Western Civilization

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,

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 hisMemoirs, 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 entrees [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

entree, 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.

364 Chapter 15 State Building and the Search for Order in the Seventeenth Century

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