title: Louis XIV: A Royal Life
author:  Olivier Bernier 
description: Animated by well-chosen quotes from diarists of the period and the author's enthusiasm, this biography is as captivating as Secrets of Marie Antoinette and Bernier's other praised works. The life of the Sun King is described with immediacy from his birth in 1638, after an unexpected meeting between his alienated parents. Louis XIV inherited the throne when he was five at his father's death. As regent, his mother, Anne of Austria, and her minister, Cardinal Mazarin, targets of a "great cabal," held onto power precariously, perhaps influencing the young ruler's determination to govern personally, which he did until he died in 1715. The Grand Monarque's reputation still stands on his reign, rich in art and literature, his brilliant court and invincible armies. Bernier's admiration is balanced by accounts of the king's moral lapses and multiple adulterous affairs. Perhaps his worst failing was his persecution of non-Catholics: not only reprehensible but an error that crippled the economy when thousands of Protestants fled the country. Illustrations not seen by PW. <br />Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
zlib_text: The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Memoirs of Louis XIV., Volume 14 by Duc de
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  Title: The Memoirs of Louis XIV., Volume 14 And His Court and of The Regency
  
  
  Author: Duc de Saint-Simon
  
  
  Release Date: December 3, 2004 [EBook #3873]
  
  
  Language: English
  
  
  Character set encoding: ASCII
  
  
  START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MEMOIRS OF LOUIS XIV.,
  
  
  
  
  
  Produced by David Widger
  
  
  
  
  
  ` MEMOIRS OF LOUIS XIV AND HIS COURT AND OF THE REGENCY  
    
  BY THE DUKE OF SAINT-SIMON  
  `
  
  
  
  
  
  VOLUME 14
  
  
  CHAPTER CV
  
  
  For a long time a species of war had been declared between the King of England
  and his son, the Prince of Wales, which had caused much scandal; and which had
  enlisted the Court on one side, and made much stir in the Parliament. G