Louis XIV Legacy
The last years of King Louis XIV's legacy.
France began to lose some of the empire it had built up in the 1500s, like when French explorers went to America many times. Several settlements were estab. in the St. Lawrence Valley and the Great Lakes region, with a profitable fishing and fur trading industry. A French explorer, under Louis XIV, claimed the area of the inland region of North America between the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River as Louisiana, after King Louis. Louis's wars, however, took a toll. The continuing military effort cost many lives, and placed a big strain on France's finance. Yet, Louis made France a powerful nation. France was viewed as the leading continintal power by many.