Louis XIV of France

Timeline

1. 1643–1661Paris · Île-de-FranceAcceding at four, he was governed by his mother Anne of Austria and Chief Minister Mazarin, enduring challenges such as the Fronde; the king received training in monarchical duties through his court education.
2. 1661–1670Versailles · Île-de-FranceAfter Mazarin's death he ruled personally, appointing Colbert to reform finances and industry and commerce, and moving the court to Versailles to control the nobility. In 1667–1668 he launched the War of Devolution to seize parts of the Spanish Netherlands, and from the late 1660s prepared war against the Dutch, establishing the absolute royal model of "I am the state."
3. 1671–1715Versailles · Île-de-FranceHe waged the Dutch War, the War of the Grand Alliance and other foreign campaigns; French territory and influence reached their peak, but years of war exhausted the state. Religious persecution intensified in his later years; he died at Versailles in 1715 and was succeeded by his great-grandson Louis XV.