Louis XIV (September 5, 1638 – September 1, 1715) ruled as King of France and of Navarre from May 14, 1643 until his death just prior to his seventy-seventh birthday. He acceded to the throne a few months before his fifth birthday, but did not assume actual personal control of the government until the death of his First Minister in 1661.

The reign of Louis XIV, known as The Sun King (in French Le Roi Soleil) or as Louis the Great (in French Louis le Grand, or simply Le Grand Monarque, "the Great Monarch") spanned seventy-two years—the longest reign of any major European monarch. Regarded as France's greatest king, Louis XIV worked successfully to create an absolutist and centralized state.

Louis XIV increased the power and influence of France in Europe.  He fought three major wars—the Franco-Dutch War, the War of the League of Augsburg, and the War of the Spanish Succession—and two minor conflicts—the War of Devolution, and the War of the Reunions.

Under his reign, France achieved not only political and military pre-eminence, but also cultural dominance. These cultural achievements contributed to the prestige of France, its people, its language and its king.

Louis XIV was the first to give permanent organization to the artillery.  He raised a regiment of artillerymen in 1671 and established schools of instructions. He and his ministers spent prodigiously on their artillery. 

By the king's order, all French cannons were inscripted "Ultima ratio regum." (The final argument of kings.)
 

Dimension: 36" long.

Material: Wood and metal      $990         S&H is $150