7 The 100 Most Influential World Leaders of All Time 740 years, Louis lured them to his court, corrupted them
with gambling, and ultimately weakened their power by
making them dependent on the crown. From that time,
the nobility ceased to be an important factor in French
politics, which in some respects weakened the nation.
During his reign, an economic revolution aimed at
making France economically self-sufficient while maxi-
mizing export occurred. Manufacturers, the navy and
merchant marines, a modern police organization, roads,
ports, and canals all emerged at about the same time. Louis
attended to every detail. As a patron of the arts, Louis pro-
tected writers and devoted himself to building splendid
palaces, including the extravagant Versailles, where he
kept most of the nobility under his watchful eye. At the
same time, he carried on a tumultuous love affair with
Louise de La Vallière, the daughter of a military governor.
In 1667 Louis invaded the Spanish Netherlands (War
of Devolution), which he regarded as his wife’s inheri-
tance, thus beginning a series of wars that lasted for a good
part of his reign. After a brilliant campaign, the king had
to retreat in 1668 in the face of English and especially
Dutch pressure. He never forgave the Dutch and swore to
destroy their Protestant mercantile republic. To this end
he allied himself with his cousin Charles II of England and
invaded the Netherlands in 1672 (Third Dutch War). The
long war that ensued ended in 1678, with the first treaty of
Nijmegen. Louis was triumphant.
At the same time, great changes were occurring in his
private life. In 1680 the Marquise de Montespan, who had
replaced Louise de La Vallière as Louis’s mistress in 1667,
was implicated in the Affair of the Poisons, a scandal in
which a number of prominent people were accused of sor-
cery and murder. Fearful for his reputation, the King
dismissed Mme de Montespan and imposed piety on his