The Ancien Regime: A History of France, 1610 - 1774

Thisisastoryofbrilliance,orderandsophistication,ofsupremeconfidenceandgreatachievement-thatbeginsinuncertaintyandendsiniconoclasm.Itisretoldherebyagreathistorianinanarrativeinwhichbroadinterpretationisbalancedandinformedbyavividevocationofincidentandindividualaspiration.WiththedeathofMariedeMedicimoderate,decadentmonarchydiedtoo,andLouisXIII'schiefminister,Richelieu,inauguratedtheageofabsolutism.Withunmatchedcalculationandabilityheintroducedsystemtothechaosofadministration,cunninglymanipulatedthewarringnationsofEuropetotheendsofFrance,andbequeathedtoMazarinandLouisXIVastatemachinethatwasefficient,rationaland,aboveall,funded.WhatRichelieuhadachievedinthenameofsovereignty,thenewkingswiftlyconcentratedinhimself:conformitytookprecedenceoverservice,styleoverloyalty,exhibitionovereconomy.TolerancebornofpragmatismwasdispelledinthepersecutionoftheHuguenotsandinneedlessfeudswiththeProtestantnorth.Theartsflourished,butattheexpenseofthestate.AbsolutismunderLouisXIV'ssuccessors,Philipped'OrleansandLouisXV,showeditselfoncemorecapableofrationalaction.TheProtestantsandtheJansenistsweretolerated,andtheeconomythrivedinthemidstofanoutpouringofknowledge,thought,writing,andart.Theinstitutionsofthestatebecameoncemoreawareoftheneedsofitscitizensevenifnotalwaysmeetingthem.Butthesequenceofrepressionandtolerancenowproved(assooften)anexplosivemixture.Therhetoricoflibertyanddemocracyinsistedthatmonarchyandaristocracy-whetherenlightenedornot-andwithalltheirtrappingsofshowandpatronagemustbepurged.AndthustheAncienRegimeended:intheduplicityandweaknessofLouisXVIandintherapaciousegalitarianismoftherevolutionaries,acombinationpresagingacenturyofstruggle,disorder,oppression,andwar.