Vincent J. Pitts Bücher

This is the first general biography of Charles de Bourbon, Constable of France (1490-1527), to appear for some time. The events of Bourbon's life form a dramatic and compelling story, centering on his treasonable plot to dismember France in 1523; his victory at Pavia and capture of Francois I in 1525; and his command of the imperial troops who sacked Rome in 1527 The narrative, illuminated by the findings of modern scholarship, is integrated into the broader context of French and international history. The biographical idiom is used to examine the evolution of French social and political institutions in the first decades of the sixteenth century, the strains induced in the French and Hapsburg monarchies by the long struggle for primacy in Italy, and the rapid transformation of war and diplomacy in the period."

The trial serves as a critical lens to examine the intricate dynamics of Louis XIV's court, revealing the king's apprehension about Fouquet potentially unveiling the corrupt financial practices of Cardinal Mazarin, his late mentor and prime minister. This exploration delves into the political tensions and power struggles of the time, highlighting the precarious balance between loyalty and betrayal within the royal court.

The duc de Saint-Simon's memoirs of the last decades of Louis XIV's reign and the regency of Philippe d'Orléans are considered a masterpiece of the genre and one of the glories of French literature. His accounts of the dramatic events he witnessed have informed historians for generations, while his literary portraits have influenced French authors from Sainte-Beuve to Proust.In 1721 Saint-Simon travelled to Spain as Ambassador Extraordinary to solicit the hand of a Spanish princess for the young king Louis XV. Although his mission comes very late in his long narrative, that experience looms large in his account of earlier events, hidden in plain sight, and enriched by it.The nineteenth-century essayist Sainte-Beuve dubbed Saint-Simon 'the little duke with the penetrating eye'. Readers of this book can decide for themselves how penetrating an eye the little duke could bring to bear on his contemporaries, and on himself.

The result is a fascinating biography of a French king and a comprehensive history of sixteenth-century France.