Booker Igor 11/23/2013 at 17:07

The frivolous public willingly believes in fairy tales about the abundance of love of the French king Louis XIV. Against the background of the morals of that time, the number of love victories of the "Sun King" simply fades. A timid young man, learning about women, did not become a libertarian. Louis was characterized by bouts of generosity in relation to the ladies left by him, who continued to enjoy many favors, and their offspring received titles and estates. Among the favorites, Madame de Montespan stands out, whose children from the king became Bourbons.

The marriage of Louis XIV to Maria Theresa was a political marriage and the French king missed his wife. The daughter of the King of Spain was a pretty woman, but she was completely lacking in charm (despite the fact that she was the daughter of Elizabeth of France, there was not a grain of French charm in her) and there was no gaiety. At first, Louis looked at Henrietta of England, his brother's wife, who was disgusted with her husband, a fan of same-sex love. At one of the court balls, Duke Philippe of Orleans, who showed courage and commanding qualities on the battlefield, dressed in a woman's dress and danced with his handsome cavalier. An unattractive 16-year-old tall girl with a drooping lower lip had two advantages - a lovely opal complexion and accommodating.

The contemporary French writer Eric Deschodt, in his biography of Louis XIV, testifies: "The relationship between Louis and Henriette does not go unnoticed. Monsieur (title Monsieur was given to the brother of the king of France, next in seniority - ed.) complains to his mother. Anne of Austria scolds Henrietta. Henrietta proposes to Louis, in order to avert suspicion from herself, to pretend that he is courting one of her ladies-in-waiting. They choose for this Louise de la Baume le Blanc (Françoise Louise de La Baume Le Blanc), the girl La Vallière (La Vallière), a seventeen-year-old native of Touraine, a delightful blonde (in those days, as later in Hollywood, men prefer blondes), - whose voice can touch even an ox, and whose glance can soften a tiger."

For Madame - title Madame was given to the wife of the brother of the king of France, next in seniority and having the title of "Monsieur" - the result was deplorable. You can't tell without looking, but Louis traded Henrietta's dubious charms for a blond beauty. From Maria Theresa, who in 1661 gave birth to the Grand Dauphin (the eldest son of the king), Louis concealed his affair in the greatest secret. "Contrary to all appearances and legends, from 1661 to 1683, Louis XIV always tries to keep his love affairs a great secret," writes the French historian François Bluche. "He does this primarily to spare the queen." The environment of the ardent Catholic Anna of Austria was in despair. Lavalier from the "king-sun" will give birth to four children, but only two will survive. Louis recognizes them.

The Duchy of Vaujour will be a farewell gift to her mistress, then she will retire to the Carmelite monastery in Paris, but for some time she stoically endured the bullying of the new favorite, Francoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart or Marquise de Montespan (marquise de Montespan). It is difficult for historians to establish an exact list and chronology of Louis's love affairs, especially since, as noted, he often returned to his former passions.

Witty compatriots even then noted that Lavalier loved the monarch like a mistress, Maintenon like a governess, and Montespan like a mistress. Thanks to the Marquise de Montespan, on July 18, 1668, a "grand royal feast at Versailles" took place, the Bath Apartments, the porcelain Trianon were built, the Versailles bosquets were created, and an amazing castle ("Palace of Armida") was built in Clagny. Both contemporaries and current historians tell us that the king's affection for Madame de Montespan (where spiritual intimacy played no less a role than sensuality) continued even after the termination of their love affair.

At 23, Mademoiselle de Tonnay-Charente was married to the Marquis de Montespan of the Pardaillan family. The husband was constantly afraid of being arrested for debts, which irritated Atenais extremely. She answered the call of the king, who had already become less timid and shy than during the cupids with Louise de La Vallière. The marquis could have taken his wife to the provinces, but for some reason he did not. Having learned about the betrayal of the Marquise, Gascon blood woke up in the cuckold and one day he read a notation to the monarch and ordered a memorial service for his wife.

Louis was not a petty tyrant, and although the Gascon was decently fed up with him, he not only did not put him in prison, but also promoted the legitimate son of the Marquis and Marquise de Montespan in every possible way. First he made him lieutenant-general, then director-general of civil works, and finally he was granted the titles of duke and peer. Madame de Montespan, awarded the title maîtresse royale en titre- "the official mistress of the king, gave birth to eight children to Louis. Four of them reached adulthood and were legalized and made Bourbons. Three of them married persons of royal blood. After the birth of the seventh bastard, Count of Toulouse, Louis avoids intimacy with Montespan.

Not even on the horizon, but almost in the royal chambers, Marie Angélique de Scorraille de Roussille, the maiden Fontanges, who arrived from Auvergne, appears. The aging king falls in love with an 18-year-old beauty, according to contemporaries, "who has not been seen in Versailles for a long time." Their feelings are mutual. With Montespan, the girl Fontange is related by the arrogance shown in relation to the former and forgotten Louis favorites. Perhaps all she lacked was de Montespan's causticity and sharp tongue.

Madame de Montespan stubbornly did not want to give up her place for a great life, and the king, by nature, was not inclined to openly break with the mother of his children. Louis allowed her to continue living in his luxurious apartments and even visited his former mistress from time to time, flatly refusing to have sex with a plump favorite.

"Maria Angelica sets the tone," writes Eric Deschodt. "If, during a hunt in Fontainebleau, she ties up a strand of hair that has fallen out with a ribbon, then the next day, the whole court and all of Paris do it. The hairstyle "a la Fontange" is still mentioned in dictionaries "But the happiness of the one who invented it turned out to be not so long. A year later, Louis is already bored. The beauty is a replacement. It looks like she was stupid, but this was hardly the only reason for disgrace." The Duchess de Fontanges was given a pension of 20,000 livres by the king. A year after the loss of her prematurely born son, she died suddenly.

The subjects forgave their monarch for his love affairs, which cannot be said about gentlemen historians. Historiographers connected the "reign" of the Marquise de Montespan and her "resignation" with unseemly cases, such as the "Poisoning Case" (L "affaire des Poisons"). , black masses and all sorts of other devilry, and at the beginning it was only about poisoning, as is clear from its name, under which it appears to this day, ”explains historian Francois Bluche.

In March 1679, the police arrested a certain Catherine Deshayes, Monvoisin's mother, who was called simply Voisin (la Voisin), suspected of witchcraft. Five days later, Adam Kere or Cobré, aka Dubuisson, aka "abbe Lesage" (abbé Lesage), was arrested. Their interrogation revealed or led to the idea that witches and sorcerers had fallen into the hands of justice. These, in the words of Saint-Simon, "fashionable crimes", were dealt with, established by Louis XIV, a special court, nicknamed Chambre ardente- "Fire chamber". This commission included high-ranking officials and was chaired by Louis Bouchre, the future Chancellor.

Louis XIV de Bourbon, who at birth received the name of Louis-Dieudonne ("given by God", fr. Louis-Dieudonne), also known as the "sun king" (fr. Louis XIV Le Roi Soleil), also Louis XIV the Great, (5 September 1638 (16380905), Saint-Germain-en-Laye - September 1, 1715, Versailles) - King of France and Navarre from May 14, 1643

He reigned for 72 years - longer than any other European monarch in history. Louis, who survived the wars of the Fronde in his youth, became a staunch supporter of the principle of absolute monarchy and the divine right of kings (he is often credited with the expression “The State is me”), he combined the strengthening of his power with a successful selection statesmen to key political positions.

The reign of Louis - a time of significant consolidation of the unity of France, its military power, political weight and intellectual prestige, the flourishing of culture, went down in history as a "great century". At the same time, the constant wars waged by Louis and demanding high taxes ruined the country, and the abolition of religious tolerance led to the mass emigration of the Huguenots from France.

He ascended the throne as a minor and the government passed into the hands of his mother and Cardinal Mazarin. Even before the end of the war with Spain and the House of Austria, the highest aristocracy, supported by Spain and in alliance with Parliament, began unrest, which received the general name of the Fronde and ended only with the submission of the Prince de Conde and the signing of the Peace of the Pyrenees (November 7, 1659).

In 1660, Louis married the Infanta of Spain, Maria Theresa of Austria. At this time, the young king, who grew up without right upbringing and education, did not arouse even greater expectations.

However, as soon as Cardinal Mazarin died (1661), Louis set about independent government. He had a gift for choosing talented and capable employees (for example, Colbert, Vauban, Letellier, Lyonne, Louvois). Louis raised the doctrine of royal rights to a semi-religious dogma.

Thanks to the work of the brilliant Colbert, much has been done to strengthen state unity, the welfare of the working classes, the promotion of trade and industry. At the same time, Luvois put the army in order, unified its organization and increased its fighting strength.

After the death of King Philip IV of Spain, he declared French claims to part of the Spanish Netherlands and kept it behind him in the so-called war of devolution. The Treaty of Aachen, concluded on May 2, 1668, gave French Flanders and a number of border areas into his hands.

From that time on, the United Provinces had a passionate enemy in the person of Louis. Contrasts in foreign policy, state views, trade interests, religion led both states to constant clashes. Louis in 1668-71 skillfully managed to isolate the republic.

Through bribery, he managed to divert England and Sweden from the Triple Alliance, to win over Cologne and Munster to the side of France. Having brought his army to 120,000 people, Louis in 1670 occupied the possessions of an ally of the States General, Duke Charles IV of Lorraine, and in 1672 crossed the Rhine, conquered half of the provinces within six weeks and returned in triumph to Paris.

The breakthrough of the dams, the rise of William III of Orange to power, the intervention of European powers stopped the success of French weapons.

The States General entered into an alliance with Spain and Brandenburg and Austria; the empire also joined them after the French army attacked the archbishopric of Trier and occupied the 10 imperial cities of Alsace, already half-joined with France.

In 1674, Louis opposed his enemies with 3 large armies: with one of them he personally occupied Franche-Comté; the other, under the command of Conde, fought in the Netherlands and won at Senef; the third, headed by Turenne, devastated the Palatinate and successfully fought the troops of the emperor and the great elector in Alsace.

After a short interval due to the death of Turenne and the removal of Condé, Louis, at the beginning of 1676, appeared with renewed vigor in the Netherlands and conquered a number of cities, while Luxembourg devastated Breisgau. The whole country between the Saar, the Moselle and the Rhine, by order of the king, was turned into a desert.

In the Mediterranean, Duquesne defeated Reuter; Brandenburg's forces were distracted by an attack by the Swedes. Only as a result of hostile actions on the part of England, Louis in 1678 concluded the Treaty of Niemwegen, which gave him large gains from the Netherlands and the entire Franche-Comté from Spain. He gave Philippsburg to the emperor, but received Freiburg and kept all the conquests in Alsace.

This world marks the apogee of Louis' power. His army was the most numerous, best organized and led. His diplomacy dominated all European courts.

The French nation, with its achievements in the arts and sciences, in industry and commerce, has reached unprecedented heights. The court of Versailles (Louis transferred the royal residence to Versailles) became the object of envy and surprise of almost all modern sovereigns, who tried to imitate the great king even in his weaknesses.

Strict etiquette was introduced at the court, regulating all court life. Versailles became the center of all high society life, in which the tastes of Louis himself and his many favorites (Lavaliere, Montespan, Fontange) reigned.

All the highest aristocracy coveted court positions, since living away from the court for a nobleman was a sign of strife or royal disgrace.

“Absolutely without objection,” according to Saint-Simon, “Louis destroyed and eradicated every other force or authority in France, except those that came from him: reference to the law, to the right, was considered a crime.”

This cult of the Sun King, in which capable people more and more pushed back by courtesans and intriguers, inevitably had to lead to the gradual decline of the entire edifice of the monarchy.

The king held back his desires less and less. In Metz, Breisach and Besancon, he established chambers of reunification (chambres de reunions) to search for the rights of the French crown to certain areas (September 30, 1681).

The imperial city of Strasbourg was suddenly occupied by French troops in peacetime. Louis did the same with respect to the Dutch borders.

In 1681, his fleet bombarded Tripoli, in 1684 - Algiers and Genoa. Finally, an alliance was formed between Holland, Spain and the emperor, forcing Louis in 1684 to conclude a 20-year truce in Regensburg and abandon further "reunions".

Inside the state, the new fiscal system had in mind only an increase in taxes and taxes for the growing military needs, which fell heavily on the shoulders of the peasantry and the petty bourgeoisie. Particularly unpopular was the application of salt - gabel, which caused several unrest throughout the country.

The decision to impose a stamp paper tax in 1675 during the Dutch War caused a powerful stamp paper uprising in the rear of the country, in the west of France, primarily in Brittany, partly supported by the regional parliaments of Bordeaux and Rennes. In the west of Brittany, the uprising developed into anti-feudal peasant uprisings, which were suppressed only by the end of the year.

At the same time, Louis, as the “first nobleman” of France, spared the material interests of the nobility that had lost political significance and, as a faithful son of the Catholic Church, did not demand anything from the clergy.

He tried to destroy the political dependence of the clergy on the pope, having achieved at the national council of 1682 a decision in his favor against the pope (see Gallicanism); but in matters of faith, his confessors (Jesuits) made him an obedient instrument of the most ardent Catholic reaction, which was reflected in the merciless persecution of all individualistic movements among the church (see Jansenism).

A number of harsh measures were taken against the Huguenots; the Protestant aristocracy was forced to convert to Catholicism in order not to lose their social advantages, and restrictive decrees were launched against Protestants from among other classes, culminating in the dragonades of 1683 and the repeal of the Edict of Nantes in 1685.

These measures, despite severe penalties for emigration, forced more than 200,000 industrious and enterprising Protestants to move to England, Holland and Germany. An uprising even broke out in the Cévennes. The growing piety of the king was supported by Madame de Maintenon, who, after the death of the queen (1683), was united with him by secret marriage.

In 1688, a new war broke out, the reason for which was, among other things, the claims to the Palatinate, presented by Louis on behalf of his daughter-in-law, Elizabeth-Charlotte of Orleans, who was related to the Elector Karl-Ludwig, who had died shortly before that. Having entered into an alliance with the Elector of Cologne, Karl-Egon Furstemberg, Louis ordered his troops to occupy Bonn and attack the Palatinate, Baden, Württemberg and Trier.

At the beginning of 1689, French troops devastated the entire Lower Palatinate in the most terrible way. An alliance was formed against France from England (which had just overthrown the Stuarts), the Netherlands, Spain, Austria, and the German Protestant states.

Luxembourg defeated the allies on July 1, 1690 at Fleurus; Catinat conquered Savoy, Tourville defeated the British-Dutch fleet on the heights of Dieppe, so that the French had an advantage even at sea for a short time.

In 1692, the French laid siege to Namur, Luxembourg gained the upper hand at the Battle of Steenkerken; but on May 28, the French fleet was defeated at Cape La Hogue.

In 1693-95, the preponderance began to lean towards the side of the allies; Luxembourg died in 1695; in the same year a huge military tax was needed, and peace became a necessity for Louis. It took place at Ryswick in 1697, and for the first time Louis had to confine himself to the status quo.

France was completely exhausted when, a few years later, the death of Charles II of Spain brought Louis to war with the European coalition. The War of the Spanish Succession, in which Louis wanted to win back the entire Spanish monarchy for his grandson Philip of Anjou, inflicted incurable wounds on the power of Louis.

The old king, who personally led the struggle, held himself in the most difficult circumstances with amazing dignity and firmness.

According to the peace concluded in Utrecht and Rastatt in 1713 and 1714, he kept Spain proper for his grandson, but her Italian and Dutch possessions were lost, and England, by destroying the Franco-Spanish fleets and conquering a number of colonies, laid the foundation for her maritime dominion.

The French monarchy did not have to recover until the very revolution from the defeats at Hochstadt and Turin, Ramilla and Malplaque. She languished under the weight of debts (up to 2 billion) and taxes, which caused local outbursts of displeasure.

Thus, the result of the whole system of Louis was the economic ruin, the poverty of France. Another consequence was the growth of oppositional literature, especially developed under the successor of the "great" Louis.

The family life of the elderly king at the end of his life presented a sad picture. On April 13, 1711, his son, the Dauphin Louis (born in 1661), died; in February 1712 he was followed by the eldest son of the Dauphin, the Duke of Burgundy, and on March 8 of the same year, the eldest son of the latter, the infant Duke of Brittany.

On March 4, 1714, the younger brother of the Duke of Burgundy, the Duke of Berry, fell off his horse and was killed to death, so that, in addition to Philip V of Spain, there was only one heir - the four-year-old great-grandson of the king, the second son of the Duke of Burgundy (later Louis XV).

Even earlier, Louis legitimized his two sons from Madame de Montespan, Duke of Maine and Count of Toulouse, and gave them the name Bourbon. Now, in his will, he appointed them members of the regency council and declared their eventual right to succession to the throne.

Louis himself remained active until the end of his life, firmly maintaining court etiquette and the whole appearance of his “great age”, which was already beginning to fall. He died on September 1, 1715.

In 1822 he was erected equestrian statue(based on Bosio's model) in Paris, on Place des Victories.

- Marriages and children
* (from June 9, 1660, Saint-Jean de Lutz) Maria Theresa (1638-1683), Infanta of Spain
* Louis the Great Dauphin (1661-1711)
* Anna Elizabeth (1662-1662)
* Maria Anna (1664-1664)
* Maria Theresa (1667-1672)
* Philip (1668-1671)
* Louis Francois (1672-1672)
* (from June 12, 1684, Versailles) Francoise d'Aubigne (1635-1719), Marquise de Maintenon
* Vnebr. Louise de La Baume Le Blanc (1644-1710), Duchess de Lavalière
* Charles de La Baume Le Blanc (1663-1665)
* Philippe de La Baume Le Blanc (1665-1666)
* Marie-Anne de Bourbon (1666-1739), Mademoiselle de Blois
* Louis de Bourbon (1667-1683), Comte de Vermandois
* Vnebr. Françoise-Athenais de Rochechouart de Mortemart (1641-1707), marquise de Montespan
* Louise-Francoise de Bourbon (1669-1672)
* N (1669 -)
* Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, Duke of Maine (1670-1736)
* Louis-Cesar de Bourbon (1672-1683)
* Louise-Francoise de Bourbon (1673-1743), Mademoiselle de Nantes
* Louise-Marie de Bourbon (1674-1681), Mademoiselle de Tours
* Françoise-Marie de Bourbon (1677-1749), Mademoiselle de Blois
* Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, Count of Toulouse (1678-1737)
* Vnebr. connection (in 1679) Marie-Angelique de Skoray de Roussil (1661-1681), Duchess de Fontanges
* N (1679-1679)
* Vnebr. Claude de Ven (c.1638-1687), Mademoiselle Desoyers
* Louise de Maisonblanche (c.1676-1718)

Louis XIV from the age of 12 danced in the so-called "ballets of the theater of the Palais Royal". These events were quite in the spirit of the time, for they were held during the carnival.

Baroque carnival is not just a holiday, it is an upside down world. The king for several hours became a jester, an artist, a buffoon (just as the jester could well afford to appear in the role of king). In these ballets, the young Louis had a chance to play the roles of the Rising Sun (1653) and Apollo - the Sun God (1654).

Later, court ballets were staged. The roles in these ballets were distributed by the king himself or by his friend de Saint-Aignan. In these court ballets, Louis also dances the parts of the Sun or Apollo.

For the emergence of the nickname, another cultural event of the Baroque era is also important - the so-called Carousel. This is a festive carnival cavalcade, something between a sports festival and a masquerade. In those days, the Carousel was simply called "horse ballet".

On the Carousel of 1662, Louis XIV appeared before the people in the role of the Roman Emperor with a huge shield in the shape of the Sun. This symbolized that the Sun protects the king and with him all of France.

The princes of the blood were "forced" to depict different elements, planets and other beings and phenomena subject to the Sun.

We read from the ballet historian F. Bossan: “It was on the Great Carousel of 1662 that the Sun King was born in some way. It was not politics or the victories of its armies that gave it its name, but the equestrian ballet.”

Louis XIV appears in the Musketeers trilogy by Alexandre Dumas. In the last book of the Vicomte de Bragelonne trilogy, an impostor (allegedly the twin brother of the king) is involved in a conspiracy, with whom they are trying to replace Louis.

In 1929, the film The Iron Mask was released, based on the Vicomte de Bragelon, where William Blackwell played Louis and his twin brother. Louis Hayward played twins in the 1939 film The Man in the Iron Mask.

Richard Chamberlain played them in the 1977 film adaptation, and Leonardo DiCaprio played them in the 1999 remake of this film. Jean-Francois Poron played the role in the 1962 French film The Iron Mask.

Louis XIV also appears in the film Vatel. In the film, the Prince of Condé invites him to his castle of Chantilly and tries to impress him in order to take over as commander-in-chief in the war with the Netherlands. Responsible for the entertainment of the royal person is the butler Vatel, brilliantly played by Gerard Depardieu.

Vonda McLintre's short story The Moon and the Sun depicts the court of Louis XIV century. end of the 17th century. The king himself appears in the Baroque Cycle of Neil Stevenson's trilogy.

Louis XIV is one of the main characters in Gerard Corbier's The King Dances.

Louis XIV appears as a beautiful seducer in the film "Angelica and the King", where he was played by Jacques Toja (fr. Jacques Toja), also appears in the films "Angelica - Marquis of Angels" and "Magnificent Angelica".

Young Louis is the central character in Roger Planchon's "Louis the Child King" in which the 12-year-old king fights for power with the Fronde, learns the science of love and begins to create famous image le roi soleil.

For the first time in modern Russian cinema, the image of King Louis XIV was performed by an artist of the Moscow New drama theater Dmitry Shilyaev, in Oleg Ryaskov's film "The Servant of the Sovereigns".

Louis XIV is one of the main characters in the 1996 Nina Companeez series "L` Allee du roi" "The Way of the King". Historical drama based on the novel by Francoise Chandernagor "Royal Avenue: Memoirs of Francoise d'Aubigne, Marquise de Maintenon, wife of the King of France." Dominique Blanc stars as Françoise d'Aubigné and Didier Sandre stars as Louis XIV.

French king (since 1643), from the Bourbon dynasty, son of Louis XIII and Anna of Austria. His reign is the apogee of French absolutism. He led numerous wars - the Devolutionary (1667 ... 1668), for the Spanish Succession (1701 ... 1714), etc. By the end of his reign, France had up to 2 billion debts, the king imposed huge taxes, which caused popular discontent. Louis XIV is credited with saying: "The state is me".

It was as if it was destined for Louis XIV to be the darling of fate. His very birth, after twenty years of the married life of his parents, could serve as a good sign. At the age of five, he became the heir to the most beautiful and most powerful of the thrones of Europe. Louis XIV was called the Sun King. A handsome man with dark curls, regular features of a flowering face, graceful manners, majestic posture, besides the ruler of a great country, he really made an irresistible impression. Could women not love him?

The first lesson in love was given to him by the queen's chief maid, Madame de Beauvais, who in her youth was a pretty whore. One day she ambushed the king and took him to her room. Louis XIV was fifteen, Madame de Beauvais was forty-two...

All subsequent days the admiring king spent at the maid's. Then he wished for variety and, as the philosopher Saint-Simon said, "everyone was good for him, as long as there were women."

He began with the ladies who wanted his virginity, and then proceeded methodically to win over the ladies-in-waiting who lived at court under the supervision of Madame de Navay.

Every night - alone or in the company of friends - Louis XIV went to these girls in order to taste the healthy pleasure of physical love with the first maid of honor that came to his arm.

Naturally, these nightly visits eventually became known to Madame de Navay, and she ordered that bars be put on all the windows. Louis XIV did not retreat in front of the obstacle that arose. Calling for masons, he ordered to break through a secret door in the bedroom of one of the mademoiselles.

For several nights in a row, the king safely used the secret passage, which was masked by the headboard during the day. But the vigilant Madame de Navay discovered the door and ordered to wall it up. In the evening, Louis XIV was surprised to see a smooth wall where there had been a secret passage the day before.

He returned to his room in a rage; the next day, Madame de Navay and her husband were informed that the king no longer needed their services and ordered them to immediately go to Guyenne.

Fifteen-year-old Louis XIV no longer tolerated interference in his love affairs ...

Some time after all these events, the monarch made the gardener's daughter his mistress. Probably, as a token of gratitude, the girl bore him a child. The king's mother, Anna of Austria, received this news with great displeasure.

If at night Louis XIV had fun with the ladies-in-waiting of the Queen Mother, then during the day he was most often seen in the company of Mazarin's nieces. It was then that the king suddenly fell in love with his peer Olympia, the second of the Mancini sisters.

The court found out about this idyll at Christmas 1654. Louis XIV made Olympia the queen of all festive celebrations of the last week of the year. Naturally, a rumor soon spread around Paris that Olympia would become Queen of France.

Anna of Austria was seriously angry. She was ready to turn a blind eye to her son's excessive affection for Mazarin's niece, but she was offended by the very thought that this friendship could be legalized.

And the young Olympia, who had gained too much power over the king in the hope of winning the throne, was ordered to retire from Paris. Mazarin quickly found her a husband, and soon she became Countess of Soissons...

In 1657, the king fell in love with Mademoiselle de la Mothe d'Argencourt, the queen's lady-in-waiting. Mazarin reacted with annoyance to this news and told the young monarch that his chosen one was the mistress of the Duke de Richelieu, and one evening they were taken by surprise when "they were making love on a stool." Louis XIV did not like the details, and he broke off all relations with the beauty, after which he went with Marshal Turenne to the northern army.

After the capture of Duncker (June 12, 1658), Louis XIV fell ill with a severe fever. He was transferred to Calais, where he finally took to his bed. For two weeks, the monarch was on the verge of death, and the whole kingdom offered up prayers to God for his recovery. On June 29, he suddenly became so ill that it was decided to send for sacred gifts.

At that moment, Louis XIV saw the girl's face flooded with tears. Seventeen-year-old Maria Mancini, another niece of Mazarin, had long loved the king, without admitting it to anyone. Ludovic looked at her from his bed, eyes shining with heat. According to Madame de Motteville, she was black and yellow, the fire of passion had not yet ignited in her large dark eyes, and therefore they seemed dull, her mouth was too large, and if not for very beautiful teeth, she could pass for ugly.

However, the king realized that he was loved, and was excited by this look. The doctor brought the patient medicine "from the wine infusion of antimony." This amazing potion had a miraculous effect: Louis XIV began to get better before our eyes and expressed a desire to return to Paris in order to be close to Marie as soon as possible ...

When he saw her, he realized “by the beating of his heart and other signs” that he had fallen in love, but did not admit it, but only asked her to come to Fontainebleau with her sisters, where he decided to stay until he fully recovered.

For several weeks, entertainment took place there: boat trips accompanied by musicians: dancing until midnight, ballets under the trees of the park. Marie was the queen of all entertainment.

The court then returned to Paris. The girl was in seventh heaven with happiness. “I discovered then,” she wrote in her Memoirs, “that the king has no hostile feelings towards me, for I already knew how to recognize that eloquent language that speaks more clearly than any beautiful words. The courtiers, who are always spying on kings, guessed, like me, about His Majesty's love for me, demonstrating this even with excessive importunity and showing the most incredible signs of attention.

Soon the king became so bold that he confessed his love to Marie and gave her several amazing gifts. From now on, they were always seen together.

To please the one whom he already considered his bride, Louis XIV, who received a rather superficial upbringing, began to work hard. Ashamed of his ignorance, he improved his knowledge of French and began to study Italian language while paying much attention to ancient authors. Under the influence of this educated girl, who, according to Madame de Lafayette, was distinguished by an “extraordinary mind” and knew many poems by heart, he read Petrarch, Virgil, Homer, became passionately interested in art and discovered a new world, the existence of which he did not even suspect, while under the care of his teachers.

Thanks to Maria Mancini, this king subsequently engaged in the construction of Versailles, provided patronage to Moliere and financial assistance to Racine. However, she managed not only to transform the spiritual world of Louis XIV, but also to inspire him with the idea of ​​the greatness of his destiny.

“The king was twenty years old,” said one of his contemporaries Amedey Rene, “and he still dutifully obeyed his mother and Mazarin. Nothing in him foreshadowed a powerful monarch: when discussing state affairs, he was frankly bored and preferred to shift the burden of power to others. Marie awakened dormant pride in Louis XIV; she often talked to him about glory and extolled the happy opportunity to command. Whether it was vanity or calculation, she wanted her hero to behave as befits a crowned lady.

Thus, one can conclude that the Sun King was born of love...

The king experienced a real feeling for the first time in his life. He trembled at the sound of violins, sighed on moonlit evenings, and dreamed of "the sweet embrace" of a delightful Italian woman who was getting prettier day by day.

But at the same time, rumors began at the court that the king would soon marry the Spanish Infanta Maria Theresa.

Knowing in detail about the course of negotiations with Spain, Mancini, as well versed in politics as in music and literature, suddenly realized that the passion of Louis XIV could have the most fatal consequences for the whole kingdom. And on September 3, she wrote to Mazarin that she was refusing the king.

This news plunged Louis XIV into despair.

He sent her pleading letters, but received no response to any. In the end, he ordered to take his beloved dog to her. The exile had the courage and determination not to thank the king for the gift, which, however, brought her painful joy.

Then Louis XIV signed a peace treaty with Spain and agreed to marry the Infanta. Maria Theresa was distinguished by an unusually calm disposition. Preferring silence and solitude, she spent her time reading Spanish books. On a day when festive bells rang throughout the kingdom, in Bruage Marie burst into burning tears. “I could not think,” she wrote in her Memoirs, “that I had paid a heavy price for the peace that everyone was so happy about, and no one remembered that the king would hardly have married the infanta if I had not sacrificed myself. .."

Maria Theresa sometimes waited all night for the return of the king, who at that time flitted from one beloved to another. In the morning or the next day, his wife bombarded Louis XIV with questions, in response he kissed her hands and referred to state affairs.

Once, at a ball at Henrietta's, the King of England made eye contact with a charming girl and began to persistently court the maid of honor Louise de La Vallière.

Louis XIV fell in love with Louise so much that he surrounded his relationship with her, in the words of the Abbé de Choisy, "an impenetrable mystery." They met at night in the park of Fontainebleau or in the room of the Comte de Saint-Aignan, but in public the king did not allow himself a single gesture that could reveal "the secret of his heart."

Their connection was discovered by chance. One evening, the courtiers were walking in the park, when suddenly a heavy downpour poured. Fleeing from the storm, everyone took cover under the trees. The lovers are left behind. Lavalier because of his lameness, and Ludovic for the simple reason that no one walks faster than his beloved.

Before the eyes of the court, the king, in the pouring rain, led the favorite to the palace, baring his head to cover her with his hat.

Naturally, such a gallant manner of dealing with the young maid of honor caused a stream of satirical verses and epigrams of malicious poets.

After some time, jealousy again made Louis XIV forget about his restraint.

A young courtier named Lomenie de Brienne had the imprudence to court Louise de La Vallière a little. Having met her one evening in the chambers of Henrietta of England, he invited her to pose for the artist Lefebvre in the form of the Magdalene. During the conversation, the king entered the room.

"What are you doing here, mademoiselle?"

Louise, blushing, told about Brienne's proposal.

"Isn't that a good idea?" he asked.

The king could not hide his displeasure: “No. She must be depicted in the form of Diana. She is too young to pose as a penitent."

Lavalier sometimes refused to meet, citing malaise. But the king found a thousand ways to see her. One day she volunteered to accompany Henrietta to Saint-Cloud, where she hoped to hide from him. He immediately jumped on his horse and, under the pretext that he wanted to inspect the construction work, in one day visited the Château de Vincennes, the Tuileries and Versailles.

At six o'clock in the evening he was in Saint-Cloud.

“I came to have dinner with you,” he said to his brother.

After dessert, the king went up to the bedroom of Louise, the maid of honor of his brother's wife. He rode thirty-seven leagues just to spend the night with Louise, an absolutely incredible act, which caused amazement in all his contemporaries.

Despite this evidence of ardent passion, naive girl at first she hoped that the king would become more prudent in the last weeks before the birth of his wife.

However, after a quarrel with Maria Theresa, the king decided to devote himself entirely to his mistress. He could not miss such an opportunity. And Louise, who thought that he could return to the true path, now spent almost every night with him, experiencing in his arms both inexpressible pleasure and strong remorse ...

On the first of November, the queen gave birth to a son, who was named Louis. This happy event temporarily brought the crowned spouses together. However, as soon as the Dauphin was baptized, the monarch again returned to Mademoiselle de Lavalier's bed. On this bed, warmed by a heating pad, the favorite knew joys that quenched the languor of the body, but at the same time brought confusion to the soul ...

One day the king asked Louise about the love affairs of Henrietta of England. The favorite, who promised her friend to keep a secret, refused to answer. Louis XIV retired in great annoyance, slamming the door and leaving a weeping Louise in the bedroom.

Meanwhile, even at the beginning of their relationship, the lovers agreed that "if they happen to quarrel, then none of them will go to bed without writing a letter and without making an attempt at reconciliation."

So Louise waited all night for a messenger to knock on her door. At dawn, it became clear to her: the king did not forgive the offense. Then she, wrapped in an old cloak, left the Tuileries in despair and fled to the convent of Chaillot.

This news brought the king into such dismay that he, forgetting about decency, jumped on his horse. The queen, who was present at the time, said that he was completely out of control of himself.

Louise brought Louise to the Tuileries in his carriage and publicly kissed her, so that all the witnesses of this scene were astonished...

Having reached the chambers of Henrietta of England, Louis XIV "began to rise very slowly, not wanting to show that he was crying." Then he began to plead for Louise and obtained - not without difficulty - the consent of Henriette to keep her with her ... The greatest king of Europe turned into a humiliated petitioner, concerned only that Mademoiselle de La Vallière shed no more tears.

In the evening, Louis visited Louise. Alas! The more she enjoyed, the more she suffered from remorse. "And languid sighs were mixed with sincere lamentations..."

At this time, Mademoiselle de la Mothe Houdancourt, burning with passion, made a desperate attempt to lure Louis XIV into her networks. But the king could not afford two connections at the same time, especially since he was too busy building Versailles.

For several months now, with the help of the architects Le Brun and Le Nôtre, the monarch had been building the most beautiful palace in the world in honor of Louise. For the twenty-four-year-old king, this was a delightful activity that consumed all his time.

Whenever he happened to push aside the blueprints that cluttered his desk, he began to write an affectionate letter to Louise. Once he even wrote her an exquisite couplet on a two of diamonds during a card game. And Mademoiselle de La Valliere, with her usual wit, answered with a real little poem, where she asked to write to her on a deuce of hearts, because this is a more reliable suit.

When the king returned to Paris, he immediately rushed to Louise, and both lovers then experienced such joy that they completely forgot about caution.

The result was not long in coming: one evening, the favorite, in tears, announced to the king that she was expecting a child. Louis XIV, delighted, threw away his usual restraint: from now on, he began to walk around the Louvre with his girlfriend, which he had never done before.

Several months have passed. Louis XIV went to fight the Duke of Lorraine and returned on October 15, 1663, at the head of a victorious army, covering himself with glory. Louise was looking forward to it. She could no longer hide her pregnancy.

On December 19, at four o'clock in the morning, Colbert received the following note from the obstetrician: “We have a boy, strong and healthy. Mother and child are doing well. Thank God. I'm waiting for orders."

The orders proved cruel to Louise. On the same day, the newborn was carried to Saint-Le: by secret order of the king, he was recorded as Charles, son of M. Lencourt and Mademoiselle Elisabeth de Bé.

Throughout the winter, Louise hid in her house, not accepting anyone except the king, who was very upset by this seclusion. In the spring, he brought her to Versailles, which was almost completed. Now she took the position of an officially recognized favorite, and the courtesans fawned over her in every possible way. However, Louise did not know how to be happy and therefore cried.

But she would cry even more bitterly if she knew that she was carrying a second little bastard, conceived the previous month, under her heart.

This child was born under the cloak of the deepest secrecy on January 7, 1665, and was baptized as Philippe, "the son of François Dersy, bourgeois, and Marguerite Bernard, his wife." Colbert, who still had to deal with the arrangement of babies, entrusted him to the care of reliable people.

In the end, Louis XIV got tired of reassuring his mistress, and he turned his attention to the Princess of Monaco. She was young, charming, witty, and extraordinarily attractive; but in the eyes of the king, her greatest merit was that she shared a bed with Lauzin, a famous seducer, and therefore had a lot of experience.

Louis XIV began to diligently court the princess, who gladly allowed herself to be seduced.

Three weeks later, the king parted with the princess of Monaco, because he found her affection somewhat tiring for himself, and again returned to de La Vallière.

On January 20, 1666, the regent Anne of Austria, mother of Louis XIV, died. Together with her, the last barrier disappeared, at least a little keeping the king within the bounds of decency. Soon everyone was convinced of this. A week later, Mademoiselle de La Valliere stood next to Maria Theresa during Mass ...

It was then that a young lady-in-waiting of the queen tried to attract the attention of the king, who realized that the circumstances were in her favor. She was beautiful, cunning and sharp-tongued. Her name was Francoise Athenais, for two years she had been married to the Marquis de Montespan, but at the same time she was not distinguished by impeccable marital fidelity.

Louis XIV soon fell under her spell. Without abandoning Louise, who was again pregnant, he began to flutter around Athenais. The modest favorite quickly realized that from now on, not only she was interested in the king. As always, quietly relieved of her burden, she hid in her mansion and prepared to suffer in silence.

But the future Sun King loved the theatrics, so that everything happened in front of the audience. So he arranged a festivity in Saint-Germain called "The Ballet of the Muses", where Louise and Madame de Montespan got exactly the same roles, so that it would become clear to everyone that both would equally share his bed.

On May 14, at about noon, the astonishing news broke. It became known that the king had just bestowed the title of Duchess Mademoiselle de La Vallière and recognized as his daughter her third child, little Marie Anne (the first two sons died in infancy).

Pale, Madame de Montespan hurried to the queen to inquire about the details. Maria Theresa wept. Around her, the courtiers were discussing in a whisper the letter of grant already approved by Parliament. The amazement knew no bounds. It was said that such shamelessness had not happened since the time of Henry IV.

On October 3, Lavalier gave birth to a son, who was immediately taken away. He was to receive the name Comte de Vermandois. This event somewhat brought the king closer to the gentle Lavaliere, and alarmed Montespan hurried to the sorceress Voisin. She handed her a bag of "love powder" from charred and crushed toad bones, mole teeth, human nails, spanish fly, blood bats, dry plums and iron powder.

That same evening, the unsuspecting king of France swallowed this disgusting potion along with his soup. It was difficult to doubt the power of witchcraft, since the king almost immediately left Louise de La Vallière, returning to the arms of Madame de Montespan.

Soon, Louis XIV decided to give his mistresses official status in order to demonstrate disdain for all kinds of moralists. Early in 1669 he placed Louise and Françoise in adjoining chambers in Saint-Germain. Moreover, he demanded that both women maintain the appearance of friendly relations. From now on, everyone saw how they play cards, dine at the same table and walk hand in hand through the park, talking animatedly and kindly.

The king silently waited for how the court would react to this. And soon couplets appeared, very irreverent towards the favorites, but restrained in what concerned the king. Louis XIV realized that the game could be considered won. Every evening he went with peace of mind to his beloved and found in it more and more pleasure.

Of course, preference was almost always given to Madame de Montespan. She did not hide her delight. She really liked the caresses of the king. Louis XIV did this with skill, as he read Ambroise Pare, who argued that "the sower should not invade the field of human flesh with a swoop ..." But after that it was possible to act with the courage of a husband and king.

Such an approach could not fail to bear fruit. At the end of March 1669, Madame de Montespan gave birth to a delightful girl.

The king, who was becoming more and more attached to the fiery marquise, practically ignored de La Vallière. Madame de Montespan was so favored by the king that on March 31, 1670 she gave birth to her second child - the future Duke of Maine. This time the child was born in Saint-Germain, "in the ladies' quarters", and Madame Scarron, whom the king did not like, did not dare to go there. But Lozen did everything for her. He took the child, wrapped it in his own cloak, passed quickly through the chambers of the queen, who was in ignorance, crossed the park and went to the gate, where the governess's carriage was waiting. Two hours later, the boy had already joined his sister.

Suddenly, the shocking news spread: Mademoiselle de La Vallière, having secretly left the court during a ball at the Tuileries, went at dawn to the monastery of Chaillot. Louise, humiliated by Madame de Montespan, abandoned by the king, crushed by grief and tormented by remorse, decided that only in religion could she find solace.

Louis XIV was informed of this when he was about to leave the Tuileries. Having heard the news dispassionately, he climbed into the carriage with Madame de Montespan and Mademoiselle de Montpensier, and it seemed to many that Louise's flight left him completely indifferent. However, as soon as the carriage left for the road to Versailles, tears flowed down the king's cheeks. Seeing this, Montespan burst into tears, and Mademoiselle de Montpensier, who always wept eagerly at the opera, thought it best to join her.

That same evening, Colbert brought Louise to Versailles by order of the king. The unfortunate woman found her lover in tears and believed that he still loved her.

But after the king forced her to be the godmother of another daughter of Madame de Montespan on December 18, 1673 in the church of Saint-Sulpice, Louise made the most important decision of her life.

On June 2, at the age of thirty, she took the tonsure and became merciful Sister Louise. And she bore this name until her death, for thirty-six years.

Meanwhile, in Paris, Madame de Montespan did not sit idly by. She constantly sent love powders to Saint-Germain, which were then mixed into the king's food through bribed servants. Since these powders contained Spanish fly and other stimulants, Louis XIV again began to wander around the apartments of young ladies-in-waiting, and many girls acquired the status of a woman due to this circumstance ...

Then the beautiful de Montespan turned to the Norman sorcerers, who began to regularly supply her with love drinks and stimulants for Louis XIV. This went on for many years. The potion had an ever stronger effect on the king than Madame de Montespan would like. The monarch began to experience an insatiable need for sexual intimacy, which was soon seen by many ladies-in-waiting.

The first person the king took notice of was Anne de Rohan, Baroness de Soubise, a delightful young woman of twenty-eight, who reverently yielded to a not too respectful offer. The monarch met with her in the apartments of Madame de Rochefort. Receiving endless pleasure from these dates, he tried to act as carefully as possible so that no one would find out anything, because the beauty was married.

But Louis XIV was tormented in vain: de Soubise was well brought up and had a complaisant character. Moreover, he was a business man. Seeing in his dishonor a source of income, he did not protest, but demanded money. “A vile deal was made,” wrote the chronicler, “and the noble scoundrel, in whose baronial mantle rained golden rain, bought former palace Gizov, who received the name Subise. He made himself a million dollar fortune."

When anyone expressed admiration for his wealth, the indulgent husband answered with commendable modesty: "I have nothing to do with it, this is the merit of my wife."

The lovely Anna was as greedy and insatiable as her husband. She benefited all her relatives: this family was showered with the favors of the king. From the Baroness de Soubise, the favorite turned into the Princess de Soubise and felt that she could now look down on Madame de Montespan.

The marquise, jealous of her rival, ran to the sorceress Voisin and got a new potion in order to ward off Louis XIV from Anna. It is difficult to say whether this powder caused the disgrace, but the king suddenly left his young mistress and returned to Françoise's bed.

At the end of 1675, Louis XIV, having bestowed his disposition first on Mademoiselle de Grance, and then on Princess Marie-Anne of Wurtenburg, fell in love with Francoise's maid. Since then, on his way to the favorite, the king invariably lingered in the hallway, doing, together with Mademoiselle de Hoyer, not very decent amusements.

Finding that she was being deceived, de Montespan, in a rage, instructed reliable friends to turn to Auvergne healers and get from them a potion stronger than Voisin powders. Soon, mysterious vials with a cloudy liquid were delivered to her, which then ended up in the king's food.

However, the results were encouraging: Louis XIV, who could not stand monotony, left Mademoiselle de Hoye, and Madame de Montespan was imbued with even greater faith in the power of love drinks. She ordered other stimulants to be prepared in order to again become the only mistress of the king, but she achieved the opposite.

Once again, the monarch could not be satisfied with the charms of the favorite; he needed another "sweet flesh" to satisfy his desire. He entered into a relationship with Mademoiselle de Ludre, a lady-in-waiting from the queen's retinue. But this woman also showed indiscretion.

The marquise, overwhelmed by jealousy, began to look for even stronger remedies and for two weeks stuffed them with the king, who, it must be admitted, had powerful health if he managed to digest preparations containing crushed toad, snake eyes, boar testicles, cat urine, fox feces, artichokes and capsicum.

Once he went to Françoise, under the influence of a potion, and gave her an hour of pleasure. Nine months later, on May 4, 1677, the radiant marquise was relieved of her burden by her daughter, who was christened Francoise-Marie of Bourbon. Subsequently, she was recognized as the legitimate daughter of the king under the name Mademoiselle de Blois.

But Françoise did not manage to gain a foothold in her former capacity as the only mistress, for the beautiful Mademoiselle de Ludre, wanting to maintain her "position", decided to pretend that she also became pregnant by the king.

The accomplices delivered a box of gray powder to Françoise, and, by a strange coincidence, Louis XIV completely lost interest in Mademoiselle de Ludre, who ended her days in the monastery of the daughters of St. Mary in the suburbs of Saint-Germain.

However, the monarch, unnecessarily ignited by the Provencal drug, again eluded Françoise: in the witty expression of Madame de Sevigne, "the country of Quanto again smelled of freshness."

Among the ladies-in-waiting, Madame Louis XIV saw a delightful blonde with gray eyes. She was eighteen years old and her name was Mademoiselle de Fontanges. It was about her that the Abbé de Choisy said that "she is beautiful like an angel and stupid like a cork."

The king was inflamed with desire. One evening, unable to restrain himself any longer, he left St. Germain, accompanied by several guards, and went to the Palais Royal, the residence of Henrietta of England. There he knocked on the door at the appointed signal, and one of the ladies-in-waiting of the princess, Mademoiselle de Adre, who became the accomplice of the lovers, escorted him to the chambers of her friend.

Unfortunately, when he returned to Saint-Germain at dawn, the Parisians recognized him, and soon Madame de Montespan received exhaustive information about this amorous adventure. Her rage is indescribable. Perhaps it was then that she came up with the idea of ​​poisoning both the king and Mademoiselle de Fontanges out of revenge.

On March 12, 1679, the poisoner Voisin was arrested, whose services de Montespan used more than once. The favorite, mad with fear, left for Paris.

A few days later, Françoise, convinced that her name was not mentioned, calmed down a bit and returned to Saint-Germain. However, upon arrival, a blow awaited her: Mademoiselle de Fontanges settled in the apartments adjacent to the king's chambers.

Ever since Françoise discovered Mademoiselle de Fontanges in her place, she was determined to poison the king. At first it occurred to her to do this with the help of a petition soaked in strong poison. Trianon, an accomplice of Voisin, "prepared a poison so strong that Louis XIV had to die as soon as he touched the paper." The delay prevented the execution of this plan: Madame de Montespan, knowing that La Reigny, after the arrest of the poisoners, redoubled her vigilance and heavily guarded the king, she decided in the end to resort to corruption, not poison.

For some time, both favorites seemed to live in good harmony. Mademoiselle de Fontanges made gifts for Françoise, and before the evening balls Françoise herself dressed up Mademoiselle de Fontanges. Louis XIV paid attention to both of his ladies and seemed to be at the height of bliss ...

Fontange died on June 28, 1681, after an agony that lasted eleven months, at the age of twenty-two. Immediately there was talk of murder, and the Princess of the Palatinate noted: “There is no doubt that Fontange was poisoned. She herself blamed Montespan for everything, who bribed the lackey, and he ruined her by pouring poison into milk.

Of course, the king shared the suspicions of the court. Fearing to find out that his mistress had committed a crime, he forbade the autopsy of the deceased.

Although the king had to behave with the marquise as if he did not know anything, he still could not continue to play the lover and returned to Maria Theresa.

He embarked on this path not without the help of Madame Scarron, nee Françoise D'Aubigné, the widow of a famous poet, who slowly gained influence, acting in the shadows, but with extreme deftness and discretion. She raised illegitimate Montespan children from the king.

Louis XIV saw with what love she brings up children abandoned by Madame de Montespan. He had already managed to appreciate her mind, honesty and directness, and, not wanting to admit that to himself, he increasingly sought her company.

When in 1674 she bought the lands of Maintenon, a few leagues from Chartres, Madame de Montespan expressed her extreme displeasure: “Is that so? Castle and estate for the tutor of bastards?

“If it is humiliating to be their tutor,” the newly-minted landowner replied, “then what can be said about their mother?”

Then, in order to silence Madame de Montespan, the king, in the presence of the whole court, numb with amazement, called Madame Scarron by a new name - Madame de Maintenon. From that moment on, and by special order of the monarch, she signed only with this name.

Years passed, and Louis XIV became attached to this woman, so unlike Madame de Montespan. After the case of the poisoners, he naturally turned his eyes to her, for his troubled soul demanded consolation.

But Madame de Maintenon was not eager to take the place of the favorite. “Strengthening the monarch in faith,” said the Duke de Noailles, “she used the feelings that she inspired in him in order to return him to a pure family bosom and turn on the queen those signs of attention that rightfully belonged only to her.”

Maria Theresa did not believe her luck: the king spent evenings with her and spoke with tenderness. For almost thirty years, she had not heard a single kind word from him.

Madame de Maintenon, severe and pious almost to the point of hypocrisy, although she had, according to the assurances of many, a rather turbulent youth, was now distinguished by amazing reasonableness and restraint. She treated the monarch with extreme reverence, admired him and considered herself chosen by God in order to help him become "the most Christian king."

For several months, Louis XIV met with her daily. De Maintenon gave excellent advice, skillfully and unobtrusively intervened in all matters, and, ultimately, became indispensable for the monarch.

Louis XIV looked at her with burning eyes and "with a certain tenderness in his expression." No doubt he longed to embrace this beautiful touchy, who, at forty-eight, experienced a glorious sunset.

The monarch considered it indecent to make a mistress out of a woman who raised his children so well. However, the dignified behavior and restraint of Francoise de Maintenon excluded any thought of adultery. She was not one of those ladies who can be easily carried away to the first bed that came across.

There was only one way out: to marry her in secret. Louis, having made up his mind, one morning sent his confessor, Father de Lachaise, to propose to Françoise.

The marriage was concluded in 1684 or 1685 (no one knows the exact date) in the king's office, where the newlyweds were blessed by Monsignor Arles de Chanvallon in the presence of Father de Lachaise.

Many then began to guess about the secret marriage of the king with Francoise. But it did not come to the surface, because everyone tried to keep a secret. Only Madame de Sevigne, whose pen was as unstoppable as her tongue, wrote to her daughter: “The position of Madame de Maintenon is unique, it has never been and never will be ...”

Under the influence of Madame de Maintenon, who, moving her knees and pursing her lips, continued the work of “cleansing” morals, Versailles turned into such a boring place that, as they said then, “even Calvinists would howl here with anguish.”

At court, all playful expressions were forbidden, men and women no longer dared to speak frankly with each other, and beauties, burned by internal fire, were forced to hide their languor under the mask of piety.

On May 27, 1707, Madame de Montespan died on the waters of Bourbon-l'Archambault. Louis XIV, having learned about the death of the former mistress, said with complete indifference: "She died too long for me for me to mourn her today."

On August 31, 1715, Louis XIV fell into a coma and on September 1, at a quarter past eight in the morning, he breathed his last.

In four days he would have been seventy-seven years old. His reign lasted seventy-two years.

Muromov I.A. 100 great lovers. – M.: Veche, 2002.

Louis XIV reigned for 72 years, longer than any other European monarch. He became king at the age of four, took full power into his own hands at 23 and ruled for 54 years. "The state is me!" - Louis XIV did not say these words, but the state has always been associated with the personality of the ruler. Therefore, if we talk about the mistakes and mistakes of Louis XIV (the war with Holland, the abolition of the Edict of Nantes, etc.), then the asset of the reign should also be recorded on his account.

The development of trade and manufacturing, the birth of the colonial empire of France, the reform of the army and the creation of the navy, the development of art and science, the construction of Versailles and, finally, the transformation of France into a modern state. These are not all the achievements of the Louis XIV Century. So what was this ruler who gave a name to his time?

Louis XIV de Bourbon.

Louis XIV de Bourbon, who received the name Louis-Dieudonnet ("God-given") at birth, was born on September 5, 1638. The name "God-given" appeared for a reason. Queen Anne of Austria produced an heir at the age of 37.

For 22 years, the marriage of Louis' parents was fruitless, and therefore the birth of an heir was perceived by the people as a miracle. After the death of his father, the young Louis and his mother moved to the Palais Royal, the former palace of Cardinal Richelieu. Here the little king was brought up in a very simple and sometimes wretched environment.

His mother was considered the regent of France, but the real power was in the hands of her favorite, Cardinal Mazarin. He was very stingy and did not care at all not only about pleasing the child-king, but even about the availability of basic necessities for him.

The first years of the formal reign of Louis saw the events civil war known as the Fronde. In January 1649, an uprising broke out in Paris against Mazarin. The king and ministers had to flee to Saint-Germain, and Mazarin to Brussels in general. Peace was restored only in 1652, and power returned to the hands of the cardinal. Despite the fact that the king was already considered an adult, Mazarin ruled France until his death.

Giulio Mazarin - church and politician and the first minister of France in 1643-1651 and 1653-1661. He took over the post under the patronage of Queen Anne of Austria.

In 1659 peace was signed with Spain. The treaty was sealed by the marriage of Louis with Maria Theresa, who was his cousin. When Mazarin died in 1661, Louis, having received his freedom, hastened to get rid of any guardianship over himself.

He abolished the office of First Minister, announcing to the Council of State that from now on he would be First Minister himself, and no even the most insignificant decree should be signed by anyone on his behalf.

Louis was poorly educated, barely able to read and write, but possessed of common sense and a firm determination to uphold his royal dignity. He was tall, handsome, had a noble posture, strove to express himself briefly and clearly. Unfortunately, he was excessively selfish, as no European monarch was distinguished by monstrous pride and selfishness. All former royal residences seemed to Louis unworthy of his greatness.

After some deliberation, in 1662 he decided to turn the small hunting castle of Versailles into a royal palace. It took 50 years and 400 million francs. Until 1666, the king had to live in the Louvre, from 1666 to 1671. in the Tuileries, from 1671 to 1681, alternately in the construction of Versailles and Saint-Germain-O-l "E. Finally, from 1682, Versailles became the permanent residence of the royal court and government. From now on, Louis visited Paris only on short visits.

The new palace of the king was distinguished by extraordinary splendor. The so-called (large apartments) - six salons named after ancient deities - served as hallways for the Mirror Gallery 72 meters long, 10 meters wide and 16 meters high. Buffets were arranged in the salons, guests played billiards and cards.

The Great Condé greets Louis XIV on the Staircase at Versailles.

In general, the card game became an indomitable passion at court. The stakes reached several thousand livres per game, and Louis himself stopped playing only after he lost 600 thousand livres in six months in 1676.

Comedies were also staged in the palace, first by Italian and then by French authors: Corneille, Racine, and especially often Molière. In addition, Louis loved to dance, and repeatedly took part in ballet productions at court.

The splendor of the palace corresponded to the complex rules of etiquette established by Louis. Any action was accompanied by a whole set of carefully designed ceremonies. Meals, going to bed, even the simple quenching of thirst during the day - everything was turned into complex rituals.

War against everyone

If the king would only be engaged in the construction of Versailles, the rise of the economy and the development of the arts, then, probably, the respect and love of subjects for the Sun King would be limitless. However, the ambitions of Louis XIV extended much beyond the borders of his state.

By the early 1680s, Louis XIV had the most powerful army in Europe, which only whetted his appetites. In 1681, he established the chambers of reunification to seek the rights of the French crown to certain areas, capturing more and more lands in Europe and Africa.

In 1688, the claims of Louis XIV to the Palatinate led to the fact that all of Europe took up arms against him. The so-called War of the League of Augsburg dragged on for nine years and led to the parties maintaining the status quo. But the huge expenses and losses incurred by France led to a new economic decline in the country and the depletion of funds.

But already in 1701, France was embroiled in a long conflict, called the War of the Spanish Succession. Louis XIV expected to defend the rights to the Spanish throne for his grandson, who was to become the head of two states. However, the war, which engulfed not only Europe, but also North America, ended unsuccessfully for France.

According to the peace concluded in 1713 and 1714, the grandson of Louis XIV retained the Spanish crown, but its Italian and Dutch possessions were lost, and England, by destroying the Franco-Spanish fleets and conquering a number of colonies, laid the foundation for its maritime dominion. In addition, the project of uniting France and Spain under the hand of the French monarch had to be abandoned.

Sale of positions and expulsion of the Huguenots

This last military campaign of Louis XIV returned him to where he started - the country was mired in debt and groaning from the burden of taxes, and here and there rebellions broke out, the suppression of which required more and more new resources.

The need to replenish the budget led to non-trivial solutions. Under Louis XIV, trade in public offices was put on stream, reaching its maximum scope in the last years of his life. To replenish the treasury, more and more new positions were created, which, of course, brought chaos and discord into the activities of state institutions.

Louis XIV on coins.

French Protestants joined the ranks of Louis XIV's opponents after the Edict of Fontainebleau was signed in 1685, repealing the Edict of Nantes by Henry IV, which guaranteed the Huguenots freedom of religion.

After that, more than 200,000 French Protestants emigrated from the country, despite severe penalties for emigration. The exodus of tens of thousands of economically active citizens dealt another painful blow to the power of France.

The unloved queen and the meek lame

At all times and eras, the personal life of monarchs influenced politics. Louis XIV in this sense is no exception. Once the monarch remarked: "It would be easier for me to reconcile the whole of Europe than a few women."

His official wife in 1660 was the Spanish Infanta Maria Theresa, who was Louis cousin both father and mother.

The problem of this marriage, however, was not in close relationships. family ties spouses. Louis simply did not like Maria Theresa, but dutifully agreed to a marriage that was of great political importance. The wife bore the king six children, but five of them died in childhood. Only the first-born survived, named, like his father, Louis and went down in history under the name of the Great Dauphin.

The marriage of Louis XIV took place in 1660.

For the sake of marriage, Louis broke off relations with the woman he really loved - the niece of Cardinal Mazarin. Perhaps parting with his beloved also influenced the attitude of the king towards his lawful wife. Maria Theresa resigned herself to her fate. Unlike other French queens, she did not intrigue and did not get into politics, playing a prescribed role. When the queen died in 1683, Louis said: This is the only worry in life that she has caused me.».

The king compensated for the lack of feelings in marriage by relations with favorites. Louise-Francoise de La Baume Le Blanc, Duchess de La Vallière, became Louise-Francoise de La Baume Le Blanc, for nine years. Louise was not distinguished by dazzling beauty, besides, due to an unsuccessful fall from a horse, she remained lame for life. But the meekness, friendliness and sharp mind of Limps attracted the attention of the king.

Louise bore Louis four children, two of whom survived to adulthood. The king treated Louise quite cruelly. Becoming cool to her, he settled the rejected mistress next to the new favorite - the Marquise Francoise Athenais de Montespan. The heroine de Lavaliere was forced to endure the bullying of her rival. She endured everything with her usual meekness, and in 1675 she took the veil as a nun and lived for many years in a monastery, where she was called Louise the Merciful.

In the lady before Montespan there was not even a shadow of the meekness of her predecessor. Representative of one of the most ancient noble families France, Francoise not only became the official favorite, but for 10 years she turned into the "true Queen of France."

Marquise de Montespan with four legitimized children. 1677. Palace of Versailles.

Françoise loved luxury and did not like to count money. It was the Marquise de Montespan who turned the reign of Louis XIV from deliberate budgeting to unbridled and unlimited spending. Capricious, envious, imperious and ambitious Francoise knew how to subordinate the king to her will. New apartments were built for her in Versailles, she managed to arrange all her close relatives for significant government posts.

Françoise de Montespan bore Louis seven children, four of whom survived to adulthood. But the relationship between Françoise and the king was not as faithful as with Louise. Louis allowed himself hobbies in addition to the official favorite, which angered Madame de Montespan.

In order to keep the king to herself, she began to study black magic and even got involved in a high-profile case of poisoning. The king did not punish her with death, but deprived her of the status of a favorite, which was much more terrible for her.

Like her predecessor, Louise le Lavaliere, the Marquise de Montespan changed her royal quarters to a convent.

Time for repentance

The new favorite of Louis was the Marquise de Maintenon, the widow of the poet Scarron, who was the governess of the king's children from Madame de Montespan.

This favorite of the king was called the same as her predecessor, Francoise, but the women differed from each other, like heaven and earth. The king had long conversations with the Marquise de Maintenon about the meaning of life, about religion, about responsibility before God. The royal court changed its luster to chastity and high morality.

Madame de Maintenon.

After the death of his official wife, Louis XIV was married in secret to the Marquise de Maintenon. Now the king was occupied not with balls and festivities, but with masses and reading the Bible. The only entertainment he allowed himself was hunting.

The Marquise de Maintenon founded and directed the first secular school for women in Europe, called the Royal House of Saint Louis. The school in Saint-Cyr has become an example for many such institutions, including the Smolny Institute in St. Petersburg.

For her strict disposition and intolerance for secular entertainment, the Marquise de Maintenon was nicknamed the Black Queen. She survived Louis and after his death retired to Saint-Cyr, living the rest of her days in the circle of pupils of her school.

Illegitimate Bourbons

Louis XIV recognized his illegitimate children from both Louise de La Vallière and Francoise de Montespan. They all received their father's surname - de Bourbon, and dad tried to arrange their lives.

Louise, the son of Louise, was promoted to French admiral at the age of two, and when he grew up, he went on a military campaign with his father. There, at the age of 16, the young man died.

Louis-Auguste, the son of Francoise, received the title of Duke of Maine, became a French commander and, in this capacity, received Abram Petrovich Hannibal, godson of Peter I and great-grandfather of Alexander Pushkin, for military training.

Grand Dauphin Louis. The only surviving legitimate child of Louis XIV by Maria Theresa of Spain.

Françoise-Marie, the youngest daughter of Louis, was married to Philippe d'Orleans, becoming the Duchess of Orleans. Possessing the character of a mother, Françoise-Marie plunged headlong into political intrigues. Her husband became the French regent under the infant king Louis XV, and the children of Francoise-Marie married the offspring of other royal dynasties of Europe.

In a word, not many illegitimate children of ruling persons got such a fate, which fell to the lot of the sons and daughters of Louis XIV.

"Did you really think that I would live forever?"

Last years The king's life was a severe trial for him. The man who all his life defended the choice of God of the monarch and his right to autocratic rule, experienced not only the crisis of his state. His close people left one by one, and it turned out that there was simply no one to transfer power to.

On April 13, 1711, his son, the Grand Dauphin Louis, died. In February 1712, the eldest son of the Dauphin, the Duke of Burgundy, died, and on March 8 of the same year, the eldest son of the latter, the young Duke of Brittany.

March 4, 1714 fell from a horse and a few days later died the younger brother of the Duke of Burgundy, the Duke of Berry. The only heir was the 4-year-old great-grandson of the king, younger son Duke of Burgundy. If this baby had died, the throne after the death of Louis would have remained vacant.

This forced the king to add even his illegitimate sons to the list of heirs, which promised internal strife in France in the future.

Louis XIV.

At the age of 76, Louis remained active, active and, as in his youth, regularly went hunting. During one of these trips, the king fell and injured his leg. Doctors found that the injury had provoked gangrene and suggested amputation. The Sun King refused: it is unacceptable for royal dignity. The disease progressed rapidly, and soon the agony began, stretching for several days.

At the moment of clearing his mind, Louis looked around those present and uttered his last aphorism:

- Why are you crying? Did you think that I would live forever?

On September 1, 1715, at about 8 o'clock in the morning, Louis XIV died in his palace in Versailles, four days before his 77th birthday.

Compilation of material - Fox

Louis XIV(1638-1715) - King of France from the dynasty Bourbon who ruled from 1643-1715. Son Louis XIII and Anne of Austria. Wives: 1) from 1660 Maria Theresa, daughter of King Philip IV of Spain (1638-1683); 2) since 1683, Francoise d "Aubinier, Marquis de Maintenon (1635-1719).

Louis was born on Sunday, September 5, 1638 in the new palace of Saint-Germain-aux-Laye. Prior to this, for twenty-two years, his parents' marriage had been fruitless and seemed to remain so in the future. Therefore, contemporaries greeted the news of the birth of the long-awaited heir with expressions of lively joy. The common people saw this as a sign of God's mercy and called the newborn Dauphin God-given. Very little is known of his early childhood. He hardly remembered his father well, who died in 1643, when Louis was only five years old. Queen Anne soon after left the Louvre and moved into the former Palais de Richelieu, renamed the Palais Royal. Here, in a very simple and even wretched environment, the young king spent his childhood. Queen Dowager Anne was considered the ruler of France, but in fact, her favorite cardinal handled all the affairs Mazarin. He was very stingy and almost did not care at all about giving pleasure to the child-king, depriving him not only of games and fun, but even of basic necessities: the boy received only two pairs of dresses a year and was forced to walk in patches, and he was noticed on the sheets huge holes.

The turbulent events of the civil war, known in history as the Fronde, fell on the childhood and adolescence of Louis. In January 1649, the royal family, accompanied by several courtiers and ministers, fled to Saint-Germain from an uprising in Paris. Mazarin, against whom the discontent was mainly directed, had to seek refuge even further - in Brussels. Only in 1652, with great difficulty, was it possible to install inner world. But on the other hand, in subsequent years, until his death, Mazarin firmly held the reins of government in his hands. In foreign policy, he also achieved important successes. In November 1659, the Peace of the Pyrenees was signed with Spain, ending years of war between the two kingdoms. The treaty was sealed by the marriage of the French king with his cousin, the Spanish Infanta Maria Theresa. This marriage was the last act of the all-powerful Mazarin. In March 1661 he died. Until his death, despite the fact that the king had long been considered an adult, the cardinal remained the full ruler of the state, and Louis obediently followed his instructions in everything. But as soon as Mazarin was gone, the king hastened to free himself from all guardianship. He abolished the position of First Minister and, having convened the Council of State, announced in an imperious tone that he decided from now on to be his own First Minister and did not want anyone to sign even the most insignificant ordinance on his behalf.

Very few at this time were familiar with the real character of Louis. This young king, who was only 22 years old, until then attracted attention only by his penchant for panache and love affairs. It seemed to be created solely for idleness and pleasure. But it didn't take long to find out otherwise. As a child, Louis received a very poor upbringing - he was barely taught to read and write. However, he was naturally endowed with common sense, a remarkable ability to understand the essence of things and a firm determination to maintain his royal dignity. According to the Venetian envoy, "nature itself tried to make Louis XIV such a person who is destined by his personal qualities to become the king of the nation." He was tall and very handsome. There was something masculine or heroic in all his movements. He possessed the ability, very important for a king, to express himself concisely but clearly, and to say no more and no less than what was necessary. All his life he worked diligently state affairs from which neither entertainment nor old age could tear him away. “They reign by labor and for labor,” Louis liked to repeat, “and to desire one without the other would be ingratitude and disrespect towards the Lord.” Unfortunately, his innate greatness and hard work served as a cover for the most unabashed selfishness. Not a single French king before was distinguished by such monstrous pride and selfishness, not a single European monarch so obviously exalted himself above those around him and smoked incense to his own greatness with such pleasure. This is clearly seen in everything that concerned Louis: in his court and public life, in his domestic and foreign policy, in his love interests and in his buildings.

All former royal residences seemed to Louis unworthy of his person. From the first days of his reign, he was preoccupied with thoughts of building a new palace, more in line with his greatness. For a long time he did not know which of the royal castles to turn into a palace. Finally, in 1662, his choice fell on Versailles (under Louis XIII it was a small hunting castle). However, more than fifty years passed before the new magnificent palace was ready in its main parts. The construction of the ensemble cost about 400 million francs and annually absorbed 12-14% of all government spending. For two decades, while construction was in progress, the royal court did not have a permanent seat: until 1666 it was located mainly in the Louvre, then, in 1666-1671, in the Tuileries, over the next ten years, alternately in Saint-Germain-o -Le and Versailles under construction. Finally, in 1682, Versailles became the permanent seat of the court and government. After that, until his death, Louis visited Paris only 16 times with short visits.

The unusual splendor of the new apartments corresponded to the complex rules of etiquette established by the king. Everything here was thought out to the smallest detail. So, if the king wanted to quench his thirst, then it took "five people and four bows" to bring him a glass of water or wine. Usually, after leaving his bedroom, Louis went to church (the king regularly observed church rites: every day he went to mass, and when he took medicine or was unwell, he ordered mass to be served in his room; he took communion on major holidays at least four times a year and strictly observed the fasts). From the church, the king went to the Council, whose meetings continued until lunchtime. On Thursdays he gave an audience to anyone who wished to speak with him, and always listened to petitioners with patience and courtesy. At one o'clock the king was served dinner. It was always plentiful and consisted of three excellent courses. Louis ate them alone in the presence of the courtiers. Moreover, even the princes of the blood and the dauphin were not supposed to have a chair at this time. Only the king's brother, the Duke of Orleans, was served a stool on which he could sit behind Louis. The meal was usually followed by a general silence.

After dinner, Louis retired to his study and fed the hunting dogs with his own hands. Then came the walk. At this time, the king hunted a deer, shot at a menagerie, or visited work. Sometimes he arranged walks with the ladies and picnics in the woods. In the afternoon, Louis worked alone with secretaries of state or ministers. If he was ill, the Council met in the king's bedroom, and he presided over it while lying in bed.

The evening was devoted to pleasure. By the appointed hour, a large court society gathered at Versailles. When Louis finally settled in Versailles, he ordered the minting of a medal with the following inscription: "The Royal Palace is open to public entertainment." Indeed, life at court was distinguished by festivities and outward splendor. The so-called "large apartments", that is, the salons of Abundance, Venus, Mars, Diana, Mercury and Apollo, served as a kind of hallways for the large Mirror Gallery, which was 72 meters long, 10 meters wide, 13 meters high and, according to Madame Sevigne, it was distinguished by the only royal splendor in the world. On the one hand, the salon of War served as a continuation for it, on the other hand, the salon of the World. All this presented a splendid spectacle when ornaments of colored marble, trophies of gilded copper, large mirrors, paintings by Le Brun, furniture of solid silver, toilets of ladies and courtiers were lit by thousands of candelabra, girandoles and torches. In the entertainment of the court, unchanging rules were established. In winter, three times a week, there was a meeting of the whole court in large apartments, lasting from seven to ten o'clock. Luxurious buffets were arranged in the halls of Abundance and Venus. There was a game of billiards in Diana's hall. In the salons of Mars, Mercury, and Apollo, there were tables for playing landsknecht, riversy, ombre, pharaoh, portico, and so on. The game became an indomitable passion both at court and in the city. "Thousands of louis were scattered on the green table," Madame Sevigne wrote, "the stakes were not less than five, six or seven hundred louis." Louis himself abandoned the big game after losing 600,000 livres in six months in 1676, but to please him, huge sums had to be risked per game. Comedies were presented on the other three days. At first, Italian comedies alternated with French ones, but the Italians allowed themselves such obscenities that they were removed from the court, and in 1697, when the king began to obey the rules of piety, they were expelled from the kingdom. French comedy performed plays on stage Corneille , racina and in particular Molière, who has always been the royal playwright's favorite. Ludovic was very fond of dancing and many times performed roles in the ballets of Benserade, Cinema and Molière. He gave up this pleasure in 1670, but the court did not stop dancing. Maslenitsa was the season for masquerades. There was no entertainment on Sundays. Pleasure trips to Trianon were often arranged during the summer months, where the king dined with the ladies and rode in gondolas along the canal. Sometimes Marly, Compiègne or Fontainebleau were chosen as the final destination of the journey. Dinner was served at 10 o'clock. This ceremony was less prim. Children and grandchildren usually shared a meal with the king, sitting at the same table. Then, accompanied by bodyguards and courtiers, Louis went to his office. He spent the evening with his family, but only princesses and the Prince of Orleans could sit with him. Around 12 o'clock the king fed the dogs, wished good night and retired to his bedroom, where he went to bed with many ceremonies. On the table beside him, sleeping food and drink were left for the night.

In his youth, Louis was distinguished by an ardent disposition and was very not indifferent to pretty women. Despite the beauty of the young queen, he was not in love with his wife for a single minute and was constantly looking for love entertainment on the side. In March 1661, Louis' brother, the Duke of Orleans, married the daughter of Charles I of England, Henriette. At first, the king showed a lively interest in his daughter-in-law and began to visit her often in Saint-Germain, but then he became interested in her maid of honor, seventeen-year-old Louise de la Vallière. According to contemporaries, this girl, gifted with a lively and tender heart, was very sweet, but could hardly be considered an exemplary beauty. She limped a little and was a little pockmarked, but she had beautiful blue eyes and blond hair. Her love for the king was sincere and deep. According to Voltaire, she gave Louis that rare happiness that he was loved only for his own sake. However, the feelings that the king had for de la Vallière also had all the properties of true love. In support of this, many cases are cited. Some of them seem so extraordinary that it is hard to believe in them. So one day a thunderstorm broke out during a walk, and the king, hiding with de la Vallière under the protection of a branchy tree, stood in the rain for two hours, covering it with his hat. Louis bought the Biron Palace for La Vallière and visited her there daily. Communication with her continued from 1661 to 1667. During this time, the favorite gave birth to the king of four children, of whom two survived. Louis legitimized them under the names of the Count of Vermandois and the maiden de Blois. In 1667, he granted his mistress a ducal title and since then began to gradually move away from her.

The new hobby of the king was the Marquise de Montespan. Both in appearance and in character, the marquise was the complete opposite of la Vallière: ardent, black-haired, she was very beautiful, but completely devoid of the languor and tenderness that were characteristic of her rival. With a clear and practical mind, she knew well what she needed, and was preparing to sell her caresses very expensively. For a long time the king, blinded by his love for la Vallière, did not notice the virtues of her rival. But when the former feelings lost their sharpness, the beauty of the marquise and her lively mind made a proper impression on Louis. The military campaign of 1667 in Belgium, which turned into a pleasure trip of the court to the places of hostilities, especially brought them together. Noticing the indifference of the king, the unfortunate la Vallière once dared to reproach Louis. The enraged king threw a small dog into her lap and, saying: “Take it, madam, this is enough for you!” - went to Madame de Montespan's room, which was nearby. Convinced that the king had completely fallen out of love with her, la Vallière did not interfere with the new favorite, retired to the Carmelite monastery and got her hair cut there in 1675. The Marquise de Montespan, as a smart and highly educated woman, patronized all the writers who glorified the reign of Louis XIV, but at the same time she never forgot about her interests: the rapprochement between the Marquise and the king began with the fact that Louis gave her family 800 thousand livres to pay debts, and in addition 600 thousand to Duke Vivon at his marriage. This golden rain did not fail in the future.

The connection of the king with the Marquise de Montespan lasted sixteen years. During this time, Louis had many other novels, more or less serious. In 1674, Princess Soubise gave birth to a son who looked very much like the king. Then Madame de Ludre, the Countess of Grammont and the maiden Guesdam enjoyed the attention of Louis. But these were all fleeting hobbies. The marquise met a more serious rival in the person of the maiden Fontange (Louis granted her as a duchess), who, according to the abbe Choisely, "was as good as an angel, but extremely stupid." The king was very much in love with her in 1679. But the poor thing burned her ships too quickly - she did not know how to keep the fire in the heart of the sovereign, already satiated with voluptuousness. An early pregnancy disfigured her beauty, the birth was unhappy, and in the summer of 1681 Madame Fontange died suddenly. She was like a meteor flashing across the court sky. The Marquise Montespan did not hide her malicious joy, but the time of her favor also came to an end.

While the king indulged in sensual pleasures, the Marchioness of Montespan remained for many years the uncrowned queen of France. But when Louis began to grow cold towards love adventures, his heart was captured by a woman of a completely different warehouse. It was Madame d'Aubigné, daughter of the famous Agrippa d'Aubigné and the widow of the poet Scarron, known in history as the Marquise de Maintenon. Before becoming the favorite of the king, she was a governess for a long time with his side children (from 1667 to 1681, the Marquise de Montespan gave birth to eight children to Louis, of whom four reached adulthood). All of them were given to the education of Mrs. Scarron. The king, who loved his children very much, did not pay attention to their teacher for a long time, but one day, talking with the little Duke of Maine, he was very pleased with his well-aimed answers. “Sir,” the boy answered him, “do not be surprised at my reasonable words: I am being brought up by a lady who can be called the incarnation of reason.” This review made Louis take a closer look at his son's governess. Conversing with her, he often had the opportunity to convince himself of the truth of the words of the Duke of Maine. Appreciating Madame Scarron on merit, the king in 1674 granted her the estate of Maintenon with the right to bear this name and the title of marquise. Since then, Madame Maintenon began to fight for the heart of the king and every year she took Louis more and more into her hands. The king talked for hours with the marquise about the future of her pupils, visited her when she was ill, and soon became almost inseparable from her. Since 1683, after the removal of the Marquise de Montespan and the death of Queen Maria Theresa, Madame de Maintenon gained unlimited influence over the king. Their rapprochement ended in a secret marriage in January 1684. Approving all the orders of Louis, Madame de Maintenon, on occasion, gave him advice and guided him. The king had the deepest respect and confidence in the marquise; under her influence, he became very religious, renounced all love affairs and began to lead a more moral lifestyle. However, most of his contemporaries believed that Louis went from one extreme to another and turned from debauchery to hypocrisy. Be that as it may, in old age the king completely abandoned noisy gatherings, holidays and performances. They were replaced by sermons, reading moral books and soul-saving conversations with the Jesuits. Through this influence of Madame Maintenon on the affairs of state and especially religious was enormous, but not always beneficial.

The oppression to which the Huguenots were subjected from the very beginning of the reign of Louis, culminated in October 1685 with the repeal of the Edict of Nantes. Protestants were allowed to remain in France, but were forbidden to publicly hold their services and raise their children in the Calvinist faith. Four hundred thousand Huguenots preferred exile to this humiliating condition. Many of them fled military service. In the course of mass emigration, 60 million livres were taken out of France. Trade fell into decline, and thousands of the best French sailors entered the service of the enemy fleets. The political and economic situation of France, which at the end of the 17th century was already far from brilliant, worsened even more.

The brilliant atmosphere of the Versailles court often made us forget how difficult the regime of that time was for the common people, and especially for the peasants, who were burdened by state duties. Under no previous sovereign did France wage such a large-scale war of conquest as under Louis XIV. They started with the so-called Devolutionary War. After the death of the Spanish king Philip IV, Louis, on behalf of his wife, declared claims to part of the Spanish inheritance and tried to conquer Belgium. In 1667, the French army captured Armantières, Charleroi, Berg, Fürn and the entire southern part of the maritime Flanders. The besieged Lille surrendered in August. Louis showed personal courage there and inspired everyone with his presence. To stop the offensive movement of the French, Holland in 1668 united with Sweden and England. In response, Louis moved troops into Burgundy and Franche-Comté. Besançon, Salin and Grey were taken. In May, under the terms of the Treaty of Aachen, the king returned Franche-Comte to the Spaniards, but kept the conquests made in Flanders.

But this peace was only a respite before the big war with Holland. It began in June 1672 with a sudden invasion by French troops. To stop the invasion of the enemy, Stadtholder William of Orange ordered the dams to be opened and the entire country flooded with water. The emperor Leopold, the Protestant German princes, the king of Denmark and the king of Spain soon took the side of Holland. This coalition was called the Great Union. Military operations were conducted partly in Belgium, partly on the banks of the Rhine. In 1673, the French took Mastricht, in 1674 they captured Franche-Comté. The Dutch were defeated in a bloody battle at Senef. Marshal Turenne, who commanded the French army, defeated the imperial troops in three battles, forced them to retreat across the Rhine and captured all of Alsace. In the following years, despite the defeat at Consarbrück, the successes of the French continued. Condé, Valenciennes, Bouchin and Combray were taken. William of Orange was defeated at Kassel (1675-1677). At the same time, the French fleet won several victories over the Spaniards and began to dominate the Mediterranean. Nevertheless, the continuation of the war turned out to be very ruinous for France. The population, reduced to extreme poverty, revolted against excessive taxes. In 1678-1679 peace treaties were signed in Niemwegen. Spain ceded to Louis Franche-Comté, Eure, Cassel, Ypres, Cambrai, Bu-shen and some other cities in Belgium. Alsace and Lorraine remained with France.

The reason for a new European war was the capture by the French in 1681 of Strasbourg and Casale. The Spanish king declared war on Louis. The French won several victories in Belgium and took Luxembourg. According to the Regensburg armistice, Strasbourg, Kehl, Luxembourg and a number of other fortresses went to France. This was the time of the highest power of Louis. But it didn't last long. In 1686, through the efforts of William of Orange, a new coalition against France was created, known as the Augsburg League. It included Austria, Spain, Holland, Sweden and several German principalities. The war began in October 1687 with the Dauphin's invasion of the Palatinate, the capture of Philippsburg, Mannheim and some other cities. Many of them, including Speyer, Worms, Bingen and Oppenheim, were razed to the ground. These senseless devastations caused a wave of hatred throughout Germany. Meanwhile, a revolution took place in England, which ended with the deposition of James II. William of Orange became king of England in 1688 and immediately included his new subjects in the League of Augsburg. France had to wage war against all of Europe. Louis tried to raise a Catholic uprising in Ireland in support of the deposed James II. The English fleet was defeated in two battles: in the Bay of Bantry and near Cape Beachy Ged. But in the battle on the banks of the Boione, William inflicted a decisive defeat on the Irish army. By 1691, all of Ireland was re-conquered by the British. In 1692, the French squadron suffered heavy damage during the battle in the harbor of Cherbourg, after which the Anglo-Dutch fleet began to dominate the sea. On land, the war went on simultaneously on the banks of the Moselle, the Rhine, in the Alps and the eastern Pyrenees. In the Netherlands, the French marshal Luxembourg won a victory near Fleurus, and in 1692 he defeated William of Orange near Steinkerk and on the Neuerwinden Plain. Another French marshal Catina defeated the army of the Duke of Savoy at Staffard in 1690. The next year he took possession of Nice, Montmelian, and the county of Savoy. In 1692 the Duke of Savoy invaded the Alps but retreated in great disorder. Spain took Girona in 1694 and Barcelona in 1697. However, fighting without any allies against numerous enemies, Louis soon exhausted his means. Ten years of war cost him 700 million livres. In 1690, the king was forced to send to the mint for melting the magnificent furniture of his palace made of solid silver, as well as tables, candelabra, stools, washstands, incense burners, and even his throne. Collecting taxes became more and more difficult every year. One of the reports of 1687 said: “Everywhere the number of families has significantly decreased. Poverty dispersed the peasants into different sides; they went to beg and then died in hospitals. In all areas, a significant decrease in people and almost universal ruin is noticeable. "Louis began to seek peace. In 1696, he signed an agreement with the Duke of Savoy, returning to him all the conquered areas. The following year, a general Ryswick Treaty was concluded, difficult for France and humiliating personally for Louis. He recognized William as king of England and promised not to give any support to the Stuarts. All the cities beyond the Rhine were returned to the emperor. Lorraine, occupied in 1633 by the Duke of Richelieu, went to her former Duke Leopold. Spain again received Luxembourg and Catalonia. Thus, this the bloody war ended with the holding of one Strasbourg.

However, the most destructive for France was the War of the Spanish Succession. In October 1700, the childless Spanish King Charles II declared Louis XIV's grandson, Philip of Anjou, his heir, on the condition, however, that Spanish possessions never join the French crown. Louis accepted this will, but retained for his grandson (who, after his coronation in Spain, took the name of Philip V) the rights to the French throne and introduced French garrisons into some of the Belgian cities. In view of this, England, Austria and Holland began to prepare for war. In September 1701 they restored the Grand Coalition of 1689. The war began in the summer of that year with the invasion of the Duchy of Milan (which belonged to Philip as King of Spain) under the command of Prince Eugene.

At first, hostilities in Italy developed successfully for France, but the betrayal in 1702 by the Duke of Savoy delivered an advantage to the Austrians. An English army landed in Belgium, led by the Duke of Marlborough. At the same time, a war began in Spain, complicated by the fact that the Portuguese king went over to the side of the coalition. This allowed the British and the emperor's son Charles to begin successful operations against Philip directly in his state. The fourth theater of operations was Zareinskaya Germany. The French occupied Lorraine, entered Nancy, and in 1703 advanced to the banks of the Danube and began to threaten Vienna itself. Marlborough and Prince Eugene hurried to the rescue of Emperor Leopold. In August 1704, the decisive Battle of Gechstedt took place, in which the French were completely defeated. All of southern Germany was then lost to them, and a long series of failures began that pursued the great king until his death. Sadness reigned in Versailles under the influence of unpleasant news, constantly received from all sides. In May 1706, the French were defeated at Ramilly, near Brussels, and had to clear Belgium. Antwerp, Ostend and Brussels surrendered to the Duke of Marlborough without any resistance. In Italy, the French were defeated near Turin by Prince Eugene and retreated, abandoning all their artillery. The Austrians took possession of the duchies of Milan and Mantua, entered Neapolitan territory and were well received by the local population. The British took possession of Sardinia, Minorca and the Balearic Islands. In June 1707, an Austrian army of 40,000 crossed the Alps, invaded Provence, and besieged Toulon for five months, but, having failed, retreated in great disorder. At the same time, things were going very badly in Spain: Philip was expelled from Madrid, the northern provinces were separated from him, and he stayed on the throne only thanks to the courage of the Castilians. In 1708, the allies won a victory at Houdenarde and, after a two-month siege, took Lille. There was no end in sight to the war, and meanwhile the French began to experience terrible hardships. Hunger and poverty were exacerbated by the unprecedented harsh winter of 1709. About 30,000 people died in Ile-de-France alone. Versailles began to besieged by crowds of beggars who begged for alms. All the gold royal utensils were sent to be melted down, and even at the table of Madame de Maintenon they began to serve black bread instead of white. In the spring, a fierce battle took place at Malplaque, in which more than 30 thousand people fell on both sides. The French retreated again and surrendered Mons to the enemy. However, the advance of the enemy into the depths of French territory cost him more and more victims. In Spain, Philip managed to turn the tide of the war in his favor and won several important victories. In view of this, the British began to lean towards peace. Negotiations began, but hostilities continued. In 1712, Prince Eugene made another invasion of France, ending in a bloody defeat at Denain. This battle ended the war and allowed Louis to end it on fairly acceptable terms. In July 1713, a peace treaty was signed in Utrecht. Peace terms with Austria were agreed the following year at Rishtadt Castle. French losses were not very significant. Spain lost much more, having lost all its European possessions outside the Iberian Peninsula in this war. In addition, Philip V renounced any claim to the French throne.

Foreign policy failures were accompanied by family misfortunes. In April 1711, in Meudon, the king's son, Grand Dauphin Louis, died of malignant smallpox. His eldest son, the Duke of Burgundy, was declared heir to the throne. The following year, 1712, preceding the conclusion of the Peace of Utrecht, was a year of grievous loss for the royal family. In early February, the wife of the new Dauphin, the Duchess of Burgundy, suddenly died. After her death, a correspondence was opened, which she carried on with the heads of hostile powers, giving them all the French secrets. Soon the Duke of Burgundy himself fell ill with a fever and died ten days after the death of his wife. By law, the Dauphin's successor should have been his eldest son, the Duke of Brittany, but this child also died of scarlet fever on March 8. The title of Dauphin passed to his younger brother, the Duke of Anjou, at that time an infant. But the misfortunes did not stop there - soon this heir also fell ill with some kind of malignant rash, combined with thinness and signs of dryness. Doctors were expecting his death from hour to hour. When he did recover, it was taken as a miracle. But the series of deaths did not stop there: the second grandson of Louis XIV, the Duke of Berry, died suddenly in May 1714.

After the death of his children and grandchildren, Louis became sad and gloomy. Violating all the laws of etiquette, he adopted the lazy habits of the old man: he got up late, took and ate while lying in bed, sat for hours, immersed in his large armchairs, despite all the efforts of Madame Maintenon and the doctors to stir him up - he could no longer to resist your own stupidity. The first signs of an incurable senile illness appeared in the king in August 1715. On the 24th, the patient's left leg showed stains of Antonov's fire. It became clear that his days were numbered. On the 27th, Louis gave his last dying orders. The footmen who were with him in the room wept. "Why are you crying?" said the king. "When will you die, if not at my age. Or did you think I was immortal?" On August 30, the agony began, and on September 1, Louis XIV breathed his last.

K. Ryzhov. "All the monarchs of the world. Western Europe"- M.: Veche, 1999.