Louis XIV's reign (1643-1715) was the third and longest of the House of Bourbon, the dynasty that began on the deathbed of Henry III (1589), last of the Valois kings. Henry III appointed Henry, King of Navarre, as his successor. Taking the title Henry IV, the new king fought violent catholic opposition and, with the help of the politiques (moderate Catholics) and French nationalists, secured a relatively strong, central monarchy. Henry IV was assassinated in 1610 and was succeeded by his son, Louis XIII (1610-1643). Louis' reign was always under the guidance of others, either his mother, Marie de' Medici, or Armand Jean de Plessis-Cardinal Duke of Richelieu, eventually the first Minister of France. Richelieu's greatest accomplishments lay in foreign affairs where he restored France's importance in the courts of Italy, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Louis XIV's ascension coincided with the death of Richelieu, so Anne of Austria, the king's mother and regent, appointed the Italian-born Cardinal Mazarin as Minister. With Mazarin's death in 1661, Louis assumed absolute control over the crown (L'état, c'est moi). His ambition for fame and a desire to increase France's territory were the principal causes of the wars during his reign.
First War (1667-1668) - War of Devolution. Louis claimed Spanish territories in Belgium (Brabant, Flanders) by virtue of the droit de dévolution, a principle of private law where ownership of property is granted to the children (not the spouse) of the landholder. Louis believed that because his wife's dowry was never paid, her renunciation of Spanish heritage was invalid, and that she should rightfully own the Spanish territories after her father, Philip IV, died. France quickly captured the cities of Flanders and Hainault and the autonomous Franche-Comté (Burgundy), but the Triple Alliance of England, Sweden and Holland forced Louis to sign the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, giving Franche-Comté to Spain in exchange for twelve fortified towns on the borders of the Spanish Netherlands (including Lille, Tournai, and Oudenarde).
Second War (1672-1678) - against Holland. Inflamed with Holland's actions in the War of Devolution, Louis secured the disruption of the Triple Alliance and quickly and easily conquered southern Holland. Opening the sluices around Amsterdam saved the city, and alliances with Brandenburg and Spain helped to fight the French. Louis personally took the Franche-Comté (as alluded to in the prologue of Thésée), and his generals, Condé and Turenne, won battles at Senef (Netherlands) and the upper Rhine respectively. (Turenne died in the battle of Fehrbellin, and his death is mourned in the prologue of Atys.) The surprise French capture of Ghent and Ypres lead to negotiations of the Treaty of Nimwegen where Spain yielded Ypres in exchange for Ghent. Spain also ceded the Franche-Comté and towns along the northeastern frontier (Valenciennes, Cambrai, the Cambrésis). Louis forced the Empire to relinquish all its holdings in Pomerania (between Poland and Germany) to Sweden, but kept Freiburg for France. (Louis' triumph over the Triple Alliance is commemorated in the prologues of Proserpine and Bellérophon, in which the defeated countries are represented as a lion, a dragon, and a goat.)
Louis was now at the height of his power. Capitalizing on the weakness of the Empire, he established the Chambers of Reunion in cities along the eastern French border. The purpose of the Chambers was to investigate matters of dependency for towns ceded in the last four treaties. Louis executed his court's decisions and between 1680 and 1683, had annexed Saarbrücken, Luxemburg, Zweibrücken and Strassburg. Louis further tested the Empire by invading the Spanish Netherlands in 1684. The debilitated Empire issued empty protests and concluded a twenty year truce with the Peace of Regensburg. Truce of Ratisbon? (This peace is mentioned in the prologue of Roland and forms the general celebration of the ballet La Temple de la paix.)
Third War (1688-1697) - War of the League of Augsburg. When the Elector Charles, the last male heir to the Electors Palatine, died, Louis laid claim to the Palatinate citing his sister-in-law, Charles' widow, as his justification. Louis quickly extended that claim to include most of the Palatinate, which extended along the Rhine between Worms and Sassbach. (This greed is referred to in the prologue of Achille et Polixene). The international opinion of Louis had fallen after his revocation of the Edict of Nantes (withdrawing religious freedom for Protestants), and with the English revolution placing William of Orange on the throne, the League of Augsburg (consisting of Sweden, Spain, Holland, Bavaria, Saxony and the Palatinate) had a powerful ally in the opposition of France. Both sides were equally matched, and the war raged for nine years before concessions were made with the Treaty of Ryswick. The treaty returned conquered territories to their owners before the war. In addition, France returned to Spain all land "reunited" since the Treaty of Nimwegen (with only a few exceptions) and to the Empire, all "reunions" except Alsace. This reduced the size of Louis' kingdom, particularly on its eastern frontier.