Louis XIV

by Vincent Cronin

First published 25 years ago, this biography of the Sun King uses contemporary sources to examine what sort of monarch Louis XIV really was. The author's researches reveal a portrait of the man and an account of the principal events of his long reign (1642-1715). The book provides an overview of the entire civilization inspired by and reflecting the glory of the Sun King. Thus, while Louis occupies the foreground, artists like Racine, Moliere, Lully and Mansart, the architect of Versailles, share the middleground with politicians such as Cardinal Mazarin and Nicolas Fouquet and courtiers such as the king's mistress, Louise de La Valliere.

Genres: Biography, History, France, Nonfiction, European History, British Literature

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Vincent Archibald Patrick Cronin FRSL (24 May 1924 – 25 January 2011) was a British historical, cultural, and biographical writer, best known for his biographies of Louis XIV, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Catherine the Great, and Napoleon, as well as for his books on the Renaissance.

Cronin was born in Tredegar, Monmouthshire, to Scottish doctor and novelist, A. J. Cronin, and May Gibson, but moved to London at the age of two. He was educated at Ampleforth College, Harvard University, the Sorbonne, and Trinity College, Oxford, from which he graduated with honours in 1947, earning a degree in Literae Humaniores. During the Second World War, he served as a lieutenant in the British Army.

In 1949, he married Chantal de Rolland, and they had five children. The Cronins were long-time residents of London, Marbella, and Dragey, in Avranches, Normandy, where they lived at the Manoir de Brion.

Cronin was a recipient of the Richard Hillary Award, the W.H. Heinemann Award (1955), and the Rockefeller Foundation Award (1958). He also contributed to the Revue des Deux Mondes, was the first General Editor of the Companion Guides series, and was on the Council of the Royal Society of Literature.

He died at his home in Marbella on 25 January 2011.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent...

Reviews

[Janez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cronin's biography of Louis XIV is by far much more interesting than Mitford's. While reading Nancy Mitford's biography, I constantly had the feeling that her writing is based on a hear-say, gossip, rumours....radotage as the French would say. To be fair, Cronin also included gossip in his work, but did so in much more balanced way. Cronin's work also focuses on the entire life of the roi-soleil, while Mitford's commences with the transfer of power to Versailles. I have to say that I DID enjoy Mitford's biography, but I enjoyed Cronin's more!!!

[Tim Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

When we think of Louis XIV, we tend to think of him at Versailles: pomp and pageantry on an industrial scale. He seems vain and humourless. But this is not the whole story. He also had a much more intimate and informal coterie at Marly. And he regularly worked for eight hours a day improving the efficiency and honesty of the government and the real wealth of the country. History has been kind to Mazarin, but his administration was a kleptocracy and he left the country in an awful mess. It fell to Louis to clean it up.


Protestants remember Louis as a bigot and a persecutor, citing the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. But religious unity and uniformity was a logical adjunct of the unity and uniformity he was bringing to all other areas of his administration. There weren't that many Huguenots in France, and three quarters of them reverted to Catholicism under the mildest of pressure. That 200 000 of them would emigrate rather than abandon their faith was a great surprise. And they were allowed to emigrate: there were no mass executions. Ethnic cleansing is a crime, but it was practiced by every government in Europe.


In his domestic policy, Louis was far from a tyrant. That he achieved so much while respecting his subject's lives and property is quite remarkable. But his foreign policy is harder to defend. It was aggressive, expansionist and in some cases (The Palatinate War) pointlessly cruel. And he could have secured the Spanish Succession without a war if he had not flaunted it so arrogantly. He bullied the Dutch, and secured the lasting enmity of Britain by supporting the Stuart pretenders: both needless provocations.

[Noella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boek over het leven van Lodewijk XIV. Het leest zeer vlot, als een verhaal. Opvallend is wel dat vooral de goede kanten van Lodewijk aan bod komen, enkel op het einde, als men over zijn ouderdom vertelt, wordt enkele malen gezegd dat hij spijt heeft van de vele zonden die hij begaan heeft, en van de verkeerde beslissingen die hij genomen heeft, altijd maar om 'glorie' te verwerven, zowel voor hemzelf als voor Frankrijk. Eindelijk, op het laatst van zijn leven, als hij zelf verschillende dierbaren verloren heeft, beseft hij welk leed hij gebracht heeft in de families van de vele duizenden mannen die gesneuveld of verminkt zijn tijdens de vele oorlogen die hij gevoerd heeft. Volgens de schrijver....
Het lijkt meer op een poging van de auteur om toe te geven dat Lodewijk niet zo'n edel figuur was als hij in het hele boek liet doorschijnen, en dat hij dat toch wil verzachten door te zeggen dat Lodewijk in zijn laatste jaren spijtgevoelens had.

In bezit

[Stephanie Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me gustó mucho. Me enamoré del personaje que es un rey al que realmente no conocía y creo que no es como generalmente lo pintan en las películas. Lo más importante es que siento que aprendí mucho. Es de esos libros que no quieres terminar, pero al mismo tiempo es como el chisme de la realeza de entonces.

[Buddy Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was missing two main items that would have made it much better: useful maps and a bibiliography. I also felt the writer gave rather incomplete coverage of the results of the Revocation of the Edicts of Nantes and painted a portrait very friendly to Louis XIV.

[Jonny · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cons: Dry and extremely hagiographic until the penultimate chapter.

Pros: Cronin's research and passion for the subject is obvious.

[November · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really and truly, with a completely whole heart, ADORED this book. The author did the perfect job of telling facts in a captivating manor, that the people of France understood he was not only the king, but a human as well. They let him play as a child, told him bedtime stories, understood his loss with each lover that he had to leave behind, the love he had for his children, for France, his regrets, his public life, and the way it shaped him. The book starts the day of his conception, and goes until the moment his body is put in the ground to rest for good, and each and every page was just as memorable as the last. I will be keeping this book for my life, and recommending it to all who will give it a read.

A perfect 5 stars through and through!

[Liedzeit Liedzeit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eine Biographie, die Ludwig in der Tat strahlend aussehen lässt, selbst die Aufhebung des Edikts von Nantes kommt nicht so schlecht weg. Code Noir - Sklavenrechte. Sklaven müssen, wenn sie es wünschen, getauft werden, Verbot der Sonntags- und Feiertagsarbeit, Familien dürfen nicht getrennt verkauft werden. L. war der erste König, der auch Literaten subventionierte.

[Lennart · Rating 4 out of 5]

An sich sehr informativ und interessant. Hatte ein ganz anderes Bild vom Sonnenkönig. Der Autor nutzt viele gute Quellen und schreibt auch relativ unterhaltsam.
Finde die Kapitel teilweise etwas zu willkürlich von der Anordnung und vor allem bei Religion auch etwas zu tiefgehend. Da ging es schon sehr ins Detail, was ich für unnötig halte.

[Andrew Dockrill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came into this book very excited as Louis is one of my favorite monarchs and already knowing a great deal about him I thought I would greatly enjoy this read, and for the most part I was rewarded. I enjoyed how Cronin brought you on a walk with Louis and you got a look into his mind and ambitions. But I found Cronin too be much to sympathetic to Louis in his life much as he was about Napoleon. He made Louis out to be the epitome of man; how all men should be and aspire to be. I know Louis was a fantastic ruler but I also know that he was not a perfect ruler or man. He did not display any of the faults or mistakes of Louis and had no criticisms of the man. I also was a bit disappointed that Cronin did not go into much detail into Louis's various excursions. He barely touched the surface on his military campaigns and completely left out the building of Versailles. One chapter he was talking about one thing and the next "oh by the way versailles is built" I mean come on, Versailles was the biggest part of Louis's legacy you can't just skim over that. I guess I found some of the book a bit disappointing as it felt he just touched the surface of Louis life and did not go into much detail. I did however like the readability of this book. Very to the point and easy to follow, it is a bit choppy but that can be forgiven as it is not by any means destracting.

At the end of the day I think this book is best for people who want to be introduced to him and to know something about Louis and his life and reign, but if you want a more in depth study of the man I would look elsewhere as you will not really find it here.

[Lucy Siskova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vypravění o životě Ludvíka XIV. shledávám velmi zajímavým, avšak jsem byla zklamána, že v knize byly vynechány určité detaily, např. není tam zcela jasně uveden plán merkantilismu a také se autor vyhnul větší obloukem válkám. Orientace knihy je spíše na Ludvíkův soukromý život - milenky a manželka. A také dětství sehrálo podstatnou část. A líbilo se mi, že kniha končila slovy Ludvíka: "Vy jste si mysleli, že tu budu navždy?" ( Přibližný překlad )

[Al Maki · Rating 3 out of 5]

In addition to being a fine story teller, Cronin had a strong sense of a central theme in the lives of the people he wrote about. In the case of Louis he made it vividly clear to me what a danger the nobility of France were to the occupant of the throne and how Louis created the blinding grandeur of le Roi Soleil to keep them under control. I usually find myself quibbling with Cronin's interpretations but they are very well presented.

[Michał Szczepaniak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jedna z najlepszych biografii Ludwika XIV, jaka znam. Systematyczna, logicznie zwarta, interesujaca, a przy tym napisana w sposob przyjazny dla przecietnego czytelnika. Nawet jesli nie masz wiec doktoratu z historii, a interesuje Cie zycie i dokonania jednej z najwiekszych postaci nowozytnej Europy - siegaj po te ksiazke bez wahania.

[Lauren Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s hard not to become doubtful in the face of hagiography. Cronin paints such a positive picture that one finds oneself wishing to see some more believable flaws. Very readable, the book still left me wanting to read other biographies to double check his near perfection. Does anyone recommend any?

[Mick Maye · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the book a little heavy and long. The coverage was OK but it didn't flow.

[Nora · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started this on December 5 and am halfway through. This reads like a novel and provides incite into the personality of Louis.

[Melody Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit dry and obviously dated, but a good matter of fact introduction to Louis XIV.

[Sanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book about Ludvig and his mistresses.

[Rodrigo Zavala Molina]

Very interesting if you want to know more about this great king of France, which was called "Le roi solei". Very fresh and well written!