STRONGER MONARCHS DISPERSE WEALTH

 

BESIDES THE 300 YOUNG NOBLEWOMEN WHOM FRANCIS I INVITES TO THE COURT...

(1519-1547)

Francis I by Jean Clouet, the court painter, 1527-1530 / zoom

He is static, but his hands are free.

The greater finances under royal control lead to a mighty army,*  transforming the palace of Fontainebleau and rebuilding those of the Loire Valley, a style in art that is copied throughout Europe,

favorites, celebrations, huge royal households and immense processions...

• Fontainebleau:

Zoom

• Chenonceau, perhaps the most spectacular of the chateaux de la Loire:

Zoom

• He lavishly funds the arts, which add to the splendor of the court and bring the  "School of Fontainebleau," known throughout Europe:

Sculpture over royal doorway, attributed to Primaticcio, one of the chateau's main artists / zoom

• Françis invites Leonardo da Vinci to the court and harbors him for the rest of his life. Leonardo designs the Château de Chambord and sells him the Mona Lisa.

As imagined by the illustrator Albert Robido, toward 1900 / zoom

• The court becomes known for its refinement:

Woman at her toilette, School of Fontainebleau, mid-16th century / zoom

# # #

That evolution begins before Francis comes to power, and except for the time of the Wars of Religion, continues until the  Revolution. Two more activities:

• Catherine de Medici and 10-year-old Charles IX visit the entire kingdom, to unite the population behind him (In 1564-66) . 

Kings and court had always moved from palace to palace (to clean them, restore provisions and let game recuperate) or gone on politically-useful excursions, but the Queen Mother takes the prince to visit the whole kingdom. The royal family, their households, the Council, the court, ambassadors, ecclesiastics, craftspeople, cooks, dwarfs, minstrels — 15,000 people, plus thousands of horses and pack animals to carry clothing, tapestries, tents, wine, provisions, furniture, books — make up the cortege. 

Since the towns finance the honor of receiving the king, the expedition siphons off the new wealth of the provincial middle classes.

The extraordinary parade takes a full day to pass by. Spectators come from great distances, to break the routine and share in the rulers' show.

Events within Paris are spectacular too: 

 Louis XV leaves a session of Parliament, September 12, 1715, by Pierre-Denis Martin toward 1715 / zoom with analysis (in French) © GrandPalaisRmn / Agence Bulloz

• Households of hundreds of people surround not only kings and queens, but siblings, cousins, their wives and children from babyhood: 

Louis XIV's brother has nine doctors, three medical consultants, an apothecary and his aide, seven other aides, a dentist, five barbers... 27 people in his medical service alone.

-- Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orleans by Jacqueline Duchêne, 1995 (in French).
An example of a revelatory fact slipping without comment into the text.

So rooted were the households that rather than cut down those of his four youngest daughters, Louis XV has them raised in a convent.

Such flamboyance is expected of kings:
They cover its cost by expedients and loans,
which they may pay back with honors...
or not at all.  

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Next,
Detour: French monarchy's lasting éclat