Louis XIV and the Churches

Abstract

Historical tradition and French constitutional thought together predisposed Louis XIV to preserve the special relationship between crown and Catholic Church, but his religious policies also displayed an intemperance which contrasts with the dispassionate calculation which he sought to bring to other aspects of government. This tendency was most evident when he allowed his personal convictions a formative role in religious policy, and certain of his advisers were not above manipulating the king’s spiritual disposition to their own ends. The increasing harshness with which Louis treated religious minorities, especially his Protestant subjects, suggests that the triumphant Catholicism to which he subscribed became a determinant of policy rather than an instrument of government. Louis’s personal religious commitment appears to have evolved from the routine Catholic observances of his youth to a fervent piety in his middle and later years, when he was punctilious in his religious observances, attended mass daily, and during the seasons of Advent and Lent listened to cycles of sermons given by some of the finest preachers in the country: Bourdaloue, Gaillard, Mascaron, Bossuet and others. Indeed, one historian has estimated that in the course of his personal reign Louis probably heard over one thousand Advent and Lenten sermons.¹