Page 402 - Western Civilization A Brief History, Volume I To 1715 9th - Jackson J. Spielvogel

The King’s Day Begins
The duc de Saint-Simon (1675–1755) was one of many noble courtiers who lived at Versailles and had firsthand experience of court life there. In his Memoirs, he left a controversial and critical account of Louis XIV and his court. In this selection, Saint-Simon describes the scene that took place in Louis’s bedroom at the beginning of each day.
Duc de Saint-Simon, Memoirs
At eight o’clock the chief valet of the room on duty, who alone had slept in the royal chamber, and who had dressed himself, awoke the King. The chief physician, the chief surgeon, and the nurse (as long as she lived) entered at the same time. The latter kissed the King; the others rubbed and often changed his shirt, because he was in the habit of sweating a great deal. At the quarter, the grand chamberlain was called, and those who had, what was called the grandes entr􏰀ees [grand entry]. The chamberlain (or chief gentleman) drew back the curtains which had been closed again, and presented the holy water from the vase, at the head of the bed. These gentlemen stayed but a moment, and that was the time to speak to the King, if any one had anything to ask of him; in which case the rest stood aside. When, contrary to custom, nobody had anything to say, they were there but for a few moments. He who had opened the curtains and presented the holy water, presented also a prayer-book. Then all passed into the
cabinet [a small room] of the council. A very short religious service being over, the King called, they reentered. The same officer gave him his dressing- gown; immediately after, other privileged courtiers entered, and then everybody, in time to find the King putting on his shoes and stockings, for he did almost everything himself and with address and grace. Every other day we saw him shave himself; and he had a little short wig in which he always appeared, even in bed, and on medicine days. . . .
As soon as he was dressed, he prayed to God, at the side of his bed, where all the clergy present knelt, the cardinals without cushions, all the laity remaining standing; and the caption of the guards came to the balustrade during the prayer, after which the king passed into his cabinet.
He found there, or was followed by all who had the entr􏰀ee, a very numerous company, for it included everybody in any office. He gave orders to each for the day; thus within a half a quarter of an hour it was known what he meant to do; and then all this crowd left directly.
Q What were the message and purpose of the royal waking and dressing ceremony for both the nobles and the king? Do you think this account might be biased? Why?
Source: From Bayle St. John, trans., The Memoirs of the Duke of Saint-Simon on the Reign of Louis XIV and the Regency, 8th ed. (London, George Allen, 1913), vol. 3, pp. 221–222.
his ministers on other nobles. His ministers were expected to be subservient; said Louis, “I had no inten- tion of sharing my authority with them.”
Louis’s domination of his ministers and secretaries gave him control of the central policymaking machin- ery of government and thus authority over the tradi- tional areas of monarchical power: the formulation of foreign policy, the making of war and peace, the asser- tion of the secular power of the Crown against any reli- gious authority, and the ability to levy taxes to fulfill these functions. Louis had considerably less success with the internal administration of the kingdom, how- ever. The traditional groups and institutions of French society—the nobles, officials, town councils, guilds, and
representative Estates in some provinces—were simply too powerful for the king to have direct control over the lives of his subjects. Consequently, control of the provinces and the people was achieved largely by brib- ing the individuals responsible for executing the king’s policies.
RELIGIOUS POLICY The maintenance of religious har- mony had long been considered an area of monar- chical power. The desire to keep it led Louis to pursue an anti-Protestant policy, aimed at convert- ing the Huguenots to Catholicism. In October 1685, Louis issued the Edict of Fontainebleau (fawnh-ten- BLOH). In addition to revoking the Edict of Nantes,
364 Chapter 15 State Building and the Search for Order in the Seventeenth Century
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