Louis XIV de Geoffrey Treasure

Louis XIV

Geoffrey Treasure

Louis IV represents the apogee of French royal power and the Ancien Regime. Having restored the nation's finances and rebuilt the army, he embarked on a series of wars of conquest which made France universally feared and respected as the central power of continental Europe. In the age of Moliere, Corneille, Racine et al, French culture blossomed at the court of Versailles. The counterpoint to these achievements was the emasculation of the political and legal institutions that might have limited the exercise of the royal will. In this new history, Geoffrey Treasure explores a unique combination of a personal philosophy, moulded by absolutist thinking and propaganda, and by Marzarin's deliberate training. He examines the influences and traits which permitted the growth of this particular exercise of power and its descent into an absolutism that ultimately set France on the road to 1789.

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Cuprins

Preface viii Acknowledgements xi 1 Preparing for Power 1 The God-given 1 The Fronde 7 Mazarin: minister, guardian and tutor 13 The anointed king 17 The ecclesiastical Fronde 20 A constitutional balance 23 A ruler's duty 30 2 Louis XIV's Subjects 43 The poor have no reserves 43 Peasant farrning 48 The feudal regime 51 Nobility 54 Bourgeois France 59 3 Personal Rule 69 The case of Fouquet 69 Absolutism 7 4 The French royal tradition: inspiration and restraint 78 Parlement and Gallicanism 84 'A delightful business' 88 Councils and ministers 94 The intendants 99 4 Wealth and Power: Colbert 1 09 The perfect royal servant 1 09 The state's finances 115 Manufactures 118 Trade and sea power 1 25 . v . Contents 5 Th e Power of th e Army 134 A defective instrument 134 Control, discipline and recruitment 137 Weaponry, fortresses and supply 142 6 Power Abroad 1 50 The world of diplomacy 1 50 The great treaties 1 57 Trials of strength 161 'Desire to attack the Dutch' 1 64 The Dutch war 1 69 'I fully rejoice in my clever conduct' 1 73 7 Versailles: The Display of Power 1 80 'Great buildings, their magnificence' 1 80 The problem of Paris 1 82 A new palace 1 85 Significant rituals 1 89 An unhealthy dependence 1 94 8 Th e Temptation of Power 200 'The grand doge' 200 A defensible frontier 202 Vienna: a decisive moment 208 9 Power and Conformity 212 The Huguenot question 212 Huguenot crisis; Catholic ascendancy 217 The Edict of Fontainebleau 222 Emigres and rebels 229 10 France against Europe: Th e Nine Years War 238 Louvois's war 238 Towards total war 245 The necessity rf peace 249 A new moderation 253 · vi · Contents 11 The Great Prize 259 Treaty or will 259 12 The Great War 270 A war on four fronts 270 'There are murmurs at his very door' 276 'Conditions so contrary to justice' 282 Peace at last 287 Europe's changing face 291 13 Th e Price of War 298 The money famine 298 Desperate measures 301 A crisis of morale: Colbertism challenged 304 An alternative voice: Fenelon 308 Great expectations - and tragic losses 31 1 14 Faith , Reason and Authority 316 Jansenism 316 An uneasy peace 320 Self-inflicted wounds 322 Quietism 324 15 'A King at Every Moment' 330 A brave end 330 Post-mortem: another regency 334 Envoi 337 Glossary 343 Bibliography 348 Index

Descriere

Between adulation and hostility, historians have struggled to achieve a balance in their interpretation of Louis XIV. In this new history, Geoffrey Treasure expertly manages to achieve this by setting Louis in the style and thinking of the period. He emerges as a credible figure because he is of his age. Also providing powerful sketches of the leading figures, Colbert, Bossuet, Fenelon, Mme de Maintenon and many others, Treasure helps to evaluate the propaganda and detach Louis from the image and the 'spin'.