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Place des Vosges – "Place Royale" under the kings

Rise of an empowered monarchy

Place des Vosges, the serene gardens of Palais-Royal and Place Concorde are sites of beauty. They are also sites of power. Though impressed by their majesty, we decode their political message.

 

 

"The" Place, as 17th-century people called it, reveals how exceptionally strong monarchy began. The long-term result: the excpetionally strong authority that is still wielded from Paris.

 

 
  • Where modern France began
Once the epicenter of aristocratic culture, the Place des Vosges is now almost forgotten, and so is deeply serene.

     

    Place Royale once, Place des Vosges now – because the Vosges region was first to send the revolutionary government its tax – the very names summarize two centuries of change.

     

    We describe the upheavals that the walk evokes and explain how for about 75 years (1610-1685) this lovely square was at the hub of the formative period of French culture.

     

     

    • Symbols of new royal power

     

     

    King on horseback (Louis XIII)

    • New kind of monarchy
    Unified façades

    •Political architecture

     

     

     

    • Drama 

     

    This eight-man duel took place on "La Place" at noon when the murderous sport had been forbidden. For their defiance, the ringleaders were publicly decapitated (in 1627).

     

    That the incident should be illustrated in a series of history-books for children indicates its importance.

     

    (That series appeared between about 1900 and 1930. Its illustrator, Maurice Leloir, who was well-known then, chose incidents that highlighted the rise of a powerful State. One finds his images only in the original volumes, which have not been reprinted.

     

    They are so beautifully drawn and present such significant anecdotes that we use them whenever we can: Renaissance Museum, Louvre,  Versailles...

     

     

    • Poses evolve – were the reasons aesthetic or political?

     

     

     

     

    The choice of site was intended to provoke.
    Henry IV (by Rubens in 1624, who looks back to 1600)
    Louis XIV (by Le Brun, toward 1665)

     

     

    • Courtship ritual

     

     

    "Carte du tendre" - "Map of Love"

     

    Three decades years of religious wars had brutalized men and almost completely shattered the refinement of a once-celebrated Court. When peace came at last (in 1595), noblewomen felt the need to civilize their men. The famous "Map of Love", which they created in their "Place" salons, tells swashbuckers how to court them.

     

    As well, it inspired the social code that the Court adopted as its power grew. A prestigious court had  to beome more formal...

     

    That code still influences daily life in France...

     

     

    • Exceptional destinies of women

     

     

    Madame de Montespan

    A favorite who gave the Court its glamor

    and the king, six children

     

     

     

    took care of the royal bastards – and married their father.
    Madame de Sévigny

    Her letters place her among France's great writers.
    • Change

     

    The Sun King's definitive move to Versailles (in 1682) precipitated nobles' departure toward the Faubourg Saint-Germain, nearer the Court: Their descendants live there still.

     

    As well: The Marais is in eastern Paris and winds blow smoke in that direction. With 19th-century industrialization, the area became increasingly lower-income. Low rents attracted Jews fleeing Eastern Europe, as in New York's Lower East Side.  

     

    Since the 1980's the Marais has become fashionable again. Gay cafés cluster there while political leaders and movie stars are proud to give what outsiders might innocently regard as run-down addresses.

     

    We explore an exceptionally varied neighborhood.

     

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