste Colbert, an intelligent man who had been educated as a lawyer and worked under Mazarin.

Colbert’s political highlights include expanding France’s merchant and military navy, improving roads, bridges, and canals, reforming the police, and assisting the arts and sciences by creating the Academies of Fine Arts, Music, and Science. He also set up the Observatory, better known as the Paris Observatory.

Louis’s Military Might

When it came to military matters, the king was highly ambitious and wanted to impose French influence on the continent. After the death of his father-in-law in 1665, Louis believed he was entitled to the Spanish Netherlands, justifying his claim on account of his marriage to Maria Theresa.

This led to the War of Devolution (1667–1668). The war started successfully for Louis, with France taking many fortresses in the spring and summer of 1667. The fighting came to a close approximately a year later owing to the Triple Alliance, a military union between England, Sweden, and the Netherlands. This led to the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (sometimes known as the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle), forcing Louis to halt his military ambitions.

But Louis had no intention of stopping indefinitely, and the Franco-Dutch War followed soon after, concluding after six years with the Treaties of Nijmegen. France acquired Franche-Comté along with numerous fortified areas in the Spanish Netherlands. Some smaller conflicts followed in the 1680s, such as the War of Reunions against Spain, the French naval campaigns against the strongholds of Algiers and Tripoli, along with Louis’s bombardment of Genoa.

More significant was the Nine Years’ War, a wider European conflict that began in the late 1680s and lasted throughout much of the 1690s. The war involved many European powers—including England, Spain, the Dutch Republic, and the Holy Roman Empire—uniting against French aggression and forming the Grand Alliance.

The conflict was triggered by France’s invasion of the Rhineland in October 1688. Louis wanted to expand his territory while the Holy Roman Empire was engaged in a war with the Turks. The French scored victories in the Battle of Fleurus (1690) and the Battle of Landen (1693). France also engaged in conflicts overseas, fighting against the English in North America during King William’s War.

The war concluded with the Treaty of Ryswick (also known as the Peace of Ryswick) in 1697. Louis retained some of his gains, including Alsace, but was forced to return Lorraine and the territory he’d acquired on the east bank of the Rhine.

Triggered by the death of King Charles II of Spain, the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) was the last significant war in Louis’s lifetime, concluding a year before his death. This was yet another huge conflict involving an array of European powers, with fighting taking place on the European continent and overseas in the Americas. The war concluded with the Peace of Utrecht, marking the end of Louis’s plans for French hegemony in Europe.

Historians often regard Louis as an example of absolutism. While certain figures like Mazarin and Colbert played significant roles during Louis’s reign, the king had a tyrannical streak that set him apart from most European monarchs.

Back in the 1630s, royal agents known as intendants were introduced as an emergency measure to curtail disobedience. During his reign, Louis increased the power of the intendants, expanding their influence to every sphere of administration. They informed the crown about local politics and economics, supervised courts, and oversaw the taxation system.

In 1667 and 1670, Louis introduced reforms to law and order. These reforms made legal procedures more uniform, reopened the Paris Law School, formalized the inspection of prisons, and ensured prisoners were questioned within twenty-four hours of arrest. These reforms improved the general administration of justice throughout France.

Louis’s reign also witnessed religious changes, most notably the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. (Introduced in 1598, the Edict of Nantes had given civil rights to French Protestants. The Protestants were a religious minority, heavily outnumbered by the Catholics.)

Without the Edict of Nantes to protect them, the French Protestants—also known as the Huguenots—were threatened with imprisonment unless they converted to Catholicism. Approximately a quarter of the Protestants rejected these options, choosing to flee the country instead.

The Palace of Versailles

Yet Louis’s greatest—and most long-lasting—contribution to French society would have to be the Palace of Versailles. Major construction began in 1661, and the creation of Versailles took more than fifty years. At one time, 36,000 workers were employed on the site!

The palace was a hotbed of luxury, featuring the King’s Grand Apartments, the Hall of Mirrors, tapestries, oriental rugs, paintings, silk armchairs, crystal chandeliers, and lots of silver and gold. The vast gardens featured clipped hedges, flower beds, lakes, terraces, and waterworks.

Life at Versailles was a far cry from the life of a French peasant. Louis and his courtiers enjoyed balls, concerts, feasts, operas, theatrical performances, and gambling with their wealth. In addition to the aristocracy, many musicians, writers, and performers took up residence in Versailles, uniting their work and home life.

The beauty of Versailles enthralled European royalty across the continent, with many citing it as the Eighth Wonder of the World.

Louis died on September 1, 1715 in the Palace of Versailles, just four days shy of his seventy-seventh birthday. He had reigned for seventy-two years and outlived both his son and his grandson. Consequently, his great-grandson was the next in line to the throne.

Louis was a monarch with an unquestionable sense of ambition. Determined to expand France’s territory, he played a pivotal role in kickstarting some of the bloodiest conflicts of the early modern period. Though he did make some territorial gains, the human and financial cost of these conflicts was huge. His mistreatment of the Huguenots is also an obvious point of criticism.

Despite this, Louis’s impact at home was generally more positive. The Palace of Versailles may have been a symbol of wealth and privilege, but it was still a staggering achievement, embodying the beauty of French architecture. Louis also deserves credit for the reforms he made to law and order, bringing greater efficiency and uniformity to the justice system.

Though Louis certainly wasn’t the most virtuous of individuals, his reign remains one of the most fascinating chapters in French history.