”Ludvig XIV”
is a popularized Swedish biography of the French Sun-King Louis XIV (king of
France from 1643 to 1715). Perhaps a bit too popularized as far as the language
is concerned. The author, Andreas Marklund, is a Swedish historian.
Very little
needs to be said about the book, which does work tolerably well as an introduction
to the absolutist ruler whose persona marked half a century (and perhaps more).
Everything seems to be in there: Cardinal Mazarin, the Fronde, the turn towards
absolutism, Colbert and mercantilism, the building of Versailles, the Edict of
Nantes, the constant wars with England and the Habsburgs, the royal propaganda
machine…
Some of the
real or perceived mysteries of the age are also mentioned: “the man with the
iron mask”, the Great Cipher and the “Satanist” pursuits of La Voisin and Madame
de Montespan. The musketeer D´Artagnan makes a very brief guest appearance.
This was
the period known as the Little Ice Age, when most people lived like dogs, and
France was of course no exception. The grinding poverty contrasted with the splendor
and luxury of the royal court, but also with the advances in science made at
the same time. And while Catholic royal
absolutism isn´t my thing, was the Protestant “liberal” merchant oligarchy of
England and the Netherlands really any better? Maybe in some relative sense, but
note the irony that America won its freedom from Britain thanks to an alliance with
a later absolutist French monarch, Louis XVI, or that Britain crushed Napoleon
with the help of Czarist Russia!
Makes me
wonder what side I´m really on…
With that
reflection, I end this review.
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