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m. HISTORY.
Spanish war of succession, 1701-14. Victory of Vendome at
Vittoria (1702), and of Tallard at Speyer (1702). Taking of Lan¬
dau, 1702. Victory at Hochstadt (1703); defeat at Hochstadt, or
Blenheim (1704), by the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene
of Savoy. Marshal Villars defeated by Prince Eugene at Turin
(1706), and by Marlborough and the Prince at Ramillies (1709),
Oudenarde (1708), and Malplaquet (1709). Peace of Utrecht,
1713. Peace of Rastadt, 1714.
Louis XIV. pushed the doctrine of absolute power to extremes,
but at the same time endeavoured to justify his theories by the
exact discharge of his kingly duties. He aimed at conferring a
homogeneous administration upon France and at distributing the
burden of taxation more justly, and favoured industry and commerce,
thus laying the foundations of the future prosperity of the country.
Le Brun, the painter, to whom was entrusted the decoration of the
royal palaces, was as absolute in the domain of art as the king was
in that of government. The Academies des Beaux-Arts, des Inscrip¬
tions, and des Sciences were founded in this reign, in which also
French literature attained its zenith: Corneille, Racine, Moliere, La
Fontaine, Boileau, Bossuet, Fenelon, Descartes, Pascal, La Bruyere.
Mme. de Sevigne, etc. — More than eighty streets and thirty-three
churches were added to Paris; the Hotel des Invalides, the Obser¬
vatory, and the Colonnade of the Louvre were completed; the College
Mazarin, the Gobelins, and several triumphal arches were begun, and
the fortifications were converted into boulevards. The Palace of
Versailles enlarged.
Louis XV. (1715-74) ; eight years' regency of the Duke of Or¬
leans. Manies Marie Lesczinska of Poland (1725). The king took
no interest in public affairs, but abandoned himself to a life of
pleasure. After the regency France was governed successively by the
Due de Bourbon (1723-26), Cardinal Fleury (1726-43), the minions
of Mme. de Pompadour (1745-62), the king's mistress, the Due de
Choiseul (1758-62), and the creatures of Mme. Dubarry, another
royal mistress. Austrian War of Succession (1741-48). Defeat at
Dettingen by George II. of England (1743). Defeat of the Dutch and
English at Fontenoy (1746), of the Austrians under Charles of Lor¬
raine at Rocoux (1746), and of the Allies near Laeffelt (Lawfeld)
in 1747. Taking of Maastricht and Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748.
Naval war against England.
Seven years' war with England (1756-63). Duke of Cumberland
defeated by Marshal d'Estrees, 1757. The French under Prince de
Soubise defeated the same year by Frederick the Great at Ross-
bach, and in 1758 at Crefeld, by the Duke of Brunswick. The
French defeated at Minden (1759). The French defeated by Marshal
Broglie at Bergen, 1760. — French possessions in N. America sur¬
rendered at the Peace of Paris, 1763. — Acquisition of Lorraine
(1766) and Corsica (1768). — From this reign date the Panthedn,
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