The King cultivated a broad variety of interests and excelled in numerous fields, such as music (he played the guitar), dance (performing in ballets), and horse-riding (Louis XIV was an excellent rider). Intimidating, majestic, kept informed by an army of spies, the king controlled everything. Under the sovereign’s watchful eye, the nobility could no longer plot against the throne the great lords were kept in their place in the army or at court, eager to serve and please the King. With enough room to house the whole court, the Palace and its surrounding buildings rapidly became symbols of an age when the nobility were prepared to go to any lengths to be close to the King, who respected the royal tradition whereby the monarch had to be accessible to his courtiers. In 1678 work began on the Hall of Mirrors, the most potent symbol of the King’s absolute power. The task of building and decorating the ultimate royal residence was entrusted to artists such as André Le Nôtre, Louis Le Vau, Charles Le Brun and Jules Hardouin-Mansart. Louis XIV and his courtiers were based in the Louvre Palace, then the Tuileries, alternating with stints at the Châteaux of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Vincennes, Fontainebleau and the rapidly-growing Versailles. Until the official inauguration of the Palace of Versailles on 6 May 1682, the royal court often changed locations. From royal residences to the Palace of Versailles She was the last in a series of official mistresses which had included Mademoiselle de La Vallière and Madame de Montespan, with whom he had several legitimated children. After the death of the queen in 1683, the King secretly married Madame de Maintenon. Only the eldest, Louis de France, known as Le Grand Dauphin, would survive to adulthood. Their marriage sealed the reconciliation between France and neighbouring Spain. Louis XIV married his cousin (on both sides) Maria Theresa of Spain, the Spanish Infanta, at Saint-Jean-de-Luz in 1660. The child king felt humiliated by the arrogance of the great lords and physically threatened in the capital. Originating as a dispute between the monarchy and the Parlement de Paris, the rebellion subsequently spread to the aristocracy.
While his mother ruled as regent and Mazarin busied himself with the young king’s political training, a civil conflict known as the Fronde broke out (1648-1653).
Taking the throne at the age of four following the death of his father, King Louis XIII, the young monarch received a thorough education from his mother Anne of Austria and his godfather Cardinal Mazarin. Acclaimed as “Louis the God-given”, arriving as he did after a 23-year wait for an heir, Louis XIV was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1638.
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