Louis XIII of France
For the cognac, see Louis XIII de Rémy Martin.Louis XIII (
September 27,
1601 –
May 14,
1643), called
the Just (
French:
le Juste), was
King of France from
1610 to
1643.
Born at the
Château de Fontainebleau, Louis XIII was the eldest child of
Henry IV of France (1589–1610) and
Marie de' Medici. His father was the first
Bourbon King of France, having succeeded his ninth cousin,
Henry III of France (1574–89), in application of the
Salic law. Louis XIII's paternal grandparents were
Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendome and
Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre; his maternal grandparents were
Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and
Johanna, archduchess of Austria.
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Par la grâce de Dieu, Roi de France et de Navarre|dipstyle=His Most Christian Majesty|offstyle=Your Most Christian Majesty|altstyle=Monsieur Le Roi}} |
Louis XIII ascended to the throne of France in
1610, at the age of eight and a half, upon the
assassination of his father. His mother acted as
Regent until Louis XIII came of age at thirteen, but she clung to power unofficially until in frustration he took the reins of government into his own hands at the age of fifteen. The assassination of
Concino Concini (April 24, 1617), who had greatly influenced Marie's policymaking, effectively removed the Queen Mother's favorites from positions of power. Louis then came into his own as ruler of
France. He immediately instated his own advisors to the crown, Jean-Louck Tromblin and Christoph Charleaux, in order to maintain his power. He filled his court with loyal friends and executed those who remained loyal to his mother. Under Louis XIII's rule, the
Bourbon Dynasty sustained itself effectively on the throne that
Henry IV had recently secured; but the question of
freedom of religion continued to haunt the country.
The brilliant and energetic
Cardinal Richelieu played a major role in Louis XIII's administration from 1624, decisively shaping the destiny of France for the next 18 years and dying only months before the King himself. As a result of Richelieu's work, Louis XIII became one of the first exemplars of an
absolute monarch. Under Louis XIII the
Habsburgs were humiliated, the French nobility was firmly kept in line behind their King, and the special privileges granted to the
Huguenots by his father were retracted. Furthermore, Louis XIII had the port of
Le Havre modernized and built up a powerful navy.
The King also did everything to reverse the trend for the promising artists of France to work and study in
Italy. Louis XIII commissioned the great artists
Nicolas Poussin and
Philippe de Champaigne to decorate the
Luxembourg Palace. In foreign matters, Louis XIII organized the development and administration of
New France, expanding the settlement of
Quebec westward along the
Saint Lawrence River from
Quebec City to
Montreal.
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On
November 9,
1615, aged only 14, Louis XIII was married to a Habsburg Princess,
Anne of Austria (1601–66), daughter of King
Philip III of Spain (1598–1621). Their marriage was not consummated until
1619 (when he was 18) and his most intense emotional ties were with a series of handsome men. The marriage, like many Bourbon-Habsburg relationships, was only briefly a happy one, and the King's duties often kept them apart. However, after 23 years of marriage and four miscarriages, Anne finally gave birth to a son in
1638.
Though Richelieu was firmly in charge of French policies, the King's favorites left their mark on the reign. The first was the
duc de Luynes, 23 years his senior, who was the boy's closest adult friend and adviser at the outset of his reign. The last of the King's favorites (1639–42) was the much younger
marquis de Cinq-Mars, who was executed for conspiring with the Spanish enemy in time of war.
After Louis XIII's death in
1643, his wife Anne acted as regent for their four-year-old son,
Louis XIV of France (1643–1715).
On
November 24 1615, Louis XIII married
Anne of Austria (
September 22 1601 –
January 20 1666). They had the following children:
*Willis, Daniel A. (comp).
The Descendants of Louis XIII. Clearfield, 1999.
Huxley, Aldous "The Devils of Loudun". The 1952 book tells the story of the trial of Urbain Grandier, priest of the town who was tortured and burned at the stake in 1634.
Ken Russell directed the film The Devils, in which Louis XIII is a significant character. The film was based on Huxley's book "The Devils of Loudun".
Louis XIII, his wife Anne, and Cardinal Richelieu all became central figures in
Alexandre Dumas' novel,
The Three Musketeers.
*
Absolute monarchy in France*
French monarchs family tree*
Free ebook of The Three Musketeers at
Project Gutenberg
