Louis XIV, King of France and Navarre (Biographical details)

Louis XIV, King of France and Navarre (ruler; royal/imperial; French; Male; 1638 - 1715)

Also known as

Louis XIV; France; Louis Dieudonné


Son of Louis XIII (q.v.) and Anne of Austria, christened Louis Dieudonné ('God-given'); came to throne as child; during his mother's regency power was wielded first by Cardinal Richelieu and then by Cardinal Mazarin; took on sole authority in 1661; in 1682 moved the court from Paris to Versailles; called himself 'le roi Soleil' (the Sun King); married, first, Maria Theresa of Spain (1638-83) in 1660, by whom he had one son, Louis the Grand Dauphin, in 1661; and then secretly and morganatically Mme de Maintenon; he was succeeded by his great-grandson, Louis XV.