Page 43 - 2023-bfw-strayer-wow-5e-new.indd

The carousel [a type of pageant] . . . had only been envisaged as a simple celebration
at the beginning, but we discussed it with passion, and it became a sufficiently large and
magnificent spectacle, either by the number of movements, or by the novelty of the dress, or
from the variety of emblems.
It was from this day that I started to adopt the emblem I have had ever since, and that
you see in so many places. I believed that, without stopping at something particular and
lesser, it had to represent somehow the duties of a prince, and inspire me personally to fulfill
them. We chose as the body, the sun, which is the noblest in all the rules of this art form, and
which by its singular quality, by the brilliance surrounding it, by the light that it sends to the
other stars making up a sort of Court for it, by the equal and fair sharing of this same light
to all the climates of the world that it accomplishes, by the good that it does in all places,
incessantly producing from all sides, life, joy, and action, by its endless motion in which it
nonetheless seems ever peaceful, by this constant and unchanging path from which it never
waivers or wanders, is certainly the brightest and most beautiful image of a great monarch.
Source: Mémoires de Louis XIV, edited by Jean Longonon (Paris: “Éditions Jules Tallandier,” 1927), 122–24. Translated
by Tonia E. Tinsley.

2 A SECOND LOOK
The “carousel” that Louis XIV refers to in this passage was an extravagant pageant held
in Paris in June 1662. It featured various exotic animals, princes and nobles arrayed in
fantastic costumes representing distant lands, and many equestrian competitions. Unify-
ing this disparate assembly was King Louis himself, dressed as a Roman emperor, while
on the shields of the nobles was that grand symbol of the monarchy, the sun, which as
Louis explains became his personal symbol after the carousel. Return to the memoir and
answer the following:
1. How does Louis’s carousel example support his assertions in the opening paragraph
about the importance of spectacle? What specific connections can you identify?

3 A THIRD LOOK
The sun symbol that Louis first adopted in 1662 developed over the decades that fol-
lowed. Louis regularly took on the persona of Apollo, the Roman god of light and the
sun, in paintings and court entertainments. And the image stuck. Even today Louis is
frequently referred to as the Sun King. But beyond a personal symbol, Louis developed
the sun concept to define his role in the French state and society. Return once again to
the final paragraph of Louis’s memoir, and answer the following:
1. What specific attributes of the sun does Louis associate with kingship?

2. What does the choice of the sun as a royal symbol suggest about Louis’s conception
of his role in the French state and society?

Uncorrected proofs have been used in this sample. 245
Copyright © Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. For review purposes only. Not for redistribution.

07_strayerap5e_40930_ch04_202-259_2pp.indd 245 7/4/22 9:51 AM