TURNING POINTS IN THE

REIGN OF LOUIS XIV (1643-1715)

1648-53: The Fronde
1661: The King declares on the death of Cardinal
Mazarin that he will henceforth be his own chief
minister
1672-78: Franco-Dutch War
1685: Revocation of the Edict of Nantes
1688-97: War of the League of Augsburg (9 Years
War)
1701-14: War of Spanish Succession (famine &
bread riots in 1709/10)
1715: Death of the Sun King; succeeded by his

Cardinal Mazarin, Anne of Austria, and King Louis XIII

MAJOR UPRISINGS OF THE FRONDE, 1648-53

The movement began
in Paris with a popular
uprising to free
judges imprisoned for
questioning the
legality of Mazarins
new taxes. By 1650
the movement was
dominated by princes
who had quarreled
with Richelieu and
Mazarin.

Medallion of Cardinal Mazarin (1602-1661),

struck around 1660; he is shown as Hercules sharing
the burden of the globe with Atlas/Louis XIV

The young Louis

XIV, dressed as
The Sun,
dances in the
Ballet de la Nuit
(1653)

Jean Nocret, The Family of Louis XIV (1670)

Louise de la Valliere (1644-1710) and her royal

children

The Marquise de
Montespan
(1640-1707),
the Kings
mistress from
1667 until 1680

JeanBaptiste
Colbert
(1666)

Pierre Patel, View of the Chateau de Versailles

in 1668, as the Kings coach arrives

Van der Meulen, Versailles under Construction

(1669)

P.D. Martin, Chateau of Versailles, 1722

Charles Riviere, View of the Gardens of

Versailles
(and the rear of the palace)

Palace of Versailles, Entrance

The Kings Apartments, Palace of Versailles

Palace of Versailles: The Hall of Mirrors

Charles Le Brun, Entry of Alexander into Babylon

(ca. 1664)

Charles Le Brun, The Decision of Louis XIV

to Make War on the Dutch Republic in 1671
(study for the decoration of the Hall of Mirrors at
Versailles)

Louis XIV
leads his
army into the
Netherlands
in 1672

THE MODEST TERRITORIAL GAINS ACHIEVED BY LOUIS

XIV

Elias
Hainzelmann,
Louis the
Great
(engraving,
1686): Ruler of
the world,
protector of the
Church

dispatched by order of Louis the Great throughout the

Kingdom of France to return the heretics to the Catholic
faith (1686)

William of
Orange,
Stadholder of
the
Netherlands,
who landed in
England with
20,000 troops
in November
1688

After the
Glorious
Revolution,
King William III
(1689-1702) and
Queen Mary
forged an antiFrench alliance of
England, the
Netherlands, and
Austria

The
expansion of
Austria,
Russia, and
BrandenburgPrussia
around 1700

Louis XIV in battle

armor (1696)

Royal Chapel, Palace of Versailles (completed in 1710)

Ceiling of the Royal Chapel: The Holy Trinity

Hyacinthe Rigaud,
Louis XIV
(1701)

OUTCOME OF THE WAR OF SPANISH SUCCESSION:

Austria acquires the Spanish Netherlands (Belgium),
and the Bourbons acquire Naples

Louis & Antoine le Nain, Peasant Family (ca. 1640)

Le Nain
brothers,
Blacksmith at
his Forge
(1640s)

Le Nain brothers, Smokers in an Interior (1643)