Louis XIV Centre Table

Louis XIV

Posted on October 21, 2012

Louis XIV (5 September 1638 – 1 September 1715), known as Louis the Great or the Sun King was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as the King of France. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is one of the longest in French and European history.

Louis began his personal rule of France in 1661 His home in Paris was the Louvre and then moved to inhabit his lavish hunting lodge at the Palace of Versailles. He lived in opulence until the citizens of France tired of constant taxation and started the French Revolution.

At the time of the French Revolution, the Versailles Palace furniture was auctioned and more than 17,000 pieces were scattered around the world.

Many are now found in royal residences, particularly in Britain, or in major foreign museums, notably in the United States, or are owned by private collectors or antiquarians.