The Representation of War and Royal Power under French Absolute Monarchy

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The scientific aim of this research project consists of revealing the images of war and royal power under the reign of Louis XIV and its diffusion to the society. To accomplish this aim, I have done a research about the works of conseillers-legists concerning just war and legitimacy of French monarchy, the images of king and war in the artistic works such as castles, architectures, paintings and sculptures, and the diffusion of such images analyzing Royal Almanacs.In the arguments of legists about royal power, they defined the king as only person who could declare the war and conduct the army. Using the theory of just war, they also insisted the historical legitimacy of war and geographical identification of France. These images of king were represented in the living spaces of king such as Versailles and other castles, paintings, sculptures and the monuments such as Place des Victoires, Place de Louis Le Grand Porte Saint-Denis, Porte Saint-Martin, etc. These images were also represented and diffused by many engravings which contained the texts explaining them.Admiration of king and the victories over enemy was very important subjects in the engravings for population such as Royal Almanacs. Especially, war was the most important because in the representation of war, authors of Almanacs stressed the legitimacy of France. Royal Almanacs functioned as the tool which made propaganda of royal power.In the reign of Louis XIV, war was indispensable to the representation of royal power. The show-off of victories at war and the representation of enemy played a important role in the creation of the royal glory and the authority of king.