We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
When still young, Louis XIV received condescending advice that he ought to pursue the best interests of the state. To this, he replied autocratically, “L'état, c'est moi!” Like one of the imposing state portraits of this impressive monarch by Charles Le Brun or Hyacinthe Rigaud, the response testified to Louis's imperious nature. His reign encompassed most of the seventeenth century, an era acclaimed in French memory as le grand siècle, the great century, when France enjoyed cultural and political preeminence in Europe. Reflecting the splendor of his epoch, Louis adopted the sun as his emblem, a symbol linked in classic mythology with the god Apollo, who drove the chariot of the sun across the sky to illuminate the world. Thus, Louis was known as le roi Soleil, the Sun King. When constructing his magnificent palace at Versailles to represent his personal grandeur, he emblazoned it with images of his magnificence in the arts, governance, and war.
To draw lessons from such a monarch and such an era requires care; it was another age, distant not only in years but also in principles. Yet, although Louis XIV fell victim to errors of substance and style specific to him and his times, others of his missteps still have relevance for those concerned in the United States with the formation of grand strategy in the present and future.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
