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The Age of Louis XIV Louis XIV's vanity was without limit or restraint; it colored everything and convinced him that no one even approached him in military talents, in plans and enterprises, in government. Louis XIV (1638-1715) was the king of France from 1643-1715. He was the son and successor of King Louis XIII. Following the regent reign of his queen-mother, Anne of Austria, Louis XIV became king of France when the country had been economically drained after the Thirty Years War. The great cardinal, Richelieu’s centralizing policies, however, laid the ground work for Louis to possess absolute monarchy based on a theory of divine right. Under his rule this concept reached its height. Louis made the statement, L’etat, c’est moi which summarized his rule: I am the state. Louis continued the practice of nobility’s exemption from taxes, but created a state where its members were forced into financial depe