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In 1661 the 23 year-old French king Louis the XIV had been on the throne for 18 years when his chief minister, Cardinal Mazarin, died. Louis is reported to have said to his ministers, 鈥淚t is now time that I govern my affairs myself. You will assist me with your counsels when I ask for them [but] I order you to seal no orders except by my command鈥� I order you not to sign anything, not even a passport, without my command, and to render account to me personally each day鈥�

So began the personal rule of Louis XIV, which lasted a further 54 years until his death in 1715. From his newly-built palace at Versailles, Louis was able to project an image of himself as the centre of gravity around which all of France revolved: it鈥檚 no accident that he became known as the Sun King. He centralized power to the extent he was able to say 鈥楲鈥檈tat c鈥檈st moi鈥�: I am the state. Under his rule France became the leading diplomatic, military and cultural power in Europe.

With

Catriona Seth
Marshal Foch Professor of French Literature at the University of Oxford

Guy Rowlands
Professor of Early Modern History at the University of St Andrews

and

Penny Roberts
Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Warwick

Producer: Luke Mulhall