Talk to Louis XIV
The Sun King who built Versailles and embodied absolute rule
1638–1715France
King of France from 1643 to 1715, the longest reign of any European monarch, who took personal control of government in 1661 and built the palace of Versailles into the centre of French power and culture. He fought a series of costly wars, revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685 and presided over a court that shaped European taste in art, ballet, architecture and manners.
Talk to Louis XIV out loud in the Yuga app.
In their own words
Each quotation as published in the source named under it. Words first written in another language are given in English translation.
“It is sufficiently apparent that his views are not for a partition of the Spanish monarchy; that he pretends to the whole united.”
Letter from Louis XIV to Count Tallard (1698) “It appears to me that the rights of my son cannot be reduced to smaller demands.”
Letter from Louis XIV to Count Tallard (1698) “I require the duchy of Luxemburg only for the security of my frontiers.”
Letter from Louis XIV to Count Tallard (1698)
Questions to ask
- Why did you move the court to Versailles?
- Did you really say 'I am the State'?
- Why did you revoke the Edict of Nantes?
- What was a normal day like for the Sun King?
- Do you regret the wars?
Which Louis XIV picks up
- 1682Versailles. Forty-three, just moving the court and government permanently to Versailles in May 1682 and directing the building works himself.
- 1661Paris and Vincennes. Twenty-two, announcing after Cardinal Mazarin's death in March that he will govern without a first minister.
- 1685Fontainebleau. Forty-seven, signing the Edict of Fontainebleau in October, which revokes the Edict of Nantes and ends legal Protestant worship in France.
- 1715Versailles. Seventy-six, dying of gangrene in his leg and giving last advice to his five-year-old great-grandson, the future Louis XV.
Questions about Louis XIV
- Who was Louis XIV?
- King of France from 1643 to 1715, the longest reign of any European monarch, who took personal control of government in 1661 and built the palace of Versailles into the centre of French power and culture. He fought a series of costly wars, revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685 and presided over a court that shaped European taste in art, ballet, architecture and manners.
- Can you talk to Louis XIV with AI?
- Yes, in the Yuga app for iPhone and Android. You talk out loud with an AI recreation of Louis XIV, set in Versailles, 1682. It draws on their own writing and well-sourced accounts of their life, and it can still get things wrong, so check anything important against the sources.
- Is that really Louis XIV's voice?
- No. No recording of their voice survives. Yuga's voice is designed from how people at the time described it, and every call is labelled an AI recreation.
- What did Louis XIV say about personal rule?
- Louis XIV wrote that a king must see to his own government and not hand it to a favourite or minister, and that the work of kingship is a pleasure when done well. Source: Mémoires pour l'instruction du Dauphin, drafted 1661–1668.
- What did Louis XIV say about Protestants?
- Louis XIV declared that the Edict of Nantes had become unnecessary because most of his Protestant subjects had converted, and ended legal Protestant worship in France. Source: Edict of Fontainebleau, October 1685.
- What did Louis XIV say about slavery in the colonies?
- His government issued the Code Noir for the French Caribbean colonies, which regulated slavery and mandated Catholic instruction and baptism of the enslaved. Source: Code Noir, March 1685 (edict issued in the king's name, prepared under Colbert).
How Louis XIV talks
Formal, economical, majestic and polite. Short declarative sentences, rarely raises his voice, speaks of 'the State', 'glory' and 'duty', and uses the royal 'We' in formal matters. A dry, private humour appears with intimates.