2021-05-06 Thu

Louis XIV also known as Louis the Great was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest recorded of any monarch of a sovereign country in European history. Louis XIV's France was emblematic of the age of absolutism in Europe. The King surrounded himself with a variety of significant political, military, and cultural figures.

He ruled his country, principally from his great palace at Versailles, during one of its most brilliant periods and who remains the symbol of absolute monarchy of the classical age. Internationally, in a series of wars between 1667 and 1697, he extended France’s eastern borders at the expense of the Habsburgs and then, in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14), engaged a hostile European coalition in order to secure the Spanish throne for his grandson.

During Louis's long reign, France emerged as the leading European power and regularly asserted its military strength. Depicted here is a coin of Louis XIV, dated 1674. The inscription on the obverse reads, in English, "Louis XIV, By The Grace Of God." On the other hand, the inscription on the reverse reads, "King of France and Navarre, 1674."

Image Source: Wikipedia.orgking-louis-xvi