Louis XIV was born on September 5, 1638.

His father, Louis XIII, died when he was 4

so he became king very very early.

Of course, you’re not gonna let a 4-year-old make decisions,

so Louis’s mother was the regent but most of the decisions by

Cardinal Mazarin which was the chief minister for France during Louis’s young age.

When he was 9, the French nobles and the townspeople rebelled against the crown.

Louis suffered from fear, humiliation, and hunger. After Louis won, he told himself that he would never let this happen again.

He was going to be a different type of king, he was going to be the type of king that’s so big no one would ever think of challenging.

He chose the sun as his symbol and decided he would be known as the sun king.

As we all know, the sun looks after us and is something we can all admire.

The earth revolves around the sun just like how the people revolve around him.

One of Louis’s most famous quotes is “I am the state.”

He wasn’t going to be like his father, he was gonna rule the country himself.

He didn’t appoint a first minister. Louis was his own first minister and would make all the final decisions.

Another famous quote is “One king, one law, one faith.”

He makes nobles attend to him regularly at Versailles.

Anyone who is anybody was supposed to be there where Louis was and compete with Louis’s favor.

So If you’re a noble and thought: oh I’m not gonna go over there. Well, when you needed a favor, Louis would gonna be like: huh who?

I don’t know this man, he never comes to find me, get him out of here.

Louis found a way to earn Independent Revenue. He would sell titles to new nobles and replace the old ones.

Now the thing is, the new nobles would pay the money but later on, they would have all kinds of tax exemptions.

So Louis has got lots of money in his bag, but he’s stealing from later generations and this is

starting the process of financial ruin which is eventually going to lead to the French revolution.

Louis would, later on, fight in 4 wars in which he made France a lot stronger and he also weakened their rivals.

But, from all the wars, he also created alot of depts in France.

Louis XIV died in 1715, four days shy of his 77th birthday. His last words were “I am leaving you, but the state remains forever.”

yes he's leaving and yes he has been in many wars and tried to consolidate his power,

but he had also built a nation he didn’t do it just for his ego, he also did it for France.