Jean-Baptiste Primi Visconti’s memoir provides a positive view of the absolute rule of Louis XIV. Louis developed power through the promotion of absolute personal monarchy. The style of governance and the court life at Versailles are described in detail by Jean-Baptiste. Baptiste’s account must be taken into the context of a Italian gentry invited to observe French rule.
Louis concept of absolute monarchy and personal rule meant that he had to be seen as in control of all matters. Jean-Batiste’s memoir shows that, at least in the public eye, Louis was not dominated by his ministers.[1] Louis’ form of monarchy was radical for the period; most monarchs were little more than figureheads, whereas Louis seems to be in control of many of the affairs of his government.[2] In the eyes of John-Baptiste Louis was seen as having ‘no intermediaries.’[3] Louis was skilful for it was these skills that made him able to act in all parts of governance.[4] They could not be lazy, they had to work hard to be noticed.[5] The rule of Louis exemplifies ministers whose loyalties lied with the king.
Jean Baptist’s memoir reveals a substantial amount about the personal life of Louis XIV. Louis was seen to know all those within Versailles and all that which was going on around him.[6] The regulation imposed on Louis, mostly by his own hand, is noted.[7] The court life of Louis the XIV required him to be perceived as a grand monarch; he had to and did know ‘well how to play the role of the king’.[8] Louis is noted as acting in a different manner toward the public; Baptiste comments, when he steps outside ‘he adopts a different expression as if he were going to appear on stage’.[9] The rule of Louis was one where he had the aristocracy under his control, having them fight over time spent with him and influence with him Baptiste describes it as swarm of bees following their queen.[10] This idea that Louis required the aristocracy on his side was important for without them who could control the country regions of France. Louis himself thought that it was ‘more productive to persuade his subjects than to coerce them’.[11]
It would seem then that the document produced by Jean-Baptist is good only to see the effects of Louis XIV on the upper classes. It provides the perspective of Italian gentleman invited to Versailles to witness is grandeur. One of Louis XIV’s primary goals was state building and from the perspective of those invited to Versailles, such as Jean-Baptist, he was largely successful. However, what is not evident in reports from those like Jean-Baptist is the enormous cost to the members of the third estate. The state of France, outside of the confines of royal life, was described as a ‘great poorhouse, desolate and without provisions’.[12] During his reign did not convene the estates general[13] preventing much outside input into the governance of the French kingdom.[14]
Jean-Baptiste’s memoirs provide a grand perspective of Louis XIV’s style of rule and the court life at Versailles. The document must be viewed in context of the fact it was written by an Italian gentry invited to Versailles.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Sources
Jean-Baptiste Primi Visconti, ‘Mémoires sur le cour Louis XIV’, in Beik, W., Louis XIV and Absolutism, (Boston, 2000), pp. 59-61.
Secondary Sources
Making Modern Europe: Unit Reader, (Hobart, 2009), Chapter 2.
Blanning, T., The Pursuit of Glory: Europe 1648-1815, (London, 2008).
[1] Jean-Baptiste Primi Visconti, ‘Mémoires sur le cour Louis XIV’, in William Beik, Louis XIV and Absolutism, (Boston, 2000), p. 60.
[2] Tim Blanning, The Pursuit of Glory: Europe 1648-1815, (London, 2008), p. 210.
[3] Jean-Baptiste Primi Visconti, ‘Mémoires sur le cour Louis XIV’, in William Beik, Louis XIV and Absolutism, (Boston, 2000), p. 61.
[4] Jean-Baptiste Primi Visconti, ‘Mémoires sur le cour Louis XIV’, in William Beik, Louis XIV and Absolutism, (Boston, 2000), p. 60.
[5] Jean-Baptiste Primi Visconti, ‘Mémoires sur le cour Louis XIV’, in William Beik, Louis XIV and Absolutism, (Boston, 2000), p. 61.
[6] Jean-Baptiste Primi Visconti, ‘Mémoires sur le cour Louis XIV’, in William Beik, Louis XIV and Absolutism, (Boston, 2000), p. 60.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Jean-Baptiste Primi Visconti, ‘Mémoires sur le cour Louis XIV’, in William Beik, Louis XIV and Absolutism, (Boston, 2000), p. 61.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Ibid.
[11] ‘Louis XIV’s memoir for his son, c.1670’, in Making Modern Europe: Unit Reader, (Hobart, 2009), Chapter 2, p. 11.
[12] ‘Félon’s criticism of Louis XIV, c.1694’, in Making Modern Europe: Unit Reader, (Hobart, 2009), Chapter 2, p. 17.
[13] The estates general was a meeting of the 3 estates, the French institution most loosely resembling a parliament.
[14] Tim Blanning, The Pursuit of Glory: Europe 1648-1815, (London, 2008), p. 211.
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