Louis XIV
France
Louis XIV "Sun King"
Henry IV started France off, followed by Louis XIII, and then Louis XIV. Louis was from the Bourbon family, and he was a devout Catholic. One of his greatest accomplishments would be that he centralized power, and he built Versailles. Versailles is a big,intricate, elaborate, and gorgeous palace. Under his rule the war of Spanish Succession came to be. Spain needed to have a new ruler, and that turned into a big fiasco. Louis improves the the government, and that is always helpful to do when you have to rule a big country. Louis had a famous or a well known statement.. He was known to have said; "I am the state." This pretty much means that he, himself is France, so whatever is good for France is good for him and vice versa.
* side note: Louis was known as the "Sun King" and had his own sun crest on everything. He believed God wanted him to be king, and if it were not so then he wouldn't be, therefore, the people needed to listen to him.
Cardinal Richelieu
This man helped out when Louis XIII became king at the age of 10. He was pretty much his "unofficial" regent. He caused a lot of trouble between different places, but it was always to keep France in power.
Henry IV
This would be Louis XIV's grandfather. Under the Edict of Nantes he switched his religion from Catholic to Protestant, in order to run the country. This only lasted during is reign.