Louis XIV inherits the crown of France at the age of 4 and a half, but the country over which he reigns is ruined by the Thirty Years' War. The king being too young to govern, a council of regency is set up and his mother Anne of Austria appoints Cardinal Jules Mazarin Prime Minister of the kingdom. But the war continues to tear Europe apart, the people are suffering and dying of hunger. And the Crown is raising taxes to finance the fighting. Mazarin is held responsible for all these evils. On August 27, 1648, 600 barricades blocked the capital.