VERSAILLES EXTENDS THE ROYAL FUNCTION OF DESTROYING POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS WEALTH AND MAKING RICHES CIRCULATE
Louis is acting as a king is meant to, though he sees it as expressing grandeur.
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The dispersal of wealth follows the usual pattern: It...
- Is public: Versailles is open to all and crowds come each day.
- Emphasizes royal might: The giant complex is built around an axis that symbolizes the endless power of monarchy.
Versailles in 1668 by Pierre Patel, toward 1668, zoom
The straight line begins with what is now the long, straight avenue de Paris (the painting show the part nearest the chateau). Its origin: the 12th-century space in front the royal tombs and the short straight street that leads to the first royal place.
- Makes riches circulate: At least 1000 nobles can be welcomed at one time with their servants and horses. Other estimates are 4000 and even 10,000.
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Nobles need the king's help to "hold their rank" because economic growth is marginalizing them. It undercuts the value of revenues from land and they lose their privileges if they enter trade, for which their education and way of life do not prepare them.
They must acquire the sumptuous court dress with its four changes a day, hire servants and furnish their liveries, maintain a coach and horses, become part of a clan and gain the support of the powerful.
The king encourages gambling for high stakes. It is considered sociable and is the only time when one can sit down.
A courtier says he loves watching dogs gnaw bones, because they are authentic.
- Louis cannot reward all courtiers tangibly, so honors are prizes as well:
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| The king's levée by Maurice Leloir |
A courtier will be rewarded perhaps. With backing, he may be introduced to the king and even admitted to his ceremonial rising or bedtime. Without it, he is one of hundreds who jostle each other so that Louis will notice them, as he majestically passes through the Hall of Mirrors on his way to mass each morning.
Then they analyze every remark, gesture, look, to decide whom to flatter or avoid. "Knowing one's court" is essential, but takes time, which means expense.
Success is uncertain: Saint-Simon is allowed to hold a candlestick after three years, and then, once.
Compensation: being part of a superior world that is inaccessible to other mortals.
-- The Court Society by Norbert Elias, 1974.
That important study stresses the psychological aspect of these rites,
but omits redistribution as a royal function.
Olafur Eliasson
Buy Protestants' — capitalists' — wealth is growing although they pay double taxes.
-- Les Enragés de Dieu ("God's enraged") by Louis Blond, p. 290.
Besides their control of the production as mentioned they are:
- Shipowners of the major Atlantic ports(of Normandy, Bordeaux and La Rochelle).
- Exporters of Bordeaux wine.
- Initiators of production split between specialized establishments.
- Employers of 3-4 million Catholics.
-- Blond, p. 286.
Versailles takes containing growth
farther than ever yet imagined.
But when capitalism expands regardless,
Louis turns to violence.
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