Pod Insights Hot History Louis 14th About this episode Is Louis 14th the ultimate Narc? How much did it cost to build the complex at Versailles? And how many heirs should be called Louis before it's banned? We unpack the 'sun king's' life from childhood to it's gangrenous end!
Transcript 0:00 Speaker 00 Hello and welcome back to a brand new episode of Hot History. I am so excited to have you listening along as we talk about all the things in history that you probably should know but don't. In today's episode, we are covering the man, the myth, the ultimate narcissist, King Louis XIV of France.
0:35 Speaker 00 So on September 5th, 1638, a little French baby came screaming into the world at the Chateau de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris. Now, his parents were King Louis XIII of France and Anne of Austria, both of whom were largely considered a pretty terrible burden for the future of the Bourbon dynasty, which was the name of their royal line, like Windsor is for the British royals. As the pair of them struggled for near on two decades to have a single child or heir. So when the young boy, named Louis, after his father arrived safely in 1638, he was nicknamed Dudon or God Given.
1:18 Speaker 00 Now, given the anticipation surrounding his birth and of course, the fact he was going to become king, Louis had a meticulously planned childhood, but a spanner was thrown into the works when his father, Louis XIII, died in 1643, when the young prince was only four years old. Now, given his age, his mother, Anne of Austria, stepped in as regent and she appointed a man named Cardinal Mazarin to act as her/Louis's chief minister. This meant that Louis's education was kicked into overdrive.
1:56 Speaker 00 He was overseen by his governess, a woman named Madame de Lanzac, and he was schooled in everything, Latin, history, political theory and military training alongside the classical arts of dance, fencing and music. He was taught very early on about something which would govern his whole life and eventually be the thing that brought down the House of Bourbon a century later, the divine right of kings. Now, this is the idea that monarchs were chosen by God to rule and therefore were pretty much a right onto their own, which inspired the absolute monarchies that many of the European
2:37 Speaker 00 dynasties upheld after this point, including the Romanovs, the Habsburgs and, like I said, the Bobons here in France. Now, to match all of that theory, Louis's mother Anne was intent on exposing her young son to the complexities of politics from an incredibly young age and she, alongside Mazarin, who became a father figure for the young boy king, served as mentors to guide him through the early years of his rule, which were actually marred by a pretty intense series of civil wars known as the Front, which were pretty much mini, like a mini kind of revolution, where the nobles were entirely discontented with the power structures
3:20 Speaker 00 at bay, the people were then discontented with the taxes placed on them as a result, and various lawmakers continued to push back against royal authority. So during the Front in this time, Louis and his family were actually forced to flee Paris and faced a great deal of humiliation as a result, and this left an incredibly deep-seated mistrust of the nobility in the young king, who saw firsthand exactly how fragile royal authority could be.
3:51 Speaker 00 Now eventually, the Front ended in sixteen fifty-three and Cardinal Mazarin and Anne of Austria reasserted control over the people and the palace, by which time Louis was entering adolescence and really began to take a more active interest in state affairs, which Mazarin encouraged, ensuring that the young king was present at council meetings and involved in ceremonial duties, all of which served as invaluable training grounds for Louis, who was exposed to diplomacy, statescraft, and, most importantly, court politics. And it was just as well that his education was so extensive for Cardinal Mazarin,
4:32 Speaker 00 who died in sixteen sixty-one, leaving the now twenty-two-year-old Louis without a chief minister. Now, many expected him to fill this role, straight away, as his father and grandfather had both done, but Louis surprised everyone by declaring before the whole court, le tat semoir, or I am the state. Now, this really marked the beginning of his personal rule and, like I said at the top, the era of absolute monarchy in France, which was inspired by his deep belief in the divine right of kings, and he got to work straight away. Like I said before, the Front left Louis with a deep distrust of the nobility, and he started by asserting widespread control over them.
5:18 Speaker 00 For some, he removed them from positions of influence in provincial governments, and the rest he invited to court, where he could keep an eye on them and basically distract them all from politics with an absurd amount of courtly ceremony and splendor. Louis also began widespread administrative centralisation by empowering a new class of civil servants known as intendants, who were loyal to the crown and oversaw taxation, justice, and internal security throughout the provinces. His main reforms, like I said, was self-governance, which, as we know, is autocracy.
5:56 Speaker 00 And fundamentally the opposite of democracy. But Louis's expansion of his power meant that he could control everything around him. And under the guidance of a strict, controlled and genuinely dedicated monarch, this kind of rulership back in the day did often lead to a more efficient operation of the state. Louis, for example, was a massive micromanager. And he really insisted that every decision, even the smallest, smallest, minor ones, came through him, which did produce a far more efficient system of bureaucracy. But like I said, the trade off for that is absolute autocracy and that's ill.
6:39 Speaker 00 What's also ill was the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in sixteen eighty five, by which Louis dissolved the rights of French Protestants on the basis that religious pluralism undermined national unity. In its stead, he introduced the Edict of Fontainebleau, which ordered the destruction of Protestant churches and schools. Um, it was included with forced conversions, um, and state sponsored persecutions, uh, plus the immigration of over two hundred thousand Protestants, many of whom were skilled artisans to countries like England, the Netherlands and Prussia. Now, this was obviously woeful on a general human level.
7:23 Speaker 00 They'd also tanked the French economy for a while and did eventually bounce back through Louis with his intense investment in the arts. But the, yeah, it's a, it's a real low point for Louis. Now, like I mentioned at the top, the his governess, Madame de Lance-Sac, I want to call her out because she was the woman who really encouraged Louis to be involved in the arts from an incredibly young age. And that grew into a deep love. The result of this was a pretty incredible era of patronage under Louis, which is referred to as the classical age of French culture.
7:59 Speaker 00 During this time, he invested in literature and philosophy, supporting writers who produced some of France's most enduring literary works. He loved to go to the ballet, um, he founded institutions like the Academy Royal de Musique. He also pushed Baroque architecture and art and founded the Academy Francais and the Academy des Sciences. So a real tastemaker who managed to not only centralise political power but amass significant cultural influence, which really positioned France at this point in time as the cultural leader of Europe. It wasn't the Habsburgs in Vienna or the Romanovs up in Russia, it was Louis in France who set the tone. Which brings us
8:44 Speaker 00 to the huge, glistening, gilded elephant in the room and probably the reason why you're here and if not the reason why you're here, then maybe the reason why you have heard the name Louis XIV before, Versailles. So, at this point in French history, the royal residence, the palace, which houses um, the French kings and queens, was the Louvre. Now, to some of you, that may be a total and complete surprise and for others, not, but the Louvre was the royal seat of power for centuries and where Louis lived and ruled for uh, the first twenty-two years of his reign. Now, if you've been lucky enough to visit the Louvre, which is now the largest and most famous museum in the world,
9:29 Speaker 00 then you'll understand the extravagance that Louis XIV upheld. It is one of, if not, the most beautiful buildings in the world. I remember the first time I went, I cried three times, albeit twice because of the art, but I walked out and wept because I had never experienced anything so grand. Like, human beings built this and live like this and design this world that is just the furthest thing from how we live today and that obviously was at the expense of many,
10:10 Speaker 00 but it was just really overwhelmingly grand and large that you can't help but feel like so insignificant. So Louis lived like that for twenty-two years of his reign, forty-four years of his life and thought, nah, not good enough. That is the kind of grandeur and scale and downright narcissism that Louis XIV possessed. Like, I can't even say, oh, he was out of touch with his people and the economic state of France and all the common criticism that gets levelled at Louis XV, Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, all of them.
10:46 Speaker 00 Because this man was out of touch with just like absolute basic reality, period. He has the most elevated sense of self, to the point that he began calling himself the Sun King. Again, we have his intense belief in the divine rights of kings, but he believes that he has transcended kingship to this level of divinity. And it is only in this context of his own narcissism that Versailles makes sense. In no other plane of reality outside of Louis XIV does Versailles make sense. So let's get into it.
11:31 Speaker 00 Now, the land that would become Versailles was originally a small rural area located about 20 kilometres southwest of Paris. In the 16th century, the area was mostly woodland and swampland used by local nobles for hunting. There was no grand buildings or significant infrastructure. Versailles was a quiet, entirely unremarkable French village. Now, the first real turning point came in 1623 during the reign of Louis XIII, when he decided to build a hunting lodge in the woods of Versailles. So this is Louis XIV's father. Now, he had visited the area multiple times, enjoyed hunting in the forest there,
12:12 Speaker 00 and he decided to um build and enlarge the already very, very small hunting lodge into um you know, a a modest kind of chateau. Now, there was a small courtyard and even smaller garden and he did put in a bigger kitchen and stables, but it was really designed as an intimate getaway. There were several other royal residences um that existed at the time, mainly Fontainebleau, which uh were treated as more kind of formal resort style getaways. However, it was always the Hunting Chateau at Versailles that Louis XIV loved. He spent a great deal of time there as a child.
12:54 Speaker 00 And with his expanding love of the arts, he decided to do his own renovation of the existing chateau in sixteen sixty-one. So sixteen twenty-three was the little hunting lodge. Sixteen thirty-one, it gets turned into a modest chateau. And sixteen sixty-one is when Louis XIV goes, I'm gonna build something bigger here. Now, he hired the architect Louis Laval, the painter and decorator Charles Lebrun, and the landscape designer Andre Lannotra, who formed a team that would take the existing structure and add some oomph. But that oomph quickly expanded and expanded and expanded under Louis's instruction to the point that these three men were leading
13:39 Speaker 00 the most revolutionary, luxurious and expansive project in architecture and garden design, not only in Europe, but I think still to this day in the whole world. So Laval surrounded Louis XIII's original chateau with a grand marble courtyard and new wings, including the famous Hall of Mirrors. Lannotra created the famous French formal gardens with geometrically arranged flowerbeds, fountains, sculptures and long vistas. And Lebrun decorated the interiors with mythological and allegorical themes that glorified the king. Like I said, the sun king motif is everywhere across both château and gardens.
14:23 Speaker 00 If you have been lucky enough to um have been to both, you will see it a lot. By sixteen seventy eight, at this point, Versailles was a large stunning complex which hosted elaborate ceremonies, diplomatic meetings and theatrical performances, becoming a major tool of political theatre. But it wasn't until sixteen eighty two that um defies, that Versailles's defining and crowning moment came around, when Louis XIV moved the royal court and government there permanently. Now, this made Versailles not only the king's residence, but also the administrative heart of France.
15:04 Speaker 00 But Louis didn't just move himself, he relocated the entire court with him, again, keeping his frenemies close, and really said to the world, "We are the leaders in art, culture and the power of Europe." And even after he moved in, Louis continued expanding the grounds and gardens, including the royal chapel, the royal opera house and some more apartments for nobility and ministers. And by the end of his rule, the château housed more than two thousand rooms, so a huge, huge project to be completed full stop, but to be completed in one king's lifetime is even more incredible.
15:45 Speaker 00 But the big question is, the one on everyone's lips and still to this day remains hanging around, is how much did it cost to build Versailles? So, as part of the construction, we have everything from architecture and building, including the Hall of Mirrors and the various wings, the gardens and landscaping, you have art um decorations, you have basic labour, you have all of the infrastructure for court life, like I said, the chapels and theatres, uh you have fountains and hydraulic systems, plus the actual cost of the materials. And this is a big one, because the three hundred fifty seven mirrors, which make up the Hall of Mirrors, for example, um were actually one of the most expensive line items on the total docket, coming in
16:30 Speaker 00 at an estimated forty million US dollars.
16:35 Speaker 00 But what about the grand total, are you asking? Well, the exact figure is difficult to determine, given patchy recording at the time, but the estimate total cost of the decades worth of construction at the palace and grounds of Versailles is somewhere in the ballpark of two to three billion US dollars today. So, quite the statement from Louis XIV that really did say, "We here in France, we here at Versailles are the leaders of Europe." But Louis wasn't a man of mere words, he was also a man of action and was willing to go to war to prove it. Now, under his reign, France was involved in four major conflicts, including the War of
17:20 Speaker 00 Devolution, where Louis attempted to claim the Spanish Netherlands. There was the Franco-Dutch War, aimed at defeating the Dutch Republic. The War of the League of Augsburg, known as the Nine Years' War, which pitted France against a coalition led by England, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. And lastly, was the War of the Spanish Succession. Now, this was the most significant and costly conflict of Louis' reign. It lasted from 1701 to 1714 and was triggered by the death of the childless Charles II of Spain, whose will named Louis' grandson, Philip of Enjou, as heir.
18:01 Speaker 00 Now, fearing a dynastic union between France and Spain, a grand alliance of European powers opposed France in seeking Philip's inheritance. Eventually, the war ended when Philip was allowed to become King of Spain, but prohibited a union with France and significantly damaged the economies of all involved.
18:26 Speaker 00 Now, you must be thinking grandson, you didn't even say he was married and you're right, so let's unpack Louis's personal life. So in sixteen sixty at the age of twenty one, Louis XIV, King of France, marries Maria Theresa of Spain. Their union cemented political ties between the two nations and they had six children, although only one of them very sadly survived into adulthood. Their eldest son Louis the Grand Dauphin, who went on to father Philip of Anjou and that's why the whole war of the Spanish succession kicked off. So it was actually Louis XIV's wife Maria Theresa who had the Spanish tie there. Now, very sadly as well, Maria Theresa dies in sixteen eighty three at only forty four years old.
19:11 Speaker 00 And while the king was a famous philanderer, he did recognise his wife's patience and devotion to him. During this time, his mistresses stepped up to comfort him following the loss, including Madden de Montespan, who he secretly married and who bore seven children by the king, as well as Louise de la Vallée, who had four of his children, which brings the king's offspring to around twenty. But like I said, there was only one surviving legitimate child of Louis XIV and Maria Theresa, and that was Louis the Grand Dauphin. Now, he had a number of children, one of whom was Philip of Anjou, which we already kind of covered that in the War of the Spanish Succession, but another was, surprise, surprise,
19:55 Speaker 00 also called Louis, and he was the Duke of Burgundy. Now, according to the line of succession, Louis the Grand Dauphin was next in line for the throne after Louis XIV, after which his son Louis, the Duke of Burgundy, would follow. However, very, very sadly, again, it's just a whole string of tragedies here, the Grand Dauphin died in seventeen eleven, which meant Louis, the Duke of Burgundy, then became the heir. However. He then dies the following year, which left his son, also called Louis, the Duke of Anjou,
20:36 Speaker 00 as the heir. So the king's great grandson becomes the new grand of fun, aka next in line. I hope that makes sense. There's so many Louis', these guys need to come up with some different names. Now, after the death of his son and grandson, and after the War of the Hispanic Secession, and after Versailles was finished, and after all this tragedy and la la la, Louis was a shadow of his former self. He'd lost his wife, five legitimate children, young, his son and heir, his grandson and heir, several of his mistresses, and was now facing masses of debt following the construction of Versailles and his various wars. This, paired with poor harvests and a
21:15 Speaker 00 large tax burden placed on the peasantry, really set France and the monarchy up for the troubles that it would face for the next hundred plus years, leading to revolution. And I personally think that Louis really felt that in his final years, that he really had failed. He was no longer the bright sun king. He spent his final days at Versailles in a deep inner turmoil, and eventually died of gangrene on September 1st, 1715, just four days before his 77th birthday. Now, as I said, he was succeeded by his great grandson, who went on to become Louis XV, much like his great grandfather, very young, he was only five,
22:00 Speaker 00 and France was once again placed under a regency until he then came of age. I can definitely do an episode on Louis XV at a later point. He is an incredibly fascinating monarch, also has incredibly fascinating mistresses, I guess the most controversial of which is Madame de Barry. We've got good ties there into Marie Antoinette. I do have Marie Antoinette episode that you guys can go and listen to, that's already up. But with Louis XIV here, we have covered nearly 77 years of history when looking at his full life, and they are arguably some of the most influential years of French history, given.
22:42 Speaker 00 The trajectory that they would place the monarchy on, which would end, like I said, with Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette losing their crowns and their heads. But what we want to know right now is who else is kicking around at the same time as the great Sun King? Well, we have Galileo Galilei, the famed astronomer and scientist, doing all matter of smart people things, namely his telescopic observations around the same time as Louis. The Act of Union was also established in seventeen oh seven, uniting England and Scotland to form Great Britain, as well as Saint Petersburg being founded in seventeen oh three. Benjamin Franklin was also a boy while Louis was on the throne, and Louis himself was
23:25 Speaker 00 a boy around the same time as Sir Isaac Newton. Now Shakespeare died twenty-two years before Louis was born. The colony of Jamestown in the Americas was established thirty-one years before then as well, and we also have the King James Bible written twenty-seven years before that same date. Catherine the Great was born fourteen years after Louis' death, Alexander Hamilton was born forty-two years after, and the steam engine came into being bang on fifty years after Louis kicked the bucket. So what influence does Louis XIV have on modern time? Well firstly, and perhaps most importantly, um, at least in the way the world actually
24:07 Speaker 00 operates, we have the idea of a centralized absolute monarchy with power being solely in the hands of the king. Now, in the case of France's own history, like I said, Louis' introduction of absolute monarchy was the thing that brought the Bourbon dynasty to its end with the French Revolution, uh, with many resting blame on his shoulders. However, perhaps the revolution wouldn't have happened if he hadn't. Uh, plus, we look at a lot of the modern nations with strong executive branches, like in France today, or, um, the US presidency, they are in part modeled on the administrative state that Louis first developed. Now Louis continues to influence through his patronage of the arts, mainly ballet
24:49 Speaker 00 and opera, but of course, the big one is and always will be Versailles. Today, it attracts around eight million visitors each year and remains the greatest example of Baroque architecture and monarchical might in the world, not to mention its role in modern history, including the signing of the armistice at the end of World War One. And the last question for today is how is Louis XIV remembered in pop culture? Well, his careful crafting of the sun king image still largely stands today through books, movies and music. Louis is the main character in Alexander Dumas's sequel to The Three Masketeers,
25:30 Speaker 00 the first one where he is a young man and the second where it is revealed, spoiler alert, that a mysterious prisoner in an iron mask is actually Louis's tin brother. This tale has had numerous film adaptations, generally titled The Man in the Iron Mask, most notably the 1998 adaptation where the king is played by a very, very young Leonardo DiCaprio. Louis appears again in the film Leroy Dance, focusing on the monarch's life through the eyes of his court musician. My favourite by far, and you guys should definitely watch it, especially if you are doing a Euro summer slash historical pilgrimage, because that's like the most hot thing that you could do and you are going to Versailles, watch this before you go.
26:13 Speaker 00 It is 2014's A Little Chaos. The king is played by Alan Rickman. He stars alongside Kate Winslet and the film focuses on the construction of Versailles' gardens. But most recently, he was played by Jean Pierre Lode in the 2016 Death of Louis XIV. He also appears in several TV adaptation, most notably 2015's Versailles where he's played by Emmanuel Morey. And that brings us to the end of another episode of Hot History. If you'd like to support us, then you can find us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts as Hot History. Follow us on TikTok at Hot dot History and on Instagram at Hot History Club.
26:54 Speaker 00 As always, it is a pleasure getting down and dirty in time with you and tune in next week as we discuss the life of not a person but an idea, the Concorde.
Previous Joan of Arc Next The Concorde Page updated November 3, 2026 · transcript and summary are machine-generated