Louis XVI (1754–1793) is generally known mainly as the French king who was guillotined when his country fell into chaos during the French Revolution in the late 1700s. The French Revolution was inspired by the American Revolution, Enlightenment ideals, economic problems, and conflict between the aristocracy and bourgeoisie. It resulted in mass executions, upheaval, and the end of absolute monarchy in France. But for all his faults, the weak-willed, indecisive King Louis XVI made great strides for progress and human rights—despite uncontrollable circumstances that almost guaranteed his failure.

10 Religious Tolerance

While the Catholic Church remains one of the wealthiest institutions in the world today, it was even more powerful hundreds of years ago. In France, those of non-Catholic faiths such as Judaism and Protestantism were not legally recognized or given civil rights until the late 1700s.

Louis XVI changed this with his 1787 Edict of Tolerance (aka the Edict of Versailles). His signing of the Edict granted non-Catholics in France the right to nondiscrimination based on their faith and civil status so that they could register marriages, births, and deaths and own property.

Full rights for Protestants and other non-Catholics weren’t enforced until Code Napoleon in 1804, but Louis XVI’s Edict of Tolerance was a huge step forward for their civil rights.

9 Supported The American War For Independence

Again on the right side of history, King Louis XVI gave great support to the American independence effort, and France’s backing was instrumental in the US victory.

In 1778, he backed the Treaty of Alliance, which stated that France would ally with the US if Britain declared war. He also let Britain know that France acknowledged the independence of the newly-formed US. When Britain consequently declared war four days later, Louis sent aid and arms across the Atlantic to the American rebels. French officers were also recruited to join the Americans, including the Marquis de Lafayette.

Other ways that France helped the Americans included sending uniforms, a secret loan, providing naval support, and sending troops to supplement American forces over four years from 1778 to 1782.

8 Abolished Serfdom On Royal Land

While serfs weren’t quite as low in status as slaves—they did have the right to own property—they were the lowest social rung of the feudal ladder, and when land was sold, they were sold with it. They had no freedom of movement.

There was vocal opposition to the perceived inhumanity of serfdom, particularly from famed Enlightenment writer Voltaire. In 1779, Louis XVI abolished serfdom on all land under royal control in hopes that this would encourage other landowners to do the same.

Serfdom was fully abolished in France when the feudal rights of the nobility were taken away on August 4, 1789, by the National Constituent Assembly.

7 Encouraged Exploration

Louis XVI played an important role in supporting French exploration of the world during the late 18th century.

The king was fond of the book The Voyages of Cook and wrote A History of the Exploration of the South Seas, which was published in 1791. Dissatisfied with France’s lack of knowledge of the southernmost parts of the globe, he decided in 1785 to send out an expedition with two Navy ships, La Boussole and L’Astrolabe, and chose Captain La Perouse to lead the round-the-world voyage. Louis was intimately involved with the voyage, choosing crew and setting its objectives (setting up new trading posts, meeting new peoples, and mapping the world).

The voyage came to a tragic end in 1788, when the ships sank off Australia, killing all 227 people aboard, but it was hugely important for all the data sent back from each port, which is now kept in Versailles.

6 Abolished Torture For Confessions

In another display of tolerance, Louis XVI abolished the use of torture to extract confessions in French courts.

Torture was a commonly used tool in Western criminal courts for 600 years, from around 1250 to the 19th century, but was criticized for its inhumanity and because of the consequent unreliability of confessions. John Langbein said that with torture, “no safeguards were ever found which could protect the innocent and guarantee the truth. The agony of torture created an incentive to speak, but not necessarily to speak the truth.”

Louis XVI decreed on August 24, 1780, the abolition of one kind of torture, known as la question preparatoire. Later, in 1788, he abolished torture prealable. Torture preparatoire was used to extract confessions from suspects on trial who might have been innocent, whereas torture prealable was used before executions to get the names of accomplices from convicts on death row.

5 Damage Control

While France undeniably underwent huge upheaval during and after Louis XVI’s reign, it is a testament to the unlucky king’s efforts that he managed to keep the country together for that long.

Firstly, Louis was never supposed to be king. As the third son of the dauphin of France (heir apparent to the throne), there were two people in line before him for the throne after his grandfather Louis XV—his older brother and his father. But his brother, who was always favored, died aged nine, when Louis was seven. Four years later, his father died, leaving only 11-year-old Louis to assume the throne, which he did at age 19 when his grandfather died in May 1774.

Secondly, the political climate in France was ripe for revolution, and there was little anyone could have done to change that. France’s loss in the Seven Years War under Louis XV left it in serious debt. An unexpected flurry of crop failures in the 1780s caused severe shortages of bread. The ancient tax system was deeply unfair, with the common people bearing the brunt of the cost while the nobility were free of responsibility. Finally, the ideals of the Enlightenment began to really take hold at this point and caused revolutionary thinking.

Louis XVI was perhaps the unluckiest French king in history.

4 Tried To Help The Poor

With France in debt and the middle and lower classes suffering from poor harvests, Louis XVI tried to make the tax system fairer. He tried to get the nobility to pay more taxes so that the burden wouldn’t be entirely on the poor people of the country, but the nobility refused and even managed to get some of the Third Estate (the commoners) on their side. Despite his theoretical absolute monarchy, the uncooperative nobles stopped Louis from making crucial tax reforms.

The nobles caused plenty of problems in the lead-up to the Revolution, as well. For example, they were supposed to pass up most of the tax money that they got from peasants on their land to the king, but they tended to keep most of it for themselves; only a third of the tax from the gabelle (salt tax) made its way back to the king.

3 Abolished The Labor Tax

In yet another example of the lowly status of French peasants in the mid-1700s, they were required to do 14 days of forced, unpaid labor to build and repair the country’s roads. True to form, Louis XVI and his finance comptroller, Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot (who happened to be friends with Voltaire) ended the corvee en nature and replaced it with a land tax, which angered the nobility.

Angering the nobles in efforts to please and help the commoners was a theme of Louis XVI’s reign. He wanted to be loved by his people, but the nobles were a force to be reckoned with.

2 Promoted Enlightenment

In a Europe with still-low literacy levels (approaching 50 percent for French men in the late 1700s), Louis XVI was a shining example of intellectualism, and he tried to pass it on. He reportedly had one of the most impressive private libraries of the time (with 8,000 books) and was fluent in French, English, and Italian and was outstanding in Latin, astronomy, history, and geography.

The late king founded a school of medicine in Paris in 1774, then known as L’Academie et le College de Chirurgie, (Academy and School of Surgery), now known as Universite Paris Descartes. He was also a patron of the arts, commissioning beautiful pieces like Jacques-Louis David’s Oath of Horatii and supporting US poet Joel Barlow’s epic The Columbiad.

1 Abolished The Death Penalty For Deserters

Louis XVI never could have guess how ironic the fact that he abolished the death penalty (for army deserters) would become when he was guillotined decades later during the Revolution.

In keeping with his liberal style, Louis gave unusual leniency times to army deserters and took away the threat of capital punishment. This was part of a push to instill some initiative in his soldiers rather than having an army of robots. This decision may have been influenced by the important play Le deserteur (The Deserter), written in 1769 by Michel-Jean Sedaine.

Elle blogs at elleloughran.blogspot.ie and is on Twitter @frizzyroselle.

When you think of French monarchs, the first name that comes to mind is usually Louis XIV. He was one of the most famous and influential kings in European history. He definitely marked an important era in European history—and countless books have been written about his life.

However, there are interesting facts about him that go unnoticed by history despite being strange enough to shock a lot of people.

10 Louisiana Was Named after Louis XIV

Louisiana was named after King Louis XIV of France in 1682. The French explorer Rene-Robert Cavelier claimed the territory for France and named it in honor of the king. Actually, Louisiana remained a French colony until 1762, when it was ceded to Spain in the Treaty of Fontainebleau.

However, the Spanish did not make any significant changes to the colony, and it remained under French control until it was officially sold to the United States.

The sale was finalized in 1803, and Louisiana became a part of the United States. Today, Louisiana is known for its rich culture and diversity. From New Orleans to Baton Rouge, there is much to explore in this fascinating state with a past influenced by its French heritage.^[1]

9 After Louis XIV’s Death… Someone Ate His Heart!

William Buckland was an eccentric English scientist who lived in the 1800s. He was known for his unorthodox methods and strange eating habits. As a geologist and paleontologist, he liked to understand perfectly the specimens that passed through his hands and even used to taste their flavor.

In 1848, he partially ate the mummified heart of Louis XIV, who died over a century before, in 1715. The incident took place at a gathering of the Harcourt family, who had in their possession the heart of King Louis XIV, which they obtained after the French Revolution and the subsequent looting of the royalty’s belongings.

It was a unique piece from a great king… and Buckland decided to taste it. Surprisingly, this event never had any negative consequences for Buckland’s career, and he remained a respected scientist in the UK.^[2]

8 Louis XIV Was a Serial Womanizer

King Louis XIV was a ladies’ man who had many lovers during his reign. His most famous lovers were Madame de Montespan and the Duchess of La Vallière.

However, the king also had dalliances with several other women. By the end of his life, Louis XIV had fathered at least nine illegitimate children, and they were all given titles and positions in the French court. The king even went so far as to commission a series of official portraits of his illegitimate sons, which hung alongside those of his legitimate heirs.

In the end, Louis XIV’s bastard sons played an important role in the French monarchy, both during and after the king’s lifetime.^[3]

7 Louis XIV Had the Longest Reign in History—Even over Queen Elizabeth II

Louis XIV was one of the longest-reigning monarchs in European history, ruling France for over 72 years. During his reign, he oversaw a period of great prosperity and transformation in France, helping to make it one of the leading powers in Europe.

It is undoubtedly a record that is quite hard to beat, especially in today’s times. His closest competitor in terms of time ruling as queen was Queen Elizabeth II, who reigned for 70 years, only two years less than King Louis XIV.

Although he was a controversial figure, Louis XIV remains one of the most iconic leaders in French history.^[4]

6 Louis XIV Was One of the Youngest Kings to Take Power

Louis XIV became king at the age of 4. He was one of the youngest kings in the history of the world.

His early years were marked by a series of regents who ruled on his behalf. But, in 1661, Louis XIV assumed full control of the government, establishing strict censorship laws, centralizing the administration of justice, and creating a standing army.

Louis XIV’s reign also saw the expansion of French territory with the annexation of large parts of Belgium and Holland. By the time of his death in 1715, Louis XIV became one of the most powerful rulers in Europe—and has been one of the most well-known monarchs of all times.^[5]

5 He Was Not Only a Conceited King but Also a Skilled Military Leader

Louis XIV was one of the most successful military leaders in French history. During his reign, France was involved in numerous wars, and Louis XIV led the French army to victory in many of them.

One of his most famous victories was the Battle of Rocroi in 1643, which ended the Thirty Years’ War. Louis XIV also defended France against Spain in the War of Devolution and defeated the Dutch in the Franco-Dutch War.

In addition to his military accomplishments, Louis XIV also helped to solidify France’s position as a leading European power. He did this by expanding French territory through alliances and conquests and ensuring that the French economy remained strong.

Thanks to Louis XIV, France emerged from the 17th century as one of the most powerful countries in Europe.^[6]

4 Louis XIV Was a Great Ballet Dancer

Louis XIV was more than just a great politician and military leader… He was also an accomplished artist and dancer!

Undoubtedly, Louis XIV was a character of contrast with a unique personality that included a dancing side. His passion for ballet began when he was just a teenager. He played the Rising Sun in Le Ballet de la Nuit (The Ballet of the Night). From there, he took the name the “Sun King” which would accompany him throughout his life.

Additionally, he was also a good dancer in social settings. At the French court, it was customary to offer long evenings of dancing. The king could participate, and it was a great honor to be able to dance with him.^[7]

3 Louis XIV Supposedly Put His Twin in an Iron Mask

There are many mysteries surrounding the life of Louis XIV, the Sun King of France.

One of the most enduring is the story of his alleged twin brother, who was supposedly kept hidden away and made to wear an iron mask.

The most popular version of the story goes like this: Shortly after Louis XIV was born, his father, King Louis XIII, was presented with a second baby. Fearing that twin brothers would threaten his kingdom, the king ordered that one of the babies be sent away to be raised in secret. The child was then made to wear an iron mask so that no one would ever know his identity.

For years, rumors circulated about the existence of the imprisoned twin, and many people believed that the man in the iron mask was actually Louis’s long-lost brother. While there is no evidence that he has family ties with Louis XIV, the story has captivated hearts and minds for centuries.

In any case, there will always be doubts about the true identity of this man whom the king forced to hide his identity.^[8]

2 He Commissioned the Construction of the Palace of Versailles

He requested the construction of the Palace of Versailles, which was the largest and most beautiful palace in Europe—and today, it remains one of the greatest architectural masterpieces in France.

The palace was designed to be a grandiose symbol of the king’s power and a luxurious home for the royal family. It was filled with artwork, tapestries, and furniture that demonstrated the wealth and prestige of the French monarchy. In addition, the palace featured an impressive array of gardens and fountains.

Today, the Palace of Versailles is still one of the most iconic buildings in the world, and it continues to draw visitors from all over the world due to the visionary leadership of Louis XIV.^[9]

1 France Became Known as the Home of the Arts Thanks to Louis XIV

He was one of the most effective patrons of the arts in history. During his reign, the arts flourished as never before, with some of the most iconic works of art being produced during this period.

Louis XVI supported a wide range of artists, from painters and sculptors to architects and musicians. Actually, he patronized many famous artists, such as Molière and Jean Racine.

Moreover, he encouraged them to push the boundaries of their respective disciplines, resulting in some truly groundbreaking work. In addition to supporting established artists, Louis XIV also invested heavily in the training of young talent. He supported art academies throughout France so that the country could compete with Italy as the artistic hub—and it set the stage for the golden age of French art. ^[10]