The Sun King and his Loves

Creator

Date

1982. Every effort has been made to trace copyright ownership and to obtain permission for reproduction. If you believe you are the copyright owner of an item on this site, and we have not requested your permission, please contact us at special.collections@otago.ac.nz

Identifier

Special Collections DC126 NV92

Type

Publisher

London: The Folio Society

Abstract

Louis XIV (1638-1715), the Sun King, ascended the throne aged four after the death of his father, Louis XIII. He married his Spanish cousin, Marie Thérèse (d. 1683), in 1660, and despite his usual strict adherence to Church rules, he kept three long-term mistresses in his lifetime, by whom he fathered around 18 children - few survived childhood. Purportedly, Louis had a ‘vigorous physique’ and he was ‘hands on’ in the development of the gardens at Versailles, the palace that is his most visible legacy. A man of opposites, Louis loved hunting and was an excellent horseman; but he also danced in ballets and was prone to weeping at the ‘drop of the hat’. Louis XIV’s reign lasted 72 years – one of the longest in European history.

Files

Cab 3-001.jpg

Tags

Citation

Lucy Norton, “The Sun King and his Loves,” ourheritage.ac.nz | OUR Heritage, accessed March 29, 2024, https://otago.ourheritage.ac.nz/items/show/10575.