Richelieu died in 1642 A.D., and the next year Louis XIII,
the master whom he had served so faithfully, also passed away. The new ruler,
Louis XIV, was only a child, and the management of affairs for a second period
of eighteen years passed into the hands of Cardinal Mazarin. Though an Italian
by birth, he became a naturalized Frenchman and carried out Richelieu's
policies. Against the Hapsburgs Mazarin continued the great war which Richelieu
had begun and brought it to a satisfactory conclusion. The Peace of Westphalia
was Mazarin's greatest triumph. He also crushed a formidable uprising against
the crown, on the part of discontented nobles. Having achieved all this, the
cardinal could truly say that "if his language was not French, his heart
was," His death in 1661 A.D. found the royal authority more firmly
established than ever before.
LOUIS XIV, THE MAN
Louis XIV, who now in his twenty-third year took up the
reins of government, ranks among the ablest of French monarchs. He was a man of
handsome presence, slightly below the middle height, with a prominent nose and
abundant hair, which he allowed to fall over his shoulders. In manner he was
dignified, reserved, courteous, and as majestic, it is said, in his
dressing-gown as in his robes of state. A contemporary wrote that he would have
been every inch a king, "even if he had been born under the roof of a
beggar." Louis possessed much natural intelligence, a retentive memory,
and great capacity for work. It must be added, however, that his general
education had been much neglected, and that throughout his life he remained
ignorant and superstitious. Vanity formed a striking trait in the character of
Louis. He accepted the most fulsome compliments and delighted to be known as
the "Grand Monarch" and the "Sun-king."
