Brief Biography: Louis XIV (baptised as Louis-Dieudonné, "Louis-God-given") (September 5, 1638 – September 1, 1715) ruled as King of France and of Navarre. He acceded to the throne a few months before his fifth birthday, but did not assume actual personal control of the government until the death of his prime minister (Premier ministre), the Italian Jules Cardinal Mazarin, in 1661. Louis would remain on the throne till his death just prior to his seventy-seventh birthday in 1715. His reign thus spanned seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days, the longest documented of any European monarch to date.
...more at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_xiv
