Mother of Louis the X1v

Answer 1

The mother of Louis XIV was Anne of Austria. Don't let the name fool you--Anne was a Spanish princess but the ruling house of Spain were the Austrian royals the Habsburgs so she was called Anne of Austria. She was the sister of Phillip the Fourth of Spain and she married the King of France, Louis XIII. Louis XIII was a very melancholy king dominated by his minister, Cardinal Richlieu. There are also indications he was probably a lifelong homosexual. He did not get along with Anne and rarely slept with her. He felt she was intriguing against him as she still wrote to her brother in Spain even when France was at war with Spain and because Anne had a close friendship with the Ambassador from England, the Duke of Buckingham. Cardinal Richelieu also considered her disloyal and at one point the queen was almost under house arrest. Intrigues involving the queen are the basis of the famous book, the Three Musketeers by Dumas.

There was no child for almost 25 years of marriage when an unexpected thunderstorm during a hunting party caused Louis XIII to return home unexpectantly and to share his wife's bed one night and then a baby was concieved--the future monarch Louis XIV. Because he was born so late in his parents marriage, Louis's nickname was Dieudonne--literally God's gift. The queen and king obviously appeared to have reconciled as less than 2 years later, another boy baby was born, Phillipe, born the Duc d'Anjou but is more famous or infamous as his mature title, the Duc D Orleans, the gay brother of Louis XIV, "Monsieur" to the court.

Anne loved both her sons but she doted on her heir and raised Louis to always dominate everyone-including his brother Phillipe and she even kept Monsieur in girls clothing for a long time to promote his being submissive to Louis. She is said by many historians to have sacrificed one son for the other in terms of policy because she advised Louis XIV to give Monsieur an extravagant lifestyle but keep him from power. or responsiblility. Anne is said to have done this because Louis XIII"s brother Gaston had warred againist her husband for decades. At one point, Gaston even plotted to kill his brother in battle and marry Anne. Anne did not want a repeat of this with her two sons. There was no such political rivalry--Philippe grew up to support Louis totally and to be extravagant and frivolous and for the most part incapable of serious effort. However, when he was asked to help Louis in the Franco-Dutch War, Philippe proved to be an excellent general and won a huge battle against William of Orange--a victory that left Louis embarrassed and jealous. Monsieur was asked to leave his generalship at that point--so perhaps the mother knew any talent or power were a problem with this brother. Monsieur's palaces also caused Louis to be more extravagant at Versailles to compete with the lavish interiors at places like Saint Cloud.

Louis XIII died when Louis XIV was only 4 years old and Anne was his regent until his maturity. Anne had a turbulent regency as many of the nobles rebelled and even drove Anne and her sons from their palaces in Paris at one point. She was able to stop the rebellion and solidify the throne for her young son. Anne had her own cardinal for a minister, Cardinal Mazarin. She is said to have been very attached to the Cardinal and some rumor she and Mazarin may have been secretly married. Once he became king, Louis saddened his mother by not listening to her about his morals, his spending,etc. They remained close,however, and when she died horribly of breast cancer, the young king was devastated. Although her son Philippe was an afterthought as a child, as a young man he and his mother grew close and he nursed her on her death bed. She left many of her famous jewels, etc to Philippe.