Wars of conquest in favor of the glory of Louis XIV

Abstract

In this article we propose to demonstrate that the love of glory led Louis XIV to undertake numerous wars of conquest in Europe, aiming to increase his power in France and abroad. To legitimize these actions, the Great King drew on numerous treaties and, to have the support of the French, he resorted to the power of propaganda. In his Memories, written to instruct his son, Louis XIV makes it clear that by seeking glory, he did not think only in the glorification of himself, but was concerned about the honor of his family, leaving his successors a kingdom greater and safer than his. In this study we adopted the radical or linguistic contextualism, a methodology for interpreting texts supported by the English historian Quentin Skinner, seeking to relate the text to its author's intellectual and historical context to understand what his intentions were.