The+Court+of+Louis+XIV


 * Read the source carefully and then answer the questions which follow **

**Source: Duc de Saint-Simon: The Court of Louis XIV. ** The Duc de Saint-Simon resided for many years at Versailles. He left an account of Life there. From //The Memoirs of the Duke de Saint-Simon,// ed. F. Arkwright (New York Brentano's, n.d.), Vol. V, pp. 254, 259-63, 271-274, 276-278. This text is part of the //Internet Modern History Sourcebook -//. []

 **The Court **

His natural talents were below **M|mediocrity**; but he had a mind capable of improvement, of receiving polish, of **A|assimilating** what was best in the minds of others without **S|slavish** imitation; and he **P|profited** greatly throughout his life from having associated with the ablest and **W|wittiest** persons, of both sexes, and of various stations. He entered the world (if I may use such an expression in speaking of a King who had already completed his twenty-third year), at a fortunate moment […]. His Ministers and Generals at this time […] are universally **A|acknowledged** to have been the ablest in Europe; for the domestic troubles and foreign wars under which France had suffered ever since the death of Louis XIII had brought to the front a number of brilliant names, and the Court was made up of capable and **I|illustrious** personages. […] God had given him all that was necessary for him to be a good King, perhaps also to be a fairly great one. All his faults were produced by his surroundings. In his childhood he was so much **N|neglected** that no one dared go near his rooms. He was often heard to speak of those times with great **B|bitterness**; he used to relate how, through the **C|carelessness** of his attendants, he was found one evening in the basin of a fountain in the Palais-Royal gardens.... His Ministers, generals, **M|mistresses**, and courtiers soon found out his weak point, namely, his love of hearing his own **P|praises**. There was nothing he liked so much as **F|flattery**, or, to put it more plainly, adulation; the **C|coarser** and clumsier it was, the more he **R|relished** it. That was the only way to approach him; if he ever took a liking to a man it was invariably due to some **L|lucky stroke** of flattery in the first instance, and to **I|indefatigable** perseverance in the same line afterwards. His Ministers owed much of their influence to their frequent opportunities for **B|burning incense** before him.... […] His mind was occupied with small things rather than with great, and he **D|delighted** in all sorts of **P|petty** details, such as the dress and drill of his soldiers; and it was just the same with regard to his building operations, his household, and even his cookery. He always thought he could teach something of their own craft even to the most **S|skilful** professional men; and they, for their part, used to listen gratefully to lessons which they had long ago learnt by heart. He imagined that all this showed his indefatigable industry; in reality, it was a great waste of time, and his Ministers turned it to good account for their own purposes, as soon as they had learnt the art of managing him; they kept his attention engaged with a mass of details, while they **C|contrived** to get their own way in more important matters. His vanity, which was perpetually **N|nourished** - for even preachers used to praise him to his face from the **P|pulpit** - was the cause of the **A|aggrandisement** of his Ministers. He imagined that they were great only through him, mere **M|mouthpieces** through which he expressed his will; consequently he made no objection when they gradually **E|encroached** on the privileges of the greatest noblemen. He felt that he could at any moment reduce them to their original obscurity; whereas, in the case of a nobleman, though he could make him feel the weight of his displeasure, he could not **D|deprive** him or his family of the advantages due to his birth. […]

1) Find the exact phrase in the source that supports the following statements (you can underline the text): a. Bureaucrats and politicians with great intelligence and abilities were part of the court of Louis XIV. b. The best way to gain the King’s favour was by flattering him incessantly. c. The King’s ministers took advantage of him, diverting his attention to petty details in order to obtain what they wanted or what was convenient to them despite the King’s interests. d. A nobleman as such could experience the rejection of the King, but the King could not take away the privileges he had for being born in a noble family. 2) What does this source tell you about the personality of King Louis XIV? Explain your answer making reference to the source. [6] 3) How far does this source show that King Louis XIV was a person who could be easily influenced? [7]

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