Table Of ContentLOUIS XIV AND ABSOLUTISM
Also by Ragnhild Hatton
EUROPE IN THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV
LOUIS XIV AND InS WORLD
WILLIAM m AND LOUIS XIV : ESSAYS BY AND FOR
MARK A. THOMSON, 1680-1720
(co-editor with f. S. Bromley)
LOUIS XIV
AND ABSOLUTISM
Edited by
RAGNHILD HATTON
ISBN 978-0-333-10165-0 ISBN 978-1-349-16981-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-16981-8
Editorial matter and selection© Ragnhild Hatton 1976
Chapters 1-13 inclusive© The Macmillan Press Ltd 1976
Reprint of the original edition 1976
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
without permission
First published 1976 by
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Contents
Preface V1l
Notes on Contributors 1X
Maps xii
PART I ABSOLUTISM AND SOCIETY
1 The Singularity of Absolutism E. H. Kossmann 3
2 What is Absolutism? G. Durand 18
3 The Development of Monarchical Institutions and
Society in France R. Mousnier 37
4 French Kingship and Absolute Monarchy in the
Seventeenth Century F. Dumont 55
5 The Social Origins of the Secretaries of State under
Louis XIV, 1661-1715 F. Bluche 85
PART II PROBLEMS OF INTERPRETATION
6 The Intellectual Development of Louis XIV from
1661 to 1715 A. Lossky 101
7 Louis XIV's Courtiers ]. Levron 130
8 Louis XIV and the Edict of Nantes ]. Orcibal 154
9 Royal Administration in a Frontier Province : the
lntendancy of Alsace under Louis XIV G. Livet 177
PART III ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL
MATTERS
10 Fiscalism and Public Opinon under Louis XIV
]. Meuvret 199
11 Manufacturing Industries in Seventeenth-Century
France P. Deyon 226
VI Contents
12 The French Navy under Louis XIV Armel de
Wismes 243
13 The Protestant Bankers in France, from the Revo-
cation of the Edict of Nantes to the Revolution
]. Bouvier 263
Glossary 281
Chronology 287
List of Persons 297
Preface
These essays are intended to put students in touch with import
ant research in, or trends of thought on, the domestic reign of
Louis XIV. Some will be familiar to academic teachers since they
have already appeared in French; others have been commis
sioned for the volume. They differ in range and approach from
extracts from books which were not annotated to contributions
so condensed that the notes (printed after each essay) have to
take up a good deal of space. There is even a printed lecture and
a book review.
Kossmann's opening essay puts absolutism as a form of govern
ment into perspective and ranges therefore beyond Louis and
France. Durand's 'What is absolutism?', after a general section,
covers France up to the fall of the Ancien Regime, while Mous
nier and Dumont deal specifically with French monarchy and
society in the seventeenth century. With Bluche we reach a piece
of detailed research focused directly on Louis XIV's secretaries
of state.
The second section opens with Lossky's stimulating essay,
'The intellectual development of Louis XIV'. This is a slightly
amended version (but with a briefer title) of his contribution to
Louis XIV and the Craft of Kingship, but in view of its im
portance it is well worth reprinting. Three essays illustrating
aspects of, or problems in, Louis' government follow : Levron's
interpretation of the role of the courtier; Orcibal's detective work
on the reasons for Louis revoking the Edict of Nantes; Livet's
analysis of the compromise achieved in the frontier province of
Alsace.
The last section deals with economic and financial aspects of
the reign and opens with the late Jean Meuvret's discussion
of fiscal policy and public opinion - the last article he wrote before
his death. Deyon deals with the problems of the manufacturing
industry; Baron de Wismes assesses the role of privateering within
the framework of the navy, and the economy; while Bouvier's
V1l1 Preface
review article, centred on the work of Liithy, discusses the signifi
cant role of the Protestant bankers - this, to give perspective, also
extends beyond the reign.
The editor is grateful to the contributors for their help and co
operation in the rendering of their work into English. The trans
lations have been made by Dr Geoffrey Symcox of the University
of California at Los Angeles and Dr Derek McKay of the London
School of Economics, in collaboration with the editor. A special
word of thanks is due to Professor John Bromley of the University
of Southampton who supervised the translation of Meuvret's
contribution, and to Hamish Scott of the University of Birming
ham who helped with the proof-reading.
For permission to reprint articles or sections of books the editor
must thank the following: Annates, Economies, Societes, Civili
sations; XVIIe Siecle; Armand Colin and Editions du Seuil of
Paris; and the Ohio State University Press of America.
The editor has appended a glossary of French and a few Latin
terms which occur in the text, a list of persons mentioned where
they are not sufficiently explained already in the text or in the
notes, and a chronology of significant dates for the domestic
history of the reign.
Notes on Contributors
FRAN<;:OIS BLUCHE, Docteur es Lettres, Professor of Modern History
at the University of Paris (Nanterre). Specialises in social and insti
tutional history. Author of Les magistrats du parlement de Paris au
XVI//6 siecle (1960); Le despotisme eclaire (1968); La vie quotidi
enne de la noblesse franfaise au XV/I/6 siecle (1973).
jEAN BoUVIER, Docteur es Lettres, Professor of Contemporary Eco
nomic History in the University of Paris VIII, secretary of the
Association Franc;aise des Historiens Economistes. Specialist in finan
cial and banking history from the eighteenth to the twentieth century.
Author of Finances et financiers d'Ancien Regime, 2nd ed (1969);
Monnaie et banque en France au XVI//6 siecle, in the series 'His
toire economique et sociale de la France', II: 1660-1789 (1972).
P. DEYON, Professor of Economic and Social History at the Univer
sity of Lille. Author of Amiens, etude sur la societe urbaine au
XVI/6 siecle (1967); Le mercantilisme (1969); La France Baroque,
in the series 'Histoire de la France' (1971).
FRAN<;:Ois DuMONT, Professor of History of Comparative Law at the
Universite du Droit d'Economie et des Sciences Sociales, Paris.
Author of Le bureau des finances de la generalite de Moulins (1923);
Une session des Etats genereaux de Bourgogne: La 'terme' de 1718
(1936); L'intendance de Dijon et le Mafonnais (1945); £'administra
tion bourguignonne au XVI//6 siecle (1947).
GEORGES DuRANo, Agrege d'Histoire; Maitre-assistant at the Uni
versity of Lyon II. Author of Etats et institutions XVI-XVI//6
siecles (1969); Le patrimoine fancier de l'Hotel Dieu de Lyon, con
a
tribution l'etude de la grand propriete rhodanienne (1973). In
preparation, Vin, vigne et vignerons en Lyonnais et Beaujolais,
1500-1789.
E. H. KossMANN, Professor of History at Groningen University, the
Netherlands; formerly Professor of Dutch History, University Col
lege, London. Author of La Fronde (1954); 'Een blik op het Franse
absolutisme', Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis (1965); 'Typologie der
monarchieen van het Ancien Regime', in De Monarchic (1966).
A.•
