King Louis XIV

King Louis XIV of France led his country with an iron fist during France’s classical age. Aggressive foreign policies and an inability to compromise led some to believe that he was tyrannical in all his dealings.

Louis XIV’s 72-year reign is one of the longest recorded of any monarch in any country’s history, and it marks an age of absolutism demonstrated by French rule. He was nicknamed the Sun King, and it seems that he was also very into his appearance and public image than anything else. Side-by-side comparisons of past and present show an impeccably-coiffed gentleman resembling a timeless Keanu Reeves.