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The Age of Louis XIV
In this book, Voltaire is painting to posterity, not the actions of one man, Louis XIV, but more importantly the minds of men in the most enlightened age that ever was.
492 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1751
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About the author
Voltaire
9,432 books4,946 followersComplete works (1880) : https://archive.org/details/oeuvresco...
In 1694, Age of Enlightenment leader Francois-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire, was born in Paris. Jesuit-educated, he began writing clever verses by the age of 12. He launched a lifelong, successful playwriting career in 1718, interrupted by imprisonment in the Bastille. Upon a second imprisonment, in which Francois adopted the pen name Voltaire, he was released after agreeing to move to London. There he wrote Lettres philosophiques (1733), which galvanized French reform. The book also satirized the religious teachings of Rene Descartes and Blaise Pascal, including Pascal's famed "wager" on God. Voltaire wrote: "The interest I have in believing a thing is not a proof of the existence of that thing." Voltaire's French publisher was sent to the Bastille and Voltaire had to escape from Paris again, as judges sentenced the book to be "torn and burned in the Palace." Voltaire spent a calm 16 years with his deistic mistress, Madame du Chatelet, in Lorraine. He met the 27 year old married mother when he was 39. In his memoirs, he wrote: "I found, in 1733, a young woman who thought as I did, and decided to spend several years in the country, cultivating her mind." He dedicated Traite de metaphysique to her. In it the Deist candidly rejected immortality and questioned belief in God. It was not published until the 1780s. Voltaire continued writing amusing but meaty philosophical plays and histories. After the earthquake that leveled Lisbon in 1755, in which 15,000 people perished and another 15,000 were wounded, Voltaire wrote Poème sur le désastre de Lisbonne (Poem on the Lisbon Disaster): "But how conceive a God supremely good/ Who heaps his favours on the sons he loves,/ Yet scatters evil with as large a hand?"
Voltaire purchased a chateau in Geneva, where, among other works, he wrote Candide (1759). To avoid Calvinist persecution, Voltaire moved across the border to Ferney, where the wealthy writer lived for 18 years until his death. Voltaire began to openly challenge Christianity, calling it "the infamous thing." He wrote Frederick the Great: "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd, and bloody religion that has ever infected the world." Voltaire ended every letter to friends with "Ecrasez l'infame" (crush the infamy — the Christian religion). His pamphlet, The Sermon on the Fifty (1762) went after transubstantiation, miracles, biblical contradictions, the Jewish religion, and the Christian God. Voltaire wrote that a true god "surely cannot have been born of a girl, nor died on the gibbet, nor be eaten in a piece of dough," or inspired "books, filled with contradictions, madness, and horror." He also published excerpts of Testament of the Abbe Meslier, by an atheist priest, in Holland, which advanced the Enlightenment. Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary was published in 1764 without his name. Although the first edition immediately sold out, Geneva officials, followed by Dutch and Parisian, had the books burned. It was published in 1769 as two large volumes. Voltaire campaigned fiercely against civil atrocities in the name of religion, writing pamphlets and commentaries about the barbaric execution of a Huguenot trader, who was first broken at the wheel, then burned at the stake, in 1762. Voltaire's campaign for justice and restitution ended with a posthumous retrial in 1765, during which 40 Parisian judges declared the defendant innocent. Voltaire urgently tried to save the life of Chevalier de la Barre, a 19 year old sentenced to death for blasphemy for failing to remove his hat during a religious procession. In 1766, Chevalier was beheaded after being tortured, then his body was burned, along with a copy of Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary. Voltaire's statue at the Pantheon was melted down during Nazi occupation. D. 1778.
Voltaire (1694-1778), pseudónimo de François-
In 1694, Age of Enlightenment leader Francois-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire, was born in Paris. Jesuit-educated, he began writing clever verses by the age of 12. He launched a lifelong, successful playwriting career in 1718, interrupted by imprisonment in the Bastille. Upon a second imprisonment, in which Francois adopted the pen name Voltaire, he was released after agreeing to move to London. There he wrote Lettres philosophiques (1733), which galvanized French reform. The book also satirized the religious teachings of Rene Descartes and Blaise Pascal, including Pascal's famed "wager" on God. Voltaire wrote: "The interest I have in believing a thing is not a proof of the existence of that thing." Voltaire's French publisher was sent to the Bastille and Voltaire had to escape from Paris again, as judges sentenced the book to be "torn and burned in the Palace." Voltaire spent a calm 16 years with his deistic mistress, Madame du Chatelet, in Lorraine. He met the 27 year old married mother when he was 39. In his memoirs, he wrote: "I found, in 1733, a young woman who thought as I did, and decided to spend several years in the country, cultivating her mind." He dedicated Traite de metaphysique to her. In it the Deist candidly rejected immortality and questioned belief in God. It was not published until the 1780s. Voltaire continued writing amusing but meaty philosophical plays and histories. After the earthquake that leveled Lisbon in 1755, in which 15,000 people perished and another 15,000 were wounded, Voltaire wrote Poème sur le désastre de Lisbonne (Poem on the Lisbon Disaster): "But how conceive a God supremely good/ Who heaps his favours on the sons he loves,/ Yet scatters evil with as large a hand?"
Voltaire purchased a chateau in Geneva, where, among other works, he wrote Candide (1759). To avoid Calvinist persecution, Voltaire moved across the border to Ferney, where the wealthy writer lived for 18 years until his death. Voltaire began to openly challenge Christianity, calling it "the infamous thing." He wrote Frederick the Great: "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd, and bloody religion that has ever infected the world." Voltaire ended every letter to friends with "Ecrasez l'infame" (crush the infamy — the Christian religion). His pamphlet, The Sermon on the Fifty (1762) went after transubstantiation, miracles, biblical contradictions, the Jewish religion, and the Christian God. Voltaire wrote that a true god "surely cannot have been born of a girl, nor died on the gibbet, nor be eaten in a piece of dough," or inspired "books, filled with contradictions, madness, and horror." He also published excerpts of Testament of the Abbe Meslier, by an atheist priest, in Holland, which advanced the Enlightenment. Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary was published in 1764 without his name. Although the first edition immediately sold out, Geneva officials, followed by Dutch and Parisian, had the books burned. It was published in 1769 as two large volumes. Voltaire campaigned fiercely against civil atrocities in the name of religion, writing pamphlets and commentaries about the barbaric execution of a Huguenot trader, who was first broken at the wheel, then burned at the stake, in 1762. Voltaire's campaign for justice and restitution ended with a posthumous retrial in 1765, during which 40 Parisian judges declared the defendant innocent. Voltaire urgently tried to save the life of Chevalier de la Barre, a 19 year old sentenced to death for blasphemy for failing to remove his hat during a religious procession. In 1766, Chevalier was beheaded after being tortured, then his body was burned, along with a copy of Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary. Voltaire's statue at the Pantheon was melted down during Nazi occupation. D. 1778.
Voltaire (1694-1778), pseudónimo de François-
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 13, 2012
In any country or any agency of any era, we are always faced with a dilemma. We fight for a more open society but can't resist the charm of a hero-like dictator. Louis XIV is an icon of tyranny , as well as Steve Jobs. HIstory repeats itself.
November 7, 2022
My comments in video: https://youtu.be/RKolNT4IRh0
Parallel between Voltaire and Stendhal, and between Louis XIV and Napoleon.
This great work of the French philosopher shows us his greatness in another facet that is different and less known than the literary and philosophical facets: that of historian. From previous readings of Stendhal's Life and Memoirs of Napoleon, I was able to identify the great parallel between writers and between monarchs. In addition to the above, it seems relevant to me to highlight the depth of Voltaire's thought in economic, political and cultural analysis. According to the reading, I found where Alexandre Dumas was inspired with "The Man in the Iron Mask", I found that Louis XIV planted the economic, social (through equality in dress) and government participation bases for the subsequent French Revolution, and also the rise of Napoleon (for the merit associated with a military career). The work is very enriching and entertaining, and it is preferable that you read the work and know firsthand what it criticizes about religion, democracy, this time itself, some writers and artists, and the West culture (in the part about China), with the particular ironic look of his perspective, and that listing here would be a double fault, since it would not be even a tiny part of profound-intelligent or elegant-eloquent as the work of the "Great" among the enlightened. I await your comments
Paralelo entre Voltaire y Stendhal, y entre Luis XIV y Napoleón.
Esta gran obra del filósofo francés nos muestra su grandeza en otra faceta diferente y menos conocida que las facetas literaria y filosófica: la de historiador. Por las lecturas que realicé anteriormente de Vida y Memorias de Napoleón de Stendhal, logré identificar el gran paralelo entre los escritores y entre los monarcas. Además de lo anterior, me parece relevante destacar la profundidad del pensamiento de Voltaire en el análisis económico, político y cultural. De acuerdo con la lectura, encontré de dónde se inspiró Alexandre Dumas con "El hombre de la máscara de hierro", encontré que Luis XIV sembró las bases económicas, sociales (a través de la igualdad en la vestimenta) y de participación de gobierno para la posterior Revolución Francesa, y también del surgimiento de Napoleón (por el mérito asociado a la carrera militar). La obra es muy enriquecedora y entretenida, y es preferible que lean la obra y sepan de primera mano lo que critica de la religión, de la democracia, de la época misma, de algunos escritores y artistas, y de Occidente mismo (en la parte sobre China), con la particular mirada irónica de su perspectiva, y que listar acá sería una doble falta, pues no sería ni una ínfima parte de profundo-inteligente o elegante-elocuente como la obra del "Grande" entre los ilustrados. Espero sus comentarios
Parallel between Voltaire and Stendhal, and between Louis XIV and Napoleon.
This great work of the French philosopher shows us his greatness in another facet that is different and less known than the literary and philosophical facets: that of historian. From previous readings of Stendhal's Life and Memoirs of Napoleon, I was able to identify the great parallel between writers and between monarchs. In addition to the above, it seems relevant to me to highlight the depth of Voltaire's thought in economic, political and cultural analysis. According to the reading, I found where Alexandre Dumas was inspired with "The Man in the Iron Mask", I found that Louis XIV planted the economic, social (through equality in dress) and government participation bases for the subsequent French Revolution, and also the rise of Napoleon (for the merit associated with a military career). The work is very enriching and entertaining, and it is preferable that you read the work and know firsthand what it criticizes about religion, democracy, this time itself, some writers and artists, and the West culture (in the part about China), with the particular ironic look of his perspective, and that listing here would be a double fault, since it would not be even a tiny part of profound-intelligent or elegant-eloquent as the work of the "Great" among the enlightened. I await your comments
Paralelo entre Voltaire y Stendhal, y entre Luis XIV y Napoleón.
Esta gran obra del filósofo francés nos muestra su grandeza en otra faceta diferente y menos conocida que las facetas literaria y filosófica: la de historiador. Por las lecturas que realicé anteriormente de Vida y Memorias de Napoleón de Stendhal, logré identificar el gran paralelo entre los escritores y entre los monarcas. Además de lo anterior, me parece relevante destacar la profundidad del pensamiento de Voltaire en el análisis económico, político y cultural. De acuerdo con la lectura, encontré de dónde se inspiró Alexandre Dumas con "El hombre de la máscara de hierro", encontré que Luis XIV sembró las bases económicas, sociales (a través de la igualdad en la vestimenta) y de participación de gobierno para la posterior Revolución Francesa, y también del surgimiento de Napoleón (por el mérito asociado a la carrera militar). La obra es muy enriquecedora y entretenida, y es preferible que lean la obra y sepan de primera mano lo que critica de la religión, de la democracia, de la época misma, de algunos escritores y artistas, y de Occidente mismo (en la parte sobre China), con la particular mirada irónica de su perspectiva, y que listar acá sería una doble falta, pues no sería ni una ínfima parte de profundo-inteligente o elegante-elocuente como la obra del "Grande" entre los ilustrados. Espero sus comentarios
July 20, 2018
Conflicted about the rating. As an historical artifact or example of literary style it's easily three stars and possibly four, notwithstanding the repeated use of Voltaire's favourite trick of juxtaposing opposites. For a history of the period, I'd be much more comfortable with something from the modern era. Found a particular gap in Voltaire's failure to explain where all those armies of 80,000 or 100,000 came from and how quickly or well they were trained. He's also prone to confident, one-sentence descriptions of people's character.
For a modern reader, much of the subject matter is of curiosity value only. There are also so many royal relatives in the story that the book could probably benefit from a table of characters at the start, like the one provided in many editions of War and Peace.
However, a few nuggets stand out. Voltaire's disdain for religious disputes and for heavy-handed exercises of power has some current relevance. So does, oddly enough, a passage referring to the king's younger brother; Voltaire notes he was praised for valiant and effective action in a battle despite it being widely known that he enjoyed dressing in women's clothing and was effeminate in other ways as well. It's a matter-of-fact mention of what now would be freighted with moral overtones.
For a modern reader, much of the subject matter is of curiosity value only. There are also so many royal relatives in the story that the book could probably benefit from a table of characters at the start, like the one provided in many editions of War and Peace.
However, a few nuggets stand out. Voltaire's disdain for religious disputes and for heavy-handed exercises of power has some current relevance. So does, oddly enough, a passage referring to the king's younger brother; Voltaire notes he was praised for valiant and effective action in a battle despite it being widely known that he enjoyed dressing in women's clothing and was effeminate in other ways as well. It's a matter-of-fact mention of what now would be freighted with moral overtones.
September 24, 2017
Obviously, this is not the most historically useful work about Louis XIV's reign. But that's not why I was reading it anyway. Unfortunately, Voltaire is not as sharp here as he normally is, and seems to be trying to get on Louis XV's good side. Besides a few veiled barbs, he is far more monarchist here than I've ever seen him (although admittedly I haven't read the Henried).
July 17, 2025
Louis XIV became King of France as a five-year-old in 1643, while France was still fighting the Thirty Years War, so I picked up this book next after reading a history of the 30YW. Voltaire, the typical Enlightenment philosophe, was 21 when Louis XIV died in 1715, so while he wrote without access to all the French archives and before the historiographic methods we consider more trustworthy (pioneered by the German von Ranke in the 1800s), he was closer to the interests and concerns of the Sun King's own subjects than any fully modern historian could be.
Voltaire starts with political history after the manner stretching back to Thucydides, covering the players of the end of the Thirty Years War, the civil conflict called the Fronde, intrigues against the British government after Parliament throws out Catholic James II in favor of Protestant William and Mary in 1688, through the War of the Spanish Succession, in which a certain Mr. Churchill came close to crushing him. In this first section, Voltaire can sound apologetic to the reader as he stresses that he doesn't just want to write about politics or the king's biography, but about the minds of men in one of the four golden ages of the world. These were the Age of Pericles and Alexander, Augustus' Roman Empire, "the Age of Pope Leo X" (what we now call the Italian High Renaissance - Voltaire would not have approved stretching the good name all the way back to Dante) and Europe in the Age of Louis XIV, mostly just France and England but with a few nods to geniuses in other countries like Galileo. "Conflict Thesis" atheism is not in full form here: Voltaire has many positive things to say about many Christians including Popes - maybe it's the same Straussian irony as sending a copy of his Mahomet, which really attacked Reformation-era Christian fanaticism under the name of Islam, to the Pope with a sarcastic dedication, but it's there.
After a chronicle of war and other politics, he moves on to the glamorous court life and how Versailles and Paris were marked by technological and economic development relative to earlier reigns, as well as the first mentions of the comedic playwright Moliere and the tragedians, who he'll revisit in a dedicated section on literature. In 17th century France and Britain, there was a "quarrel of the ancients and the moderns", where instead of trying to copy Greco-Roman antiquity as an obviously superior culture like the Renaissance humanists, men of letters started debating whether we'd surpassed them. This self-confidence has become so taken for granted since the Industrial Revolution that a current history of this era might not even discuss what Voltaire spends a lot of time arguing.
He discusses modern science, then the last 80 of 460 pages are dedicated to theological controversies of Louis XIV's reign, which he of course considers all ridiculous.
It's a fascinating step in the development of historiography by a famous mind who more or less experienced the age he was writing about.
Voltaire starts with political history after the manner stretching back to Thucydides, covering the players of the end of the Thirty Years War, the civil conflict called the Fronde, intrigues against the British government after Parliament throws out Catholic James II in favor of Protestant William and Mary in 1688, through the War of the Spanish Succession, in which a certain Mr. Churchill came close to crushing him. In this first section, Voltaire can sound apologetic to the reader as he stresses that he doesn't just want to write about politics or the king's biography, but about the minds of men in one of the four golden ages of the world. These were the Age of Pericles and Alexander, Augustus' Roman Empire, "the Age of Pope Leo X" (what we now call the Italian High Renaissance - Voltaire would not have approved stretching the good name all the way back to Dante) and Europe in the Age of Louis XIV, mostly just France and England but with a few nods to geniuses in other countries like Galileo. "Conflict Thesis" atheism is not in full form here: Voltaire has many positive things to say about many Christians including Popes - maybe it's the same Straussian irony as sending a copy of his Mahomet, which really attacked Reformation-era Christian fanaticism under the name of Islam, to the Pope with a sarcastic dedication, but it's there.
After a chronicle of war and other politics, he moves on to the glamorous court life and how Versailles and Paris were marked by technological and economic development relative to earlier reigns, as well as the first mentions of the comedic playwright Moliere and the tragedians, who he'll revisit in a dedicated section on literature. In 17th century France and Britain, there was a "quarrel of the ancients and the moderns", where instead of trying to copy Greco-Roman antiquity as an obviously superior culture like the Renaissance humanists, men of letters started debating whether we'd surpassed them. This self-confidence has become so taken for granted since the Industrial Revolution that a current history of this era might not even discuss what Voltaire spends a lot of time arguing.
He discusses modern science, then the last 80 of 460 pages are dedicated to theological controversies of Louis XIV's reign, which he of course considers all ridiculous.
It's a fascinating step in the development of historiography by a famous mind who more or less experienced the age he was writing about.
July 24, 2015
El libro, en sí, no es difícil. Aborda diversos temas y situaciones en las que gente vinculada a Luis XIV terminó forjando una época.
Podemos saber cómo era Francia durante la infancia de Luis XIV durante y después de la muerte de su padre. También cómo el Cardenal Mazarino y Ana de Austria lidiaron contra nobles, como el Príncipe de Condé, que pretendieron preservar su influencia y poder; pero que en cada Guerra de la Fronda, al final, Mazarino consiguió consumar la meta de Richelieu de hacer de la monarquía en Francia una efectiva y desamrotizada, donde el rey -Luis XIV en este caso- pudiese gobernar por sí mismo, consolidando así el absolutismo monárquico.
En los capítulos de las guerras se aprecia no sólo cómo el rey convirtió a Francia en una potencia tras el declive de España, sino también su auge y decanadencia con cada generación de almirantes que le tocaba pelear. En las Guerras de Devolución, del Franco-Condado y contra Holana -lo que eran las Provincias Unidas- vemos cómo vino forjando su influencia geopolítica. Luego de la Revolución Gloriosa de Inglaterra, su apoyo a los jacobitas y la Guerra de la Liga de Ausburgo, su confirmación de que no era una nación imbatible con varios frentes simultáneos. Y con su interés de acceder a su nieto -Felipe V- al trono español y la posterior Guerra de Sucesión Española, una serie de errores que cometería, que si bien lograron su cometido, sin proponérselo abrió la puerta a lo que sería el declive de la figura del monarca tras su muerte.
Los episodios de las anécdotas perminten que el lector o lectora conozca al Luis XIV en su faceta humana. En ellas se relata enigmas sobre el Hombre de la Máscara de Hierro; las relaciones que el rey tuvo con Louise de la Vallière y Madame de Montestan; el Incidente de los Venenos con Le Sage, La Voisin, Bonard y La Vigoureux; su segundo matrimonio con Madame de Maitenon; su cambio de carácter espiritual a través de ella; sobre Racine y la recepción de sus tragedias; la pérdida de los familiares del rey; su fallecimieto; un balance respecto a su persona; testimonios de otros; cómo se veía sí mismo como monarca; su trato hacia la gente, y el legado que les dejó.
Los capítulos siguentes tratan sobre la política interior de Luis XIV; sus finanzas y reglamentos; las ciencias que se desarroolaron en su época; las bellas artes hechas en Francia y en el extranjero; los asuntos eclesiáticos y disputas que enfrentó; la defensa al galicanismo; sus querellas contra el calvinismo, el hansenismo y el quietismo, así como las diferencias culturales que causó con otros países, como China.
En la política interior y finanzas resalta las capacidades financieras de Colbert y el liberalismo económico del "laissez faire, laissez passer" -dejar ser, dejar pasar-; el constante desarrollo arquitectónico del Louvre y Versalles adquiriendo obras de arte; el asentamiento de toda la corte en Versalles y la finalidad política del lugar; el desarrollo de la disciplina militar por parte del rey y Louvois; el aprovechamiento del urbanístico y colonialismo de la época; lo que se ignoró y sus consecuencias.
En el desarrollo de las ciencias se describe el establecimiento de su academia. También el desarrollo de la geografía con domingo Cassini y Picard; la botánica con Tournefort; la reapertura de la Escuela de Derecho y el apogeo de la Academia Francesa. En las bellas artes se analiza cómo se formó el Neoclasicismo y sus influencias. Se citan a autores, como el duque de La Rochefoucauld, Mademoiselle de Desvieux, Bossuet, Fénelon, el racionalismo de Descartes, Corneille, Molière, Racine, La Fontaine, Quinault y Perrault. En las de la pintura se cita a Poussin y a Varin. Y en las de otros países en general, igualmente se menciona a John Milton, Dryden, Addison, los estudios de la antugüedad por Marsham y Hyde; de física de Boyle, Newton, Halley; el empirismo de Locke; la astronomía de Hevelius; el cálculo infinitesimal de Leibnitz, entre otros.
En el apartado de asuntos eclesiásticos resalta las querellas ente el galicanismo en Francia y las posturas del papado; la cuales devendrían en la Revocación del Edicto de Nantes que luego el libro describe en el capítulo sobre el calvinisno y la pérdida de talentos que tuvo Luis XIV al atacar a los Hugonotes -los protestantes franceces-. De igual modo pone en relieve las diferencias ideológicas que había sobre debía establecerse el poder temporal de los reyes. Del mismo modo que el capítulo sobre el calvinismo relata la supresión de los derechos de los hugonotes, hasta su posterior exilio a países como Holanda, el norte del Sacro Imperio Romano Germánico e Inglaterra con ciettos matices, hace lo propio con los del jansenismo y el quietismo. Describe cómo el jansenismo influenció en las sobras de Racine y Pascal, y cómo jesuitas, como Le Tellier -el confesor de Luis XIV- aprovecharon para atacarlos para recobrar su poder, hasta su expulsión en tiempos de Luis XV. Y en el caso del quietismo, cómo su credo causó una disputa entre Bossuet y Fénelon, y cómo eventualmente ni uno ni otro salieron bneficiados, pese a que el primero ejerció mayor influencia sobre el otro al legitimar el poder del rey.
En el último capítulo -las ceremonias chinas- simplemente describe cómo fue el contacto cultural con los chinos por parte de los jesuitas, e igualmente, los beneficios y consecuencias que causaron el encuentro de dos culturas muy distintas como la representada por Luis XIV y el emperador chino Yung-Ch'ing. El libro de Voltaire culmina con tres anexos de consulta para el lector o lectora: uno sobre la familia de Luis XIV, parientes, nobles, soberanos de su tiempo, mariscales y ministros; otro a un sinnúmero de escritores -conocidos y desconocidos-, incluyendo pintores, músicos y arquitectos; y un último a pies de página en los que se incluye ampliaciones y correcciones de la obra, asi como interpretaciones críticas hacia la misma.
"El Siglo de Luis XIV" de Voltaire es una obra que requiere paciencia y dene releerse cuidadosamente en ciertos temas. Para quiénes buscan saber sobre el monarca es importante remitirse a otras fuentes. "La Sociedad Cortesana" de Norbert Elias ayuda en ciertos capítulos para entender hasta qué punto tenía el poder absolut, e ,igualmente, en qué medida cómo varias obras literarias han abordado o matizado su personalidad.
Es un libro que vale la pena leer.
Podemos saber cómo era Francia durante la infancia de Luis XIV durante y después de la muerte de su padre. También cómo el Cardenal Mazarino y Ana de Austria lidiaron contra nobles, como el Príncipe de Condé, que pretendieron preservar su influencia y poder; pero que en cada Guerra de la Fronda, al final, Mazarino consiguió consumar la meta de Richelieu de hacer de la monarquía en Francia una efectiva y desamrotizada, donde el rey -Luis XIV en este caso- pudiese gobernar por sí mismo, consolidando así el absolutismo monárquico.
En los capítulos de las guerras se aprecia no sólo cómo el rey convirtió a Francia en una potencia tras el declive de España, sino también su auge y decanadencia con cada generación de almirantes que le tocaba pelear. En las Guerras de Devolución, del Franco-Condado y contra Holana -lo que eran las Provincias Unidas- vemos cómo vino forjando su influencia geopolítica. Luego de la Revolución Gloriosa de Inglaterra, su apoyo a los jacobitas y la Guerra de la Liga de Ausburgo, su confirmación de que no era una nación imbatible con varios frentes simultáneos. Y con su interés de acceder a su nieto -Felipe V- al trono español y la posterior Guerra de Sucesión Española, una serie de errores que cometería, que si bien lograron su cometido, sin proponérselo abrió la puerta a lo que sería el declive de la figura del monarca tras su muerte.
Los episodios de las anécdotas perminten que el lector o lectora conozca al Luis XIV en su faceta humana. En ellas se relata enigmas sobre el Hombre de la Máscara de Hierro; las relaciones que el rey tuvo con Louise de la Vallière y Madame de Montestan; el Incidente de los Venenos con Le Sage, La Voisin, Bonard y La Vigoureux; su segundo matrimonio con Madame de Maitenon; su cambio de carácter espiritual a través de ella; sobre Racine y la recepción de sus tragedias; la pérdida de los familiares del rey; su fallecimieto; un balance respecto a su persona; testimonios de otros; cómo se veía sí mismo como monarca; su trato hacia la gente, y el legado que les dejó.
Los capítulos siguentes tratan sobre la política interior de Luis XIV; sus finanzas y reglamentos; las ciencias que se desarroolaron en su época; las bellas artes hechas en Francia y en el extranjero; los asuntos eclesiáticos y disputas que enfrentó; la defensa al galicanismo; sus querellas contra el calvinismo, el hansenismo y el quietismo, así como las diferencias culturales que causó con otros países, como China.
En la política interior y finanzas resalta las capacidades financieras de Colbert y el liberalismo económico del "laissez faire, laissez passer" -dejar ser, dejar pasar-; el constante desarrollo arquitectónico del Louvre y Versalles adquiriendo obras de arte; el asentamiento de toda la corte en Versalles y la finalidad política del lugar; el desarrollo de la disciplina militar por parte del rey y Louvois; el aprovechamiento del urbanístico y colonialismo de la época; lo que se ignoró y sus consecuencias.
En el desarrollo de las ciencias se describe el establecimiento de su academia. También el desarrollo de la geografía con domingo Cassini y Picard; la botánica con Tournefort; la reapertura de la Escuela de Derecho y el apogeo de la Academia Francesa. En las bellas artes se analiza cómo se formó el Neoclasicismo y sus influencias. Se citan a autores, como el duque de La Rochefoucauld, Mademoiselle de Desvieux, Bossuet, Fénelon, el racionalismo de Descartes, Corneille, Molière, Racine, La Fontaine, Quinault y Perrault. En las de la pintura se cita a Poussin y a Varin. Y en las de otros países en general, igualmente se menciona a John Milton, Dryden, Addison, los estudios de la antugüedad por Marsham y Hyde; de física de Boyle, Newton, Halley; el empirismo de Locke; la astronomía de Hevelius; el cálculo infinitesimal de Leibnitz, entre otros.
En el apartado de asuntos eclesiásticos resalta las querellas ente el galicanismo en Francia y las posturas del papado; la cuales devendrían en la Revocación del Edicto de Nantes que luego el libro describe en el capítulo sobre el calvinisno y la pérdida de talentos que tuvo Luis XIV al atacar a los Hugonotes -los protestantes franceces-. De igual modo pone en relieve las diferencias ideológicas que había sobre debía establecerse el poder temporal de los reyes. Del mismo modo que el capítulo sobre el calvinismo relata la supresión de los derechos de los hugonotes, hasta su posterior exilio a países como Holanda, el norte del Sacro Imperio Romano Germánico e Inglaterra con ciettos matices, hace lo propio con los del jansenismo y el quietismo. Describe cómo el jansenismo influenció en las sobras de Racine y Pascal, y cómo jesuitas, como Le Tellier -el confesor de Luis XIV- aprovecharon para atacarlos para recobrar su poder, hasta su expulsión en tiempos de Luis XV. Y en el caso del quietismo, cómo su credo causó una disputa entre Bossuet y Fénelon, y cómo eventualmente ni uno ni otro salieron bneficiados, pese a que el primero ejerció mayor influencia sobre el otro al legitimar el poder del rey.
En el último capítulo -las ceremonias chinas- simplemente describe cómo fue el contacto cultural con los chinos por parte de los jesuitas, e igualmente, los beneficios y consecuencias que causaron el encuentro de dos culturas muy distintas como la representada por Luis XIV y el emperador chino Yung-Ch'ing. El libro de Voltaire culmina con tres anexos de consulta para el lector o lectora: uno sobre la familia de Luis XIV, parientes, nobles, soberanos de su tiempo, mariscales y ministros; otro a un sinnúmero de escritores -conocidos y desconocidos-, incluyendo pintores, músicos y arquitectos; y un último a pies de página en los que se incluye ampliaciones y correcciones de la obra, asi como interpretaciones críticas hacia la misma.
"El Siglo de Luis XIV" de Voltaire es una obra que requiere paciencia y dene releerse cuidadosamente en ciertos temas. Para quiénes buscan saber sobre el monarca es importante remitirse a otras fuentes. "La Sociedad Cortesana" de Norbert Elias ayuda en ciertos capítulos para entender hasta qué punto tenía el poder absolut, e ,igualmente, en qué medida cómo varias obras literarias han abordado o matizado su personalidad.
Es un libro que vale la pena leer.
October 13, 2025
A man of many parts was Mr. Voltaire. This is his history of the age of Louis XIV. Pretty much all I knew about the era up now I have gleaned from the works of Alexandre Dumas.
This work was comprehensive, forthright, detailed, opinionated and incisive. I very much enjoyed reading it. And lo and behold, it pretty much never contradicted what I had learned from Dumas. Bonus.
This work was comprehensive, forthright, detailed, opinionated and incisive. I very much enjoyed reading it. And lo and behold, it pretty much never contradicted what I had learned from Dumas. Bonus.
July 9, 2025
he was a very good historian incredibly
December 27, 2021
Historia Ludovita XIV. prezyvaneho aj kral Slnko. Autor je sucasnik tohto krala, cize pise o niekom z prvej ruky. Je to verne vyobrazenie zivota jedneho z najznamejsich francuzskych kralov. Jazyk je stary, nudny, nezazivny ale faktov o jeho zivote a o fungovani kralovho dvora je tam pozehnane.
December 27, 2024
Voltaire's view of Louis XIV
I made video review for YouTube. I invite you to watch it
https://youtu.be/999qJE3kwkE
I made video review for YouTube. I invite you to watch it
https://youtu.be/999qJE3kwkE
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