My latest article in the Historica Canada Canadian Encyclopedia is about King Louis XIV and his role in the development of New France. Click here to read my article about King Louis XIV.
King Louis XIV, king of France (born 5 September 1638 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France; died 1 September 1715 in Versailles, France). Louis XIV was the longest-reigning monarch in European and Canadian history, serving as the king of France for 72 years (from 1643 to 1715) — nearly two years longer than the 70-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II. In 1663, Louis XIV assumed direct control of New France as a Crown Colony, sponsoring increased immigration, regulating the fur trade and creating a stronger French military presence in the region. Despite these efforts, Louis XIV’s military and diplomatic endeavours — including repeated wars with the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), as well as the War of the Spanish Succession and the Treaty of Utrecht — shifted the balance of power in North America. This created the eventual conditions for the British conquest of New France with the support of the Iroquois during the Seven Years’ War of 1756–63.