Concluding Discussion

Abstract

Since at least Voltaire’s Le Siècle de Louis XIV (1751) historians have interpreted and reinterpreted the character, purposes and significance of Louis XIV’s reign. Louis has been deplored by detractors, approved by apologists, and variously assessed by those who admit no inclination either way; and we simply have to cast an eye over the incessant outpouring of books and articles on the man and his reign to appreciate what an attraction he continues to exert on the historical imagination. Any short study of Louis can claim only to be provisional in the conclusions which it reaches, for today’s orthodox interpretations will look dated in a few years’ time as new lines of research require scholars to continue reviewing their ideas. The preceding chapters have attempted to depict some developments in modern Louis XIV studies, but must avoid any impression that a scholarly finality has been reached. In the course of drawing together the principal conclusions of this book, it is appropriate to draw attention to some of the wider historical discussions in which scholars are engaged, and which are of relevance to our understanding of Louis XIV.