Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette

1
Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette

• The Sun King and Cake Queen
• Pages 62 to 67
• Notes 2

2
Sun King Louis XIV (14th)

• Louis XIV
• Louis XIV (14th) ruled France for over 70 years
• started at the age of 7 and gave himself the
  nickname The Sun King
• Louis did little for his country
• largely ineffective ruler who lived in excessive
  luxury
• Louis XIVs Religious Problems
• Louis fuelled religious troubles by persecuting
  Protestants
• claimed he had special rights within the Roman
  Catholic Church

3

• Government Inaction
• French govt ineffective
• did little to help the French people
• Taxes were high and plentiful
• little infrastructure to support businesses
• no common law for the country
• Marie Antoinette
• Austrian bride of Louis XVI (16th) (Louis XV
  successor)
• very unpopular Queen
• Marie was strong willed and opinionated
• no learning or experiences on which to base her
  judgments
• often resulted in decisions that affected govt
  and people of France negatively
• Clip