Loius XIV

Loius XIV was born on the 5th of September, 1638, at Saint-Germain, in the Chateau Neuf. The news of this event was received with great rejoicings. The birth of the Dauphin in the pavilion of Henry IV. coincided with successes abroad, which must have recalled to men's minds the deeds of the King of Navarre.

The year 1638 brought with it the capture of Alsace by the French armies; it saw also French ascendancy established in the Mediterranean waters. The terrible Thirty Years' War was then at its height and till this year, in spite of the victorious career of Gustavus Adolphus, men were still doubtful as to the issue. Under the great Cardinal Richelieu, France had plunged into the war; and the year 1638 proved to be the "turning-point of the struggle between France and the House of Austria."

The birth of Louis XIV upset all the plans of the Court party, and strengthened the hands of Richelieu at home. The hopes of the opponents of the Minister had been founded entirely on the expectation that Gaston of Orleans, the brother of Louis XIII., would succeed to the throne, and destroy at one blow the work of Richelieu. These hopes were now scattered to the winds and in spite of the spasmodic resistance of the nobles during the Fronde, the birth of Louis XIV . decided the momentous question for France that the administrative reforms of Richelieu should be adhered to and developed. Aristocratic tyranny and selfishness were to yield to an irresistible despotism.

A year later Louis XIII. had another son, Philip, destined to become celebrated as the husband of the ill-fated Henrietta, daughter of Charles I. of England. At the close of 1642 Richelieu died and with the beginning of the next year it became apparent that the reign of Louis XIII. was drawing to a rapid close. In April the King moved to the new Palace of Saint-Germain, where the air was purer than in Paris. Feeling his end was at hand, he devoted himself to religious exercises and to the settlement of all matters affecting the government of France. On the 25th of April he declared his wishes with regard to the future. In the event of his death his wife Anne of Austria was to be Regent, his brother Orleans to be Lieutenant-General. The real power,

however, was to lie with the Council of Regency, a body composed of Mazarin, the Chancellor Seguier, Conde, and others. The members were to be irremovable and the Queen and Orleans were to refer to them all questions of importance. The appointment of such a Council was, as Mazarin said, an affront to the Queen. On April 21st, the Dauphin was christened, Mazarin and the Princess of Conde being his sponsors, and after the ceremony, though only four and a half years old, he told his dying father that he had received the name Louis XIV . "Not yet, not yet," answered the sick monarch.

Within a month, on May 14th, Louis XIII. died, leaving his country in a far more prominent position than when he succeeded to the throne. France was now recognised "as the champion of the true rights of nations against the domination of an arrogant House and the Catholic reaction in its worst aspect." German Protestantism was by the combined efforts of France and Sweden practically secure. At home feudalism had received its death blow; lawless disorder and selfish tyranny were crushed. While Germany was torn in pieces through religious divisions, in France the Huguenots had become loyal subjects. The monarchy was steadily growing and already was beginning to symbolise the unity and the grandeur of France. This improvement in the position of France was due to Richelieu.