L’état, c’est moi.

Louis XIV, known also as Louis Dieudonné, lived from 1638-Sept-05 to 1715-Sept-01. He is also known as Louis le Grand and Louis le Roi Soleil: The Sun King. King of France from 1643-May-14 until his death in 1715. He reigned over France and Her Territories for 72 years and 110 days, the longest recorded reign of any monarch of a sovereign country in European History. In the Age of Absolutism in Europe, The Kingdom of France under Louis XIV's leadership saw the Country greatly grow its concentration and centralization of power.

Louis' rule over France began in 1661, after the death of his Chief Minister, the Italian Cardinal Mazarin. An adherent of the concept of the Divine Right of Kings, Louis continued his predecessors' work of creating a Centralized State governed from the capital: The Palace of Versailles. He sought to eliminate the remnants of feudalism persisting in parts of France and compelled many members of the Nobility to inhabit the lavish Palace of Versailles. He also succeeded in pacifying the Aristocracy, many members of which had participated in the Fronde Rebellion during Louis' Minority. He became one of the most powerful French monarchs and consolidated a system of Absolute Monarchical rule in France that endured until the French Revolution. 

On a bummer note, though, he also enforced uniformity of religion under the Gallican Catholic Church and revoked The Edict of Nantes, a law which guaranteed rights to the Protestant minority of France and was created by his ancestor, Henry IV le Bourbon, who actually converted from Protestantism to Catholicism to rule over the Country. With the Edict of Nantes abolished, so were the rights of the Huguenot Protestant minority and subjected them to a wave of dragonnades, where soldiers were stationed in the homes of Protestants to force conversion. This effectively forced the Huguenots to emigrate or convert, and virtually destroyed the French Protestant Community.

The Sun King surrounded himself with a variety of significant Political, Military, and Cultural figures such as Mazarin, Colbert, Louvois, the Grand Condé, Turenne, Vauban, Boulle, Molière, Racine, Boileau, La Fontaine, Lully, Charpentier, Marais, Le Brun, Rigaud, Bossuet, Le Vau, Mansart, Charles, Claude Perrault, and Le Nôtre.

During Louis' long reign, France was the leading European power, and three major wars were fought: The Franco-Dutch War, The War of the League of Augsburg, and The War of the Spanish Succession. There were also two lesser conflicts: the War of Devolution and the War of the Reunions. Warfare defined the Foreign Policy of Louis XIV, and his personality shaped his approach. Impelled "by a mix of commerce, revenge, and pique", Louis sensed that warfare was the ideal way to enhance his glory. In peacetime, he concentrated on preparing for the next war. He taught his diplomats that their job was to create tactical and strategic advantages for the French military.

Le Roi Soleil