Louis XIV was born on September 5, 1638, at Saint Germain-en-Laye. His parents, King Louis XIII and Anne of Austria, grateful for an heir after 23 childless years of marriage, christened him Louis Dieudonne (literally, the "gift of God"). Louis XIV of France had the longest reign in European history (1643-1715). He became king at the age of four years with the death of his father, Louis XIII on May 14, 1643.
Louis XIV came of age Sept. 5, 1651, on his thirteenth birthday, and was crowned three years later on June 7, 1654. It was during this period, in February of 1653, that Louis first encountered Jean-Baptiste Lully. At 14 Lully had come to France and worked as page to cousin of Louis XIV until his prowess as dancer and mime was noticed by the king. Louis XIV was also quite a dancer. He had been dancing since he was a boy, having inherited both musical talent and dancing ability from his father. It was the same year (1653) that he accomplished his most memorable feat as a dancer. He performed a series of dances in Le Ballet de la Nuit and for his final piece he appeared as Apollo, god of the sun. Wearing a fancy golden Roman-cut corselet and a kilt of golden rays he came to be known as the Sun King. This nickname stuck and is what he is remembered by.
A person important to Louis XIV was Moliere, an actor, author and a director. Moliere was born in 1622 in Paris. In 1670, during a stay of Louis XIV in Chambord, he wrote Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme and first performed it on the first floor of Chambord castle, before the double spiral staircase, with music and ballets from Lully. In this Lully danced role of the Mufti. Moliere collaborated with Lully on many occasions although later in their careers they did end up taking different paths. He died on stage in 1673. .
Lully composed instrumental music for the court ballets. Some time before 1656 he became leader of 'les petits violons du Roi', a band of 21 players (an offshoot of the '24 violons du roi').
