I.2. THE PLAYERS, LEGENDARY OR UNSUNG

MENU: 1.2. Players: legendary or unsung

 

THE STARS ARE KINGS AND REBELS

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 land the Revolution confiscated, foreign refugees and artists, imperialists and immigrants play grand 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

*     *     *

Next,

Kings, at the heart of French civilization