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May 14
Anniversary of Louis XIII's Death
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Louis XIII was the eldest child of Henry IV of France and Marie de'
Medici. He ascended to the throne in 1610, at the age of eight and a
half, upon the assassination of his father. His mother acted as
Regent until Louis XIII came of age at thirteen, Marie had a hard
time letter go of her regency and power which ultimately forced
Louis to exile her to Blois.
Louis
XIII was a gentle, solitary man who preferred working with his
hands, and indulging in his favorite sport, falconry. He hated the daily
demands of politics, he hated hurting people, despised the necessity to
execute traitors, and was often paranoid in most of his social
relationships. This is why he turned over the practical administration
of his government to the brilliant Cardinal Richelieu
(September 9)
who played a major role in Louis XIII's
administration from 1624, decisively shaping the destiny of France for the
next 18 years. As a result of Richelieu's work, Louis XIII became one of the
first exemplars of an absolute monarch.
Under Louis XIII, the French nobility
was firmly kept in line behind their King, and the political and military
privileges granted to the Huguenots by his father were retracted (while
their religious freedoms were maintained). Furthermore, Louis XIII had the
port of Le Havre modernized and built up a powerful navy.Louis' marriage
to Anne of Austria was purely political and some historians
estimate that they only has sexual relations a few times during their
marriage. Louis fell in love with an extremely religious girl, Louise de
La Fayette who, after rejecting Louis' offer to make her his mistress,
joined a convent, taking the name of Sister Angelique. Louis' sexual
ardor for Louise eventually cooled to friendship and Sister Angelique
became his principal confident, and eventually persuaded Louis to
fulfill his marital obligations. |
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Louis XIII by
Rubens |
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However, Louis
may be more remembered as a character in the The Three Musketeers
films based on Alexandre Dumas père's novel which had been made into
more than 70 films and TV productions. Some of the most notable performances are by Adolphe
Menjou in the blockbuster silent version in 1921.
Frank Morgan (1948), Jean-Pierre
Cassel in (1973), Oleg Tabakov (1978) in
D'Artagnan and Three Musketeers , a three-part Russian TV disco
musical), and Hugh O'Conor
in 1993).
Among Louis' solitary pleasures was cooking. He invented
several egg dishes, mostly omelets, several of which bear his name.
Here is a recipe for a desert omelet that he created.
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