TAXES SKIM OFF PROFITS
AND GIANT FÊTES DISPERSE IT
claiming to protect the poor.
The king suppresses them
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| Allegory of the revolt against the stamp tax, Brittany, 1675 by Jean-Bernard Chalette, Rennes Museum of Fine Arts, 1676 |
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Statement at the bottom of the painting
"Rich and poor are unjustly oppressed."
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• Celebrations that are over the top accomplish the usual goal:
Destroy investible income and reinforce authority
° An equestrian ballet
marks the start of Louis's personal reign (without a Prime Minister)
and the birth of an heir
(In 1662)
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| Festivity in honor of the royal mariages, anonymous, Carnavalet, 1614 |
The first such event marked the wedding of Louis's parents.
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The grand carrousel given by Louis XIV at the Tuileries, June 5 and 6 1662 by Henri Gissey, Versailles
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Maurice Leloir
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The theme is mythological as usual, and Louis plays his own role (X).
° Honoring favorites (official royal mistresses),
whose presence reinforces monarchy
As nobles they transmit riches and privileges to their clans, which stimulates their competition around the king and gives them the possibility of power without the risk of revolt.
As well, the population detests favorites for their extravagance, which diverts fury away from the king. (Louis XVI's faithfulness to Marie-Antoinette will make the queen herself the target of hate).
-- The Sun King's women by Simone Bertière, 1999 (in French)
Bertière is a rare historian to see the past as an anthropologist would.
Louise de la Vallière
1661-67
Shy and disinterested, she loves Louis for himself. But he makes her serve as a smokescreen for her successor (Madame de Montespan, whose husband can claim the children she has with the king). After years of humiliation, Louise becomes a Carmelite.
She is the only favorite to leave a king of France, and probably the only one to find serenity.
1661-67
Shy and disinterested, she loves Louis for himself. But he makes her serve as a smokescreen for her successor (Madame de Montespan, whose husband can claim the children she has with the king). After years of humiliation, Louise becomes a Carmelite.
She is the only favorite to leave a king of France, and probably the only one to find serenity.
The fête that is dedicated to her:
Six days of festivity,
with jewels as lottery prizes
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| The pleasures of the encchanted isle, third day |
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| At the chateau given by the king |
Françoise-Athenaïs de Rochechourt,
Marquise de Mortemart,
1666-about 1682
Gorgeous, cultivated and caustic, of a lineage more venerable than that of the king, she dominates the court at its most brilliant epoch. But visiting a witch for aphrodisiacs implicates her in a scandal of sacrilege and murder.
As an old lady she takes out the jewels that he gave her and cannot recall the circumstances. She says that her life has made no sense.
As an old lady she takes out the jewels that he gave her and cannot recall the circumstances. She says that her life has made no sense.
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"View and perspective of Clagny chateau, from the garden and swamp of Versailles"
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Her fête, with three thousand guests, costs a third of Versailles's annual budget.
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| The grand royal entertainment,, July 18 1668 |
° To mark the reconquest of Franche-Comté,
six fêtes
(At Versailles, summer 1678)
six fêtes
(At Versailles, summer 1678)
Fireworks literally send revenues up in smoke.
Subjects participate by watching from afar
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| Versailles web site |
Then rebuilding Versailles
takes the place of the giant celebrations.
* * *
Next,
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