Louis XIV's vanity was without limit or restraint; it colored everything and convinced him that no one even approached him in military talents, in plans and enterprises, in government.
Louis XIV (1638-1715) was the king of France from 1643-1715. He was the son and successor of King Louis XIII.
Following the regent reign of his queen-mother, Anne of Austria, Louis XIV became king of France when the country had been economically drained after the Thirty Years War. The great cardinal, Richelieu's centralizing policies, however, laid the ground work for Louis to possess absolute monarchy based on a theory of divine right. Under his rule this concept reached its height. Louis made the statement, L"etat, c"est moi which summarized his rule: I am the state.
Louis continued the practice of nobility's exemption from taxes, but created a state where its members were forced into financial dependence on the crown. The provincial nobles lost political power. Louis used the bourgeoisie to build his centralized bureaucracy. A navy was developed under his reign as well as a war minister who established the foundations of French military greatness.
Louis's persecution of the Huguenots in the 1680's culminated in the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Louis imposed religious uniformity and as a result, the mass exodus of Protestants - many of whom were merchants and skilled artisans. This intensified the economic decline of the Kingdom.
Louis strove for supremacy in foreign affairs. His marriage to the Spanish princess Marie Therese served as a precursor to the War of the Devolution (1667-1668.).
Relations with the Dutch were exacerbated by commercial rivalry, the Triple Alliance of 1668, and Louis's attempt to crush Holland in .
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1672 which began the third of the Dutch Wars which eventually depleted his wealth.
For the next ten years, Louis limited his policies to diplomacy. He laid legal grounds for claims on a number of cities which he then annexed.
