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- Title
A Lesson in Diplomacy for Louis XIV: The Treaty of Montmartre, 1662, and the Princes of the House of Lorraine.
- Authors
SPANGLER, JONATHAN
- Abstract
Revisionist historians have come to recognize that the most significant marker of Louis XIV's success as a monarch was not to be found in absolutist domination, but in his ability to balance factions, both at his court, in the army and in the administration of France. This article examines a particular event in the early years of the king's personal reign which clearly demonstrated to the young king the benefits and the necessity for such balance. The treaty of Montmartre properly belongs in the sphere of foreign affairs, a minor treaty in the long history of negotiations between France and the sovereign duchy of Lorraine. But because its inception and subsequent destruction were inextricably linked to the ambitions of several prominent court clans – princes étrangers, princes du sang, princes légitimés – the events of February 1662 demonstrate how the driving force of dynasticism and the disorders caused by imbalance of favours impressed upon Louis XIV the importance of maintaining himself above faction.
- Subjects
FRANCE; LORRAINE (France); DIPLOMACY; LOUIS XIV, King of France, 1638-1715; TREATIES; FRENCH politics &; government, 1643-1715; HISTORY
- Publication
French History, 2003, Vol 17, Issue 3, p225
- ISSN
0269-1191
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/fh/17.3.225