THE NEW KING TAXES AND SPENDS

TAXES SKIM OFF PROFITS AND GIANT FÊTES DISPERSE IT

The king suppresses revolt: 

Allegory of the Revolt against the Stamp Tax, Brittany, 1675 by Jean-Bernard Chalette, 1676 / zoom

The Governor of Brittany, whom Louis has appointed and who collects the tax, sits on a coach the devil drives.

 

Statement at the bottom of the painting.

"Rich and poor are unjustly oppressed." 

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Giant celebrations accomplish the usual goal: destroy investible income and reinforce authority.

• Parades: 

• An equestrian ballet marks the start of Louis's reign without a Prime Minister and the birth of an heir (in 1662). The site is still called "la place du Carrousel."

The Grand Carrousel Given by Louis XIV at the Tuileries, June 5 and 6 1662 by Henri Gissey, 1662 / zoom 

The bleachers in front of the Tuileries palace seat 15,000 spectators and one of the prizes is a jewel-filled box with the king's portrait on the cover.

Maurice Leloir 

           Louis stars as himself in the mythological theme.

• The event recalls the show given for the mariage of Louis XIII and Anne of Austria in 1614, which a German print to recalls much later (in 1682).

Festivity in Honor of the Royal Mariages, anonymous, first quarter 17th century / zoom

     The Triumphant Cortège in Paris Due to the Double Marriage between Spain and France / zoom

• Fetes:

• 1662: six days of festivity for 600 guests, with jewels as lottery prizes, openly dedicated to Louis' the queen and queen mother, but secretly to Louise de la Vallière.

The next page says for more about her and her successor as favorite, the Marquise de Montespan.

The Pleasures of the Enchanted Isle, Third Day / zoom

Video of First Day, with the majestic, positive music of Jean-Baptiste Lully, court composer.

 

• 1668: Officially to celebrate a peace treaty giving France sites on its northern border and unofficially for the Marquise de Montespan, the fête took place on single day. 

The cost for welcoming 3000 guests was a third of Versailles's annual budget (of 1668):

Versailles publication / zoom

Description: please click.

• 1674: to mark the reconquest of Franche-Comté, giant fireworks inaugurate the Grand Canal (for the exploit of filling it with water, please click on).

 

                  Zoom

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Fireworks literally send revenues up in smoke. Subjects participate by watching from afar.

Video announcing spectacle on Louis XIV's fireworks, Versailles / zoom

Then rebuilding Versailles 
takes the place of the giant celebrations. 

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Next,

The cost of royal mistresses