Ask The History Doc: Louis XIV -- the Sun King
Dear History Doctor:Why was Louis XIV called “the Sun King”? I can't figure it out!!!!
Dear Can't Figure:
Although
his life had a rather rocky start, Louis XIV (d. 1715) eventually
became the most important monarch in the Europe of his day. The poor
child was a minor when he became king, and he really was not treated
very well during this period, considering he WAS the king, even if he
was still too young to rule personally.
However,
things got better for him when he came of age and decided to move out
of Paris. He had never liked Paris (that's a story for another day) and
so he decided to create a modest retreat for himself outside of the
capital city. His retreat turned out to be the palace of Versailles, to
which I suppose no one would apply the word “modest.” Anyway, he and
his nobles lived in opulent splendor at Versailles, eating, drinking,
and enjoying the best in entertainment. Yet in the midst of what may
seem to us to have been mere frivolity, he managed to maintain hands-on
control of the government. He became what historians refer to as a
“divine right monarch.”
Louis
XIV personified the idea of monarchical divine right, which insisted
that the king was the king because God willed it to be so. Hence, of
course, his humble subjects, whom God had NOT designated as king, had
no standing to object to his royal decisions. To us, this theory may
appear quite repressive, but at the time it was actually a step forward
because it placed the authority of the ruler over that of his nobles.
If you've been keeping up with past answers from the History Doctor,
you know that the nobles could really make a mess of things when each
of them went his own way. So this consolidation of power in the hands
of the king could be a positive step forward—if the king was capable
and intelligent.
Louis XIV
took the sun as his personal symbol, knowing it would emphasize his
importance. At Versailles, the king was the center of everything. The
nobles were supposed to participate in various ceremonies centering on
the king; the balls frequently were designed to enhance his importance,
and of course the magnificent setting of Versailles itself, with its
Hall of Mirrors, was supposed to reflect the glory of the king. During
his reign, Louis became a magnet for all the great artists and
architects in Europe. The result was that France became the leading
cultural center in Europe. So, in a way, just as the sun was the center
of the universe, France became the center of Europe and the king became
the center of France.
Le roi
soleil became the envy of all the other monarchs in Europe. All of them
wanted to be a Louis XIV, but there was only one genuine article. The
debts incurred during his reign may have contributed ultimately to the
start of the French Revolution, but it sure was fun while it lasted!
The History Doctor does not vouch for the accuracy of the questions asked. Or for the answers given either.
Copyright © Paris New Media, LLC
Copyright © Paris New Media, LLC
