Retro Raunch Revisit

JUN 7, 1654: Although he was King of France since May 1643 at 11yrs old, Louis XIV's official royal coronation takes place 11yrs later when he is 15. He was known as the 'Sun King' because of his self-portrayal of Greek God Apollo, symbolizing absolute power & the divine right to rule and with that image also further presenting himself as the source of light & life to reinforce his position as the center in all of French society. As the supreme head of state, Louis' entirety on the throne oversaw colonial expansion in the Americas, Africa & Asia; the conclusion of the Thirty Years' War (May 1618 - Oct 1648); the long struggle of feudalism bewteen peasants vs. nobility; abolishing the rights of the Huguenot Protestant minority and forcing their conversion into Catholicism; a supportive then later suppressive relationship with the Jesuits; a supportive than later suppressive relationship with Gallicanism (a doctrine advocating Church independence from the Pope's authority); alliances/disputes/wars with Spain, Holland, Saxony and Bavaria (Germany); diplomatic tensions with Austria and Italy; maintaining strict observance during Lent; the patronage of artists, musicians & the ballet; founding the French Academy of Sciences; renovating & improving the Louvre Museum; influencing the Baroque style of fine arts and architecture with a particular fondness for portraiture, sculpture & tapestries; turning the Palace of Versailles into a center of politics; and creating the 'Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis' decoration of chivalry/knighthood with the reward itself serving as an early forerunner of the Légion d'honneur. Louis died in Sept 1715 and his reign of 72yrs still remains the longest of any monarch in history.