Louis XIV

Louis XIV (1638 to 1715), known as the Sun King, was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715 and the longest-reigning monarch in history, ruling for 72 years and 110 days. He became king while too young to rule, under the regency of his mother, Anne of Austria, and the chief minister Cardinal Mazarin, and took personal control of the state when Mazarin died in 1661. He reorganised and enlarged the army, with military administration reformed through Michel le Tellier and his son Louvois, and during his personal rule he fought three major continental conflicts against powerful foreign alliances: the Franco-Dutch War, the Nine Years' War and the War of the Spanish Succession. France also contested shorter wars, among them the War of Devolution and the War of the Reunions. He was devoted to the soldiers' material well-being and morale, tried to direct campaigns, and personally supervised the captures of Mons in 1691 and Namur in 1692. His wars strained French resources to the utmost, and the War of the Spanish Succession lasted almost until his death.