Реферат: Henry VIII And Louis XIV Essay Research

execution. It is more likely, according tomany modern historians, that Henry

had a virus much like that which his father died of. He suffered a painful end:

constantly coughing up blood, and crippled by a flaring leg injury. For the

last few years of his life, he was unable to govern his country well, and power

fled from England.

Louis XIV had a very different problem. His difficulty was simply that

he spent more than France could afford. Not only had the building of Versailles

severely disabled the Treasury, his extravagant spending on his various

mistresses and illegitimate children got out of hand. He was to the point, by

the end of his reign, of setting up a well-appointed and furnished estate for

each of these families. Not only that, but the Spanish War of Succession

severely crippled the treasury, and Louis never could truly raised the taxes

enough to cover his love of these ?little wars? and women.

Louis was known in Europe for being the longest reigning king in all of

modern history. He kept court at his various palaces and fought in his wars for

almost 72 years. After his cheif advisor Jean Baptiste Colbert died in 1685,

the reign of the Sun King became less glorified. He forced the noble families

to stay at court at Versailles, creating the problem of absentee landlords for

the commoners, who lived in relative poverty compared to the great splendour of

Versailles. Louis died gradually of disease, and after his reign, political

influence in France declined greatly for a number of years. However, France

remembers him in a much better way than history admires Henry the VIII.

Both monarchs suffered troubled lives, and still managed to accomplish

great things for England and France. Henry VIII raised scientific awareness and

appreciation for art that had previously been absent from England. Louis XIV

added a new dimension to the arts such as the world had never seen. His reign

was known as ranking above all others in art and literature, as well as dancing.

And yet, even today they are remembered for the most part their failings, Henry

for his matrimonial troubles and Louis for his economic extravagances. It might