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Birthday!!
Son of Louis XIII and his wife Anne (Ana) of Austria in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. s heir apparent, he bore the traditional title of Dauphin. His birth followed almost twenty-three years of his estranged parents' childlessness. Contemporaries regarded him as a divine gift, and his birth, a miracle; hence, he was named "Louis-Dieudonné" (Louis-God-given). -
Brother Birth
Philippe de France, Duke of Orléans was the second surviving sonand thus the younger brother of Louis XIV. -
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his reign
Louis reigned the longest in European history -
Marriage to Maria
The negotiations for the marriage contract were intense. Eager to prevent a union of the two countries or crowns, especially one in which Spain would be subservient to France, the diplomats sought to include a renunciation clause which would deprieve María Teresa and her children of any rights to the Spanish succession. This was eventually done but, by the skill of Mazarin and his French diplomats, the renunciation and its validity were made conditional upon the payment of a large dowry. -
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Second Anglo-Dutch War
Shocked by the rapidity of French successes and fearful of the future, the Dutch turned on their French allies and ended the Second Anglo-Dutch War with England. -
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War of Devolution
Louis XIV makes war in Spain and conquers a large part of the Spanish Netherlands. -
Treaty of Dover
Also known as the Secret Treaty of Dover, was an offensive and defensive treaty between England and France signed at Dover. It required France to assist England in her aim to rejoin the Roman Catholic Church and England to assist France in her war of conquest against the Dutch Republic. (Picture: Charles II, King of England) -
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The Franco-Dutch War
Often called simply the Dutch War was a war fought by the Kingdom of France, the Swedish Empire, the Bishopric of Münster, the Archbishopric of Cologne and the Kingdom of England against the Dutch Republic, which was later joined by Holy Roman Emperor, Brandenburg and Spain to form a quadruple alliance. -
Treaty of Westminster
The Treaty of Westminster of 1674 was the peace treaty that ended the Third Anglo-Dutch War. England was forced to sign the treaty as Parliament would not allow more money to be spent on the war and had become aware of the secret Treaty of Dover in which Charles had promised Louis XIV of France to convert to Roman Catholicism at an opportune moment. -
Death of the Queen
During the last week of July 1683, Marie-Thérèse fell ill and, as her illness worsened, her husband ordered for the Sacraments to be kept nearby. Marie-Thérèse, Infanta of Spain and Queen of France, died a painful death at Versailles. Upon her death, said: 'This is the first trouble which she has given me. -
Secret Second Wife
Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon was the morganatic second wife of King Louis XIV of France. She was known after her first marriage as Madame Scarron, and subsequently as Madame de Maintenon. Her marriage to the king was never officially announced or admitted. -
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War of the League of Augsburg
The War of the League of Augsburg (1688–1697) had two immediate causes with French influence in the Rhineland at stake. First, the death of Charles II, Elector Palatine in 1685 caused a succession crisis, in which Louis’s sister-in-law Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate had interests. The death of Max Henry, Archbishop of Cologne produced another succession crisis in 1688. -
The Treaty of Ryswick
Ended the War of the League of Augsburg, and the Grand Alliance. By manipulating their rivalries and suspicions, Louis divided his enemies and broke their power.