Booker Igor 11/23/2013 at 5:07 pm
The frivolous public readily believes in tales of the love of the French king Louis XIV. Against the backdrop of the morals of that time, the number of love victories of the “sun king” simply fades. The timid young man, getting to know women, did not become a notorious libertine. Louis was characterized by attacks of generosity towards the ladies he left behind, who continued to enjoy many favors, and their offspring received titles and estates. Among the favorites stands out Madame de Montespan, whose children from the king became Bourbons.
The marriage of Louis XIV with Maria Theresa was a political marriage and the French king was bored with his wife. The daughter of the King of Spain was a pretty woman, but she had no charm at all (despite the fact that she was the daughter of Elizabeth of France, she had not an ounce of French charm in her) and there was no cheerfulness. At first, Louis looked at Henrietta of England, his brother's wife, who was disgusted by her husband, a fan of same-sex love. At one of the court balls, Duke Philippe of Orleans, who showed courage and leadership qualities on the battlefield, dressed in a woman's dress and danced with his handsome gentleman. An unattractive 16-year-old big girl with a drooping lower lip had two advantages - a lovely opal complexion and amenability.
Contemporary French writer Eric Deschodt, in his biography of Louis XIV, testifies: “The relationship between Louis and Henrietta does not go unnoticed. Monsieur (title Monsieur given to the brother of the King of France, next in rank - ed.) complains to his mother. Anne of Austria scolds Henrietta. Henrietta suggests that Louis, in order to divert suspicion from himself, pretend that he is courting one of her ladies-in-waiting. For this they choose Françoise Louise de La Baume Le Blanc, the La Vallière girl, a seventeen-year-old native of Touraine, a delightful blonde (in those days, as later in Hollywood, men prefer blondes), - whose voice can move even an ox, and whose gaze can soften a tiger.”
For Madame - a title Madame was given to the wife of the brother of the King of France, who was next in seniority and had the title “Monsieur” - the result was disastrous. It’s impossible to say without looking, but Louis traded Henrietta’s dubious charms for the blond beauty. From Maria Theresa, who in 1661 gave birth to the Grand Dauphin (the king's eldest son), Louis hid his affair in the greatest secret. “Contrary to all appearances and legends, from 1661 to 1683, Louis XIV always tried to keep his love affairs a great secret,” writes French historian François Bluche. “He does this primarily to spare the queen.” Those around the ardent Catholic Anne of Austria were in despair. Lavaliere will give birth to four children from the “sun king”, but only two will survive. Louis recognizes them.
The farewell gift to her mistress would be the Duchy of Vojour, then she would retire to the Parisian Carmelite monastery, but for some time she stoically endured the bullying of the new favorite Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart or the Marquise de Montespan. It is difficult for historians to establish an exact list and chronology of Louis’s love affairs, especially since he, as noted, often returned to his former passions.
Even then, witty compatriots noted that Lavaliere loved the monarch like a mistress, Maintenon like a governess, and Montespan like a mistress. Thanks to the Marquise de Montespan, on July 18, 1668, a “grand royal holiday at Versailles” took place, the Bath Apartments, the porcelain Trianon were built, the Versailles bosquets were created, and an amazing castle (“Armide’s Palace”) was built in Clagny. Both contemporaries and modern historians tell us that the king’s affection for Madame de Montespan (where spiritual intimacy played no less a role than sensuality) continued even after the end of their love affair.
At the age of 23, Mademoiselle de Tonnay-Charente was married to the Marquis de Montespan of the house of Pardaillan. The husband was constantly afraid of arrest for debts, which extremely irritated Athenais. She answered the call of the king, who had already become less timid and shy than during the cupids with Louise de La Vallière. The Marquis could have taken his wife to the provinces, but for some reason he did not. Having learned about the marquise's betrayal, the Gascon blood awakened in the cuckold and one day he lectured the monarch and ordered a memorial service for his wife.
Louis was not a tyrant and, although he was quite fed up with the Gascon, he not only did not put him in prison, but also promoted in every possible way the legitimate son of the Marquis and Marquise de Montespan. He first made him lieutenant general, then director general of civil works, and finally granted him the titles of duke and peer. Madame de Montespan, awarded the title maîtresse royale en titre- "the official mistress of the king, bore Louis eight children. Four of them reached adulthood and were legitimized and made Bourbons. Three of them married into royal blood. After the birth of the seventh bastard, Count of Toulouse, Louis avoids intimacy with Montespan.
Not even on the horizon, but almost in the royal chambers, Marie Angelique de Scorraille de Roussille, the maiden of Fontanges, appears, arriving from Auvergne. The aging king falls in love with an 18-year-old beauty, according to contemporaries, “who has not been seen at Versailles for a long time.” Their feelings are mutual. The maiden Fontanges has in common with Montespan the arrogance shown towards Louis’ former and forgotten favorites. Perhaps the only thing she lacked was de Montespan's causticity and sharp tongue.
Madame de Montespan stubbornly did not want to give up her place for a healthy living, and the king, by nature, was not inclined to make an open break with the mother of his children. Louis allowed her to continue living in his luxurious apartments and even visited his former mistress from time to time, flatly refusing to have sex with his overweight favorite.
“Marie Angelica sets the tone,” writes Eric Deschaudt. “If during a hunt in Fontainebleau she ties a stray strand of hair with a ribbon, then the next day the whole court and all of Paris do it. The hairstyle “a la Fontanges” is still mentioned in dictionaries . But the happiness of the one who invented her turned out to be not so long-lasting. A year later, Louis is already bored. A replacement is being found for the beauty. It seems that she was stupid, but this was unlikely to be the only reason for her disgrace." The king granted the Duchess de Fontanges a pension of 20 thousand livres. A year after losing her prematurely born son, she died suddenly.
Subjects forgave their monarch for his love affairs, which cannot be said about gentlemen historians. Historiographers connected the “reign” of the Marquise de Montespan and her “resignation” with unseemly cases, such as the “poisoning case” (L’affaire des Poisons). “During the investigation, they very soon started talking about miscarriages, evil eyes, witchcraft, and damage , black masses and all sorts of other devilry, but at first it was only about poisoning, as is clear from its name, under which it appears to this day,” says historian Francois Bluche.
In March 1679, the police arrested one Catherine Deshayes, Monvoisin's mother, who was simply called La Voisin, suspected of witchcraft. Five days later, Adam Quéré or Cobre, aka Dubuisson, aka “Abbé Lesage,” was arrested. Their interrogation revealed or allowed to imagine that witches and sorcerers fell into the hands of justice. These, in the words of Saint-Simon, “fashionable crimes”, were dealt with by a special court established by Louis XIV, nicknamed Chambre ardente- "Fire Chamber". This commission included high-ranking officials and was chaired by Louis Bouchra, the future chancellor.
Louis XIV of Bourbon - French king from 1643 from the Bourbon dynasty. His reign is the apogee of French absolutism (legend attributes to Louis XIV the saying: “I am the State”). Relying on the Minister of Finance Jean Baptiste Colbert, the king achieved maximum efficiency in pursuing the policy of mercantilism. During his reign, a large navy was created and the foundations of the French colonial empire were laid (in Canada, Louisiana and the West Indies). In order to establish French hegemony in Europe, Louis XIV waged numerous wars (the War of Devolution 1667-1668, the War of the Spanish Succession 1701-1714). Large expenses of the royal court and high taxes repeatedly caused popular uprisings during his reign.
Only the patient one wins.
Louis XIV
The eldest of the two sons of Louis XIII of Bourbon and Anne of Austria, heir to the French throne, Louis XIV was born on September 5, 1638, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in the twenty-third year of their unfriendly marriage. The Dauphin was not even five years old when his father died in 1643, and little Louis XIV became king of France. The Mother Regent transferred state power to Cardinal Giulio Mazarin. The first minister taught the boy “royal skills,” and he repaid his trust: having reached adulthood in 1651, he retained full power for the cardinal. The Fronde of 1648-1653 forced the royal family to flee Paris, wander the roads of France, experience fear and even hunger. From then on, Louis XIV feared the capital and treated it with suspicion.
Every time I give someone a good position, I create 99 unhappy people and 1 ungrateful person.
Louis XIV
During the years of Mazarin's actual reign, the Fronde was suppressed, and the Peace of Westphalia (1648) and the Peace of the Pyrenees (1659), which were beneficial for France, were concluded, which created conditions for the strengthening of absolutism. In 1660 he married the Spanish Infanta Maria Theresa of Habsburg. Always treating his wife with marked respect, Louis did not feel deep heartfelt affection for her. An important role in the life of the king and at court was played by his lovers: the Duchess of La Vallière, Madame de Montespan, Madame de Maintenon, with whom he secretly married in 1682 after the death of the queen.
In 1661, after the death of Mazarin, Louis XIV announced his intention to rule alone. Court flatterers called Louis XIV the “Sun King.” The State Council, which previously included members of the royal family, representatives of the nobility, and the highest clergy, was replaced by a narrow council consisting of three ministers who came from among the new nobility. The king personally supervised their activities.
In every doubtful matter, the only way not to make a mistake is to assume the worst possible outcome.
Louis XIV
Having eliminated the powerful surintendent of finance Nicolas Fouquet, Louis XIV granted broad powers to the controller general of finance Colbert, who pursued a policy of mercantilism in the economy. The reform of the central and local administration, the strengthening of the institution of intendants ensured control over the collection of taxes, the activities of parliaments and provincial states, urban and rural communities. The development of industry and trade was encouraged.
Louis XIV sought to gain control of the French Catholic Church and on this basis came into conflict with Pope Innocent XI. In 1682, a council of French clergy was organized, which issued the “Declaration of the Gallican Clergy.” Committed to Gallicanism, Louis XIV persecuted dissent. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685) caused mass emigration of Protestants from France and the revolt of the Camisards (1702). In 1710, the stronghold of Jansenism, the Port-Royal monastery, was destroyed, and in 1713 Louis XIV demanded from Pope Clement XI the bull “Unigenitus,” which condemned Jansenism and caused fierce resistance from the French episcopate.
It would be easier for me to reconcile all of Europe than a few women.
Louis XIV
Louis XIV did not receive a deep book education, but had extraordinary natural abilities and excellent taste. His penchant for luxury and amusements made Versailles the most brilliant court in Europe and a trendsetter. Louis XIV sought to use science, art, and literature, which flourished during his reign, to exalt royal power. The encouragement of sciences, arts and crafts strengthened the cultural hegemony of France. During the reign of Louis XIV, the Paris Academy of Sciences (1666), the Paris Observatory (1667), and the Royal Academy of Music (1669) arose. Having supplanted Latin, French became the language of diplomats, and then penetrated into the salons. Tapestry, lace, and porcelain manufactories flooded Europe with luxury goods made in France. The names of Corneille, Jean Racine, Boileau, La Fontaine, and Charles Perrault shone in literature. The comedies of Jean Baptiste Moliere and the operas of Jean Baptiste Lully conquered the theater stage. The palaces of the French architects Louis Levo and Claude Perrault and the gardens of Andre Le Nôtre marked the triumph of classicism in architecture.
Has God forgotten everything I did for him?
Louis XIV
The army reform carried out by the Minister of War François Louvois allowed Louis XIV to intensify French expansion in Europe. The history of his reign is replete with wars. The War of Devolution of 1667-1668 pushed Spain out of the Southern Netherlands. The Dutch War of 1672-1678 brought Franche-Comté to France.
But Louis XIV did not limit himself to the territories obtained under the Nimwegen peace treaties of 1678-1679. In 1679-1680, the king established the so-called Chambers of Accession to determine the rights of the French crown to a particular territory. In order to “streamline the French borders,” Strasbourg was annexed in 1681, in 1684 French troops occupied Luxembourg, and in 1688 they invaded the Rhineland.
The state is me.
Duke Philippe d'Orléans (brother of Louis XIV) was one of the most controversial aristocratic figures in French history. Being second in line to the throne, he posed a serious threat to the monarchy, but even in the era of the Fronde and internal turmoil, Monsieur did not oppose the legitimate ruler. While remaining loyal to the crown, the Duke led a unique lifestyle. He regularly shocked the public, surrounded himself with many favorites, patronized the arts and, despite his effeminate image, periodically successfully led military campaigns.
King's brother
On September 21, 1640, Louis III and his wife Anne of Austria had a second son, the future Philippe d'Orléans. He was born at a residence in the Paris suburb of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. The boy was the younger brother of the monarch Louis XIV, who ascended the throne in 1643 after the death of their father.
The relationship between them was a big exception for royal families. There are many examples in history of how brothers (children of some ruler) hated each other and fought with each other for power. There were similar examples in France. For example, there is a theory that the penultimate monarch of Charles IX was poisoned by one of his younger brothers.
Monsieur
The hereditary principle, in which the eldest heir received everything, and the other remained in his shadow, was largely unfair. Despite this, Philip of Orleans never plotted against Louis. Warm relations have always been maintained between the brothers. This harmony became possible thanks to the efforts of mother Anna of Austria, who tried to do everything so that her children lived and were raised together in a friendly atmosphere.
In addition, the character of Philip himself affected. By nature, he was extravagant and hot-tempered, which, however, could not drown out his good nature and gentleness. All his life, Philip bore the titles “Only Brother of the King” and “Monsieur,” which emphasized his special position not only in the ruling dynasty, but throughout the country.
Childhood
The news that she had given birth to a second boy was received with enthusiasm at court. The omnipotent was especially pleased. He understood that Philip of Orleans - the brother of Louis 14 - was another legitimate support of the dynasty and its future in the event that something happened to the Dauphin. From early childhood, the boys were invariably raised together. Together they played, studied and misbehaved, which is why they were spanked together.
At that time, the Fronde was raging in France. Princes were secretly taken from Paris more than once and hidden in distant residences. Philippe d'Orléans, the brother of Louis 14, just like the Dauphin, experienced many hardships and hardships. He had to feel fear and defenselessness in front of an angry crowd of rioters. Sometimes the brothers' childhood pranks escalated into fights. Although Louis was older, he did not always emerge victorious in fights.
Like all children, they could quarrel over trifles - plates of porridge, sharing beds in a new room, etc. Philip was temperamental, loved to shock others, but at the same time had an easy character and quickly moved away from insults. But Louis, on the contrary, was stubborn and could sulk at those around him for a long time.
Relations with Mazarin
The very fact that Philippe Duke of Orleans was the younger brother of the all-powerful king made it inevitable that there would be many ill-wishers who did not like Monsieur. One of his most influential opponents was Mazarin. The cardinal was put in charge of the education of the previously poorly performing Louis and his younger brother. Mazarin did not like Philip because of his fear that he would become a threat to the throne as he grew up. Monsieur could repeat the fate of Gaston - his own uncle, who opposed the monarchy with his claims to power.
Mazarin had many superficial reasons to fear such a development of events. The all-powerful nobleman could not help but notice what an adventurous person Philippe d'Orléans grew up to be. The duke's future biography showed that he also grew into a good commander who could lead armies and achieve victories on the battlefield.
Upbringing
Some biographers, not without reason, noted in their works that Philip could have been deliberately instilled in feminine habits and instilled an interest in homosexuality. If this was really done for ambiguous reasons, then Mazarin could thus count, firstly, on the fact that the Duke would not have a normal family and heir, and secondly, on the fact that Monsieur would be despised at court. However, the cardinal did not even need to take the initiative into his own hands.
Philip's feminine habits were brought up by his mother Anna of Austria. She liked the gentle character of her youngest son much more than Louis' boring habits. Anna loved to dress up the child as a girl and let him play with the maids of honor. Today, when Philippe d'Orléans is mentioned, he is often confused with his namesake descendant, but the 19th-century King Louis-Philippe d'Orléans had little in common with the 17th-century duke. Their upbringings were markedly different. It is enough to give an example of how the brother of Louis XIV could be jokingly pulled into a lady's corset.
The ladies-in-waiting who lived at court also loved theater and often gave the child comic roles in their productions. Perhaps it was these impressions that instilled in Philip an interest in the stage. At the same time, the boy was left to his own devices for a long time. All the strength of his mother and Cardinal Mazarin was spent on Louis, from whom they made a king. What would happen to his younger brother was of much less interest to everyone. All that was required of him was not to interfere with the throne, not to make claims to power and not to repeat the path of the rebellious uncle Gaston.
Wives
In 1661, Gaston's younger brother, Duke of Orleans, died. After his death, the title passed to Philip. Before that he was Duke of Anjou. In the same year, Philip of Orleans married Henrietta Anne Stuart, daughter of Charles I of England.
Interestingly, the first wife Henrietta was supposed to marry Louis XIV himself. However, during their adolescence, the royal power in England was overthrown, and a marriage with the daughter of Charles Stuart was considered unpromising at Versailles. Wives were then chosen according to the position and prestige of the dynasty. While the Stuarts remained without a crown under Cromwell, the Bourbons did not want to become related to them. However, everything changed in 1660, when Henrietta's brother regained his father's throne. The girl’s status became higher, but Louis had already married by that time. Then the princess received an offer to marry the king's younger brother. Cardinal Mazarin was an opponent of this marriage, but on March 9, 1661, he died, and the last obstacle to the engagement disappeared.
It is not known exactly what the future wife of Philippe d'Orleans sincerely thought about her groom. England heard conflicting rumors about Monsieur's hobbies and favorites. Nevertheless, Henrietta married him. After the wedding, Louis gave his brother the Palais Royal, which became the city residence of the couple. Philippe, Duke of Orleans, in his own words, was infatuated with his wife just two weeks after the wedding. Then everyday life set in, and he returned to the company of his favorites - the minions. The marriage was unhappy. In 1670, Henrietta died and Philip remarried. This time his chosen one was Elizabeth Charlotte, daughter of Karl Ludwig, Elector of the Palatinate. This marriage produced a son, Philip II, the future regent of France.
Favorites
Thanks to the surviving correspondence of the second wife, historians were able to collect a lot of evidence of the Duke’s homosexuality. Of his lovers, the most famous is Chevalier Philippe de Lorraine. He was a representative of the old aristocratic and influential family of Guise. Philippe d'Orléans and the Chevalier de Lorraine met at a young age. Later, both wives of the duke tried to remove the favorite from the court. He exerted a serious influence on Philip, which jeopardized the latter’s family life. Despite the efforts of Henrietta and Elizabeth, the Chevalier continued to remain close to the Duke of Orleans.
In 1670, the king tried to take control of the situation. Louis XIV imprisoned the Chevalier in the famous Prison If. However, the favorite's stay in prison was short-lived. Seeing his brother’s grief, Louis retreated and allowed the minion to first move to Rome and then return to the court of his patron. The relationship between Philippe d'Orléans and Philippe de Lorrain continued until the Duke's death in 1701 (the favorite survived him by only a year). When Louis buried his younger brother, he ordered all of Philip’s correspondence to be burned, fearing the publicity of his adventures and unsightly lifestyle.
Commander
Philip first distinguished himself as a military commander during the War of Devolution in 1667-1668, when France fought with Spain for influence in the Netherlands. In 1677 he returned to the army again. Then the war began against Holland, which was ruled by The conflict flared up on several fronts. In Flanders, Louis needed another commander, since all his usual commanders were already occupied. Then Philip 1 of Orleans went to this region. The duke's biography is an example of a faithful and loyal brother, who without wrangling carried out the orders of the monarch at the most crucial moment, when the fatherland was in danger.
The army under the command of Philip first captured Cambrai, and then began the siege of the city of Saint-Omer. Here the Duke learned that the main Dutch army was coming towards him from Ypres, led by King William III of Orange himself. Philip left a small part of his army under the walls of the besieged city, and he himself went to intercept the enemy. The armies clashed at the Battle of Kassel on April 11, 1677. The Duke headed the center of the army, in which the infantry stood. The cavalry positioned itself on the flanks. Success was ensured by a swift attack by dragoon units, which forced the enemy army to retreat.
The Dutch suffered a crushing defeat. They lost 8 thousand people killed and wounded, and another 3 thousand were captured. The French captured the enemy's camp, their banners, cannons and other equipment. Thanks to the victory, Philip was able to complete the siege of Saint-Omer and take control of the city. A radical change occurred in the war. This was the Duke's most significant success on the battlefield. After his triumph, he was recalled from the army. Louis XIV was clearly jealous and fearful of his brother's further victories. Although the king solemnly greeted Monsieur and publicly thanked him for defeating the enemy, he did not give him any more troops.
Philip and art
Thanks to his hobbies, Philippe d'Orleans was remembered by his contemporaries and descendants as the largest patron of the arts of his era. It was he who made the composer Jean-Baptiste Lully famous, and also supported the writer Moliere. The Duke had a significant collection of art and jewelry. His special passion was theater and satire.
Prince Philippe Duke of Orleans not only loved art, but later he himself became the hero of many works. His personality attracted a variety of writers, creators of musicals, directors, etc. For example, one of the most provocative images came from Roland Joffe in his 2000 film Vatel. In this painting, the Duke is depicted as an open homosexual and friend of the disgraced Condé. Philip's childhood is shown in another film - "The Child King", where the events of the Fronde unfold. The most famous French writer could not ignore the image of the Duke - In his novel “The Vicomte de Bragelonne, or Ten Years After,” the author took liberties with historical facts. In the book, Philippe is not the only brother of Louis XIV. In addition to him, on the pages of the novel there is the twin of the monarch, who became a prisoner in an iron mask due to political expediency.
Last years
Thanks to successful marriages, both of Philip's daughters became queens. His namesake son had a distinguished military career during the War of the League of Augsburg. In 1692 he took part in the Battle of Steenkirk and the Siege of Namur. The successes of the children were Philip's special pride, so in his last years he could live peacefully on his estates and rejoice for his descendants.
At the same time, relations between the Duke and his crowned brother were going through difficult times. On June 9, 1701, Prince Philippe d'Orléans died of an apoplexy that overtook him in Saint-Cloud after a long dispute with the king about the fate of his son. Louis tried in every possible way to limit his nephew, fearing the growth of his popularity in the army. This infuriated Philip. Another quarrel became fatal for him. Having become nervous, he survived the blow, which turned out to be fatal.
The body of 60-year-old Monsieur was buried in the Parisian Abbey of Saint-Denis. During the French Revolution, the grave was plundered. At court, the former favorite of the king, the Marquise de Montespan, grieved most of all about the death of the Duke.
It is interesting that the King of France, Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, who ruled the country in 1830-1848. and overthrown by the revolution, was a descendant of Monsieur. The ducal title was regularly passed on from descendant to descendant of Louis XIV's brother. Louis Philippe was his grandson in several generations. Although he did not belong to the previously reigning branch of the Bourbons, this did not prevent him from becoming king thanks to a bloodless coup. Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, although similar in name to his ancestor, actually had little in common with him.
The attention of any tourist who steps under the arches of the royal residence near Paris of Versailles, in the very first minutes, will be drawn to the numerous emblems on the walls, tapestries and other furnishings of this beautiful palace ensemble. The emblems represent a human face framed by the sun's rays illuminating the globe.
Source: Ivonin Yu. E., Ivonina L. I. Rulers of the destinies of Europe: emperors, kings, ministers of the 16th – 18th centuries. – Smolensk: Rusich, 2004. P.404–426.
This face, executed in the best classical traditions, belongs to the most famous of all French kings of the Bourbon dynasty, Louis XIV. The personal reign of this monarch, which had no precedents in Europe for its duration - 54 years (1661-1715) - went down in history as a classic example of absolute power, as an era of unprecedented flourishing in all areas of culture and spiritual life, which prepared the way for the emergence of the French Enlightenment and, finally, as the era of French hegemony in Europe. Therefore, it is not surprising that the second half of the 17th - early 18th centuries. In France it was called the “Golden Age”; the monarch himself was called the “Sun King”.
A huge number of scientific and popular books have been written about Louis XIV and his time abroad.
The authors of a number of well-known works of art to this day are attracted by the personality of this king and his era, so rich in a wide variety of events that left an indelible mark on the history of France and Europe. Domestic scientists and writers, in comparison with their foreign colleagues, paid relatively little attention to both Louis himself and his time. Nevertheless, everyone in our country has at least a rough idea of this king. But the problem is how accurately this idea corresponds to reality. Despite the wide range of most controversial assessments of the life and work of Louis XIV, they can all be boiled down to the following: he was a great king, although he made many mistakes during his long reign, he elevated France to the rank of the primary European powers, although ultimately he diplomacy and endless wars led to the elimination of French hegemony in Europe. Many historians note the contradictory policies of this king, as well as the ambiguity of the results of his reign. As a rule, they look for the sources of contradictions in the previous development of France, the childhood and youth of the future absolute ruler. The psychological characteristics of Louis XIV are very popular, although they practically leave behind the scenes the knowledge of the depth of the king’s political thinking and his mental abilities. The latter, I think, is extremely important for assessing the life and activities of an individual within the framework of his era, his understanding of the needs of his time, as well as the ability to foresee the future. Let us immediately note here, so as not to refer to this in the future, that the versions about the “iron mask” as the twin brother of Louis XIV have long been swept aside by historical science.
“Louis, by the grace of God, King of France and Navarre” was the title of the French monarchs in the mid-17th century. It represented a certain contrast with the contemporaneous long titles of Spanish kings, Holy Roman Emperors or Russian Tsars. But its apparent simplicity in fact meant the unity of the country and the presence of a strong central government. To a large extent, the strength of the French monarchy was based on the fact that the king simultaneously combined different roles in French politics. We will mention only the most important ones. The king was the first judge and, undoubtedly, the personification of justice for all inhabitants of the kingdom. Being responsible (p.406) before God for the well-being of his state, he led its domestic and foreign policy and was the source of all legitimate political power in the country. As the first overlord, he had the largest lands in France. He was the first nobleman of the kingdom, protector and head of the Catholic Church in France. Thus, broad legally based powers in the event of successful circumstances gave the King of France rich opportunities for effective management and implementation of his power, of course, provided that he had certain qualities for this.
In practice, of course, not a single king of France could simultaneously combine all these functions on a full scale. The existing social order, the presence of government and local authorities, as well as the energy, talents, and personal psychological characteristics of monarchs limited the field of their activity. In addition, in order to rule successfully, the king needed to be a good actor. As for Louis XIV, in this case the circumstances were most favorable for him.
Actually, the reign of Louis XIV began much earlier than his immediate reign. In 1643, after the death of his father Louis XIII, he became king of France at the age of five. But only in 1661, after the death of the first minister, Cardinal Giulio Mazarin, Louis XIV took full power into his own hands, proclaiming the principle “The State is me.” The king, realizing the comprehensive and unconditional significance of his power and might, repeated this phrase very often.
…The ground had already been thoroughly prepared for the development of the new king’s vigorous activity. He had to consolidate all the achievements and outline the further path of development of French statehood. The outstanding ministers of France, Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin, who had advanced political thinking for that era, were the creators of the theoretical foundations of French (p. 407) absolutism, laid its foundation and strengthened it in the successful struggle against opponents of absolute power. The crisis during the Fronde era was overcome, the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 ensured French hegemony on the continent and made it the guarantor of European balance. The Peace of the Pyrenees in 1659 consolidated this success. The young king was to take advantage of this magnificent political inheritance.
If we try to give a psychological description of Louis XIV, we can somewhat correct the widespread idea of this king as a selfish and thoughtless person. According to his own explanations, he chose the emblem of the “sun king” for himself, since the sun is the giver of all blessings, a tireless worker and the source of justice, it is a symbol of a calm and balanced reign. The later birth of the future monarch, which his contemporaries called miraculous, the foundations of his upbringing laid by Anne of Austria and Giulio Mazarin, the horrors of the Fronde he experienced - all this forced the young man to rule in this way and show himself to be a real, powerful sovereign. As a child, according to the recollections of contemporaries, he was “serious... prudent enough to remain silent for fear of saying anything inappropriate,” and, having begun to rule, Louis tried to fill the gaps in his education, since his training program was too general and avoided special knowledge. Undoubtedly, the king was a man of duty and, contrary to the famous phrase, considered the state incomparably higher than himself as an individual. He performed the “royal craft” conscientiously: in his view, it was associated with constant work, with the need for ceremonial discipline, restraint in public displays of feelings, and strict self-control. Even his entertainments were largely a state matter; their pomp supported the prestige of the French monarchy in Europe.
Could Louis XIV have done without political mistakes? Was his reign really calm and balanced? (p.408)
Continuing, as he believed, the work of Richelieu and Mazarin, Louis XIV was most occupied with improving royal absolutism, which corresponded to his personal inclinations and concepts of the duty of the monarch. His Majesty persistently pursued the idea that the source of all statehood is only the king, who is placed above other people by God himself and therefore assesses the surrounding circumstances more perfectly than they do. “One head,” he said, “has the right to consider and resolve issues; the functions of the remaining members are only to carry out the orders given to them.” He considered the absolute power of the sovereign and the complete submission of his subjects to be one of the main divine commandments. “In all Christian doctrine there is no more clearly established principle than the unquestioning obedience of subjects to those who are placed over them.”
Each of his ministers, advisers or associates could maintain his position provided that he managed to pretend that he was learning everything from the king and considered him alone to be the reason for the success of every business. A very illustrative example in this regard was the case of the surintendent of finance Nicolas Fouquet, with whose name during the reign of Mazarin the stabilization of the financial situation in France was associated. This case was also the most striking manifestation of the royal vindictiveness and rancor brought up by the Fronde and was associated with the desire to remove everyone who does not obey the sovereign to the proper extent, who can compare with him. Despite the fact that Fouquet showed absolute loyalty to the Mazarin government during the years of the Fronde and had considerable services to the supreme power, the king eliminated him. In his behavior, Louis most likely saw something “frontier” - self-reliance, an independent mind. The surintendent also strengthened the island of Belle-Ile, which belonged to him, attracted clients from the military, lawyers, and representatives of culture, maintained a lush courtyard and a whole staff of informants. His castle of Vaux-le-Vicomte was not inferior in its beauty and splendor to the royal palace. In addition, according to a document that has survived (p. 409), although only in a copy, Fouquet tried to establish a relationship with the king’s favorite, Louise de La Vallière. In September 1661, the surintendent was arrested at the festival of Vaux-le-Vicomte by the well-known captain of the royal musketeers d'Artagnan and spent the rest of his life in prison.
Louis XIV could not tolerate the existence of political rights that remained after the death of Richelieu and Mazarin for some state and public institutions, because these rights to some extent contradicted the concept of royal omnipotence. Therefore, he destroyed them and introduced bureaucratic centralization, brought to perfection. The king, of course, listened to the opinions of ministers, members of his family, favorites and favorites. But he stood firmly at the top of the power pyramid. Secretaries of state acted in accordance with the orders and instructions of the monarch, each of whom, in addition to the main sphere of activity - financial, military, etc., had several large administrative-territorial regions under his command. These areas (there were 25 of them) were called “generalite”. Louis XIV reformed the Royal Council, increased the number of its members, turning it into a real government under his own person. The States General was not convened under him, provincial and city self-government was everywhere destroyed and replaced by the management of royal officials, of whom the intendants were vested with the broadest powers. The latter carried out the policies and activities of the government and its head, the king. The bureaucracy was all-powerful.
But it cannot be said that Louis XIV was not surrounded by sensible officials or did not listen to their advice. In the first half of the king's reign, the brilliance of his reign was largely contributed by the controller general of finance Colbert, the minister of war Louvois, the military engineer Vauban, talented commanders - Condé, Turenne, Tesse, Vendôme and many others. (p.410)
Jean-Baptiste Colbert came from the bourgeois strata and in his youth managed the private property of Mazarin, who was able to appreciate his outstanding intelligence, honesty and hard work, and before his death he recommended him to the king. Louis was won over by Colbert's relative modesty compared to the rest of his employees, and he appointed him controller general of finance. All the measures taken by Colbert to boost French industry and trade received a special name in history - Colbertism. First of all, the Comptroller General of Finance streamlined the financial management system. Strict reporting was introduced in the receipt and expenditure of state revenues, all those who illegally evaded it were forced to pay the land tax, taxes on luxury goods were increased, etc. True, in accordance with the policy of Louis XIV, the nobility of the sword (hereditary military nobility). Nevertheless, this reform of Colbert improved the financial position of France, (p. 411) but not enough to satisfy all state needs (especially military) and the insatiable demands of the king.
Colbert also took a number of measures known as the policy of mercantilism, i.e., encouraging the productive forces of the state. To improve French agriculture, he reduced or completely abolished taxes for peasants with many children, gave benefits to arrears, and, with the help of reclamation measures, expanded the area of cultivable land. But most of all the minister was occupied with the question of the development of industry and trade. Colbert imposed a high tariff on all imported goods and encouraged their domestic production. He invited the best craftsmen from abroad, encouraged the bourgeoisie to invest money in the development of manufactories; moreover, he provided them with benefits and issued loans from the state treasury. Several state-owned manufactories were founded under him. As a result, the French market was filled with domestic goods, and a number of French products (Lyon velvet, Valenciennes lace, luxury goods) were popular throughout Europe. Colbert's mercantilist measures created a number of economic and political difficulties for neighboring states. In particular, angry speeches were often made in the English Parliament against the policy of Colbertism and the penetration of French goods into the English market, and Colbert's brother Charles, who was the French ambassador in London, was not loved throughout the country.
In order to intensify French internal trade, Colbert ordered the construction of roads that stretched from Paris in all directions, and destroyed internal customs between individual provinces. He contributed to the creation of a large merchant and military fleet capable of competing with English and Dutch ships, founded the East India and West India trading companies, and encouraged the colonization of America and India. Under him, a French colony was founded in the lower reaches of the Mississippi, named Louisiana in honor of the king.
All these measures provided the state treasury with enormous revenues. But the maintenance of the most luxurious court in Europe and the continuous wars of Louis XIV (even in peacetime, 200 thousand people were constantly under arms) absorbed such colossal sums that they were not enough to cover all costs. At the king's request, in order to raise money, Colbert had to raise taxes even on basic necessities, which caused discontent against him throughout the kingdom. It should be noted that Colbert was by no means an opponent of French hegemony in Europe, but was against the military expansion of his overlord, preferring economic expansion to it. Eventually, in 1683, the Comptroller General of Finance fell out of favor with Louis XIV, which subsequently led to a gradual decline in the share of French industry and trade on the continent compared to England. The factor holding the king back was eliminated.
The Minister of War Louvois, the reformer of the French army, greatly contributed to the prestige of the French kingdom in the international arena. With the approval (p.413) of the king, he introduced conscription of soldiers and thereby created a standing army. During wartime, its number reached 500 thousand people - an unsurpassed figure in Europe at that time. Exemplary discipline was maintained in the army, recruits were systematically trained, and each regiment was given special uniforms. Louvois also improved weapons; the pike was replaced by a bayonet screwed to a gun, barracks, provision stores and hospitals were built. On the initiative of the Minister of War, a corps of engineers and several artillery schools were established. Louis highly valued Louvois and in the frequent quarrels between him and Colbert, due to his inclination, he took the side of the Minister of War.
According to the designs of the talented engineer Vauban, more than 300 land and sea fortresses were erected, canals were dug, and dams were built. He also invented some weapons for the army. Having become familiar with the state of the French kingdom for 20 years of continuous work, Vauban submitted a memo to the king proposing reforms that could improve the situation of the lower strata of France. Louis, who did not issue any instructions and did not want to waste his royal time, and especially finances, on new reforms, subjected the engineer to disgrace.
The French commanders the Prince of Condé, Marshals Turenne, Tesse, who left valuable memoirs to the world, Vendôme and a number of other capable military leaders significantly increased the military prestige and asserted the hegemony of France in Europe. They saved the day even when their king started and waged wars thoughtlessly and unreasonably.
France was in a state of war almost continuously during the reign of Louis XIV. The Wars of the Spanish Netherlands (60s - early 80s of the 17th century), the War of the League of Augsburg, or the Nine Years' War (1689–1697) and the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714), absorbing huge financial resources, ultimately ultimately led to a significant decrease in French influence (p.414) in Europe. Although France still remained among the states that determined European politics, a new balance of power emerged on the continent, and irreconcilable Anglo-French contradictions arose.
The religious measures of his reign were closely connected with the international policy of the French king. Louis XIV made many political mistakes that Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin could not afford. But the miscalculation that became fatal for France and was later called the “mistake of the century” was the abolition of the Edict of Nantes in October 1685. The king, who assessed his kingdom as the strongest economically and politically in Europe, claimed not only (p. 415) territorial -political, but also spiritual hegemony of France on the continent. Like the Habsburgs in the 16th and first half of the 17th centuries, he sought to play the role of defender of the Catholic faith in Europe, and as a result, his disagreements with the See of St. Peter deepened. Louis XIV banned the Calvinist religion in France and continued the persecution of French Protestants, which began in the 70s. and have now become cruel. Huguenots flocked abroad in droves, and therefore the government banned emigration. But, despite strict punishments and cordons placed along the border, up to 400 thousand people moved to England, Holland, Prussia, and Poland. The governments of these countries willingly accepted Huguenot emigrants, mostly of bourgeois origin, who significantly revived the industry and trade of the states that sheltered them. As a result, considerable damage was caused to the economic development of France; Huguenot nobles most often entered the service as officers in the army of states that were enemies of France.
It must be said that not everyone around the king supported the repeal of the Edict of Nantes. As Marshal Tesse very aptly noted, “its results were fully consistent with this apolitical measure.” The “mistake of the century” dramatically damaged Louis XIV’s foreign policy plans. The mass exodus of Huguenots from France revolutionized Calvinist doctrine. In the Glorious Revolution of 1688-1689. More than 2 thousand Huguenot officers took part in England. Outstanding Huguenot theologians and publicists of that time, Pierre Hury and Jean Le Clerc, created the basis of new Huguenot political thinking, and the Glorious Revolution itself became for them a theoretical and practical model for the reconstruction of society. The new revolutionary worldview was that France needed a “parallel revolution”, the overthrow of the absolutist tyranny of Louis XIV. At the same time, the destruction of the Bourbon monarchy as such was not proposed, but only constitutional changes that would turn it into a parliamentary monarchy. As a result, the religious policy of Louis XIV (p.416) prepared the transformation of political ideas, which were finally developed and strengthened in the concepts of the French Enlightenment of the 18th century. The Catholic Bishop Bossuet, who was influential at the king’s court, noted that “free-thinking people did not neglect the opportunity to criticize the policies of Louis XIV.” The concept of a tyrant king was formed.
So, for France, the repeal of the Edict of Nantes was truly a disastrous act. Called to strengthen royal power within the country and achieve not only the territorial-political, but also the spiritual hegemony of France in Europe, in fact, he gave cards to the hands of the future English king William III of Orange and contributed to the accomplishment of the Glorious Revolution, alienating almost all of its few allies from France. The violation of the principle of freedom of conscience, in parallel with the disruption of the balance of power in Europe, resulted in severe defeats for France in both domestic and foreign policy. The second half of the reign of Louis XIV no longer looked so brilliant. And for Europe, in essence, his actions turned out quite favorably. The Glorious Revolution was carried out in England, neighboring states rallied into an anti-French coalition, through the efforts of which, as a result of bloody wars, France lost its absolute primacy in Europe, retaining it only in the cultural field.
It is in this area that France's hegemony has remained unshakable, and in some aspects continues to this day. At the same time, the very personality of the king and his activities laid the foundation for the unprecedented cultural rise of France. In general, there is an opinion among historians that talking about the “golden age” of the reign of Louis XIV can only be done in relation to the sphere of culture. This is where the “Sun King” was truly great. During his upbringing, Louis did not acquire the skills to work independently with books; he preferred questions and lively conversation to the search for truth from authors who contradicted each other. Perhaps that is why the king paid great attention to the cultural framework of his reign (p. 417), and raised his son Louis, born in 1661, differently: the heir to the throne was introduced to jurisprudence, philosophy, taught Latin and mathematics.
Among the various measures that were supposed to contribute to the growth of royal prestige, Louis XIV attached particular importance to attracting attention to his own person. He devoted as much time to worries about this as he did to the most important state affairs. After all, the face of the kingdom was, first of all, the king himself. Louis, as it were, made his life a work of classicism. He did not have a “hobby”; it was impossible to imagine him being passionate about something that did not coincide with the “profession” of the monarch. All his sporting hobbies were purely royal activities, creating the traditional image of a king-knight. Louis was too integral to be talented: brilliant talent would have broken through the boundaries of the circle of interests assigned to him somewhere. However, such rationalistic concentration on one's specialty was an early modern phenomenon, which in the field of culture was characterized by encyclopedism, scatteredness and disorganized curiosity.
By granting ranks, awards, pensions, estates, profitable positions, and other signs of attention, for which Louis XIV was inventive to the point of virtuosity, he managed to attract representatives of the best families to his court and turn them into his obedient servants. The most noble aristocrats considered it their greatest happiness and honor to serve the king when dressing and undressing, at the table, during walks, etc. The staff of courtiers and servants numbered 5-6 thousand people.
Strict etiquette was adopted at court. Everything was distributed with meticulous punctuality, every, even the most ordinary act of the life of the royal family was arranged extremely solemnly. When dressing the king, the entire court was present; a large staff of servants was required to serve the king a dish or drink. During the royal dinner, everyone admitted to him, including (p.418) members of the royal family, stood; it was possible to talk with the king only when he himself wished. Louis XIV considered it necessary for himself to strictly observe all the details of complex etiquette and demanded the same from his courtiers.
The king gave unprecedented splendor to the external life of the court. His favorite residence was Versailles, which under him became a large luxurious city. Particularly magnificent was the grandiose palace in a strictly consistent style, richly decorated both outside and inside by the best French artists of that time. During the construction of the palace, an architectural innovation was introduced, which later became fashionable in Europe: not wanting to demolish his father’s hunting lodge, which became an element of the central part of the palace ensemble, the king forced the architects to come up with a hall of mirrors, when the windows of one wall were reflected in mirrors on the other wall, creating there the illusion of the presence of window openings. The large palace was surrounded by several small ones for members of the royal family, many royal services, premises for the royal guards and courtiers. The palace buildings were surrounded by an extensive garden, maintained according to the laws of strict symmetry, with decoratively trimmed trees, many flower beds, fountains, and statues. It was Versailles that inspired Peter the Great, who visited there, to build Peterhof with its famous fountains. True, Peter spoke about Versailles as follows: the palace is beautiful, but there is little water in the fountains. In addition to Versailles, other beautiful architectural structures were built under Louis - the Grand Trianon, Les Invalides, the Louvre colonnade, the gates of Saint-Denis and Saint-Martin. The architect Hardouin-Monsard, artists and sculptors Lebrun, Girardon, Leclerc, Latour, Rigaud and others worked on all these creations, encouraged by the king.
While Louis XIV was young, life at Versailles was a continuous holiday. There was a continuous series of balls, masquerades, concerts, theatrical performances, and pleasure walks. Only in his old age (p.419) did the king, already constantly ill, begin to lead a more relaxed lifestyle, unlike the English king Charles II (1660–1685). Even on the day that turned out to be the last in his life, he organized a celebration in which he took an active part.
Louis XIV constantly attracted famous writers to his side, giving them monetary rewards and pensions, and for these favors he expected glorification of himself and his reign. The literary celebrities of that era were the playwrights Corneille, Racine and Moliere, the poet Boileau, the fabulist La Fontaine and others. Almost all of them, with the exception of La Fontaine, created the cult of the sovereign. For example, Corneille, in his tragedies from the history of the Greco-Roman world, emphasized the advantages of absolutism, which extended beneficence to its subjects. Moliere's comedies skillfully ridiculed the weaknesses and shortcomings of modern society. However, their author tried to avoid anything that might not please Louis XIV. Boileau wrote laudatory odes in honor of the monarch, and in his satires he ridiculed medieval orders and opposition aristocrats.
Under Louis XIV, a number of academies arose - sciences, music, architecture, the French Academy in Rome. Of course, it was not only the high ideals of serving the beautiful that inspired His Majesty. The political nature of the French monarch's concern for cultural figures is obvious. But does this make the works created by the masters of his era any less beautiful?
As we may have already noticed, Louis XIV made his private life the property of the entire kingdom. Let us note one more aspect. Under the influence of his mother, Louis grew up to be a very religious man, at least outwardly. But, as researchers note, his faith was the faith of a common man. Cardinal Fleury, in a conversation with Voltaire, recalled that the king “believed like a coal miner.” Other contemporaries noted that “he had never read the Bible in his life and believed everything the priests and bigots told him.” But perhaps this was consistent with the king's religious policy. Louis listened to Mass every day (p.420), washed the feet of 12 beggars every year on Holy Thursday, read simple prayers every day, and listened to long sermons on holidays. However, such ostentatious religiosity was not an obstacle to the king’s luxurious life, his wars and relationships with women.
Like his grandfather, Henry IV of Bourbon, Louis XIV was very amorous by temperament and did not consider it necessary to observe marital fidelity. As we already know, at the insistence of Mazarin and his mother, he had to renounce his love for Maria Mancini. The marriage to Maria Teresa of Spain was a purely political matter. Without being faithful, the king still conscientiously fulfilled his marital duty: from 1661 to 1672, the queen gave birth to six children, of whom only the eldest son survived. Louis was always present at childbirth and, together with the queen, experienced her torment, as did other courtiers. Maria Teresa, of course, was jealous, but very unobtrusively. When the queen died in 1683, her husband honored her memory with the following words: “This is the only trouble she caused me.”
In France, it was considered quite natural that a king, if he was a healthy and normal man, should have mistresses, as long as decency was maintained. It should also be noted that Louis never confused love affairs with state affairs. He did not allow women to interfere in politics, carefully measuring the boundaries of influence of his favorites. In his “Memoirs” addressed to his son, His Majesty wrote: “Let the beauty who gives us pleasure dare not talk to us about our affairs or our ministers.”
Among the king's many lovers, three figures are usually distinguished. Former favorite in 1661-1667. the quiet and modest maid of honor Louise de La Vallière, who gave birth to Louis four times, was perhaps the most devoted and most humiliated of all his mistresses. When the king no longer needed her, she retired to a monastery, where she spent the rest of her life.
In some ways, Françoise-Athenais de Montespan, who “reigned” (p. 422) in 1667-1679, presented a contrast to her. and bore the king six children. She was a beautiful and proud woman who was already married. So that her husband could not take her away from the court, Louis gave her the high court rank of surintendant of the queen's court. Unlike Lavaliere, Montespan was not loved by those around the king: one of the highest church authorities in France, Bishop Bossuet, even demanded that the favorite be removed from the court. Montespan adored luxury and loved to give orders, but she also knew her place. The king's beloved preferred to avoid asking Louis for private individuals, talking with him only about the needs of the monasteries under her care.
Unlike Henry IV, who at the age of 56 was crazy about 17-year-old Charlotte de Montmorency, Louis XIV, widowed at 45, suddenly began to strive for quiet family happiness. In the person of his third favorite, Françoise de Maintenon, who was three years older than him, the king found what he was looking for. Despite the fact that in 1683 Louis entered into a secret marriage with Françoise, his love was already the calm feeling of a man who foresaw old age. The beautiful, intelligent and pious widow of the famous poet Paul Scarron was, obviously, the only woman capable of influencing him. French educators attributed to its decisive influence the abolition of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. However, there is no doubt that this act was most consistent with the aspirations of the king himself in the field of domestic and foreign policy, although one cannot help but notice that the “era of Maintenon” coincided with the second, worst half of his reign. In the secluded rooms of his secret wife, His Majesty “shed tears that he could not hold back.” Nevertheless, the traditions of court etiquette were observed in relation to her before her subjects: two days before the death of the king, his 80-year-old wife left the palace and lived out her days in Saint-Cyr, the educational institution she founded for noble maidens.
Louis XIV died on September 1, 1715 at the age of 77. Judging by his physical characteristics, the king could have lived much longer. Despite his small stature, which forced him to wear high heels, Louis was stately and proportionally built, and had a representative appearance. Natural grace was combined in him with majestic posture, calm eyes, and unshakable self-confidence. The king had enviable health, rare in those difficult times. Louis's most conspicuous tendency was bulimia - an insatiable feeling of hunger that caused an incredible appetite. The king ate mountains of food day and night, absorbing the food in large pieces. What organism can withstand this? The inability to cope with bulimia was the main cause of his numerous illnesses, combined with the dangerous experiments of doctors of that era - endless bloodletting, laxatives, drugs with the most incredible ingredients. The court physician Vallo rightly wrote about the “heroic health” of the king. But it was gradually weakened, in addition to illnesses, also by countless entertainments, balls, hunting, wars and the nervous tension associated with the latter. It is not for nothing that, on the eve of his death, Louis XIV said the following words: “I loved war too much.” But this phrase, most likely, was uttered for a completely different reason: on his deathbed, the “Sun King” may have realized what result his policies had led to the country.
So, now it remains for us to utter the sacramental phrase, so often repeated in studies about Louis XIV: did a man die or a messenger of God on earth? Undoubtedly, this king, like many others, was a man with all his weaknesses and contradictions. But it is still not easy to appreciate the personality and reign of this monarch. The great emperor and unsurpassed commander Napoleon Bonaparte noted: “Louis XIV was a great king: it was he who elevated France to the rank of the first nations in Europe, it was he who for the first time had 400 thousand people under arms and 100 ships at sea, he annexed Franche-Comté to France, Roussillon, Flanders, he placed one of his children on the throne of Spain... What king since Charlemagne can compare with Louis in every respect?” Napoleon was right - Louis XIV was indeed a great king. But was he a great man? It seems that this suggests the assessment of the king by his contemporary Duke Saint-Simon: “The king’s mind was below average and did not have much ability for improvement.” The statement is too categorical, but its author did not sin much against the truth.
Louis XIV was, without a doubt, a strong personality. It was he who contributed to bringing absolute power to its apogee: the system of strict centralization of government, cultivated by him, set an example for many political regimes of both that era and the modern world. It was under him that the national and territorial integrity of the kingdom was strengthened, a single internal market functioned, and the quantity and quality of French industrial products increased. Under him, France dominated Europe, having the strongest and most combat-ready army on the continent. And finally, he contributed to the creation of immortal creations that spiritually enriched the French nation and all of humanity.
But nevertheless, it was during the reign of this king that the “old order” in France began to crack, absolutism began to decline, and the first prerequisites for the French Revolution of the late 18th century arose. Why did it happen? Louis XIV was neither a great thinker, nor a significant commander, nor a capable diplomat. He did not have the broad outlook that his predecessors Henry IV, Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin could boast of. The latter created the foundation for the flourishing of the absolute monarchy and defeated its internal and external enemies. And Louis XIV, with his ruinous wars, religious persecution and extremely strict centralization, built obstacles to the further dynamic development of France. Indeed, in order to choose the right strategic course for his state, extraordinary political thinking was required from the monarch. But the “sun king” did not possess such a thing. Therefore, it is not surprising that on the day of the funeral of Louis XIV, Bishop Bossuet, in his funeral speech, summed up the turbulent and incredibly long reign with one phrase: “Only God is great!”
France did not mourn the monarch who reigned for 72 years. Did the country already foresee the destruction and horrors of the Great Revolution? And was it really impossible to avoid them during such a long reign?
In 1695, Madame de Maintenon celebrated her victory. Thanks to an extremely fortunate coincidence, the poor widow of Scarron became the governess of the illegitimate children of Madame de Montespan and Louis XIV. Madame de Maintenon, modest, inconspicuous - and also cunning - managed to attract the attention of the Sun King 2, and he, making her his mistress, eventually secretly became engaged to her! To which Saint-Simon 3 once remarked: “History will not believe it.” Be that as it may, History, although with great difficulty, still had to believe it.
Madame de Maintenon was a born educator. When she became queen in partibus, her penchant for education grew into a real passion. The Duke Saint-Simon, already familiar to us, accused her of a morbid addiction to controlling others, arguing that “this craving deprived her of freedom, which she could fully enjoy.” He reproached her for wasting a lot of time in the care of a good thousand monasteries. “She took upon herself the burden of worthless, illusory, difficult worries,” he wrote, “every now she sent letters and received answers, drew up instructions for the chosen ones - in a word, was engaged in all sorts of nonsense, which, as a rule, leads to nothing, and if it does, it leads to some out-of-the-ordinary consequences, bitter mistakes in decision-making, miscalculations in managing the course of events and wrong choices.” Not a very kind judgment about the noble lady, although, in general, fair.
So, on September 30, 1695, Madame Maintenon notified the chief abbess of Saint-Cyr - at that time it was a boarding school for noble maidens, and not a military school, as in our days - of the following:
“In the near future I intend to tonsure a Moorish woman as a nun, who has expressed a desire for the entire Court to be present at the ceremony; I proposed to hold the ceremony behind closed doors, but we were informed that in this case the solemn vow would be declared invalid - it was necessary to provide the people with the opportunity to have fun.”
Mauritanian? What other Mauritanian woman?
It should be noted that in those days people with dark skin color were called “Moors” and “Moorish women”. Therefore, Madame de Maintenon wrote about a certain young black woman.
About the same one to whom, on October 15, 1695, the king appointed a boarding house of 300 livres as a reward for her “good intention to devote her life to serving the Lord in the Benedictine monastery in Moret.” Now we just have to find out who she is, this Moorish woman from Moret.
On the road from Fontainebleau to Pont-sur-Yonne lies the small town of Moret - surrounded by ancient walls, a delightful architectural ensemble consisting of ancient buildings and streets completely unsuitable for automobile traffic. Over time, the appearance of the town has changed a lot. At the end of the 17th century, there was a Benedictine monastery there, no different from hundreds of others scattered throughout the French kingdom. No one would ever have remembered about this holy monastery if one fine day a black nun had not been discovered among its inhabitants, whose existence so amazed her contemporaries.
The most surprising thing, however, was not that some Moorish woman took root among the Benedictines, but the care and attention that high-ranking persons at the Court showed her. According to Saint-Simon, Madame de Maintenon, for example, “visited her every now and then from Fontainebleau, and, in the end, they got used to her visits.” True, she saw the Moorish woman infrequently, but not very rarely either. During such visits, she “sympathetically inquired about her life, health and how the abbess treated her.” When Princess Marie-Adelaide of Savoy arrived in France to become engaged to the heir to the throne, the Duke of Burgundy, Madame de Maintenon took her to Moret so that she could see the Moorish woman with her own eyes. The Dauphin, son of Louis XIV, saw her more than once, and the princes, his children, once or twice, “and they all treated her kindly.”
In fact, the Mauritanian woman was treated like no other. “She was treated with much more attention than any famous, outstanding person, and she was proud of the fact that so much care was shown to her, as well as the mystery that surrounded her; although she lived modestly, it was felt that powerful patrons stood behind her.”
Yes, one thing you can’t deny Saint-Simon is the ability to capture the interest of readers. His skill manifests itself especially clearly when, talking about a Moorish woman, he reports, for example, that “once, having heard the sound of a hunting horn - Monseigneur (son of Louis XIV) was hunting in the forest nearby - she casually dropped: “It’s my brother who is hunting.” "
So the noble Duke put the question. But does it give an answer? It does, although it is not entirely clear.
“It was rumored that she was the daughter of the king and queen... they even wrote that the queen had a miscarriage, which many courtiers were sure of. But, be that as it may, it remains a secret.”
Frankly speaking, Saint-Simon was unfamiliar with the basics of genetics - can we really blame him for that? Any medical student today will tell you that a husband and wife, if they are both white, simply cannot give birth to a black child.
For Voltaire, who wrote so much about the mystery of the Iron Mask, everything was clear as daylight if he decided to write this: “She was extremely dark and, moreover, looked like him (the king). When the king sent her to the monastery, he gave her a gift, assigning an allowance of twenty thousand crowns. There was an opinion that she was his daughter, which made her feel proud, but the abbess expressed obvious dissatisfaction about this. During her next trip to Fontainebleau, Madame de Maintenon visited the Moray Monastery, she called on the black nun to show greater restraint and did everything to rid the girl of the thought that pleased her vanity.
“Madam,” the nun answered her, “the zeal with which such a noble person as you is trying to convince me that I am not the king’s daughter convinces me of just the opposite.”
The authenticity of Voltaire’s testimony is difficult to doubt, since he obtained his information from a trustworthy source. One day he himself went to the Moray Monastery and saw the Moorish woman in person. Voltaire's friend Comartin, who enjoyed the right to freely visit the monastery, obtained the same permission for the author of The Age of Louis XIV.
Here's another detail that deserves the reader's attention. In the boarding certificate that King Louis XIV presented to the Mauritanian woman, her name appears. It was double and consisted of the names of the king and queen... The Mauritanian was called Louis-Maria-Teresa!
If, thanks to his mania for erecting monumental structures, Louis XIV was similar to the Egyptian pharaohs, then his passion for lovemaking made him similar to the Arab sultans. Thus, Saint-Germain, Fontainebleau and Versailles were turned into real seraglios. The Sun King had a habit of carelessly dropping his handkerchief - and every time there were a dozen ladies and maidens, moreover from the most noble families of France, who immediately rushed to pick it up. In love, Louis was more of a “glutton” than a “gourmet.” The most outspoken woman in Versailles, the Princess of the Palatinate, the king’s daughter-in-law, said that “Louis XIV was gallant, but his gallantry often developed into sheer debauchery. He loved everyone indiscriminately: noble ladies, peasant women, gardener’s daughters, maids - the main thing for a woman was to pretend that she was in love with him.” The king began to show promiscuity in love from the very first of his heartfelt passions: the woman who introduced him to the pleasures of love was thirty years older than him, and besides, she did not have an eye.
However, in the future, it must be admitted, he achieved more significant success: his mistresses were the charming Louise de La Vallière and Athenais de Montespan, a delightful beauty, although, judging by current standards, and somewhat plump - nothing can be done; over time, fashion changes as women, and on outfits.
What tricks did the ladies of the court resort to in order to “get the king”! For this reason, young girls were even ready to commit blasphemy: one could often see how in the chapel, during mass, they, without any shame, turned their backs to the altar in order to better see the king, or rather, so that it would be more convenient for the king to see them. Well well! Meanwhile, “The Greatest of Kings” was just a short man - his height barely reached 1 meter 62 centimeters. So, since he always wanted to look stately, he had to wear shoes with soles 11 centimeters thick and a wig high 15 centimeters. However, this is still nothing: you can be small, but beautiful. Louis XIV, on the other hand, underwent a major operation on his jaw, which left a hole in his upper mouth, and when he ate, food came out through his nose. Even worse, the king always smelled bad. He knew this - and when he entered a room, he immediately opened the windows, even if it was frosty outside. To fight off the unpleasant smell, Madame de Montespan always clutched a handkerchief soaked in pungent perfume. However, no matter what, for most of the ladies of Versailles, the “moment” spent in the company of the king seemed truly heavenly. Perhaps the reason for this is female vanity?
Queen Marie-Theresa loved Louis no less than other women who at different times shared his bed with the king. As soon as Maria Teresa, upon arriving from Spain, set foot on the island of Bidassoa, where young Louis XIV was waiting for her, she fell in love with him at first sight. She admired him, because he seemed handsome to her, and every time she froze in delight before him and before his genius. Well, what about the king? And the king was much less blinded. He saw her as she was - corpulent, small, with ugly teeth, “spoiled and blackened.” “They say her teeth became like that because she ate a lot of chocolate,” explains Princess Palatine and adds: “Besides, she ate garlic in exorbitant quantities.” Thus, it turned out that one unpleasant smell fought off another.
The Sun King eventually became imbued with a sense of marital duty. Whenever he appeared before the queen, her mood became festive: “As soon as the king gave her a friendly look, she felt happy all day long. She was glad that the king shared the marriage bed with her, for she, a Spaniard by blood, gave true pleasure to love, and her joy could not help but notice the courtiers. She was never angry with those who made fun of her for this - she herself laughed, winked at the mockers and at the same time contentedly rubbed her little hands.”
Their union lasted twenty-three years and brought them six children - three sons and three daughters, but all the girls died in infancy.
The question related to the mystery of the Moorish woman from Moret is, in turn, divided into four sub-questions: could it be that the black nun was both the daughter of the king and queen? - and we have already given a negative answer to this question; could she be the daughter of a king and a black mistress? - or, in other words, the daughter of a queen and a black lover? And finally, could it be that the black nun, having nothing to do with the royal couple, was simply mistaken when she called the Dauphin “her brother”?
There are two personalities in History whose love affairs have become the subject of careful study - Napoleon and Louis XIV. Some historians spent their whole lives trying to determine how many mistresses they had. So, as for Louis XIV, no one has been able to establish - although scientists have thoroughly studied all the documents, testimonies and memoirs of that time - that he even once had a “colored” mistress. What is true is true, at that time in France women of color were a rarity, and if the king had accidentally set his sights on one, rumors of his infatuation would have spread throughout the kingdom in an instant. Especially considering that every single day the Sun King tried to stay in everyone’s sight. Not a single gesture or word of his could simply be missed by curious courtiers: of course, since the Court of Louis XIV was known as the most slanderous in the world. Can you imagine what would have happened if rumors had spread that the king had a black passion?
However, there was nothing of the kind. In this case, how could a Moorish woman be the daughter of Louis XIV? However, not all historians adhered to this assumption. But many of them, including Voltaire, quite seriously believed that the black nun was the daughter of Maria Teresa.
Here the reader may wonder: how is this so? Such a chaste woman? The queen, who, as you know, literally adored her husband the king! What is true is true. However, with all this, we should not forget that this dear woman was extremely stupid and extremely simple-minded. Here is what, for example, the princess of the Palatinate, whom we know, writes about her: “She was too meager and believed everything that was told to her, good and bad.”
The version put forward by such writers as Voltaire and Touchard-Lafosse, the author of the famous “Chronicles of the Bull's Eye,” as well as the famous historian Gosselin Le Nôtre, boils down, with a small difference, to approximately the following: the envoys of an African king gave Maria Theresa a little Moor of ten or twelve years of age not taller than twenty-seven inches. Touchard-Lafosse allegedly even knew his name - Nabo.
And Le Nôtre claims that from that time on it became fashionable - the founders of which were Pierre Mignard and others like him - “to paint little negros in all large portraits.” In the Palace of Versailles, for example, hangs a portrait of Mademoiselle de Blois and Mademoiselle de Nantes, the king’s illegitimate daughters: right in the middle of the canvas is decorated with the image of a black child, an indispensable attribute of the era. However, soon after the “shameful story connected with the Queen and the Moor” became known, this fashion gradually faded away.
So, after a while, Her Majesty discovered that they would soon become a mother - the same was confirmed by the court doctors. The king rejoiced, awaiting the birth of an heir. What recklessness! The black boy has grown up. He was taught to speak French. It seemed to everyone that “the Moor’s innocent amusements stemmed from his innocence and liveliness of nature.” In the end, as they say, the queen loved him with all her heart, so deeply that no chastity could protect her from weakness, which even the most exquisite handsome man from the Christian world could hardly instill in her.
As for Nabo, he probably died, and “rather suddenly” - immediately after it was publicly announced that the queen was pregnant.
Poor Maria Theresa was about to give birth. But the king could not understand why she was so nervous. And the queen sighed and, as if in bitter forebodings, said:
“I don’t recognize myself: where does this nausea, disgust, whims come from, since nothing like this has ever happened to me before?” If I didn’t have to restrain myself, as decency requires, I would happily play around on the carpet, as we often did with my little Mauritian.
- Ah, madam! — Louis was perplexed. “Your condition makes me tremble.” You can’t think about the past all the time - otherwise, God forbid, you will give birth to a scarecrow that is contrary to nature.
The king looked into the water! When the baby was born, the doctors saw that it was “a black girl, black as ink from head to toe,” and were amazed.
The court physician Felix swore to Louis XIV that “one glance from the Moor was enough to transform the baby into his own kind even in the mother’s womb.” To which, according to Touchard-Lafosse, His Majesty remarked:
- Hm, just one look! This means his gaze was too soulful!
And Le Nôtre reports that only much later “the queen admitted how one day a young black slave, hiding somewhere behind a closet, suddenly rushed towards her with a wild cry - he apparently wanted to scare her, and he succeeded.”
Thus, the pretentious words of the Moorish woman from Moret are confirmed by the following: since she was born by the queen, being at that time married to Louis XIV, legally she had the right to call herself the daughter of the sun king, although in fact her father was a Moor, who grew up from an unintelligent negro slave!
But, frankly speaking, this is only a legend, and it was put on paper much later. Vatu wrote around 1840: The Chronicle of Bull's Eye was published in 1829. And the story of G. Le Nôtre, published in 1898 in the magazine “Mond Illustre”, ends on such a disappointing note: “The only thing that is not in doubt is the authenticity of the portrait of the Moorish woman, stored in the Saint-Geneviève library, the same one about which everyone said it at the end of the last century.”
The authenticity of the portrait is indeed beyond doubt, which, however, cannot be said about the legend itself.
But still! The story of the Moorish woman from Moret obviously began with a completely reliable event. We have proof, such as written evidence from contemporaries, that the Queen of France actually gave birth to a black girl. Let us now, following chronological order, give the floor to the witnesses.
So, Mademoiselle de Montpensier, or Great Mademoiselle, a close relative of the king, wrote:
“For three days in a row, the queen was tormented by severe attacks of fever, and she gave birth prematurely - at eight months. After giving birth, the fever did not stop, and the queen was already preparing for communion. Her condition plunged the courtiers into bitter sadness... Around Christmas, I remember, the queen no longer saw or heard those who were talking in low voices in her chambers...
His Majesty also told me what suffering the illness caused the queen, how many people gathered with her before communion, how at the sight of her the priest almost fainted from grief, how His Majesty the prince laughed, and then everyone else, what an expression the queen had a face... and that the newborn was like two peas in a pod like the charming Moorish baby that Mr. Beaufort brought with him and with whom the queen never parted; when everyone realized that the newborn could only look like him, the unfortunate Moor was taken away. The king also said that the girl was terrible, that she would not live and that I should not say anything to the queen, because it could lead her to the grave... And the queen shared with me the sadness that took possession of her after the courtiers laughed when she We’re already getting ready to take communion.”
So in the year when this event happened - it was established that the birth took place on November 16, 1664 - the king's cousin mentions the resemblance of a black girl born to the queen to a Moor.
The fact of the birth of a black girl is also confirmed by Madame de Mottville, Anne of Austria's maid. And in 1675, eleven years after the incident, Bussy-Rabutin told a story that, in his opinion, was quite reliable:
“Marie Therese was talking with Madame de Montosier about the king’s favorite (Mademoiselle de La Vallière), when His Majesty unexpectedly came to them - he overheard their conversation. His appearance struck the queen so much that she blushed all over and, shyly lowering her eyes, hurriedly left. And after three days she gave birth to a black girl, who, as it seemed to her, would not survive.” If you believe official reports, the newborn really died soon - more precisely, it happened on December 26, 1664, when she was just over a month old, about which Louis XIV did not fail to inform his father-in-law, the Spanish king: “Yesterday evening, my daughter died. .. Although we were prepared for misfortune, I did not experience much grief.” And in Guy Patin’s “Letters” you can read the following lines: “This morning the little lady had convulsions and she died, because she had neither strength nor health.” Later, Princess Palatine also wrote about the death of the “ugly baby,” although she was not in France in 1664: “All the courtiers saw how she died.” But was it really like that? If the newborn really turned out to be black, it would be quite logical to declare that she died, but in fact take her and hide her somewhere in the wilderness. And if so, then a better place than a monastery cannot be found...
In 1719, the Princess of the Palatinate wrote that “the people did not believe that the girl had died, because everyone knew that she was in a monastery in Moret, near Fontainebleau.”
The last, more recent, evidence relating to this event was the message of Princess Conti. In December 1756, the Duke de Luynes briefly outlined in his diary a conversation he had with Queen Marie Leszczynska, wife of Louis XV, where they were talking about a Moorish woman from Moret: “For a long time there was only talk about some black woman a nun from a monastery in Moret, near Fontainebleau, who called herself the daughter of a French queen. Someone convinced her that she was the queen's daughter, but because of her unusual skin color she was put away in a convent. The Queen did me the honor of telling me that she had a conversation about this with the Princess of Conti, the legitimized illegitimate daughter of Louis XIV, and the Princess of Conti told her that Queen Marie Theresa had actually given birth to a girl who had a purple, even black, face - apparently , because when she was born she suffered greatly, but a little later the newborn died.”
Thirty-one years later, in 1695, Madame de Maintenon intended to tonsure a Moorish woman as a nun, to whom Louis XIV assigned a boarding house a month later. This Moorish woman is called Ludovica Maria Teresa.
When she gets to the Moray Monastery, she is surrounded by all sorts of worries. The Mauritanian is often visited by Madame de Maintenon - she demands to be treated with respect, and even introduces her to the Princess of Savoy, as soon as she manages to get engaged to the heir to the throne. The Mauritanian woman is firmly convinced that she herself is the daughter of the queen. All Moray nuns seem to think the same thing. Their opinion is shared by the people, because, as we already know, “the people did not believe that the girl died, because everyone knew that she was in the monastery in Moret.” Yes, as they say, there is something to think about here...
It is possible, however, that there was a simple and at the same time stunning coincidence. Now is the time to give one interesting explanation that Queen Maria Leszczynska gave to the Duke de Luynes: “At that time a Moor and a Moorish woman served under a certain Laroche, a gatekeeper in the Zoological Garden. The Mauritanian woman had a daughter, and the father and mother, not being able to raise the child, shared their grief with Madame de Maintenon, who took pity on them and promised to take care of their daughter. She provided her with significant recommendations and escorted her to the monastery. This is how a legend appeared, which turned out to be a fiction from beginning to end.”
But how, in this case, did the daughter of the Moors, the servants of the Zoo, imagine that royal blood flowed in her veins? And why was she surrounded by so much attention?
I think we should not rush to conclusions, decisively rejecting the hypothesis that the Moorish woman from Moret somehow has nothing to do with the royal family. I would really like the reader to understand me correctly: I am not saying that this fact is indisputable, I just believe that we do not have the right to categorically deny it without studying it from all sides. When we consider it comprehensively, we will certainly return to the conclusion of Saint-Simon: “Be that as it may, this remains a secret.”
And one last thing. In 1779, the portrait of a Moorish woman still decorated the office of the chief abbess of the Moray monastery. Later he joined the collection of Saint-Genevieve Abbey. Nowadays the painting is stored in the library of the same name. At one time, a whole “case” was attached to the portrait - correspondence concerning the Mauritanian woman. This file is in the archives of the Sainte-Geneviève Library. However, now there is nothing in it. All that was left of it was the cover with a suggestive inscription: “Papers relating to the Moorish woman, daughter of Louis XIV.”
Alain Decaux, French historian
Translated from French by I. Alcheev