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Embracing the trappings of the Italian Renaissance helped Paris get back on its feet at the end of the 1400s, and many of the city's signature buildings and monuments sprang up during the period. Still, by the late 16th century Paris was again up in arms, this time in the name of religion. Clashes between the Huguenots (French Protestants supported by England), the Catholic League and the Catholic monarchy sank to their lowest levels in 1572 with the St Bartholomew's Day massacre of 3000 Huguenots in town to celebrate the wedding of Henri of Navarre (later, King Henri IV).
Louis XIV, known as le Roi Soleil (the Sun King), ascended to the throne in 1643 at the tender age of five and held the crown until 1715. During his reign, he nearly bankrupted the national treasury with prolonged bouts of battling and building. His most tangible legacy is the palace at Versailles, 23km (15mi) south-west of Paris. Louis was succeeded by Louis XV and then Louis XVI. The excesses of the latter and his capricious queen, Marie-Antoinette, led to an uprising of Parisians on 14 July 1789 and the storming of the Bastille prison - the act that kick-started the French Revolution. |
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