French curassiers

i was at a military festival today and i was looking at the books about french history. One book caught my eye and it was called 'The history of the French curaissers'. I thought they were only around after the french revouloution but it indicated that they were around before it! please explain!:help:

According to the Wiki the first French cuirassiers were formed in 1666, over a 100 years before the revolution.

And who were they formed by and why?