Louis XIV loved the art of dance very much. He has been training in dance since he was a teenager and has continued to do so for 20 years. Sometimes he also played roles in dance dramas. He likes to play roles like the sun or Apollo, believing that this can inspire a sense of divine mission in him. He once played the role of the sun in the ballet "Night", so he was known as the "Sun King".

Louis XIV was born in a time of turmoil and change in Europe. Before Louis XIV, France was experiencing the pain of national unification and strengthening of royal power. The whole of Europe was also raging with war. The Thirty Years War was in full swing between the Protestant Alliance and the Old Church Alliance, the pro-Habsburg Alliance and the anti-Habsburg Alliance.

His father Louis XIII and Prime Minister Richelieu worked hard to govern and maneuver, which not only gave France an advantageous position in the complex competition for power in Europe, but also led to the path of national unification by suppressing domestic dignitaries and promoting commerce. .

It was at this turning point in history that Louis XIV, who was only five years old, succeeded the king in 1643 and began his 72-year reign, further advancing the foundation laid by his fathers. brilliant.

Extended information:

The greatest achievement of Louis XIV is that through his lifelong political practice and military career, he established a model of absolute monarchy in Europe and created an unprecedented In a unified France, his most respected principle of governing the country is "I am the country" and "the law comes from me."

The era of Louis XIV happened to be at the peak of the trend of strengthening royal power and establishing nation-states in Europe since the late Middle Ages. The necessary work to achieve this goal was to eliminate domestic feudal separatist forces, unify the domestic market, and establish National religion and establishing the supreme power and status of the king.

The ancestors of Louis XIV have made arduous efforts to this end, and a unified France and a majestic king have begun to take shape. At such a critical moment, history chose Louis XIV, and Louis XIV turned the ideals of his fathers into reality with his courage, perseverance and boldness.

Under his rule, the authority of the monarch has reached an unquestionable level, and politics, justice and finance are highly unified. The once powerful local nobles have been reduced to followers accompanying the king, and the king even overrides the divine. above the pope.

The autocratic monarchy practiced by Louis XIV became a model of modern centralized state machinery and was imitated and followed by autocratic monarchies such as Prussia, Austria, and Russia. ?

Another achievement of Louis XIV was to foster and encourage the cultural trend of classicism and push it to its peak. The Classical period is also often referred to as the "Period of Louis XIV" because its rise and fall coincided with Louis XIV's long reign. During the period of Louis XIV, the splendid palaces demonstrated the king's power.

The oil paintings and sculptures portray the majesty of the Sun King's dominion over the world; the classical comedy reaching its peak explains the country's lofty ideals. The rules, order, balance, and elegance advocated by classicism are organically integrated with the sanctity, sublimity, hierarchical order, and the majesty of the king advocated by the monarchy.

While France became the European hegemon, it also became the undoubted cultural center. As Will Duran said, since the Western Roman Emperor Augustus, no dynasty has had so many great writers, painters, sculptors and architects as the Louis XIV era, and they have made great achievements in etiquette, fashion, thought, Artistically, he is the envy and imitation of other countries.

France in the era of Louis XIV, like Greece in Pericles, Rome in Augustus, Italy in the Renaissance, and England in the era of Elizabeth-James I, are all in the history of mankind. of peaks. ?

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