La Prise de pouvoir par Louis XIV (The Rise of Louis XIV) (1966)
Director: Roberto Rossellini
Starring: Jean-Marie Patte (King Louis XIV), Raymond Jourdan (Jean Baptiste Colbert), Silvagni (Cardinal Mazarin), Katharina Renn (Anne d'Autriche), Dominique Vincent (Madame Du Plessis), Pierre Barrat (Nicolas Fouquet), Fernand Fabre (Michel Le Tellier), Françoise Ponty (Louise de la ValliPre), Joëlle Laugeois ( Marie-ThérPse), Maurice Barrier (D'Artagnan), André Dumas (Le PPre Joly), François Mirante (M. de Brienne), Pierre Spadoni ( Noni), Roger Guillo (L'apothicaire), Louis Raymond (Le premier médecin).
Made for TV
Story of King Louis XIV of France, who ruled France for 72 years. He increased the power of France in three major wars—the Franco-Dutch War, the War of the League of Augsburg and the War of the Spanish Succession. He became an absolute monarch.
Historical Background:
1618-1648 -- the Thirty Years' War between Catholics and Protestants. (France sided with the Protestants.)
1638 -- birth of the future King Louis XIV of France. His father was King Louis XIII and his mother was Anne of Austria.
1643 -- at age 5, the son ascended to the throne as King Louis XIV. As sole regent, Queen Anne entrusted power to her chief minister, the Italian -born Cardinal Mazarin.
1648 -- end of the Thirty Years' War. In France, this was followed by a French civil war, known as the Fronde. Cardinal Mazarin issued a tax on members of Parliament and many of the nobles revolted. Rioting broke out in Paris. Queen Anne and her son fled Paris.
The Peace of Westphalia released the French army to come to the aid of Louis XIV and of his royal court.
1649 (January) -- the Prince de Condé started besieging rebellious Paris; the Peace of Rueil temporarily ended the conflict.
1650 -- the Second Fronde. The king was left with a deep distrust of the nobles and the mob.
1658 -- an alliance between Louis XIV and Oliver Cromwell in England led to a victory over the Spanish at the Battle of the Dunes.
1659 -- the Treaty of the Pyrenees set the boundary between France and Spain at the Pyrenees Mountains. This began the decline of the Spanish and the rise of French power and influence.
1660 -- Louis XIV married the daughter of Philip IV of Spain (1621–65), Maria Theresa.
1661 -- Louis XIV assumed personal control of the government.
1665 -- Louis XIV appointed Jean-Baptiste Colbert as Contrôleur-Général des Finances. Colbert reduced the national debt through more efficient taxation.
Louis XIV became a patron of the arts.
1665 -- death of Philip IV of Spain. Louix XIV claims that through his wife France now controls part of the Netherlands, the Brabant.
1667 -- start of the War of Devolution. France conquered both Flanders and Franche-Comté.
1668 -- the Netherlands, afraid of the French advances, allied themselves with England and Sweden in the Triple Alliance. The French King made peace. France retained Flanders, but returned Franche-Comté to Spain.
1670 -- Charles II of England allied his country to France.
1672 -- England and France declared war on the United Provinces. William III, Prince of Orange, seized power.
1674 -- England withdraws from the Netherlands.
William III married Mary, the niece of the English Charles II.
1678 -- Louis XIV returned all captured Dutch territory. He did, however, gain lands in the Spanish Netherlands.
by the early 1680s -- France was at the height of its power and influence in Europe.
1683 -- Queen Marie-Thérèse died.
1685 -- Louis XIV married Madame de Maintenon.
1715 -- death of Louix XIV. His five-year-old great-grandson Louis, Duc d'Anjou, succeeded to the throne as King Louis XV. He ruled to 1774.
1774-1792 -- rule of King Louix XVI.
1789 -- the French Revolution.
Return to Home Page (Vernon Johns Society)