FRENCH LANGUAGE
The French monarchy had a tradition of being accessible to its subjects. This custom created situations that foreigners found very surprising. Thus, the Italian courtier Primi Visconti, who was present at the French court from 1673 to 1681, wrote in his Memoirs that "in Spain princes...
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FRENCH LANGUAGE
The French monarchy had a tradition of being accessible to its subjects. This custom created situations that foreigners found very surprising. Thus, the Italian courtier Primi Visconti, who was present at the French court from 1673 to 1681, wrote in his Memoirs that "in Spain princes can only be approached by buffoons, whereas in France they are approached by everyone".
This tradition continued in the 18th century, and Louis XV and then Louis XVI, albeit to a much lesser extent, continued this practice of public life. It is therefore difficult to imagine any private life of the sovereign... This was especially organized during the "broken hours", i.e. in the "holes" left by the timetable of his ritualized day, which, since Louis XIV, had been more or less regular.
Because of its precisely "private" character, it is very difficult to envisage the life of sovereigns outside their public representation. This is why it is always necessary to consider both public and private life in order to grasp the complex dialectic represented by the "two bodies of the king", to use Ernst Kantorowicz's expression.
French language
100 pages
SOTECA Publishing
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