In order to assert his divine right, Louis XIV missed no opportunity to identify himself as God's representative on earth. However, in "Sunspots and the Sun King", Ellen McClure explores the contradictions inherent in attempting to reconcile the logical and mystical aspects of divine right monarchy. McClure analyzes texts devoted to definitions of sovereignty, presents a meticulous reading of Louis XIV's memoirs to the crown prince, and offers a novel analysis of diplomats and ambassadors as the mediators who preserved and transmitted the king's authority. McClure asserts that these discussions, ranging from treatises to theater, expose incommensurable models of authority and representation permeating almost every aspect of seventeenth-century French culture.
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Editorial Reviews
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"How few truly interdisciplinary works we have, such as this one, that help bridge political and cultural parallels in history."--Renaissance Quarterly
"McClure . . . presents a tightly constructed, sophisticated argument about perceptions of French sovereignty in the 17th century. . . . Recommended."--Choice
"Sunspots and the Sun King is an excellent piece demonstrating thorough research and a novel engagement with primary sources that produces a provocative and appealing analysis of the crisis of mediation and sovereignty in the development of French absolutism under Louis XIV."--Sixteenth Century Journal
Book Description
Mediation, monarchy, and Louis XIV's attempts to legitimize his reign
In order to assert his divine right, Louis XIV missed no opportunity to identify himself as God’s representative on earth. However, in Sunspots and the Sun King Ellen McClure explores the contradictions inherent in attempting to reconcile the logical and mystical aspects of divine right monarchy. McClure analyzes texts devoted to definitions of sovereignty, presents a meticulous reading of Louis XIV’s memoirs to the crown prince, and offers a novel analysis of diplomats and ambassadors as the mediators who preserved and transmitted the king’s authority. McClure asserts that these discussions, ranging from treatises to theater, expose incommensurable models of authority and representation permeating almost every aspect of seventeenth-century French culture.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A scholarly examination of King Louis XIV's attempts to legitimize his reign in France,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sunspots and the Sun King: Sovereignty and Mediation in Seventeenth-Century France (Hardcover)
Ellen M. McClure (Associate Prof. of French, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago) presents Sunspots And The Sun King: Sovereignty And Mediation In Seventeenth-Century France, a scholarly examination of King Louis XIV's attempts to legitimize his reign in France during the sixteenth century. From a close reading of texts devoted to the definition of sovereignty, to a meticulous study of Louis XIV's memoirs, to an analysis of the diplomats, ambassadors, and mediators who communicated the king's authority, Sunspots And The Sun King leaves no stone unturned in its search to delineate the monarchial philosophies and justifications of the nation and era. Especial scrutiny is devoted to the inherent contradictions of the logical and mystical aspects of the concept of "divine right monarchy". Written for advanced students and scholars of history and philosophy, Sunspots And The Sun King is especially recommended for college and university library collections.
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First Sentence:
In his De l'institution du prince, published in 1516, Guillaume Bude describes the monarch's role as distributor of justice in the kingdom as follows: Et pour ceste cause, les Roys sont exaltes en honneur, & ont souveraine puissance, & dons de prerogatives: & prennent profict & emolument sur le populaire, par dessus touts aultres, en telle & si raisonnable portion qu'il leur plaist: & s'ilz ne sont subjects aux Loix, ny aux Ordonnances de leur Royaulme, comme les aultres, si bon ne leur semble. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
parfait ambassadeur, diplomatic theory, avec les souverains, les autres hommes, representational relation, personal reign, divine right monarchy, six livres, les devoirs, des ambassadeurs, droit des gens, resident ambassador, diplomatic dispatch, diplomatic representation Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Rousseau de Chamoy, William of Orange, Cardinal Imperiali, Cardin Le Bret, Council of Trent, Louis Marin, Saint Louis, Basilikon Doron, Catholic League, Philo Judaeus, Charles Louis Dreyss, English Crown, Lope de Vega, Paul Pellisson, Trojan War New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
In his De l'institution du prince, published in 1516, Guillaume Bude describes the monarch's role as distributor of justice in the kingdom as follows: Et pour ceste cause, les Roys sont exaltes en honneur, & ont souveraine puissance, & dons de prerogatives: & prennent profict & emolument sur le populaire, par dessus touts aultres, en telle & si raisonnable portion qu'il leur plaist: & s'ilz ne sont subjects aux Loix, ny aux Ordonnances de leur Royaulme, comme les aultres, si bon ne leur semble. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
parfait ambassadeur, diplomatic theory, avec les souverains, les autres hommes, representational relation, personal reign, divine right monarchy, six livres, les devoirs, des ambassadeurs, droit des gens, resident ambassador, diplomatic dispatch, diplomatic representation Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Rousseau de Chamoy, William of Orange, Cardinal Imperiali, Cardin Le Bret, Council of Trent, Louis Marin, Saint Louis, Basilikon Doron, Catholic League, Philo Judaeus, Charles Louis Dreyss, English Crown, Lope de Vega, Paul Pellisson, Trojan War New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 35
books:
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- Renaissance Diplomacy by Garrett Mattingly in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Jean Bodin (International Library of Essays in the History of Social and Political Thought) by Julian H. Franklin in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- On Modern Authority: The Theory and Condition of Writing, 1500 to the Present Day by Thomas Docherty in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Will and Human Action: From Antiquity to the Present Day (London Studies in the History of Philosophy) by Thomas Pink in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Cultural Origins of the French Revolution (Bicentennial Reflections on the French Revolution) by Roger Chartier in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
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