Sun King
Solar royal epithet
Sun King is an epithet for Louis XIV of France, who reigned from 1643 to 1715 and made the sun his personal emblem.
The term evokes absolute power, splendor, and centralized authority: He ran the company like a Sun King, with all decisions flowing through him.
Extended to any dominant figure who commands everything around them.
- VersaillesFrench royal palace complex
- palace gardensCultivated land surrounding monarchy's residence
- absolutismUnrestricted governmental authority
- crownSovereign's ornamental headpiece
- throneCeremonial chair for sovereigns
Louis XIV · Apollo · gold · Baroque · divine right · War of Spanish Succession · monarch · courtiers · court etiquette · French nobility · Treaty of Utrecht · royal patronage · ancien régime · royal court · sovereign · sunburst · ballet · royalty
- ParisEiffel Tower, Louvre, Notre-Dame, Seine, Montmartre
- 1600s EuropeLouis XIV, Glorious Revolution, Peace of Westphalia, Versailles, William of Orange
- French courtVersailles, Louis XIV, Marie Antoinette, throne, crown
- French MonarchyBourbon, Valois, Louis XIV, Louis XV, Louis XVI
- French palace termsVersailles, palace, chateaux, gardens, fountains
- French theaterRacine, Tartuffe, classical tragedy, Andromache, Horace
Sun Kingconstitutional monarch
Sovereign bound by law
Oliver Cromwell · Louis XVI · deposed ruler · William of Orange · commoner
king, sun, sunny, sunrise, sunlight, kingdom, sunshine, sundown, sunburn