LOUIS XIV AND THE BANKER BERNARD: A STORY OF A WALK

Abstract

Due to the Memoirs of the Duke de Saint-Simon, the walk of Louis XIV in the company of the banker of the royal court, Bernard, in the gardens of Marly on 6 May 1708, has become one of the most popular historical anecdotes about the Great Age and the Sun King. Moreover, not only for the public, but also for many historians. Thus, this seemingly insignificant event during the War of the Spanish Succession frankly escaped the due attention of the scientific community. The purpose of the proposed study is to reconstruct the meeting of the monarch and the financier, to refer to the history of the domain of Marly, to the exclusive place of this royal residence in the court policy of Louis XIV in the second half of his reign. Unfortunately, the main source of such research, Marly Castle itself, has not been preserved. However, numerous written testimonies of contemporaries and a rich iconography of the domain have come down to us — the author relies on these sources in his work. The perspective chosen by the researcher for studying the domain of Marly and its role in the management of the court society by the monarch makes it possible to significantly enrich the historiography of the French royal court of the Old Order. For what purpose did the king, who already had the Palace of Versailles and the Grand Trianon at his disposal, build Marly? Who exactly from the monarch’s entourage had the right to visit this castle during the moments of the royal family’s stay there? In addition, the article touches upon another important and relevant topic — the strategies of the ruler’s behavior and their success in crisis situations, since the fate of France depended on the personal diplomacy of Louis XIV in 1708, a year of serious trials for the kingdom.