Louis XIV
Page 44
Later that night, coming to after a faint, he was asked by Fagon whether he suffered greatly. “No,” he answered, “and that annoys me, I would like to suffer more for the expiation of my sins.”322 On the twenty-ninth, there was an improvement. The king ate a few biscuits and drank some wine, and the duc d’Orléans’s apartment, which for the past week, had been full of courtiers, was suddenly empty. The improvement did not last, however; and giving orders, he said the king instead of the dauphin. “He saw a movement in the people near his bed. ‘But why?’ he said. ‘It does not worry me at all.’“323 At eleven o’clock that night, his leg was examined again; the gangrene now reached all the way up to the thigh, and he fainted several times. Having called for Mme de Maintenon, he was told that she had already left, and he gave orders to have her brought back from Saint-Cyr.
All through August 30, he remained half asleep; at five o’clock that afternoon, Mme de Maintenon returned to Saint-Cyr. All through the thirty-first, he wove in and out of consciousness; the entire thigh was now gangrened. Early that night, after the prayers for the dying, he said, “O God, come to my help, please relieve me soon.”324 These were his last words. Having sunk into a coma, he died at eight-fifteen on the morning of September 1, 1715.
* Madame’s chief lady-in-waiting.
* The cabal around the dauphin had turned him thoroughly against the duc d’Orléans, but that was merely due to the prince’s weakness, not to any real animosity.
* To avoid confusion, he will still be called duc de Bourgogne here.
* The king’s First Physician. A violent purge was administered on May 4.
* Mansart died in 1708.
What followed surprised few people: Within days, the Parlement broke Louis XIV’s will, giving the duc d’Orléans an unfettered regency; the duc du Maine also lost the command of the Guard. As for the funeral, it was hasty and simple. The mob that assembled to see the funerary carriages on their way to Saint Denis jeered at the corpse that was driven past them; and everywhere the death of the old king was seen as a huge relief. With him, too, an age had ended: In France, the eighteenth century began on September 1, 1715.
Still, quickly enough, the reign of Louis XIV was seen as a golden era. His great-grandson, who survived against all odds and, as Louis XV, enjoyed one of the longest reigns in French history, greatly admired the Sun King. With the publication of Voltaire’s Le Siècle de Louis XIV in 1751, that admiration became general. It has endured to this day.
Of course, Louis XIV has been attacked quite as much as he has been praised, often on the wrong grounds. If the king’s isolation at Versailles was one of the causes of the Revolution, for instance, that was the fault of Louis XV and Louis XVI. The Sun King himself never thought that his successors would feel bound by his own way of ruling; rather, he expected them to re-create the monarchy in their own images.
He has also been blamed for ruining France. The War of the Spanish Succession, we are told, bled the country white. Yet, we have only to look at France’s prosperity in the twenty years after 1715 to see that it was not so. And while it is true that, on his deathbed, the king reproached himself with having made war too often, we may safely take that as the words of a man who had already given up the world for the unreal universe of religion where all men are brothers. The wars of Louis XIV, in fact, left France a larger, richer, and stronger country. In 1643, the Habsburgs still dominated Europe. In 1715, France was incomparably its most important power.
It is also under Louis XIV when France acquired that supremacy in the arts, that refined way of life, that feeling for decor which persisted until the 1850s. If the eighteenth century was also the French century, it was in good part because the Sun King had set the stage for the creators who followed.
In the same way, the form of government he invented survived, virtually unchanged, until the Revolution, and there were good reasons for that. Not only was it far more effective than its predecessors, it was also more fair, more concerned with the prosperity of the state and the happiness of its people. Being human, of course, he made mistakes: The Dutch War and the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes are probably the gravest, but on balance, his was not only the most splendid reign in the history of France, it was also one of the most positive and most successful.
As for the new image of the monarchy he created, it was so powerful that it haunts us still: The crowds which fill Versailles day after day are testimonial to that. It has been given to few men not only to alter the course of history but also to create a myth which endures century after century. As we look back, even with a critical gaze, we cannot help but be moved by the golden glow that, after so much time, still illuminates the figure of the Sun King.
1. Motteville, 1, 65.
2. Ibid., I, 70.
3. Chevalier, 558.
4. Ibid.
5. Moneville, I, 70.
6. Ibid., I, 90.
7. Dubois de Lestourmieres in Michaud et Poujoulat, lere serie, XI, 157.
8. Motteville, I, 95.
9. Turenne, 382.
10. Lèfevre d’Ormesson, I, 41.
11. Voltaire, I, 55.
12. Motteville, I, 102.
13. Ibid., I, XXVII-XXXV.
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid.
16. La fere, 162.
17. Motteville, I, 237.
18. La Porte, 412-13.
19. Ibid., 416.
20. Motteville, I, 265.
21. La Porte, 414.
22. Sourches, I, 11.
23. Motteville, I, 295.
24. Ibid., I, 261.
25. Ibid., I, 315.
26. Ibid., II, 385.
27. Ibid., II, 286.
28. Ibid., I, 394ff.
29. Bibliothèque Nationale, Foods Frangais, 3858.
30. Motteville, I, 149.
31. Ibid., II, 286.
32. Turenne, 421.
33. Motteville, III, 11.
34. Turenne, 424.
35. Sévigné, letter of July 2, 1650.
36. Turenne, 426.
37. La Porte, 418.
38. Ibid., 421.
39. Erlanger, 90.
40. Moneville, III, 308.
41. Turenne, 433.
42. Motteville, III, 434.
43. Ibid., Ill, 439.
44. Ibid., Ill, 443.
45. Bibliothèque Nationale, Fonds Francis, 24995 (29).
46. Ibid., 24995 (96).
47. Yorck, 536.
48. Turenne, 445.
49. Ibid., 434.
50. Ibid., 438.
51. La Porte, 428.
52. Voltaire, I, 84.
53. Ibid., I, 85.
54. Lèfevre d’Ormesson, II, 669.
55. Motteville, IV, 35.
56. Colbert, I, 530.
57. Motteville, IV, 51.
58. Ibid., IV, 46.
59. Ibid., IV, 46n.
60. Ibid., IV, 113.
61. Ibid., IV, 51.
62. Ibid., IV, 54.
63. Ibid., IV, 129.
64. Ibid., IV, 127.
65. Ibid., IV, 145.
66. Ibid., IV, 151ff.
67. Colbert, I, 503.
68. Ibid., 1,515.
69. Boislisle, I, 1.
70. Erlanger, 169.
71. Motteville, IV, 203 ff.
72. Colbert, I, 535.
73. Louis XIV, Oeuvres, II, 122.
74. Colbert, I, 536ff.
75. Boislisle, I, 352.
76. Ibid., I, 1.
77. Ibid., I, 354.
78. Ibid., I, 18.
79. Motteville, IV, 252ff,
80. Lettres, 2.
81. Louis XIV, Oeuvres, I, 33.
82. Ibid., I, lOlff.
83. Bibliothèque Nationale, Mss. Fr., 22654, fol. 9.
84. Boislisle, I, 364.
85. Sonnino, 5.
86. Louis XIV, Lettres, 6.
87. Louis XIV, Oeuvres, I, 109.
88. Louis XIV, Oeuvres, I, 46.
89.
Bibliothèque Nationale, Fonds Frangais, 6765.
90. Louis XIV, Oeuvres, I, 18ff.
91. Louis XIV, Oeuvres, I, 117.
92. Sodergard, 8.
93. Louis XIV, Oeuvres, I, 12.
94. Louis XIV, Oeuvres, 1, 9.
95. Motive, Tartuffe, V, xx
96. Louis XIV, Oeuvres, I, 190ff.
97. Gazette de France, May 23, 1661.
98. Louis XIV, Oeuvres, I, 72.
99. Ibid., I. 91.
100. Ibid., IV, 256.
101. Motteville, IV, 258.
102. Ibid., IV, 279.
103. Valogne, 38.
104. Motteville, IV, 301.
105. Louis XIV, Oeuvres, I, 5-6.
106. Ibid., I, 18ff.
107. Ibid., I, 84ff.
108. Ibid., I, 36ff.
109. Ibid., I, 23ff.
110. Motteville, IV, 331.
111. Louis XIV, Oeuvres, I, 45.
112. Ibid., I, 47ff.
113. Ibid., I, 52ff.
114. Lefèvre d’Ormesson, II, 437.
115. Bibliothèque Nationale, Mss. Fr., 16633.
116. Ibid., 15590, fol. 709.
117. Erlanger, 251.
118. Motteville, IV, 447.
119. Ibid.
120. Louis XIV, II, 49ff.
121. Bibliothèque Nationale, Mss. Fr., 16633.
122. Louis XIV, II, 266.
123. Ibid., II, 56.
124. Ibid., II, 57.
125. Ibid., II, 96.
126. Ibid., II, 65ff.
127. Sodergard, 67.
128. Ibid., 69.
129. Maurepas, II, fol. 453.
130. Sodergard, 24ff.
131. Mademoiselle, p. 37.
132. Louis XIV, V, 402.
133. Ibid., V, 434.
134. Bibliothèque Nationale, Fonds Frangais, 10261.
135. Ibid.
136. Félibien, Feste, 202.
137. Racine, Britannicus, IV, 4.
138. Louis XIV, V, 464.
139. Louis XIV, V, 461.
140. Leftvre d’Ormesson, II, 582.
141. Bibliothèque Nationale, Fonds Frangais, 10249, fol. 28.
142. Voltaire. II. 61.
143. Gaxotte, Lettres, 70.
144. Margry, 40.
145. Truchet, 82.
146. Visconti, 31-37.
147. Ormesson, II, 594.
148. Bossuet, 94 ff.
149. Visconti, 10.
150. Ibid., 57.
151. Bibliothèque Nationale, Mss. Fr., 10249, fol. 49.
152. Louis XIV, V, 533-35.
153. Ibid., V, 536.
154. Bibliothèque Nationale, Fonds Frangais, 10249, fol. 24.
155. Ibid., fol. 28.
156. Ibid.
157. Gaxotte, Lettres, 39.
158. Visconti, 113.
159. Ibid., 73.
160. Mercurt galant. 1672, 174.
161. Ibid., IV, 231.
162. Bibliothèque Nationale, Fonds Francis, N.A, 9815.
163. Louis XIV, V, 539.
164. Bibliothèque Nationale, Fonds Franks, N.A. 9815.
165. Félibien, Rue, 3ff.
166. Ibid., 13.
167. Mercure galant, 1672, 252.
168. Voltaire, 1, 137.
169. Mercurt galant, 1672, 101.
170. Voltaire, I, 146.
171. Bibliothèque Nationale, Fonds Frangais, 6779.
172. Voltaire, I, 149.
173. Ibid., I, 162.
174. Mercure galant, 1677, 195.
175. Visconti, 190.
176. Bibliothèque Nationale, Mss. Fonds Frangais, 6782.
177. Ibid., Mss. Fonds Frangais, 6781.
178. Gaxotte, Lettres, 177.
179. Mercure galant, 1674, 135.
180. Ibid., 1677, 169.
181. Ibid., 1677, 95.
182. Ibid., 1677, 189.
183. Ibid., 1677, 214.
184. Choisy, 23.
185-Visconti, 301.
186. Choisy, 114.
187. Visconti, 205.
188. Mercure galant, 1677, 236ff.
189. Ibid., 1677, 220ff.
190. Visconti, 181.
191. Ibid., 187.
192. Ibid., 205.
193. Louis XIV, V, 576.
194. Gaxotte, 71.
195. Choisy, 135.
196. Louis XIV, V, 554.
197. Cané, 163.
198. Visconti, 264.
199. Ibid., 266ff.
200. Sourches, I, 11,
201. Bibliothèque Nationale, Fonds Frangais, 16633.
202. Thuillier, 10.
203. Dangeau, I, 2.
204. Isambert, XIX, 384.
205. Dangeau, I, 87ff.
206. Ibid., I, 37.
207. Sourches, V, 289n.
208. Dangeau, I, 153.
209. Ibid., I, 19.
210. Sourches, I, 201.
211. Choisy, 130.
212. Sourches, 1, 220.
213. Dangeau, I, 171.
214. Vertron, 8ff.
215. Choisy, 67.
216. Sourches, I, 437n,
217. Dangeau, I, 266.
218. Ibid., 1,276.
219-Sourches, I, 357.
220. Ibid., 1,361.
221. Choisy, 123ff.
222. Sourches, I, 430.
223. Ibid., I, 457.
224. Dangeau, I, 419.
225. Sourches, I, 463, 463n.
226. Ibid., II, 68.
227. Thuillier, 9.
228. Sourches, I, 229SF.
229. Voltaire, I, 184.
230. Ibid.
231. Erlanger, 434.
232. Choisy, 133.
233. Mercure galant, January 1690.
234. Ibid., February 1690.
235. Louis XIV, VI, 14.
236. Bibliothèque Nationale, Mss. Fr., 19601.
237. Ibid., 6679.
238. Erlanger, 438.
239. Louis XIV, VI, 19.
240. Ibid., VI, 20.
241. Ibid., VI, 21.
242. Ibid.
243. Erlanger, 461.
244. Saint-Simon, I, 32.
245. Ibid., I, 35ff.
246. Ibid., 38.
247. Ibid., I, 50.
248. Louis XIV, VI, 24.
249. Revue encyclopedique, 4-7.
250. Saint-Simon, I, 245.
251. Voltaire, I, 206.
252. Saint-Simon, I, 307.
253. Gaxotte, Lettres, 101.
254. Saint-Simon, I, 341.
255. Ibid., I, 229.
256. Ibid., I, 535.
257. Ibid., I, 542.
258. Ibid., I, 603.
259. Ibid., I, 729.
260. Ibid., I, 779.
261. Ibid., I, 782.
262. Louis XIV, Lettre a la reine douairibe d’Espagne, B.N.L37b. 4847.
263. Louis XIV, Oeuvres, VI, 32.
264. Mercure de France, January 1701.
265. Louis XIV, Oeuvres, VI, 34ff.
266. Ibid., II, 460ff.
267. Ibid., VI, 69.
268. Saint-Simon, II, 9ff.
269. Archives of the duc d’Harcourt quoted in Erlanger, 521.
270. Louis XIV, Oeuvres, VI, 67.
271. Ibid., VI, 70.
272. Louis XIV, Lettres, 117.
273. Ibid., 123.
274. Louis XIV, Oeuvres, VI, 135,
275. Ibid., VI, 115,
276. Ibid., VI, 129.
277. Ibid., VI, 161.
278. Saint-Simon, II, 461.
279. Ibid., II, 664.
280. Louis XIV, Oeuvres, VI, 177.
281. Bibliothèque Nationale, Fonds Frangais, 6999.
282. Saint-Simon, II, 869.
283. Voltaire, I, 258.
284. Saint-Simon, II, 877.
285. Ibid., Ill, 133.
286. Ibid., Ill, 113.
287. Ibid., Ill, 182.
288. Orléans, 268.
289. Ibid., 269.
290. I
bid., 275.
291. Voltaire, I, 279.
292. Bibliothèque Nationale, Lb 37. 4344.
293. Orléans, 290.
294. Torcy, 125.
295. Ibid., 136.
296. Ibid., 156.
297. Orléans, 301.
298. Ibid., 302.
299. Saint-Simon, IV, 65.
300. Ibid., IV, 69.
301. Orléans, 303.
302. Torcy, 425.
303. Saint-Simon, IV, 98.
304. Bibliothèque Nationale, Fonds Frangais, 6999.
305. Orléans, 309.
306. Louis XIV, Oeuvres, VI, 214.
307. Orléans, 309.
308. Louis XIV, Lettres, 158.
309. Saint-Simon, IV, 408.
310. Louis XIV, Lettres, 158.
311. Orléans, 316.
312. Erlanger, 647.
313. J. F. Félibien, 67.
314. Saint-Simon, IV, 838.
315. Ibid., IV, 840.
316. Ibid., V, 170.
317. Ibid., V, 208.
318. Dangeau, XVI, 126.
319. Orléans, 351.
320. Dangeau, XVI, 129.
321. Saint-Simon, V, 463.
322. Ibid., V, 464.
323. Ibid., V, 467.
324. Ibid., V, 469.
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