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Cheverny – Louis XIII-by Giogo-

Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Louis XIII of France

Louis XIII, sometimes called “the just”was born on 27th September 1601. He was the king of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and king of Navarre(as Louis II)from 1610-1620 when the crown of Navarre was linked with the French crown.

His father was assassinated shortly before his 9th birthday when he became the heir to the throne. Louis XIII’s mother, Marie de Medici acted as regent during his minority with her Italian favorites ending political conspiracies.

The young king forcefully took power in 1617 by exiling his mother and executing her followers including the most influential Italian at the French court, Concino Concini.

Louis and his chief minister Cardinal are remembered for establishing the Academie Francaise and ending the rebellion of the French aristocracy.

By the end of the 1620s, ‘the royal monopoly of force had been established as the ruling principle by his chief minister Cardinal Richelieu.

Louis XIII’s reign made France a leading European power. Here are 10 fascinating facts about Louis XIII.

1. He was the eldest son of Henry IV of France

Louis XIII was the eldest child of King Henry IV  and his second wife Marie de Medici. Being the son of a king, he was a Fils de France(son of France), and as the eldest son, Dauphin of France.

His paternal grandparents were Antoine de Bourbon,Duc de Vendome, and Jeanne d’Albert Queen of Navarre.

Louis was raised under the supervision of the royal governess Francoise de Montglat as a child.

2. Louis XIII’s mother acted as the regent until his maturity

Marie de Médici-by Peter Paul Rubens-

Louis rose to the throne in 1610 after the assassination of his father, and his mother Marie took in as his regent because he was a minor.

At the beginning of 1615, Marie came to depend increasingly on Concino Concini who assumed the role of her favorite and mismanaged the kingdom.

She was unable to prevent rebellions and she maintained most of her husband’s ministers and mainly relied on them for political advice.

3. Louis XIII attained the throne in 1617 at 16

Louis XIII-by Simon Vouet-

Although Louis came of age at 13 in 1614, his mother did not give up the regency position until 1617, when he was 16.

Mismanagement of the kingdom and ceaseless political intrigues led Louis XIII to conclude that they would never be loyal subjects.

Louis decided with the encouragement of  Charles d’Albert, the Grand Falconer of France, and other advisers to break his mother’s reign.

Concini was killed on 24th April 1617, and his widow Leonora was beheaded ad burnt for witchcraft on 8th July. Louis’s mother was sent to exile in Blois.

4. Louis XIII re-established catholicism in Bearn

Louis XIII Béarn-by Estienne, Henri-

Louis had a strict catholic upbringing in his childhood. On 2nd July 1620, French nobles launched a rebellion in favor of the Protestant power.

However, their forces were easily defeated by royal forces at the Battle of Ponts-de-ce in August 1620.

Louis ordered the destruction of Protestant churches, the closure of Protestant schools, and the removal of Protestant clergy. He then re-established Catholicism as the official religion of Bearn.

5. Louis XIII favorite was Charles d’Albert Lyness

Louis Charles d’Albert Duke of Luynes Peer of France-by Keroman56-

Charles d’Albert was a French Courtier and a favorite of Louis XIII for he was the one who encouraged him to break his mother’s regency in 161.

  Louis came to increasingly rely on him and he granted him the title of Duke of Lyness in 1619.

6. He ended opposition between French royalties and Huguenots

In 1621, Henri, Prince of Conde, second in line to the throne after Marie’s second surviving son Gaston the Duke of Orleans, recommended forceful suppression of the Huguenots.

In the 1622 campaign, royal forces won some early victories against Huguenots but were unable to complete a siege.

On 18th October 1622, The Treaty of Montpellier was signed in Montpellier between king Louis XIII of France and Duke Henry II of Rohan which ended the hate between French royalties and the Huguenots.

7. Louis XIII appointed Cardinal Richelieu as his chief minister in 1624

Cardinal de Richelieu-by Philippe de Champaigne-

Richelieu was able to exercise an incredible amount of influence on foreign and domestic policies which played a major role in Louis’s reign.

Richelieu’s work made Louis become one of the first examples of a definitive monarch. Under Louis and Richelieu, the crown successfully intervened in the Thirty Years’ War against the Habsburgs.

They also managed to keep the French aristocracy in line, and deserted the political and military rights granted to Huguenots by Henry IV.

8. Louis XIII is considered one of the successful leaders in France

He successfully lead the important siege of La Rochelle which was a result of the war between the French royal forces and Huguenots of La Rochelle in 1627 and 1628.

He signed a treaty between France and Morroco in 1631, The Franco-Moroccan Treaty.

On 10th June 1924, he signed The Treaty of Compiegne as a mutual defense alliance between the kingdom of France and the Dutch Republic in far East America.

9. He is rumored to have been homosexual

Although Louis was married to Anne of Australia with whom had a son Louis XIV the future king, he is also said to have been homosexual.

His interests as a teenager were focused on male courtiers and he grew an extreme emotional attachment to his favorite Charles d’Albert although some say there is no clear evidence of a sexual relationship.

The prolonged gaps between the Queen’s pregnancies may have been a result of her dislike of the king’s heterosexual activity since it took the couple 20 years of marriage before Louis XIV’s birth.

10. Louis XIII died of Crohn’s disease

Louis was unwell during the 1642-1643 winter season. He managed a few hunting trips to Versailles, but by mid-February, he was mostly bedridden.

On the 13th of April, his physician informed him that his illness would be deadly. He died on 14th May 1643 in Paris and was later buried at the Royal Basilica of Saint-Denis, France.

Louis XIII was a strict leader and active Catholic. He was determined on securing the supremacy of his crown, rendering justice, and protecting his subjects.

He achieved significant victories in the war against the Spaniards and was thereafter respected as one of the most powerful rulers in Europe.