France
The Universal Spider
He was not a particularly attractive man. He was homely, common-looking. In an age when fashion was extravagant, his attire was a scandal to contemporaries because of its simplicity. One story has him mistaken for a gardener or a servant. He dressed slovenly, even bizarrely, adopting strange hats and wearing necklaces from which hung pictures of saints. He abhorred ritual—parades, entrances, and the like—preferring to meet with others in private. He had a reputation for being unscrupulous at best, duplicitous at worst. He was notoriously cheap and famously pious. Perhaps because of his childhood, perhaps because of his own nature, Louis was deeply suspicious of others, trusting only men who were dependent upon him.
All in all, his was not the sort of personality that would attract the ruling class of France to his side. His nobles despised him. His reputation has fared better in modern times, when he has been painted as a "modern" ruler: pragmatic and centralizing. This goes too far, though.
Louis was an improvisor, and his reign was beset by crises. Most of his actions were in response to specific problems rather than part of some forward-looking program of reform. He not only was a systematic liar, he recommended the technique to his agents. Yet, this calculator and intriguer was also a man of spontenaiety and impulse, subject to fits of depression. He was without pity and his vengeance was terrible, yet he was capable of compassion, especially toward the humble. He was extremely and meticulously pious. His demonstrations of piety were partly simulated and partly genuine. His family life was empty: he hated his father, respected his mother, and barely regarded his second wife. He had mistresses, but they played small role in his life. No one was ever his confidant. Louis was, in short, an autocrat.