5.4.2. STRONGER KINGS DISPERSE WEALTH

 

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

(1519-1547)

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

He is static, but both hands are free.

Greater finances lead to a mighty army, transforming the palace of Fontainebleau and those of the Loire Valley,  favorites, celebrations, immense processions, huge royal households:

Zoom

Fontainebleau 

Zoom

Chenonceau, most spectacular of the chateaux de la Loire.

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

He lavishly funds the arts, which add to the splendor of the court. The "School of Fontainebleau," becomes known throughout Europe.

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

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

A favorite? The court becomes known for its refinement.

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

A ruyal procession in the 18th-century.

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.

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

Reducing royal households was not possible when lavish spending was part of kings' job. So Louis XV has his four youngest daughters raised in a convent.

Enormous spending begins before Francis comes to power, and except for the time of the Wars of Religion, continues until the  Revolution. It is a function of kings.

They cover its cost by expedients and loans,
pay back with honors...
or not at all.  

*     *     *

Next,
5.4.3.

Detour:

French monarchy's lasting éclat