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Childhood Trauma Shaped A King
- As a child king, Louis woke to find a mob crowding his bedroom and pretended to be asleep.
- That trauma made him distrust the nobility and shaped his drive for strong personal rule.
Versailles As Political Architecture
- Versailles functioned as a political tool to centralize nobles' social and domestic lives under the king's surveillance.
- Removing nobles from regional power bases reduced their ability to challenge the crown.
Debt Behind Grandeur
- Louis XIV left France deeply in debt despite administrative reforms that increased revenue.
- His heavy military spending and constant wars bankrupted the crown by his death in 1715.