These lessons served Louis well. Throughout the reign he would consult his council and hear the advice of his ministers, but the final decision would always be his own. Louis would face every problem by reasoning and thinking it through. He would then compare his solutions with those of “able and experienced people” (Louis XIV, Œuvres, volume I, pp. 23–4).
17The Petit-Bourbon was a town house that lay between the Louvre and the cloister of Saint-German-l’Auxerrois.
18This game resembles one made popular by the marquise de Rambouillet in her famous salon.
19Louis’s apartment at the Louvre featured a tapestry of Scipio and a white satin bed embroidered in gold, which had been left to Louis by Cardinal Richelieu (Motteville, volume III, p. 104).
20Motteville, volume III, pp. 99–101; Montglat, p. 314.
21Motteville, volume III, p. 102.
22Louis liked to make unexpected appearances because he preferred to see people as they really were, rather than as they wanted him to see them.
23Motteville, volume III, p. 105.
24Ibid., p. 105.
25Montpensier, volume II, pp. 51–2.
26Motteville, volume III (1848 edition), p. 113–14. Olympe had recognized that Louis’s friendship for her had only been his way of amusing himself and that since neither of them had much regard for the other, they would soon have fallen out anyway. Moreover, she felt that her uncle was keeping her in order to serve his own interests, rather than seeking to marry her for her own advancement.
27Prince Eugène’s mother was a daughter and co-heir of the comte de Soissons; Eugène took the title to become comte de Soissons. Soissons was a branch of the house of Bourbon, to which Louis belonged.
28H. Noel Williams, Five Fair Sisters: An Italian Episode at the Court of Louis XIV (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1906), p. 44.
29The young man, Armand de la Porte, having seen Marie and her sister, Hortense, when they first arrived in France, fell passionately in love with Hortense despite the fact that she was only a child. He declared that if he could not marry her, he would marry no one and would, instead, spend the rest of his days as a monk. Mazarin, indignant, announced that he would rather marry his niece to a lackey than to him. He would later change his mind, and the two would marry in 1661, just ten days before Mazarin’s death (Williams, pp. 48–50, 228).
30Williams (Sisters), p. 56.
31Ibid.
32Motteville, volume III, p. 115.
33Montpensier, volume II, pp. 75–6.
34As Louis was travelling back from Montmédy, he was passing through a part of the woods known as Le Trou de Souris when the coach containing two of the king’s gentlemen was suddenly fired upon and the coachman was wounded. The gentlemen immediately got out and, getting on horseback, rode into the woods, where they found ten or twelve fusiliers. They killed one or two of them and took the rest prisoner (Montpensier, volume II, p. 76).
35It is difficult to date when Louis first noticed Mlle de La Motte-Argencourt: she had recently come to court in the service of Anne of Austria, and Louis appears to have known her for a short while (Jules Lair, Louise de La Vallière, trans. Ethel Colburn Mayne (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1908), p. 26). Mme de Motteville (volume III, pp. 116–18) dates the beginning of Louis’s relationship with her to 1657, while Mademoiselle, who confuses her with the similarly named Mlle de la Motte-Houdancourt, (pp. 87–8) links it to the time of the death of Mazarin’s nephew, Alfonso Mancini, who died in 1658. He attended the prestigious Jesuit Clermont College in Paris. One day, as the boys were playing the game of being tossed in a blanket, he fell and fractured his skull, dying of his injury. He was only twelve years old.
36Motteville, volume III, p. 117.
37Ibid.
38Ibid.
39Montpensier, volume II, p. 88.
40Motteville, volume III, pp. 117–18. Returning to Paris after a brief stay at Vincennes, Louis was firm in his resolve never to see La Motte-Argencourt again, but his will was tested at a ball a few days later when the young lady went to him to take him as her partner. Louis turned pale, then red, and, later, La Motte-Argencourt told her friends that the king’s hand “trembled all the time that it held hers.” Mlle de La Motte-Argencourt left court soon afterwards and retired to the convent of the Filles-de-Sainte-Marie at Chaillot.
41Mazarin and King Philip IV of Spain had both sought to make an ally of England. At first Cromwell favored Spain, but Philip’s conditions were too high, and when England seized Jamaica, England and Spain went to war. With Spain now fighting two enemies, Mazarin proposed an alliance with Cromwell in which English troops would capture Gravelines, Mardyck, and Dunkirk, the main sources of provisions to the Spanish forces. In return, England would keep Mardyck and Dunkirk, an attractive proposition for Cromwell, as the latter gave him a major port in continental Europe. The treaty was signed in 1657. Louis had inspected the Ironsides, as Cromwell’s army was called, and was impressed by them.
42Le Roi, ed., pp. 52–66; Motteville, volume II, pp. 144–5; Montpensier, volume II, pp. 102–3; Patin, pp. 407–8; Montglat, p. 331.
43Jules Mazarin, Lettres du Cardinal Mazarin pendant son Ministère, ed. M. A. Chéruel and V. G. d’Avenel (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1872–1906), volume 8, p. 489.
44Philips and Frans Zoete Van Laeke, Journal d’un Voyage à Paris en 1656–1658, publié par A.P. Faugère (Paris: Benjamin Duprat, 1862), p. 291; Arthur Hassall, Mazarin (London, New York: The Macmillan Company, 1903), pp. 138–40.
SIX: A ROYAL WEDDING
1Montpensier, volume II, pp. 106–8.
2Montpensier, volume II, p. 108. Gaston avenged himself later when he walked in the garden with Mazarin. He made the cardinal remain uncovered for an equal length of time before telling him he could put on his hat. Both of these incidents were remarked by the courtiers.
3Motteville, volume III, p. 148.
4Ibid., p. 149.
5Scaramouch was the stage name of Tiberio Fiorilli. He performed on the most profitable days of the week: Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, with Molière making do with the remaining four days.
6Geoffrey Treasure, Louis XIV (London, Edinburgh: Pearson Education Limited, 2001), p. 256.
7Motteville, volume III, p. 151.
8Christine de France had governed Savoy as regent on behalf of her son, Charles Emmanuel II, since the death of her husband in 1637.
9Montpensier, volume II, p. 111. It has been speculated that Marie Mancini had influenced Louis’s decision to ask his mother to accompany him to Lyons, knowing that she would be asked to join the queen’s entourage. This way, she could persuade Louis not to marry Marguerite, which would have been Anne’s preferred outcome. Similarly, Mazarin saw Marie as useful in this regard; he thought that if Philip IV decided at the last moment to offer the Infanta to Louis, and Louis had fallen in love with Marguerite, his niece could persuade him to change his mind, see Williams, Sisters, pp. 85–6. Mme de Motteville (volume III, pp. 154–5) asserts that Anne consented to travel to Lyons “in order to try to break [the marriage] off.” However, Anne trusted in the will of God and was resolved that if Louis found Marguerite to his taste and wanted to marry her, she would not stand in his way.
10Montpensier, volume II, p. 112.
11Ibid., p. 115. The Estates, or States, was the representative assembly of certain regions, comprising the clergy, nobility, and the bourgeoisie. Aside from the Estates, there was also the Estates General, which covered the whole of France. It met but rarely, and while it could pass resolutions, it could not legislate (W. E. Brown. The First Bourbon Century in France (London: University of London Press Ltd, 1971), p. 11).
12Rissolles were a type of minced pie.
13Montpensier, volume II, p. 115.
14Ibid., p. 119. The princess of England was, of course, Henriette.
15Ibid., p. 120.
16Motteville, volume III, p. 149.
17Montpensier, volume II, p. 121. Louis spoke enthusiastically to Marguerite about
his musketeers and other regiments, their number and their commanders, and he asked Marguerite about her brother’s guards. The conversation then changed to extolling the virtues of their respective capitals, Paris and Turin.
18Montpensier, volume II, p. 122.
19Motteville, volume III, p. 159. When Maria-Teresa came to France, she told Mme de Motteville that her father’s words had pleased her, for she had been concerned about Louis’s journey to Lyons. She said that she “had in her heart a presentiment which told her that the King was to be her husband, and she knew that she alone was entirely worthy of him.”
20Montglat (p. 337) suggests that Mazarin initially thought that Philip IV’s offer was a “ruse on Spain’s part, designed to make the court of Savoy leave France discontented and offended, so they would return to Piedmont to treat with Spain and abandon France in order to avenge the contempt they had been shown, and would no longer wish to give the Infanta to the King.” It soon became apparent, however, that Philip was sincere.
21Motteville, volume III, p. 160. Pimentel travelled incognito and, having no passports, he was in danger of being arrested. He remained in the shadows throughout his stay in Lyons.
22Montpensier, volume II, p. 124; Williams, Sisters, p. 91. Mademoiselle (volume 2, p. 131) thought that Louis’s coldness towards Marguerite resulted from “the hopes held out by the King of Spain.”
23Motteville, volume III, p. 163.
24Montpensier, volume II, p. 132.
25Montglat, p. 337.
26Montpensier, volume II, p. 133.
27Motteville, volume III, p. 171.
28A handsome building had been especially erected on the island, designed to accommodate the strict protocols demanded by both nations. Mademoiselle (volume II, pp. 171–2), who made a point of visiting it, left the following description. “We reached it by a bridge formed and tapestried like a gallery. At the termination of this was a saloon, which opened by a door to another bridge, built in the same manner on the side of Spain, as was this on the side of France. It had a large window, looking towards the river on the side of Fontarabia. There were two doors; the one on the side of France, the other on the side of Spain, by which you entered two rooms, magnificently furnished, and ornamented with fine tapestry. There were also small rooms with their cabinets, and, in the center, the Hall of Assembly. It appeared to me very large, but with no other windows than those which overlooked the river, where two sentinels were stationed while the Kings were there, the corps-de-garde not having come over to the island. There were, besides, guards in the hall near the vestibule of which I have spoken; each chamber had only one door, except the Hall of Conference, which had two, placed opposite each other, and which, as I have said, was very large, having really formed two rooms, which had been thrown into one. The tapestry, both on the side of France and that of Spain, was admirable. The Spaniards had laid down Persian carpets, the groundwork of which was of silver and gold, remarkably beautiful. On our side, the carpets were of crimson velvet, decorated with gold and silver lace; as for the chairs, I do not recollect of what they were framed. There were two ecritoires, I know not of what material, but I think the locks were of gold; and, if I am not deceived, there was a clock on each table. Everything was in duplicate, and equal to its duplicate in value.”
29Madame de La Fayette, Histoire de Madame Henriette d’Angleterre in Michaud et Poujoulat, Series 3, volume 30 (Lyons, Paris: Guyot Frères, 1854), p. 178.
30Montpensier, volume II, pp. 143–4.
31Brienne (1916–19), volume 2, pp. 10–11. According to Mme de Motteville, Mazarin was tempted by the prestige that a marriage between Louis XIV and his niece would bring to his house and his name. He spoke to Anne about it in a manner that was light-hearted but which concealed the seriousness of his ambition. His words elicited a firm response: “I do not believe, Monsieur le cardinal, that the king is capable of such baseness; but if it were possible that he should think of it, I warn you that all France will revolt against you and against him; and that I will put myself at the head of the rebels to restrain my son” (Motteville, volume III, pp. 171–2). On the other hand, the abbé de Choisy (volume 1, pp. 67–8) suggests that Mazarin was considered too timid to allow the match, fearing that it would make an implacable enemy of Queen Anne.
32Motteville, volume III, p. 178; La Fayette, p. 178. Williams (Sisters), (p. 118) quotes Marie’s words as “Sire, you are king, you weep, and I leave.”
33Racine’s Emperor Titus chooses his duty to Rome over his love for the Palestinian queen, Bérénice. When he tells her he will not marry her, Bérénice tells him, “You are Emperor, Sire, and you are weeping?” (“Vous êtes empereur, Seigneur, et vous pleurez?” Bérénice, Scene V).
34Williams (Sisters), p. 116.
35Motteville, volume III, p. 179.
36Ibid.
37Williams (Sisters), p. 117.
38Motteville, volume III, p. 179.
39Treasure, Louis XIV, p. 258.
40Bluche, Louis XIV, pp. 86–7.
41Roughly £500,000, or $395,000.
42Bluche, Louis XIV, p. 87.
43Williams (Sisters), p. 145.
44Lair, Louise de La Vallière, pp. 41–2; Louis XIV, Œuvres, volume V, p. 6.
45Gazette, January 1660, pp. 39–40.
46Talc is a transparent, translucent, or shimmering material chosen to replace silver thread, which was forbidden in Spain.
47Mme de Motteville (volume III, p. 201) describes the guard-infanta, or farthingale, which was worn by the Spanish ladies, as “a semi-round and monstrous machine, which seemed to be made of several barrel hoops sewn inside their petticoats; except that ordinary hoops are round, while their guard-infantas were flattened a little before and behind, and projected wider at the side. When they walked, this machine moved up and down, giving them a most ugly appearance.”
48Motteville, volume III, p. 200.
49Ibid., p. 204.
50Ibid., p. 205.
51Ibid., p. 206.
52Ibid., pp. 206–7.
53Mademoiselle de Montpensier (volume II, p. 206) could not remember what Louis wore, since all eyes were on the young queen, but she believed that his costume was richly embroidered with gold.
54The duchesse de Navailles served Maria Teresa as lady of honor and lady-in-waiting on this occasion.
55Motteville, volume III, p. 215.
56Ibid., p. 216.
57Montpensier, volume V, p. 161; Loret, volume 3, p. 231.
58Motteville, volume III, p. 220.
59Petitfils, Louis XIV, pp. 184–5.
SEVEN: A NEW DAWN
1John Palmer, Molière, His Life and Works (London: G. Bell and sons, 1930), p. 116.
2The galerie des rois was so named because portraits of kings were held there.
3Montpensier, volume II, p. 219.
4Motteville, volume III, p. 228.
5Brienne (1828), volume 2, pp. 115–16. Brienne’s observations are supported by Motteville (volume III, p. 225).
6Estimates of Mazarin’s personal wealth vary, but it was probably about 39 million livres, of which about a third was in hard cash (Treasure, Mazarin, p. 279).
7Colbert was employed to look after Mazarin’s business affairs and administer his vast personal fortune.
8See Treasure, Mazarin, p. 279.
9Choisy, volume 1, pp. 70–1.
10The taille was a direct tax imposed upon households. In theory, the level of the taille was supposed to reflect the taxable wealth of the household, but in practice it was much heavier, see Pitts, p. 27.
11Bluche, Louis XIV, p. 93.
12Motteville, volume III, p. 228.
13The Religion Prétendu Réformée was the official term for the Huguenots or Calvinist Protestants. Their rights had been enshrined in the Edict of Nantes, signed April 1598 by Henri IV.
14Brienne (1916–19), volume 3, pp. 35–38.
15Petitfils, Louis, p. 191.
16Motteville, volume III, p. 230.
17C
hoisy, volume 1, p. 100.
18For this section, see Cronin, pp. 116–18. For comparison, the population of England was five and a half million, while that of Russia was fourteen million.
19Louis XIV, Œuvres, volume I, p. 6.
20Ibid., p. 20.
21Ibid., pp. 9–10.
22Ibid., pp. 10–11.
23Ibid., pp. 11–12.
24Ibid., p. 12.
25Jules Lair, Nicolas Foucquet (Paris: E. Plon, Nourrit et Cie, 1980), volume 2, p. 3.
26Nicolas Foucquet, Recueil des défenses (No location, 1665–1668), volume VII, p. 387.
27Motteville, volume III, p. 258.
28Louis XIV, Œuvres, volume I, pp. 24–26, 33.
29Ibid., p. 33.
30Prest, p. 122.
31Philippe Beaussant, Lully ou le Musicien du Soleil (Paris: Gallimard, 1992), p. 250.
32Pitts, pp. 33–4.
33On occasion, Foucquet was obliged to raise large sums of money urgently to maintain the armies in the field and to pay for necessary provisions, some of which were supplied by Mazarin as a contractor, see Pitts, p. 35.
34Pitts, p. 35.
35Mazarin married his niece, Hortense Mancini, to Armand-Charles de la Porte, duc de La Meilleraye, provided he took the title duc de Mazarin. The couple inherited some 28 million livres.
36Daniel Dessert, Fouquet (Paris: Fayard, 1987), pp. 228–9.
37Clermont, which was founded by the Jesuits in 1563, changed its name to the Lycée Louis-le-Grand after Louis XIV gave it his official patronage in 1682. Situated in the rue Saint-Jacques in the Latin Quarter of Paris, its alumni include Richelieu, Condé, Foucquet, Molière, Voltaire, and Victor Hugo. More recently, it was attended by the future presidents Georges Pompidou, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, and Jacques Chirac.
38Petitfils, Louis XIV, pp. 204–5.
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