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theophaniaNOTE TO READERS: I have spent many years collecting books discussing Louis XIV, his contemporaries, and his century. This list isn’t comprehensive and there are many books out there that discuss Louis and his times, but these are the books I have read or am in the process of reading that I have enjoyed.
Included in these recommendations are biographies, general 17th century history, contemporary accounts written by authors who knew Louis or were familiar with his court, and biographies written about Louis’ contemporaries for those interested in learning more about them. Also included are books describing specific events that took place during Louis’ Minority and reign (including the Fronde, Louis’ wars, and the infamous Affair of the Poisons).
Anything denoted with *, please see the end of the document for more notes on the text. For books that can only be found in French, I have labeled those as (FR).
LOUIS XIV BIOGRAPHIES
17TH CENTURY FRENCH HISTORY (GENERAL)
LOUIS XIV: GOVERNMENT MATTERS, HISTORY OF THE ANCIEN REGIME, AND THE INSPIRATION BEHIND HIS PUSH TO ABSOLUTE POWER
BOOKS ON THE FRONDE AND LOUIS’ MINORITY
LOUIS XIV: WARS (GENERAL 17TH CENTURY WARFARE AND OTHER)
CONTEMPORARY WORKS AND LETTERS
BIOGRAPHIES OF CONTEMPORARY FIGURES (LITERARY, WAR, AND OTHER)
Other: Miscellaneous Books
Further Notes
Louis XIV Biographies -NOTES-
1. Aurora Von Goeth. This is included only as an introductory read to Louis. Please be warned, that this does not contain any in-depth research or analysis of Louis XIV and his period and reads like a cliff notes version of the historical figure and key events in his reign.
2. Josephine Wilkinson. Wilkinson has been accused of passing off inaccurate history as factual by many French historians and academics. Most of the criticism, however, accuses the author of writing in a tabloid sort of way instead of providing in-depth research. Wilkinson is also being accused of being a revisionist and rewriting history to what she personally feels is the truth instead of doing any kind of research. I strongly suggest going into this book with all of this in mind.
3. Ian Dunlop. Dunlop’s history of Louis XIV is easy to read and to understand, especially to those who are just introducing themselves to the history. It is extremely accessible and is one that I will recommend to those who find non-fiction history books to be extremely daunting.
4. Philippe Erlanger. Erlanger’s work provides a more critical viewpoint of Louis XIV, especially his ideologies and his policies. However, this is one of the best histories I have ever read regarding Louis XIV and is extremely thorough and is largely objective despite the author’s criticisms.
17th century French History (General) -NOTES-
1. W.H. Lewis. The Splendid Century is the first book in a series of nonfiction history that describes the scene in France during Louis XIV’s France. Just a warning, however, the author was considered a scholar of 17th century French history and wrote with the expectation that readers are familiar with the time and figures in question. As a result, I strongly suggest to those that can find the book, to start off with Boulenger’s work which provides an easy to follow format and is written for an audience that is just starting out with researching 17th century French history.
2. John Lough. An Introduction to Seventeenth Century French History is a great introductory work, but it is written for the academic in mind and is not easy to read unless you fully understand the period. Despite the accessibility issues, Lough presents thorough research in the Seventeenth Century as a whole and includes Henri IV’s last decade as king, Louis XIII, and Louis XIV. NOTE: There are fragments of written documentation, letters, etc. that are in French and are not translated into English, which might provide a difficult reading experience to those that are not fluent in French.
Louis XIV’s Wars -NOTES-
1. Thirty Years’ War. This conflict started in 1618 and ended in 1648 with France entering the war during Phase II (1635-1648). Louis XIV would have been a young child by the time the war ended but would have known what was going on thanks to Mazarin and his other Ministers. The Thirty Years’ War also helped set the stage of Louis’ later wars.
2. René Chartrand. This series is written by a Canadian historian with the last book being published as recently as June 2021. The first three books in the series are excellent and meticulously researched. However, they can be quite pricy. I am currently on the lookout for books that are within an affordable price range that gets into specific detail about Louis’ armies.
Contemporary Works: Biographies, Journals, Letters, etc. -NOTES-
1. Madame de Sevigne. A French aristocratic writer that wrote letters to her daughter and other contemporaries and became extremely detailed with the goings on within the French court. NOTE: It is extremely difficult to find her completed letters in a volume, and the reader will often find abridged collections called ‘The Selected Letters of Madame de Sevigne’. Depending on the publication, different letters will be valued over others. To date, the best Selected Letters I have found in English were published by Penguin Classics and in French by Larousse. While I am sure that there are books that contain her entire works, the only ones that I have been able to find are in French and are published in multiple volumes depending on the years Sevigne wrote them.
2. Saint Simon. The Memoirs of Saint Simon provide the most in-depth contemporary history of Louis XIV and his court at Versailles that I have read to date. Readers can generally find these works easier than they can find other contemporary works.
3. Turenne. Henri de La Tour d’Auvergne (Vicomte de Turenne) was one of the most illustrious French Generals of the period. Turenne’s memoirs provide a look into the French armies under Louis XIII and Louis XIV and includes his thoughts and battle strategies. M. de Turenne also tutored a young Louis XIV in the art of war and Louis himself viewed him as a mentor.
** Louis XIV and some of his other contemporaries, including Le Grand Condé and Louvois wrote Memoirs/Letters. However, to date, I am finding it difficult to find them if they are in fact published. Many historians will source and cite from the journals of Louis XIV as he did document his daily life and the goings on in his court, but I suspect that in the case of these specific writings that they have not been made public and according to many sources, Louis was notorious for destroying paperwork. There is a great possibility that his letters and journals exist only in fragments.
Biographies of Contemporary Figures -NOTES-
1. Christine Pevitt. This book is not about Louis XIV’s brother but Philippe’s son by his second wife (Liselotte). Philippe II d’Orléans is an interesting figure and was the Regent during the minority of Louis XV.
Included in these recommendations are biographies, general 17th century history, contemporary accounts written by authors who knew Louis or were familiar with his court, and biographies written about Louis’ contemporaries for those interested in learning more about them. Also included are books describing specific events that took place during Louis’ Minority and reign (including the Fronde, Louis’ wars, and the infamous Affair of the Poisons).
Anything denoted with *, please see the end of the document for more notes on the text. For books that can only be found in French, I have labeled those as (FR).
LOUIS XIV BIOGRAPHIES
- Louis XIV: The Real Sun King by Aurora Von Goeth and Jules Harper *
- Louis XIV: The Power and the Glory by Josephine Wilkinson *
- Louis XIV by Ian Dunlop *
- Louis XIV: A Royal Life by Olivier Bernier
- Louis XIV and Twenty Million Frenchmen by Pierre Goubert
- Louis XIV by Vincent Cronin
- Louis XIV by Philippe Erlanger *
- The Sun King by Nancy Mitford
- Louis XIV by Richard Wilkinson
- The Age of Louis XIV by Will and Ariel Durant
- The Age of Louis XIV by Voltaire
- Louis XIV by John B. Wolfe
- Louis XIV by Jean-Christian Petitfils (FR)
- Louis XIV by Anthony Levi
17TH CENTURY FRENCH HISTORY (GENERAL)
- The Splendid Century: Life in the France of Louis XIV by W.H. Lewis *
- The Seventeenth Century in France by Jacques Boulenger
- An Introduction to Seventeenth Century France by John Lough
- The French Peasantry in the Seventeenth Century by Pierre Goubert
LOUIS XIV: GOVERNMENT MATTERS, HISTORY OF THE ANCIEN REGIME, AND THE INSPIRATION BEHIND HIS PUSH TO ABSOLUTE POWER
- Louis XIV and Absolutism: A Brief Study with Documents by Andrew Beik
- The Age of Absolutism: 1648-1775 by Maurice Percy Ashley
- The Age of Absolutism: 1660-1815 by Max Beloff
- The Impact of Absolutism in France: National Experience under Richelieu, Mazarin, and Louis XIV by William Farr Church
- The Ancien Régime: A History of France 1610-1774 by Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie
- The Ancien Régime: French Society, 1600-1750 by Pierre Goubert
BOOKS ON THE FRONDE AND LOUIS’ MINORITY
- The Fronde: A French Revolution, 1648-1652 by Orest A. Ranum
- Mazarin’s Quest: The Congress of Westphalia and the Coming of the Fronde by Paul Sonnino
- 1652: The Cardinal, the Prince, and the Crisis of the Fronde by David Parrott
- La Fronde (1648-1653) by Michel Pernot (FR)
LOUIS XIV: WARS (GENERAL 17TH CENTURY WARFARE AND OTHER)
- The Wars of Louis XIV: 1667-1714 by John A. Lynn
- The Thirty Years’ War: Europe’s Tragedy by Peter H. Wilson *
- The Thirty Years’ War by C.V. Wedgwood
- The Armies and Wars of the Sun King 1643-1715 (4 Part Series) by René Chartrand*
- Book 1: The Guard of Louis XIV
- Book 2: The Infantry of Louis XIV
- Book 3: 1685-1697 Campaigns, the Line Cavalry, Dragoons and the Irish
- Book 4: The War of the Spanish Succession, Artillery, Engineers and Militias
- The Supremacy of France and the Wars of Louis XIV by Thomas Henry Dyer
- Louis XIV and the Origins of the Dutch War by Paul Sonnino
CONTEMPORARY WORKS AND LETTERS
- The Letters of Madame de Sevigne *
- Memoirs by Marie Mancini
- Memoirs of Louis XIV and his Court and of the Regency by Louis de Rouvroy de Saint-Simon *
- The Memoirs of Turenne by Henri de La Tour d’Auvergne- Vicomte de Turenne *
- Memoirs of Madame de Montespan
- Against Marriage: The Correspondence of La Grande Mademoiselle by Anne Marie-Louise d’Orléans
BIOGRAPHIES OF CONTEMPORARY FIGURES (LITERARY, WAR, AND OTHER)
- Saint-Simon and the Court of Louis XIV by Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie
- The Great Condé: A Life of Louis II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé by Eveline Charlotte Godley
- Marshal Turenne by Thomas Longueville
- Turenne: Marshal of France by Max Weygand
- Turenne by Jean Bérenger (FR)
- Anne of Austria: Queen of France by Ruth Kleinman
- Athenais: The Life of Louis XIV’s Mistress, the Real Queen of France by Lisa Hilton
- Louise de La Vallière by Jean-Christian Petitfils (FR)
- The Man who Outshone the Sun King: The Rise and Fall of Nicolas Fouquet by Charles Drazin
- The Secret Wife of Louis XIV: Françoise d’Aubigné, Madame de Maintenon by Veronica Buckley
- Madame de Maintenon: Uncrowned Queen of France by Charlotte Haldane
- Brother to the Sun King: Philippe, Duke of Orléans
- Embezzlement and High Treason in Louis XIV’s France: The Trial of Nicolas Fouquet by Vincent J. Pitts
- The Man who would be King: The Life of Philippe d’Orléans, Regent of France by Christine Pevitt *
- The Affair of the Poisons: Murder, Infanticide, and Satanism at the Court of Louis XIV by Anne Somerset
- The Affair of the Poisons by Frances Mossiker
- City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris by Holly Tucker
- Strange Revelations: Magic, Poison, and Sacrilege in Louis XIV’s France by Lynn Wood Mollenauer
Other: Miscellaneous Books
- The Bourbon Kings of France by Desmond Seward
- France in the Age of Louis XIII and Richelieu by Victor L. Tapié
- Les Filles du roi au XVIIe siècle: Orphelines en France, pionnières au Canada; suivi d'un répertoire biographique des Filles du roi by Yves Landry (FR)
- Daughters of the king and founders of a nation: Les filles du roi in New France by Aimie Kathleen Runyan
- Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King by Antonia Fraser
- Europe in the Age of Louis XIV by Ragnhild Hatton
Further Notes
Louis XIV Biographies -NOTES-
1. Aurora Von Goeth. This is included only as an introductory read to Louis. Please be warned, that this does not contain any in-depth research or analysis of Louis XIV and his period and reads like a cliff notes version of the historical figure and key events in his reign.
2. Josephine Wilkinson. Wilkinson has been accused of passing off inaccurate history as factual by many French historians and academics. Most of the criticism, however, accuses the author of writing in a tabloid sort of way instead of providing in-depth research. Wilkinson is also being accused of being a revisionist and rewriting history to what she personally feels is the truth instead of doing any kind of research. I strongly suggest going into this book with all of this in mind.
3. Ian Dunlop. Dunlop’s history of Louis XIV is easy to read and to understand, especially to those who are just introducing themselves to the history. It is extremely accessible and is one that I will recommend to those who find non-fiction history books to be extremely daunting.
4. Philippe Erlanger. Erlanger’s work provides a more critical viewpoint of Louis XIV, especially his ideologies and his policies. However, this is one of the best histories I have ever read regarding Louis XIV and is extremely thorough and is largely objective despite the author’s criticisms.
17th century French History (General) -NOTES-
1. W.H. Lewis. The Splendid Century is the first book in a series of nonfiction history that describes the scene in France during Louis XIV’s France. Just a warning, however, the author was considered a scholar of 17th century French history and wrote with the expectation that readers are familiar with the time and figures in question. As a result, I strongly suggest to those that can find the book, to start off with Boulenger’s work which provides an easy to follow format and is written for an audience that is just starting out with researching 17th century French history.
2. John Lough. An Introduction to Seventeenth Century French History is a great introductory work, but it is written for the academic in mind and is not easy to read unless you fully understand the period. Despite the accessibility issues, Lough presents thorough research in the Seventeenth Century as a whole and includes Henri IV’s last decade as king, Louis XIII, and Louis XIV. NOTE: There are fragments of written documentation, letters, etc. that are in French and are not translated into English, which might provide a difficult reading experience to those that are not fluent in French.
Louis XIV’s Wars -NOTES-
1. Thirty Years’ War. This conflict started in 1618 and ended in 1648 with France entering the war during Phase II (1635-1648). Louis XIV would have been a young child by the time the war ended but would have known what was going on thanks to Mazarin and his other Ministers. The Thirty Years’ War also helped set the stage of Louis’ later wars.
2. René Chartrand. This series is written by a Canadian historian with the last book being published as recently as June 2021. The first three books in the series are excellent and meticulously researched. However, they can be quite pricy. I am currently on the lookout for books that are within an affordable price range that gets into specific detail about Louis’ armies.
Contemporary Works: Biographies, Journals, Letters, etc. -NOTES-
1. Madame de Sevigne. A French aristocratic writer that wrote letters to her daughter and other contemporaries and became extremely detailed with the goings on within the French court. NOTE: It is extremely difficult to find her completed letters in a volume, and the reader will often find abridged collections called ‘The Selected Letters of Madame de Sevigne’. Depending on the publication, different letters will be valued over others. To date, the best Selected Letters I have found in English were published by Penguin Classics and in French by Larousse. While I am sure that there are books that contain her entire works, the only ones that I have been able to find are in French and are published in multiple volumes depending on the years Sevigne wrote them.
2. Saint Simon. The Memoirs of Saint Simon provide the most in-depth contemporary history of Louis XIV and his court at Versailles that I have read to date. Readers can generally find these works easier than they can find other contemporary works.
3. Turenne. Henri de La Tour d’Auvergne (Vicomte de Turenne) was one of the most illustrious French Generals of the period. Turenne’s memoirs provide a look into the French armies under Louis XIII and Louis XIV and includes his thoughts and battle strategies. M. de Turenne also tutored a young Louis XIV in the art of war and Louis himself viewed him as a mentor.
** Louis XIV and some of his other contemporaries, including Le Grand Condé and Louvois wrote Memoirs/Letters. However, to date, I am finding it difficult to find them if they are in fact published. Many historians will source and cite from the journals of Louis XIV as he did document his daily life and the goings on in his court, but I suspect that in the case of these specific writings that they have not been made public and according to many sources, Louis was notorious for destroying paperwork. There is a great possibility that his letters and journals exist only in fragments.
Biographies of Contemporary Figures -NOTES-
1. Christine Pevitt. This book is not about Louis XIV’s brother but Philippe’s son by his second wife (Liselotte). Philippe II d’Orléans is an interesting figure and was the Regent during the minority of Louis XV.