Louis XI (b. July 3, 1423, Bourges, France—d. Aug. 30, 1483, Plessis- les-Tours) King of France (1461-83). He plotted against his father, Charles VII, and was exiled to Dauphine (1445), which he ruled as a sov¬ ereign state until Charles approached its borders with an army (1456). Louis then fled to the Netherlands, returning to France to become king on his father’s death in 1461. He fought rebellious French princes (1465) and made concessions to Charles the Bold (1468). Seeking to strengthen and unify France, he destroyed the power of the Burgundians in 1477. He regained control of Boulonnais, Picardy, and Burgundy, took possession of Franche-Comte and Artois (1482), annexed Anjou (1471), and inher¬ ited Maine and Provence (1481).
Louis XII (b. June 27, 1462, Blois, France—d. Jan. 1, 1515, Paris) King of France (1498-1515). He became king on the death of his cousin Charles VIII. He annulled his marriage to marry Charles’s widow, Anne of Britt¬ any, and to reinforce the union of her duchy with France. He continued France’s part in the Italian Wars, often with disastrous results. He con¬ quered Milan in 1499, then lost it, but was later recognized as duke of Milan by Emperor Maximilian 1. He concluded a treaty with Ferdinand V that partitioned Naples (1500), but the two kings went to war and Louis lost all of Naples (1504). In 1508 he consolidated the League of Cambrai, but when the league fell apart in 1510 its members joined England in a Holy League against France, invading it several times. Despite his fail¬ ures, Louis was highly popular with the French, who called him the “Father of the People.”
Louis XIII (b. Sept. 27, 1601, Fontainebleau, France—d. May 14, 1643, Saint-Germain-en-Laye) King of France (1610—43). He was the son of Henry IV and Marie de Medicis. His mother was regent until 1614 but continued to govern until 1617; she arranged Louis’s marriage to the Spanish Anne of Austria in 1615. Resentful of his mother’s power, Louis exiled her, but Cardinal de Richelieu, her principal adviser, reconciled them in 1620. In 1624 Louis made Richelieu his principal minister, and the two cooperated closely to make France a leading European power, consoli¬ dating royal authority in France and fighting to break the dominant rule of the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs in the Thirty Years' War. Pro- Spanish Catholic zealots led by Marie de Medicis appealed to Louis to reject Richelieu’s policy of supporting the Protestant states, but Louis stood by his minister and his mother withdrew into exile. France declared war on Spain in 1635 and had won substantial victories by the time Rich¬ elieu died in 1642. Louis was succeeded by his son Louis XIV.
Louis XIII style Style of the visual arts produced in France during the reign of Louis XIII, including the regency of his mother, Marie de Medicis, who introduced much of the art of her native Italy. The Mannerism of Italy and Flanders was so influential that a true French style did not develop until the mid-17th century, when the influence of Caravaggio was assimi¬ lated by Georges de La Tour and the Le Nain brothers, and the influence of
the Carracci brothers was extended by Simon Vouet, who trained the aca¬ demic painters of the next generation. The sculpture of the period was undistinguished. The most prolific area of the arts was architecture. Here, too, the Italian influence is seen, as in the Palais de Justice at Rennes and the Luxembourg Palace in Paris, both designed by Salomon de Brosse, and the chapel of the Sorbonne in Paris, designed by Jacques Lemercier. The furniture of the period is typically massive and solidly built and com¬ monly decorated with cherubs, ornate scrollwork, fruit-and-flower swags, and grotesque masks.
Louis XIV known as the Sun King (b. Sept. 5, 1638, Saint-Germain- en-Laye, France—d. Sept. 1, 1715, Versailles) King of France (1643— 1715), ruler during one of France’s most brilliant periods and the symbol of absolute monarchy of the Neoclassical age. He succeeded his father, Louis XIII, at age four, under the regency of his mother, Anne of Austria. In 1648 the nobles and the Paris Parlement, who hated the prime minis¬ ter, Cardinal Mazarin, rose against the crown and started the Fronde. In 1653, victorious over the rebels, Mazarin gained absolute power, though the king was of age. In 1660 Louis married Marie-Therese of Austria (1638-83), daughter of Philip IV of Spain. When Mazarin died in 1661, Louis astonished his ministers by informing them that he intended to assume responsibility for ruling the kingdom. A believer in dictatorship by divine right, he viewed himself as God’s representative on earth. He was assisted by his able ministers, Jean-Baptiste Colbert and the marquis de Louvois. Louis weakened the nobles’ power by making them depen¬ dent on the crown. A patron of the arts, he protected writers and devoted himself to building splendid palaces, including the extravagant Versailles, where he kept most of the nobility under his watchful eye. In 1667 he invaded the Spanish Netherlands in the War of Devolution (1667-68) and again in 1672 in the Third Dutch War. The Sun King was at his zenith; he had extended France’s northern and eastern borders and was adored at his court. In 1680 a scandal involving his mistress, the marchioness de Montespan (1641-1707), made him fearful for his reputation, and he openly renounced pleasure. The queen died in 1683, and he secretly mar¬ ried the pious marchioness de Maintenon. After trying to convert French Protestants by force, he revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Fear of his expansionism led to alliances against France during the War of the Grand Alliance (1688-97) and the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14). Louis died at age 77 at the end of the longest reign in European history.
Louis XIV style Style of the visual arts produced in France during the reign of Louis XIV. In 1648 Charles Le Brun founded the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, which rigidly dictated styles for the rest of the reign. The most influential painter was Nicolas Poussin, who forged the way for French Classicism (see Classicism and Neoclassicism). Sculpture reached a new zenith with the works of Francois Girardon and Pierre Puget. A national style in the decorative arts evolved through the Gobelin fac¬ tory (see Gobelin family). Furniture was veneered, inlaid, heavily gilded, and commonly decorated with shells, satyrs, garlands, mythological heroes, and dolphins; the style is particularly associated with Andre- Charles Boulle. In architecture, Jean-Baptiste Colbert rigidly controlled the renovation of the Palace of Versailles, with landscaping by Andre Le Notre.
Louis XV (b. Feb. 15, 1710, Versailles, France—d. May 10, 1774, Ver¬ sailles) King of France (1715-74). An orphan from age three, Louis suc¬ ceeded to the throne on the death of his great-grandfather Louis XIV (1715), under the regency of Philippe II, duke d’Orleans (1674-1723). His mar¬ riage to Princess Marie Leszczynska of Poland (1703-68) in 1725 led to France’s involvement in the War of the Polish Succession (1733-38). He chose Andre-Hercule de Fleury as his chief minister in 1726, and his own influence became perceptible only after Fleury’s death in 1744. Louis’s mistresses, particularly the marchioness de Pompadour, held considerable political influence. Louis brought France into the War of the Austrian Suc¬ cession (1740^-8) and the Seven Years' War (1756-63), by which France lost to Britain almost all its colonial possessions. As the crown’s moral and political authority declined, the Parlements gained in power, prevent¬ ing fiscal reform. The king died hated by his subjects.
Louis XV style Rococo style of French decorative arts during the reign of Louis XV, when artists produced exquisite decor for the homes of roy¬ alty and nobility. Emphasis was laid on the ensemble, so that paintings and sculptures became part of the decorative arts. The full range of rich¬ ness in decorative techniques was represented—superb carving, ornamen¬ tation of all types of metal, inlay work in exotic woods, metal, mother- of-pearl, and ivory, and exquisite lacquered chinoiserie that rivaled products from East Asia. Fantasy joined nature and Asian themes in pro-