Bastardizing the State: The Power and Rise of the duc du Maine under Louis XIV
During the second half of Louis XIV’s personal rule (1661–1715), one of the most powerful figures in France was the King’s illegitimate son, Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine (1670–1736). Louis XIV installed him in a suite of military offices. As colonel général of the Swiss and Grisons in Fren...
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| Publicado en: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/crcv, |
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| Autor Principal: | |
| Formato: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Idioma: | Anglais |
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Bulletin du Centre de recherche du château de Versailles
2026
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| Acceso en liña: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Résumé: | During the second half of Louis XIV’s personal rule (1661–1715), one of the most powerful figures in France was the King’s illegitimate son, Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine (1670–1736). Louis XIV installed him in a suite of military offices. As colonel général of the Swiss and Grisons in French service and grand master of the artillery, Maine exercised a considerable degree of administrative autonomy in managing the officers, men and contractors who made up these formations, while acting as their principal advocate with the War Ministry and with the King his father. As Maine’s social status rose, eventually culminating in his elevation to the rank of prince of the blood, he also came to acquire considerable tracts of land and even the sovereign principality of the Dombes. By the last few years of Louis XIV’s reign, he was considered the most influential man in the kingdom with the ageing monarch. He was at his most representative of the royal princes, however, in his handling of his personal military regiments. After considering Maine’s social position and the historiographical blindness there has been towards the French royal princes, this essay will home in on Maine’s organization and political protection of his regiments, and consider too the power of patronage he exercised over hundreds of officers and thousands of men. In this, Maine’s authority was similar to that of other royal princes, except the scale on which he enjoyed it greatly exceeded the scale of theirs. Maine’s rise and power, in many ways, add up to a legal and figurative bastardization of the State by Louis XIV. |
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