Richelieu died in 1642 A.D., and the next year Louis XIII, the master whom he had served so faithfully, also passed away. The new ruler, Louis XIV, was only a child, and the management of affairs for a second period of eighteen years passed into the hands of Cardinal Mazarin. Though an Italian by birth, he became a naturalized Frenchman and carried out Richelieu's policies. Against the Hapsburgs Mazarin continued the great war which Richelieu had begun and brought it to a satisfactory conclusion. The Peace of Westphalia was Mazarin's greatest triumph. He also crushed a formidable uprising against the crown, on the part of discontented nobles. Having achieved all this, the cardinal could truly say that "if his language was not French, his heart was," His death in 1661 A.D. found the royal authority more firmly established than ever before.
[Illustration: CARDINAL MAZARIN
A miniature by Petitot, in the South Kensington Museum, London.]
LOUIS XIV, THE MAN
Louis XIV, who now in his twenty-third year took up the reins of government, ranks among the ablest of French monarchs. He was a man of handsome presence, slightly below the middle height, with a prominent nose and abundant hair, which he allowed to fall over his shoulders. In manner he was dignified, reserved, courteous, and as majestic, it is said, in his dressing-gown as in his robes of state. A contemporary wrote that he would have been every inch a king, "even if he had been born under the roof of a beggar." Louis possessed much natural intelligence, a retentive memory, and great capacity for work. It must be added, however, that his general education had been much neglected, and that throughout his life he remained ignorant and superstitious. Vanity formed a striking trait in the character of Louis. He accepted the most fulsome compliments and delighted to be known as the "Grand Monarch" and the "Sun-king."
[Illustration: LOUIS XIV
A portrait by J. Gale, in the Sutherland Collection, London.]
COURT OF LOUIS XIV AT VERSAILLES
Louis gathered around him a magnificent court, which he located at Versailles, near Paris. Here a whole royal city, with palaces, parks, groves, and fountains, sprang into being at his fiat. Here the "Grand Monarch" lived surrounded by crowds of fawning courtiers. The French nobles now spent little time on their country estates; they preferred to remain at Versailles in attendance on the king, to whose favor they owed offices, pensions, and honors. The king's countenance, it was said, is the courtier's supreme felicity; "he passes his life looking on it and within sight of it."
[Illustration: VERSAILLES The view shows the rear of the palace a part of the gardens and the grand stairway leading to the Fountain of Latona. The palace now forms a magnificent picture gallery of French historical scenes and personages while the park with its many fine fountains is a place of holiday resort for Parisians. It is estimated that Louis XIV spent one hundred million dollars on the buildings and grounds of Versailles.]
LOUIS XIV, THE KING
Louis taught and put into practice the doctrine of divine right. In his memoirs he declares that the king is God's representative and for his actions is answerable to God alone. The famous saying, "I am the State," [6] though not uttered by Louis, accurately expressed his conviction that in him was embodied the power and greatness of France. Few monarchs have tried harder to justify their despotic rule. He was fond of gaiety and sport, but he never permitted himself to be turned away from the punctual discharge of his royal duties. Until the close of his reign—the longest in the annals of Europe—Louis devoted from five to nine hours a day to what he called the "trade of a king."