Interesting facts from the life of King Louis XIV. For everyone and everything

Louis XIV, Sun King

Louis XIV.
Reproduction from the website http://monarchy.nm.ru/

Louis XIV
Louis XIV the Great, Sun King
Louis XIV le Grand, Le Roi Soleil
Years of life: September 5, 1638 - September 1, 1715
Reigned: May 14, 1643 - September 1, 1715
Father: Louis XIII
Mother: Anna of Austria
Wives:
1) Maria Theresa of Austria
2) Francoise d "Aubigne, Marquise de Maintenon
Sons: Grand Dauphin Louis, Philip Charles, Louis Francis
Daughters: Maria Anna, Maria Teresa

For 22 years, the marriage of Louis' parents was fruitless, and therefore the birth of an heir was perceived by the people as a miracle. After the death of his father, the young Louis moved with his mother to the Palais Royal, the former palace of the cardinal Richelieu. Here the little king was brought up in a very simple and sometimes wretched environment. His mother was considered the regent France, but the real power was in the hands of her favorite cardinal Mazarin. He was very stingy and did not care at all not only about pleasing the child-king, but even about the availability of basic necessities for him.

The first years of Louis's formal reign saw the events of the civil war known as the Fronde. In January 1649, an uprising broke out in Paris against Mazarin. The king and ministers had to flee to Saint-Germain, and Mazarin to Brussels in general. Peace was restored only in 1652, and power returned to the hands of the cardinal. Despite the fact that the king was already considered an adult, Mazarin ruled France until his death. In 1659 peace was signed with Spain. The treaty was sealed by the marriage of Louis with Maria Theresa, who was his cousin.

When Mazarin died in 1661, Louis, having received his freedom, hastened to get rid of any guardianship over himself. He abolished the office of First Minister, announcing to the State Council that from now on he would be First Minister himself, and no even the most insignificant decree should be signed by anyone on his behalf.

Louis was poorly educated, barely able to read and write, but possessed of common sense and a firm determination to uphold his royal dignity. He was tall, handsome, had a noble posture, strove to express himself briefly and clearly. Unfortunately, he was excessively selfish, as no European monarch was distinguished by monstrous pride and selfishness. All former royal residences seemed to Louis unworthy of his greatness. After some deliberation, in 1662 he decided to turn the small hunting castle of Versailles into a royal palace. It took 50 years and 400 million francs. Until 1666, the king had to live in the Louvre, from 1666 to 1671. in the Tuileries, from 1671 to 1681, alternately in the construction of Versailles and Saint-Germain-O-l "E. Finally, from 1682, Versailles became the permanent residence of the royal court and government. From now on, Louis visited Paris only on short visits. The new palace of the king was different extraordinary splendor. The so-called "large apartments" - six salons named after ancient deities - served as hallways for the Mirror Gallery 72 meters long, 10 wide and 16 meters high. Buffets were arranged in the salons, guests played billiards and cards. In general, a card room the game became an indomitable passion at court.Bets reached several thousand livres per game, and Louis himself stopped playing only after losing 600,000 livres in six months in 1676.

Comedies were also staged in the palace, first by Italian and then by French authors: Corneille, Racine, and especially often Molière. In addition, Louis loved to dance, and repeatedly took part in ballet productions at court. The splendor of the palace corresponded to the complex rules of etiquette established by Louis. Any action was accompanied by a whole set of carefully designed ceremonies. Meals, going to bed, even the simple quenching of thirst during the day - everything was turned into complex rituals.

From a young age, Louis was very ardent and not indifferent to pretty women. Despite the fact that the young Queen Maria Theresa was beautiful, Louis was constantly looking for entertainment on the side. The first favorite of the king was the 17-year-old Louise de La Valliere, the maid of honor of the wife of brother Louis. Louise was not a flawless beauty and limped a little, but she was very sweet and gentle. The feelings that Louis felt for her could be called true love. From 1661 to 1667, she gave birth to four children for the king and received a ducal title. After that, the king began to cool off towards her, and in 1675 Louise was forced to leave for the Carmelite monastery.

The king's new passion was the Marquise de Montespan, who was the complete opposite of Louise de La Vallière. The bright and ardent marquise had a prudent mind. She knew perfectly well what she could get from the king in exchange for her love. Only in the first year of his acquaintance with the Marquise, Louis gave her family 800 thousand livres to pay off debts. The golden rain did not fail in the future. At the same time, Montespan actively patronized many writers and other people of art. The Marquise was the uncrowned Queen of France for 15 years. However, since 1674, she had to fight for the heart of the king with Madame d "Aubigne, the widow of the poet Scarron, who was engaged in the upbringing of the children of Louis. Madame d" Aubignet was granted the estate of Maintenon and the title of Marquise. After the death of Queen Maria Theresa in 1683 and the removal of the Marquise de Montespan, she acquired a very strong influence on Louis. The king highly valued her mind and listened to her advice. Under her influence, he became very religious, stopped organizing noisy festivities, replacing them with soul-saving conversations with the Jesuits.

Under no sovereign did France wage such a large-scale war of conquest as under Louis XIV. After the death of Philip IV of Spain in 1667-1668. Flanders was captured. In 1672, a war began with Holland and Spain, Denmark and the German Empire, which came to her aid. However, the coalition, called the Grand Alliance, was defeated, and France acquired Alsace, Lorraine, Franche-Comté and several other lands in Belgium. Peace, however, did not last long. In 1681, Louis captured Strasbourg and Casale, and a little later Luxembourg, Kehl and a number of environs.

However, from 1688, things began to go worse for Louis. Through the efforts of William of Orange, the anti-French Augsburg League was created, which included Austria, Spain, Holland, Sweden and several German principalities. At first, Louis managed to capture the Palatinate, Worms and a number of other German cities, but in 1688 William became king of England and directed the resources of this country against France. In 1692, the Anglo-Dutch fleet defeated the French in the harbor of Cherbourg and began to dominate the sea. On land, the successes of the French were more noticeable. Wilhelm was defeated near Steinkerke and on the Neuerwinden Plain. Meanwhile, in the south, Savoy, Girona and Barcelona were taken. However, the war on several fronts required a huge amount of money from Louis. During the ten years of the war, 700 million livres were spent. In 1690, royal furniture made of solid silver and various small utensils were melted down. At the same time, taxes increased, which hit peasant families especially hard. Louis asked for peace. In 1696, Savoy was returned to the rightful duke. Then Louis was forced to recognize William of Orange as king of England and to refuse all support of the Stuarts. The lands beyond the Rhine were returned to the German emperor. Luxembourg and Catalonia were returned to Spain. Lorraine regained its independence. Thus the bloody war ended with the acquisition of Strasbourg alone.

However, the most terrible for Louis was the War of the Spanish Succession. In 1700, the childless king of Spain, Charles II, died, bequeathing the throne to the grandson of Louis, Philip of Anjou, with the condition, however, that the Spanish possessions never join the French crown. The condition was accepted, but Philip retained the rights to the French throne. In addition, the French army invaded Belgium. The Great Union was immediately restored in the composition of England, Austria and Holland, and in 1701 the war began. The Austrian Prince Eugene invaded the Duchy of Milan, which belonged to Philip as King of Spain. At first, things were going well for the French, but in 1702, due to the betrayal of the Duke of Savoy, the advantage passed to the side of the Austrians. At the same time, the English army of the Duke of Marlborough landed in Belgium. Taking advantage of the fact that Portugal joined the coalition, another English army invaded Spain. The French tried to launch a counterattack against Austria and moved to Vienna, but in 1704 at Gechstadt they were defeated by the army of Prince Eugene. Soon Louis had to leave Belgium and Italy. In 1707, the 40,000-strong Allied army even crossed the Alps, invading France, and laid siege to Toulon, but to no avail. There was no end in sight to the war. The people of France were suffering from hunger and poverty. All the golden utensils were melted down, and even black bread instead of white was served on Madame de Maintenon's table. However, the forces of the allies were not unlimited. In Spain, Philip managed to turn the tide of the war in his favor, after which the British began to lean towards peace. In 1713 peace was signed with England in Utrecht, and a year later in Rishtadt with Austria. France lost practically nothing, but Spain lost all its European possessions outside the Iberian Peninsula. In addition, Philip V was forced to renounce his claims to the French crown.

Foreign policy problems of Louis were exacerbated by family problems. In 1711, the king's son, the great dauphin Louis, died of smallpox. A year later, the wife of the younger Dauphin, Marie Adelaide, died. After her death, her correspondence with the heads of hostile states was opened, in which many state secrets of France were revealed. A few days after the death of his wife, the younger Dauphin Louis fell ill with a fever and also died. Another three weeks passed, and five-year-old Louis of Brittany, the son of the younger dauphin and heir to the throne, died of scarlet fever. The title of heir passed to his younger brother Louis of Anjou, at that time still an infant. Soon he, too, fell ill with a rash. Doctors were waiting for his death from day to day, but a miracle happened and the child recovered. Finally, in 1714, Charles of Berry, the third grandson of Louis, died suddenly.

After the deaths of his heirs, Louis became sad and gloomy. He hardly got out of bed. All attempts to stir him up came to nothing. On August 24, 1715, the first signs of gangrene appeared on his leg, on August 27 he made his last dying orders, and on September 1 he died. His 72-year reign was the longest among all monarchs.

Used material from the site http://monarchy.nm.ru/

Other biographical material:

Lozinsky A.A. The de facto ruler was Cardinal Mazarin ( Soviet historical encyclopedia. In 16 volumes. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1973-1982. Volume 8, KOSHALA - MALTA. 1965).

Prior to his birth, for twenty-two years his parents' marriage had been fruitless ( All the monarchs of the world. Western Europe. Konstantin Ryzhov. Moscow, 1999).

Beginning of the reign of Louis XIV ).

Features of the absolutism of Louis XIV ( The World History. Volume V. M., 1958).

Under him, French absolutism stabilized ( History of France. (responsible editor A.Z. Manfred). In three volumes. Volume 1. M., 1972).

Read further:

France in the 17th century (chronological table).

Louis XIII (biographical article).

Loving was the Sun King! He entered into a relationship with the Marquise de Montespan, then with the Princess of Subise, who gave birth to a son, very similar to the king. To continue the list: Madame de Ludre was replaced by the Countess of Grammont and the maiden Guesdam. Then there was the girl Fontange. But the king, satiated with voluptuousness, quickly left his women. Why? An early pregnancy disfigured the beauty of each, and childbirth was unhappy. Today, Louis XIV would not be so quick to abandon ladies, because now pregnancy does not spoil modern women in the least.

Death of Louis XIV

Louis XIV died on the morning of Sunday, September 1, 1715. He was 77 years old, and he reigned for 72 years, of which 54 ruled alone (1661-1715).

Until his death, he managed to maintain that "decorum", those strict rules of official etiquette, which he himself established. Feeling the approach of death from a gangrenous leg, he played his role of king to the end. On Saturday, August 31, he ordered the courtiers to gather, from whom he asked for forgiveness "for the bad examples that he gave them." Then he invited the heir to the throne, his five-year-old great-grandson, the future King Louis XV, and said: “My child, you will become a great king. Do not follow my passion for luxurious palaces, nor for wars. Strive to make life easier for your subjects. and that's why I feel miserable."

The reign of Louis XIV was important not only because of its exceptional length.

Louis XIV wanted and managed to become a "great king", asserting his personal power and giving the final form of an absolute monarchy. He was also great because, following the policy of prestige, he built the Palace of Versailles, patronized the arts and literature, and waged wars of conquest. In the latter, the results are not so obvious, as evidenced by his "self-criticism" at the end of his life.

Together with his death, we are entering a new historical era, and it is noteworthy that his contemporaries were aware of this.

Sun King

By the time of the death of his father Louis XIII in 1643, soon followed by the death of Prime Minister Richelieu, Louis XIV was less than five years old. His mother Anna of Austria, having become regent, entrusted the reign to Mazarin. This Italian, who had previously served the Pope, was made Cardinal by Richelieu, although he was not a priest. The country's economy was then in a period of decline. The expenses associated with the foreign policy of Richelieu (the war against the Austrian dynasty) brought the poverty of the people to the extreme limit. Mazarin increases the exactions and thereby increases discontent. The nobility and the Parisian parliament (a judicial institution whose members bought their positions; has nothing to do with the English parliament) considered that the time had come to intervene in politics and limit the royal power in the person of Mazarin. It was the Fronde, about which Louis XIV retained painful memories. He was grateful to Mazarin for suppressing the Fronde and left him in power until his death in 1661.

At that moment, Louis XIV was 22 years old, he had no experience in leading the state. When he announced to his advisors that he would henceforth be "his own prime minister," there was a slight embarrassment.

He kept his word. Louis XIV in full, consciously and diligently carried out what he called "the craft of the king." He worked daily, for many hours, studying affairs himself or with one of the ministers.

Aware of the limitations of his abilities, he listened to the advice of all whom he considered competent, but made decisions alone.

Convinced that his power was from God and that he was not obliged to give any reports to mortals, he wanted to have absolute power and chose the Sun as his emblem, hence his nickname Sun King, and as a motto the Latin words "Nec pluribus impar" ("incomparable" , "above all").

Concern for prestige forced him to devote a significant part of the day to "representation." He created a personality cult of the king, which was supported by etiquette, in the Spanish manner. This meant that strict ceremonial surrounded every act of his life, from getting up to going to bed, with the participation of the most noble nobles. The latter, who received huge pensions for the performance of "service" from the king, were dependent on him, were removed from political power.

Century of Louis XIV

In the reign of Louis XIV, France acquired a high cultural prestige in addition to political and military ones, to which we shall return. She became, according to Ten, "a source of elegance, comfort, fine style, sophisticated ideas and the art of living." In a word, for the propertied classes of all Europe, it has become a model of civility.

However, all intellectual and artistic life was under royal control; various "academies" became intermediaries. To the French Academy created by Richelieu, Louis XIV added the academies of exact sciences, painting and sculpture, music, etc. Each of them was entrusted with the duty to work for the glory of the king, maintain established principles and manage their field of activity.

The distribution of pensions to artists, writers, scientists, French and foreign, maintained discipline among them.

It was the golden age of fiction with its classical masterpieces, with theater (Corneille, Racine, Molière), poetry (Lafontaine, Boileau). Successes in painting and music are not so brilliant. Lebrun, court painter, seems very mediocre. The same can be said about the Italian Lully, who exercised a real dictatorship in music.

The most outstanding work of art of this era was the Palace of Versailles, where Louis XIV, fearing popular movements, moved his residence from Paris. The architect Levo worked on its construction, and after 1676 - Mansart. By the end of the reign of Louis XIV, it was far from over.

Foreign policy of Louis XIV

Louis XIV's pursuit of glory plunged the country into repetitive and costly wars with questionable results. By the end of his reign, a coalition of European powers rose up against him, which almost crushed him.

He annexed Franche-Comte, taken from Spain, several cities of Flanders, as well as Strasbourg.

In 1700, the last offspring of Charles V from the senior branch of the Habsburgs died without a direct heir. The power of Charles II extended over Spain with colonies (America, the Philippines), over the Netherlands (present-day Belgium), both Sicilies and the Duchy of Milan in Italy.

Fearing the collapse of this empire and knowing that France would not tolerate these possessions, as under Charles V, being united with the Austrian lands of the Habsburgs (passed over to a junior branch) and with the imperial crown, the dying Charles II bequeathed his possessions to the grandson of Louis XIV, the Duke of Anjou. At the same time, the condition was set that under no circumstances would the crowns of France and Spain be united under the rule of one sovereign. Such a will is explained by the fact that the Duke of Anjou had rights to the Spanish crown through his grandmother, Maria Theresa, the wife of Louis XIV and the eldest daughter of the Spanish King Philip IV.

Louis XIV sacrificed the interests of France for the sake of the glory of the dynasty, because he had the opportunity, in accordance with the partition plan drawn up by the European powers, to take possession of the Netherlands. He preferred to see a representative of the Bourbon dynasty on the throne of Spain (by the way, they still reign there). However, the Duke of Anjou, having become the Spanish king under the name of Philip V, retained only Spain and its colonies, losing all his European possessions to Austria.

Absolute monarchy

The form of absolute monarchy established by Louis XIV remained until the end of the "old order".

Louis XIV did not allow the titled nobility to power, "taming" her with court positions.

He nominated people of low birth to the ministers, generously endowing them with titles of nobility. Therefore, they were completely dependent on the will of the king. The best known are Colbert, Minister of Finance and Economy, and Louvois, Minister of War.

In the provinces, Louis XIV limited the power of governors and left them only honorary duties. All real power was concentrated in the hands of the "commissaries of finance, justice and police," whom he appointed and removed at his whim, and who, in his words, were "the king himself in the province."

In the religious sphere, Louis XIV sought to impose his will and opinion on everyone. He came into conflict with the Pope over control of the Catholic Church in France. He persecuted the Jansenists, implacable and strict Catholics. In 1685, Louis XIV rescinded the Edict of Nantes, by which Henry IV granted the Protestants religious freedom. Now they were forced to change their faith by force, many emigrated, which led to the desolation of entire regions. Despite all efforts, Protestantism in France was never eradicated.

End of the reign of Louis 14

Constant wars, and especially the last one, called the War of the Spanish Succession, ravaged the country. Poverty was exacerbated by several lean years, and in particular by the freezing winter of 1709 (temperatures fell below 20° throughout France throughout January, and snow continued until the end of March).

The burden of taxes fell almost exclusively on the "ignorant", while the clergy, nobles and part of the bourgeoisie were exempted from them. At the end of his reign, Louis XIV tried to introduce taxes paid by everyone depending on income (capital, tithe), but the privileged estates very soon freed themselves from them, and the part that fell on others increased even more.

Booker Igor 11/23/2013 at 17:07

The frivolous public willingly believes in fairy tales about the abundance of love of the French king Louis XIV. Against the background of the morals of that time, the number of love victories of the "Sun King" simply fades. A timid young man, learning about women, did not become a libertarian. Louis was characterized by bouts of generosity in relation to the ladies left by him, who continued to enjoy many favors, and their offspring received titles and estates. Among the favorites, Madame de Montespan stands out, whose children from the king became Bourbons.

The marriage of Louis XIV to Maria Theresa was a political marriage and the French king missed his wife. The daughter of the King of Spain was a pretty woman, but she was completely lacking in charm (despite the fact that she was the daughter of Elizabeth of France, there was not a grain of French charm in her) and there was no gaiety. At first, Louis looked at Henrietta of England, his brother's wife, who was disgusted with her husband, a fan of same-sex love. At one of the court balls, Duke Philippe of Orleans, who showed courage and commanding qualities on the battlefield, dressed in a woman's dress and danced with his handsome cavalier. An unattractive 16-year-old tall girl with a drooping lower lip had two advantages - a lovely opal complexion and accommodating.

The contemporary French writer Eric Deschodt, in his biography of Louis XIV, testifies: "The relationship between Louis and Henriette does not go unnoticed. Monsieur (title Monsieur was given to the brother of the king of France, next in seniority - ed.) complains to his mother. Anne of Austria scolds Henrietta. Henrietta proposes to Louis, in order to avert suspicion from herself, to pretend that he is courting one of her ladies-in-waiting. They choose for this Louise de la Baume le Blanc (Françoise Louise de La Baume Le Blanc), the girl La Vallière (La Vallière), a seventeen-year-old native of Touraine, a delightful blonde (in those days, as later in Hollywood, men prefer blondes), - whose voice can touch even an ox, and whose glance can soften a tiger."

For Madame - title Madame was given to the wife of the brother of the king of France, next in seniority and having the title of "Monsieur" - the result was deplorable. You can't tell without looking, but Louis traded Henrietta's dubious charms for a blond beauty. From Maria Theresa, who in 1661 gave birth to the Grand Dauphin (the eldest son of the king), Louis concealed his affair in the greatest secret. “Despite all appearances and legends, from 1661 to 1683, Louis XIV always tries to keep his love affairs a great secret,” writes the French historian François Bluche. “He does this primarily to spare the queen.” The environment of the ardent Catholic Anna of Austria was in despair. Lavalier from the "king-sun" will give birth to four children, but only two will survive. Louis recognizes them.

The Duchy of Vaujour will be a farewell gift to her mistress, then she will retire to the Carmelite convent in Paris, but for some time she stoically endured the bullying of the new favorite, Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart or the Marquise de Montespan (marquise de Montespan). It is difficult for historians to establish an exact list and chronology of Louis's love affairs, especially since, as noted, he often returned to his former passions.

Witty compatriots even then noted that Lavalier loved the monarch like a mistress, Maintenon like a governess, and Montespan like a mistress. Thanks to the Marquise de Montespan, on July 18, 1668, a “grand royal feast at Versailles” took place, the Bath Apartments, the porcelain Trianon were built, the Versailles bosquets were created, and an amazing castle (“Palace of Armida”) was built in Clagny. Both contemporaries and current historians tell us that the king's affection for Madame de Montespan (where spiritual intimacy played no less a role than sensuality) continued after the termination of their love affair.

At 23, Mademoiselle de Tonnay-Charente was married to the Marquis de Montespan of the Pardaillan family. The husband was constantly afraid of being arrested for debts, which irritated Atenais extremely. She answered the call of the king, who had already become less timid and shy than during the cupids with Louise de La Vallière. The marquis could have taken his wife to the provinces, but for some reason he did not. Having learned about the betrayal of the Marquise, Gascon blood woke up in the cuckold and one day he read a notation to the monarch and ordered a memorial service for his wife.

Louis was not a petty tyrant, and although the Gascon was decently fed up with him, he not only did not put him in prison, but also promoted the legitimate son of the Marquis and Marquise de Montespan in every possible way. First he made him lieutenant-general, then director-general of civil works, and finally he was granted the titles of duke and peer. Madame de Montespan, awarded the title maîtresse royale en titre- "the official mistress of the king, gave birth to eight children to Louis. Four of them reached adulthood and were legalized and made Bourbons. Three of them married persons of royal blood. After the birth of the seventh bastard, Count of Toulouse, Louis avoids intimacy with Montespan.

Not even on the horizon, but almost in the royal chambers, Marie Angélique de Scorraille de Roussille, the maiden Fontanges, who arrived from Auvergne, appears. The aging king falls in love with an 18-year-old beauty, according to contemporaries, "who has not been seen in Versailles for a long time." Their feelings are mutual. With Montespan, the girl Fontange is related by the arrogance shown in relation to the former and forgotten Louis favorites. Perhaps all she lacked was de Montespan's causticity and sharp tongue.

Madame de Montespan stubbornly did not want to give up her place for a great life, and the king, by nature, was not inclined to openly break with the mother of his children. Louis allowed her to continue living in his luxurious apartments and even visited his former mistress from time to time, flatly refusing to have sex with a plump favorite.

“Maria Angelica sets the tone,” writes Eric Deschodt. “If, during a hunt in Fontainebleau, she ties a strand of hair that has fallen out with a ribbon, then the whole court and all of Paris does it the next day. The hairstyle “a la Fontange” is still mentioned in dictionaries "But the happiness of the one who invented it turned out to be not so long. A year later, Louis is already bored. The beauty is a replacement. It looks like she was stupid, but this was hardly the only reason for disgrace." The Duchess de Fontanges was given a pension of 20,000 livres by the king. A year after the loss of her prematurely born son, she died suddenly.

The subjects forgave their monarch for his love affairs, which cannot be said about gentlemen historians. Historiographers connected the "reign" of the Marquise de Montespan and her "resignation" with unseemly cases, such as the "poisoning case" (L "affaire des Poisons"). , black masses and all sorts of other devilry, and at the beginning it was only about poisoning, as is clear from its name, under which it appears to this day, ”explains historian Francois Bluche.

In March 1679, the police arrested a certain Catherine Deshayes, Monvoisin's mother, who was called simply Voisin (la Voisin), suspected of witchcraft. Five days later, Adam Kere or Cobré, aka Dubuisson, aka "abbe Lesage" (abbé Lesage), was arrested. Their interrogation revealed or led to the idea that witches and sorcerers had fallen into the hands of justice. These, in the words of Saint-Simon, "fashionable crimes", were dealt with, established by Louis XIV, a special court, nicknamed Chambre ardente- "Fire chamber". This commission included high-ranking officials and was chaired by Louis Bouchre, the future Chancellor.

Louis XIV. The personal life of the "Sun King" Prokofieva Elena Vladimirovna

Chapter 2 Who is the real father?

Who is the real father?

For all their piety and ardent faith in miracles, the French were neither naive nor ingenuous, and in such an amazing event as the birth of an heir to their melancholic sovereign, they felt some kind of catch. And if ordinary people, who were not aware of some of the intricacies of the relationship between the king and his wife, could take this “miracle” as a sign of divine mercy, then the nobility, and especially the courtiers, who had the whole life of the crowned couple passing before their eyes, treated him with great doubt. And not without reason.

They spoke differently.

There were rumors that Louis XIII could not have children at all, because an illness suffered in his youth made him impotent.

“When Louis XIII fell dangerously ill in Lyon and thought he would not survive, he entrusted Berengien with a secret and ordered it to be revealed only after his death,” writes Guy Breton in his book Love Stories in the History of France. - Henri from the first years of his service enjoyed the special favor of the king. The cardinal, having heard about this from somewhere, tried to persuade the valet to tell him what was discussed, but the servant devoted to the owner refused. The king recovered, and the cardinal, who by that time had gained confidence, persuaded him to dismiss Berengien and ordered him never to appear, not only at court, but also in France ... ".

The reader probably remembers that in Lyon in September 1630, the king suffered from a severe "purulent inflammation in the lower abdomen." Was it not this mysterious disease, the details of which are unknown, that made him impotent? Well, it's quite possible. Perhaps this was the secret that Louis XIII entrusted to his dear Berengien ...

There is an even more compelling fact. M. Vernado, in his Physician to the Queen, reports that after the death of Louis XIII, the doctors who performed the autopsy found "that he could not have children"...

Of course, this detail was not reflected in the autopsy report, but became the subject of a secret report, which the queen's doctor, Pardou-Gondine, gave in 1679 to his son-in-law, Marc de la Moreli. The latter, shocked by the news that Louis XIV was not the son of Louis XIII, for some incomprehensible reason, decided to take the report that fell into his hands to the police chief La Reni. The policeman immediately rushed to show the terrible document to the king, who ordered that Marc de la Morely be put in solitary confinement.

If these researches do not correspond to the truth, it is still too strange that such a wonderful and strong child could be born from the loins of an already very unhealthy king at that time.

His Majesty's irresistible aversion to carnal pleasures in general and to his wife in particular was also noted. Louis XIII and Anna of Austria had, to put it mildly, a cool relationship and the king practically did not visit her bedroom. The acquisition of offspring, of course, is a sacred thing, for this you can overcome hostility. But why now, and not before?

It's clear why. The cardinal is seriously ill, he does not have long. The king is also not at all healthy. Actually - there is nowhere to pull further. It remains either to come to terms with the fact that the crown will pass to Gaston of Orleans, or to urgently do something. At any cost. Even at the cost of falsifying paternity.

Many candidates for the role of the “real father” of the Dauphin were found by court gossips and pseudo-historians.

Guy Breton writes: “Even during the life of Anna of Austria, many names were called: Ranzo, Kreki, Rochefort, Mortmar. In 1693, Pierre Margot published an essay in Cologne entitled "The love affair of Anna of Austria, wife of Louis XIII, with the lord C. D. R., the true father of Louis XIV, now king of France."

It was, - the author writes, - only about bringing to her some compassionate person who would make up for the marital insufficiency of the poor king, and using for this completely strangers, not from close circle, a means that is not used today, if you need to help a disintegrating family.

It was then that Richelieu ordered that this C. D. R. (comte de la Riviera), the young seigneur, with whom Anna of Austria danced - and therefore flirted - at a ball arranged in the Palais Cardinal, be brought to court, took him under his patronage and appointed him a chamber officer to the Queen.

According to the author, after this event developed rapidly. One evening, the Comte de la Rivière entered Anna's room, fell upon her, and began to embrace her with such passion and fervor that it is easier to imagine than to describe, that the Queen was delighted, her will was defeated, and there was no longer an eye, not a hand, not a breath could resist. Since the queen completely surrendered to his will, this S., without meeting resistance, began to enjoy the joy of possession and made numerous sacrifices to love ... The passion of the queen flared up the stronger, the stronger and longer the hugs became, and in the end she began to the same zeal with which she used to pray in church ...

We have no information about this Comte de la Riviere, but it is known that one of the Queen's officers actually bore this name, because Madame de Motville mentions him in her Memoirs.

Cardinal Mazarin was appointed as the father of the Dauphin, ignoring the fact that he was not in France at all in those years. They called him Cardinal Richelieu himself, who allegedly reached the point of wanting to become the founder of a new dynasty, even if secretly. Complete stupidity. Even apart from the fact that the cardinal's health was at that time even worse than that of the king, Richelieu would never have endangered the succession to the throne, which would invariably happen if anyone had any doubts about that Bourbon blood flows in the Dauphin's veins. Therefore, the most plausible version is that one of the numerous bastards of Henry IV was assigned to the role of father - if indeed Louis XIII turned out to be insolvent. And not the handsome Duke of Beaufort, he is too prominent a figure, but someone unknown, forgotten by everyone. Thank God, the late Bearnz had more than enough bastards.

This version was considered quite seriously by both the courtiers and later historians. It was said that Richelieu found some poor nobleman in Gascony, and it was he who became the father of Louis XIV, and two years later his brother Philip. Well, that would make the most sense...

Guy Breton writes: “There remains one more person that some historians put forward for this role, without, however, having, however, sufficient evidence for this: we are talking about Antoine de Bourbon, bastard of Henry IV, whom Jacqueline de Buey, Countess, gave birth to him in 1607 de More, and which was legitimized in 1608. Antoine de Bourbon had the fate of Colonel Chabert. Left among the dead on the battlefield of Castelnaudary in 1632, despite his wounds, he survived and became a hermit to hide from Louis XIII, his half-brother, who wanted to destroy him. After living for some time in Italy, he then moved to Anjou and lived as before in seclusion, not far from the property that belonged to Mme de Chevreuse. There he died in 1671, after being the object of a long and unrelenting curiosity among the common people because of his incredible resemblance to Henry IV ... "

Excellent candidate!

There is another version that Louis XIII was a deceived husband and did not even know that he was not the father of the child. It was too strange that his meeting with the queen happened, during which the conception allegedly occurred.

The king remembered that night well. It wasn't hard to remember. Because she was the only one in many years.

A happy accident or someone's invisible will reunited the royal couple on the matrimonial bed on December 5, 1637.

It really looked like it was set up.

Father Griffet, in his History of the Reign of Louis XIII, writes: “In the beginning of December, the king left Versailles to spend the night in Saint-Maur, and, passing through Paris, he stopped at the monastery of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Rue Saint-Antoine to visit m -le de Lafayette. While they were talking, a thunderstorm broke out in the city, and so strong that he could neither return to Versailles, nor get to Saint-Maur, where a room and bed were prepared for him and where the officers of his retinue had already arrived. He decided to wait out the storm, but, seeing that it was getting stronger, and meanwhile the night was approaching, he felt confused: from the Louvre, his bed was taken to Saint-Maur, and now he did not know where to go.

Guiteau, the head of the guard, who had long been accustomed to talking rather freely with the king, remarked that he could both dine and spend the night with all the comforts of the queen, who had remained in the Louvre. But the king rejected this proposal, saying that we must hope for an improvement in the weather. They waited some more, but the storm was getting stronger, and Guiteau again offered to go to the Louvre. The king replied that the queen both had supper and went to bed too late for him. Guiteau assured him that the queen would readily conform to his habits. Finally the king decided to go to the queen. Guiteau rushed forward at full speed to warn of the time of the king's arrival for supper. The queen ordered that all the wishes of the king be fulfilled. The couple had dinner together. The king spent the night with her, and nine months later Anna of Austria gave birth to a son, whose birth caused general rejoicing in the kingdom.

Of course, rumors spread that the queen took advantage of the situation to lure the king into her chambers, being already pregnant by someone else. And Guiteau received instructions from her to bring her master to her at all costs. But in this case, Mademoiselle de Lafayette apparently also took part in the intrigue, for many years she tried with all her might to reconcile Louis with his wife, and this looks a little strange, given her very close friendly relations with the king, and the fact that once long ago she had rejected with great indignation the proposal of Cardinal Richelieu to spy on his Majesty. It is unlikely that now she would agree to betray him.

So, it is quite possible that all these suspicions are completely groundless, and the queen really became pregnant by her husband on that stormy night.

In any case, there is no evidence of her betrayal. Whether the miraculous conception of the Dauphin was a gift from heaven, or was it created by people, guided by the wise truth that you trust in God, but do not make a mistake yourself, most likely, will forever remain a mystery.

Chapter III. Father and Son Then Uncle Guillaume went out, the Abbé Gregoire and Madame Vatrin remained standing opposite each other.