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[[Image:LouisXIV.jpg|thumb|300px|right|King Louis XIV of France, showing off his dancing legs]]
[[Image:LouisXIV.jpg|thumb|300px|right|King Louis XIV of France and Navarre, by Hyacinthe Rigaud]]
'''Louis XIV''' (1638-1715) sometimes called "The Sun King" ((''Roi soleil''),, was the king of [[France]] from childhood to old age, 1643 to 1715. He ruled France as an absolute monarch--"l'état, c'est moi" ("I am the state."). He was famous for his lavish entertainments at the [[Palace of Versailles]] near [[Paris]]. He ruled the most powerful and grandiose nation in Europe. His 72-year reign, the longest in French history, was superficially splendid but basically disastrous for France because of expensive foreign wars. His France dominated European cultural and political affairs. Louis typified the absolute monarchy of the Neoclassical age, established a sumptuous court at [[Versailles]], and fought most of Europe in four wars. Louis XIV dominated French culture by gaining international recognition of French arts, literature, and science, drastically transformed medieval France and introduced a more refined, sophisticated style of life.
'''Louis XIV''' (1638-1715) sometimes called "The Sun King" ((''Roi soleil''),, was the king of [[France]] from childhood to old age, 1643 to 1715. He ruled France as an absolute monarch--"l'état, c'est moi" ("I am the state."). He was famous for his lavish entertainments at the [[Palace of Versailles]] near [[Paris]]. He ruled the most powerful and grandiose nation in Europe. His 72-year reign, the longest in French history, was superficially splendid but basically disastrous for France because of expensive foreign wars. His France dominated European cultural and political affairs. Louis typified the absolute monarchy of the Neoclassical age, established a sumptuous court at [[Versailles]], and fought most of Europe in four wars. Louis XIV dominated French culture by gaining international recognition of French arts, literature, and science, drastically transformed medieval France and introduced a more refined, sophisticated style of life.