I.2. THE PLAYERS, LEGENDARY OR UNSUNG

MENU: 1.2. Players: legendary or unsung

 

KINGS AND REBELS ARE THE STARS

Equestrian Portrait of Louis XIV (cropped) by René-Antoine Houasse toward 1670 / zoom

Liberty Leading the People (cropped) by Eugène Delacroix, 1831 / zoom

Women of the court, men of the Church, peasants who bought confiscated land during the Revolution, foreign refugees and artists, imperialists and immigrants play important secondary roles.

At the Saint-Denis gate

An immigrant who could pose as Marianne* passes the arch built in homage to the Sun King and proceeds along the pilgrimage route that leads to the royal graves. 

*Symbol of the French republic

The curtain rises

• Kings, at the heart of French civilization

• Women of the court who bequeathed their refinement

• The Church, inseparable from the monarchy

• Small farms: ferocious repressions and "art de vivre"

• Rebels and their demand for social justice

• Exiles and expats

• The French language, imperialists' explosive gift

• Immigrants, source of new energies

*     *     *

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Kings, at the heart of French civilization