Primary Source Analysis of ‘The Court of Louis XIV’

This article is adopted from the memoirs of the Duke de Saint-Simon that were written between the years 1675-1755 a period that was known as the Early Modern period[1]. The Early Modern period in Europe is an era that was defined by the rise of capitalism and creation of the nation states that are present today[2]. This article is a translation of the memoirs into English that was done by Francis Arkwright who was a British gentry and later published by 1918 by Brentano in New York. The article reflects on the life of Louis XIV, many decades after his death has come to be an important history resource for modern Europe history beginner level classes.

The article which is more of a biography discusses the character of Louis XIV, his strengths and weakness, and the way that he utilized them in his renowned monarchical leadership.  The audience for this article is people who are starting to learn about the history of France and also people interested in understanding types of leadership most especially matters dealing with monarchical type of leadership. This is a type of leadership that was common in many nations during the early modern period for instance in France, Belgium, Spain and United Kingdom among others[3]. The main purpose of this article is to shed light on monarchical type of leadership and to help show how it affects various aspects of life in the society. The reflects on the life of Louis XIV who is one of the most remembered kings of France, because his reign was the longest of any monarch of a sovereign country in the European history[4]. The king is also greatly remembered because of building the Palace of Versailles which he wisely used to help consolidate a system of absolute monarchical rule that endured until the French revolution of the year 1789[5]. The fact that this article was written before the France revolution and is now used in the contemporary educational institutions as a resource is important. This is because it creates a chance for people to compare and understand the differences that are there between a monarchical leadership and other forms of leaderships like semi-presidential form of leadership that is commonly used today in France and other countries.

The article helps to show the tactics that were utilized the Louis XIV to help ensure that his ministers and generals respected his rule and followed his authority without any questions. There are two arguments that are made in this article about leadership; one is that control is an important element in leadership because it helps keep every person under the rule in control which greatly helps to avoid cases of resistance. Louis XIV is defined to have been the longest serving king within Europe and this all because he understood the concept of order and regularity[6]. As is illustrated in this article, Louis XIV treated everyone fairly and ensured that he knew everything that was happening in the society, which led many people around him to like him. Knowing what was happening around him, helped him to eliminate traitors and deal with any form of resistance that could negatively impact his leadership[7]. The other argument presented in the article is that of a leader’s weakness, which can be taken advantage of by his followers and ultimately lead to his downfall. As is illustrated in the article, Louis XIV loved being flattered a lot which caused his ministers, generals and other people around him to take advantage of him[8].  His advisers preferred to flatter him with lies on his character even on serious matters just to be in favour with him which is very unethical. Louis XIV believed that he was superior to everyone; he built the palace Versailles to help control his ministers and ensure their loyalty to him[9]. This form of leadership forced the society around him to follow his authority blindly for fear of being cast out of his court which was very unfair.

This article is important because it helps to shed light on the sought of leadership that France had before the revolution in 1789. A leadership where the king had all the authority and every other person was obligated to follow his command. The ministers that were supposed to ensure that the king served the people well were too scared and their main interest was to only please the king[10]. This in the end affected the rest of the people because their needs as the primary citizens were not well represented. Monarchical type of governance encourages discrimination based on social classes in the society. It creates a sense of fear in the people within the society such that they are not able to rebuke any wrong doings by their leaders because doing so will cause them to be discriminated against by these leaders in matters of resource distribution. The article helps to show that monarchical governance is unfair and it only benefits the few who are the governance level at the expense of the multitudes at the low levels of the social class.

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

Bell, Kelly. “The Glory of the Sun King.” .2017.Military History 34 (3): 62–69.

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=124105613&site=ehost-live.

Kettering, Sharon. “Patronage, Language, and Political Culture: Patronage in Early

Modern France” .1992. French Historical Studies 17 (4): 839–62. doi:10.2307/286830.

Modern History Sourcebook: Duc de Saint-Simon: The Court of Louis XIV. (n.d.). Retrieved

            June 5, 2019, from https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/17stsimon.asp

 

 

 

[1] Bell, Kelly. “The Glory of the Sun King.

[2] Modern History Sourcebook: Duc de Saint-Simon: The Court of Louis XIV

[3] Ibid

[4] Bell, Kelly. “The Glory of the Sun King

[5] Bell, Kelly. “The Glory of the Sun King

[6] Modern History Sourcebook: Duc de Saint-Simon: The Court of Louis XIV

[7] Ibid

[8] Ibid

[9] Modern History Sourcebook: Duc de Saint-Simon: The Court of Louis XIV

 

[10] Ibid