CONTENTS.
Chapter Page
I. BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD 13
II. THE BOY-KING 49
III. MATRIMONIAL PROJECTS 86
IV. THE MARRIAGE OF THE KING 121
V. FESTIVITIES OF THE COURT 159
VI. DEATH IN THE PALACE 194
VII. THE WAR IN HOLLAND 234
VIII. MADAME DE MAINTENON 268
IX. THE REVOCATION OF THE EDICT OF NANTES 302
X. THE SECRET MARRIAGE 330
XI. INTRIGUES AND WARS 359
XII. LAST DAYS OF LOUIS XIV. 384
ENGRAVINGS.
Page
LOUIS XIV. Frontispiece.
THE CASTLE OF BLOIS 18
PALACE OF ST. GERMAIN-EN-LAYE 23
THE PALAIS ROYAL 31
PALACE OF THE LUXEMBOURG 52
THE TUILERIES 74
THE CASTLE OF VINCENNES 79
PALACE OF CHANTILLY 98
VIEW OF FONTAINEBLEAU 103
ISLE OF PHEASANTS 129
THE LOUVRE AND THE TUILERIES 139
PALACE OF FONTAINEBLEAU 145
CHATEAU MAZARIN 157
CHATEAU DE VAUX 176
CONVENT OF VAL DE GRACE 198
THE PALACE OF ST. CLOUD 201
INTERIOR OF ST. DENIS 208
ST. DENIS 236
PORTE ST. DENIS 254
MADAME DE MAINTENON 273
PALACE OF VERSAILLES 297
PARTERRE OF VERSAILLES 324
RACINE AND BOILEAU 339
THE TRIANON 351
MARLY 354
LOUIS XIV. DIRECTING THE SIEGE 362
FRONT VIEW OF ST. GERMAIN 376
ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DEATH OF LOUIS XIV. 409
LOUIS XIV.
CHAPTER I.
BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD.
1615-1650
Marriage of Louis XIII.--Character of Louis XIII.--Character of Anne of Austria.--Cardinal Richelieu.--The Duke of Buckingham.--His death.--Estrangement of the king and queen.--Joy of the nation.--Birth of Louis XIV.--Gift of the Pope.--Condition of Paris.--Reconciliation of the king and queen.--Orders of Louis XIII. respecting the dauphin.--Ill health of Louis XIII.--The dauphin declared King Louis XIV.--Last hours of Louis XIII.--Death of Louis XIII.--Louis XIV. recognized king.--Palais Royal.--Apartments of the queen regent.--Educational arrangements for Louis XIV.--Speech of Louis at five years old.--Dislikes the change of teachers.--Interest in history.--Mazarin's wicked policy.--Henrietta, queen of Charles I.--Figure and bearing of the king.--His first campaign.--The cardinal's nieces.--Anecdote.--Feud between Mazarin and the Parliament.--Alarm of Mazarin.--Escape of the royal family from Paris.--Flight of the court.--Discomfort of the court at St. Germain.--Excitement in Paris.--Issue of a parliamentary decree.--Origin of the names Fronde and Mazarins.--Two rival courts.--Straw scarce.--Character of Mazarin.--Termination of the war.--Society reversed.
Louis XIII. of France married Anne of Austria on the 25th of November, 1615. The marriage ceremony was performed with great splendor in the Cathedral of Bordeaux. The bride was exceedingly beautiful, tall, and of exquisite proportions. She possessed the whitest and most delicate hand that ever made an imperious gesture. Her eyes were of matchless beauty, easily dilated, and of extraordinary transparency. Her small and ruddy mouth looked like an opening rose-bud. Long and silky hair, of a lovely shade of auburn, gave to the face it surrounded the sparkling complexion of a blonde, and the animation of a brunette.[A]
[Footnote A: Louis XIV. et son Siècle.]
The marriage was not a happy one. Louis XIII. was not a man of any mental or physical attractions. He was cruel, petulant, and jealous. The king had a younger brother, Gaston, duke of Anjou. He was a young man of joyous spirits, social, frank, a universal favorite. His moody, taciturn brother did not love him. Anne did. She could not but enjoy his society. Wounded by the coldness and neglect of her husband, it is said that she was not unwilling, by rather a free exhibition of the fascinations of her person and her mind, to win the admiration of Gaston. She hoped thus to inspire the king with a more just appreciation of her merits.
Louis XIII., at the time of his marriage, was a mere boy fourteen years of age. His father had died when he was nine years old. He was left under the care of his mother, Mary de Medicis, as regent. Anne of Austria was a maturely developed and precocious child of eleven years when she gave her hand to the boy-king of
Chapter Page
I. BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD 13
II. THE BOY-KING 49
III. MATRIMONIAL PROJECTS 86
IV. THE MARRIAGE OF THE KING 121
V. FESTIVITIES OF THE COURT 159
VI. DEATH IN THE PALACE 194
VII. THE WAR IN HOLLAND 234
VIII. MADAME DE MAINTENON 268
IX. THE REVOCATION OF THE EDICT OF NANTES 302
X. THE SECRET MARRIAGE 330
XI. INTRIGUES AND WARS 359
XII. LAST DAYS OF LOUIS XIV. 384
ENGRAVINGS.
Page
LOUIS XIV. Frontispiece.
THE CASTLE OF BLOIS 18
PALACE OF ST. GERMAIN-EN-LAYE 23
THE PALAIS ROYAL 31
PALACE OF THE LUXEMBOURG 52
THE TUILERIES 74
THE CASTLE OF VINCENNES 79
PALACE OF CHANTILLY 98
VIEW OF FONTAINEBLEAU 103
ISLE OF PHEASANTS 129
THE LOUVRE AND THE TUILERIES 139
PALACE OF FONTAINEBLEAU 145
CHATEAU MAZARIN 157
CHATEAU DE VAUX 176
CONVENT OF VAL DE GRACE 198
THE PALACE OF ST. CLOUD 201
INTERIOR OF ST. DENIS 208
ST. DENIS 236
PORTE ST. DENIS 254
MADAME DE MAINTENON 273
PALACE OF VERSAILLES 297
PARTERRE OF VERSAILLES 324
RACINE AND BOILEAU 339
THE TRIANON 351
MARLY 354
LOUIS XIV. DIRECTING THE SIEGE 362
FRONT VIEW OF ST. GERMAIN 376
ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DEATH OF LOUIS XIV. 409
LOUIS XIV.
CHAPTER I.
BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD.
1615-1650
Marriage of Louis XIII.--Character of Louis XIII.--Character of Anne of Austria.--Cardinal Richelieu.--The Duke of Buckingham.--His death.--Estrangement of the king and queen.--Joy of the nation.--Birth of Louis XIV.--Gift of the Pope.--Condition of Paris.--Reconciliation of the king and queen.--Orders of Louis XIII. respecting the dauphin.--Ill health of Louis XIII.--The dauphin declared King Louis XIV.--Last hours of Louis XIII.--Death of Louis XIII.--Louis XIV. recognized king.--Palais Royal.--Apartments of the queen regent.--Educational arrangements for Louis XIV.--Speech of Louis at five years old.--Dislikes the change of teachers.--Interest in history.--Mazarin's wicked policy.--Henrietta, queen of Charles I.--Figure and bearing of the king.--His first campaign.--The cardinal's nieces.--Anecdote.--Feud between Mazarin and the Parliament.--Alarm of Mazarin.--Escape of the royal family from Paris.--Flight of the court.--Discomfort of the court at St. Germain.--Excitement in Paris.--Issue of a parliamentary decree.--Origin of the names Fronde and Mazarins.--Two rival courts.--Straw scarce.--Character of Mazarin.--Termination of the war.--Society reversed.
Louis XIII. of France married Anne of Austria on the 25th of November, 1615. The marriage ceremony was performed with great splendor in the Cathedral of Bordeaux. The bride was exceedingly beautiful, tall, and of exquisite proportions. She possessed the whitest and most delicate hand that ever made an imperious gesture. Her eyes were of matchless beauty, easily dilated, and of extraordinary transparency. Her small and ruddy mouth looked like an opening rose-bud. Long and silky hair, of a lovely shade of auburn, gave to the face it surrounded the sparkling complexion of a blonde, and the animation of a brunette.[A]
[Footnote A: Louis XIV. et son Siècle.]
The marriage was not a happy one. Louis XIII. was not a man of any mental or physical attractions. He was cruel, petulant, and jealous. The king had a younger brother, Gaston, duke of Anjou. He was a young man of joyous spirits, social, frank, a universal favorite. His moody, taciturn brother did not love him. Anne did. She could not but enjoy his society. Wounded by the coldness and neglect of her husband, it is said that she was not unwilling, by rather a free exhibition of the fascinations of her person and her mind, to win the admiration of Gaston. She hoped thus to inspire the king with a more just appreciation of her merits.
Louis XIII., at the time of his marriage, was a mere boy fourteen years of age. His father had died when he was nine years old. He was left under the care of his mother, Mary de Medicis, as regent. Anne of Austria was a maturely developed and precocious child of eleven years when she gave her hand to the boy-king of
